Qualitative Exam Flashcards
Positivism
Assume that reality exists and it’s observable, stable, and measurable. Knowledge from this is labeled scientific and includes laws. Knowledge is relative not absolute, but can distinguish between more and less plausible claims
find and capture the answer
An essential part of qualitative inquiry is understanding
experience
Research
investigating something in a systematic manner
basic research
motivated by intellectual interest, goal: knowledge
applied research
improve the quality of practice of particular discipline
data
collected information to be analyzed
information
Qualitative
understanding the meaning people have constructed, understanding experiences
Quantitative
numbers and statistics, more objective
Primary essence of qualitative research, i.e. what it’s “after”
Understanding the human experience
5 Characteristics of qualitative research
- focus on meaning and understanding
- researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis
- the process is inductive
- the product is richly descriptive
- other - tolerance for ambiguity
Focus on meaning and understanding
how people interpret their experiences and how they construct their worlds, what meaning they attribute to experiences. Their perspective, not the researcher
The researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis
researchers can expand understanding through nonverbal or verbal communication, clarifying and summarizing. Sometimes there is bias, want to eliminate those
The process is inductive
Researchers gather data to build concepts, hypotheses, or theories rather than testing hypotheses. Build toward theory from observing and understanding
The product is richly descriptive
words and pictures are used rather than numbers. Data in form of quotes, videos, pictures, notes used to support findings.
Common Qualitative Research Designs
basic
ethnography
phenomenology
Basic qualitative inquiry
Understanding phenomena through examination of individuals experience through stories, not narratives
ethnography
Cultural, spending time with a group being studied.
Phenomenology
Focus on the experience itself and how the experience is transformed into consciousness. Interested in the lived experience. Events that link people together.
ways to collect data with basic
focus group, interviews
ways to collect data with ethnography
observation
ways to collect data with phenomenology
In-depth interviews
the basic idea of mixed methods research
Combines qualitative and quantitative methods to gain deeper understanding
Convergent
same time, simultaneous - compare findings from each other
Explanatory
quant then qual - quant provides the what and qual provides the how, deeper understanding
Exploratory
qual then quant - when little is known about population or subject, qualitative data used to explore in order create survey
Sampling
how we are identifying a large group of people from whom we could potentially invite (ex. Apartment complex)
Recruitment
invitation to people to get them to participate - call, send letter, ask face to face
Purposeful sample
we almost always use purposeful sampling in qualitative - intentionally selecting participants based on their characteristics, experiences.
How many to sample
saturation - When no new information is forthcoming from new sampled units, so there is redundancy. When you start hearing the same responses or seeing the same behaviors, no new insights. Must engage in analysis along with data collection. Analysis should be done with data collection.
types of purposeful sampling
typical
unique
maximum variation
convenience
snowball
typical
trying to define what an average is. Picking sites that are not unique, or people who are profiled as the average.
unique
Rare or unique occurrences of phenomenon of interest. Interested in them because they are unique. Generally have access to talk to them.
maximum variation
Seeking out the widest possible range of the characteristics of interest for the study. Intentionally introducing variation.
convenience
Select sample based on time, availability, ect. Beginning with your own friends.
Snowball
Most common purposeful sampling. Locating key participants and ask them to refer you to other participants.
Selecting a topics
Look at your daily life, what are you curious about? What do you not understand?
Other sources: literature
Theory
Most often from observing and asking questions about everyday activities
Social and political issues
research problem
Question that challenges the mind
From what you are curious about, the problem statement
Not what the problem is, what the study will do
Lit review
Is there literature on the topic?
Question takes to to literature which sends you to looking at the phenomenon
If you don’t review, you might duplicate study, repeat others mistakes
Goal is to contribute knowledge
Sampling
probably
non probability
Probability
generalize results from sample to population which it was drawn
Non Probability
method of choice to solve qualitative problems - purposeful
When is interviewing particularly useful?
When you can’t observe behavior, past events, intensive case studies of a few individuals.
How many people in a focus group?
6-8 or 6-10
When a focus group is a poor choice
Sensitive
Highly personal
Culturally inappropriate
Asking good Q’s § — Know the 6 general types
experience and behavior questions
opinions and values questions
feelings questions
knowledge questions
sensory questions
background/demorgraphic
Experience and behavior questions
things a person did, behavior, action - typical day?
Opinion and values questions
What they think about something
feelings questions
Tap dimension of human life, how do you feel about - adjective response
Knowledge questions
Factual knowledge about a situation
sensory questions
Similar to experience, but try to get more specific data about what was seen, heard, touched, ect
Background/demographic
Age, education, ect - information as relevant to research study
The 4 “eliciting” types of questions
hypothetical
devils advocate
ideal position
interpretive
Hypothetical questions
what they might do, what it might be like in situation
Devil’s advocate question
consider opposing view to a situation
Ideal position questions
describe an ideal situation
Interpretive questions
researcher advances explanations or what the respondent has been saying and asks for a reaction
Questions to Avoid
Multiple questions
Leading questions
Yes or no questions/ categorical
Recording & Transcribing (3 ways)
Audio record the interview
Take notes
Write down what you can remember shortly after
Types of interview
structured
semi-structured unstructured
structured
predetermined wording, order
semistructured
mix or structures, flexible, explore, no order
unstructured
open ended, flexible, learning from interview
Observations
take place where the phenomenon naturally occurs, observation represents firsthand encounter
Interviews
Secondhand account of the world obtained in an interview
analyzing
more than one way to make observations, describe it in writing, looking for pieces that aren’t there, find themes
Text based analyzing
categorize themes, patterns, meaning
Why use observations?
Natural setting & no recall required
What to observe
The physical setting - environment, context, space allocated
Participants - who, how many, roles, unexpected
Activities and Interactions - what is going on? Norms or structure
Conversation - content of conversation? Who to whom?
Subtle factors - unplanned activities, symbolic meaning, nonverbal cues, what doesn’t happen
Your own behavior - how is your role affecting behavior
data can be mined from….
virtually anywhere!
the basic process for open thematic coding QDA
Familiarize with data (familiarize and organize data)
Identify units
Group units
Reconsider groupings - name and operationally define themes
Prepare for reporting
Coding
Assigning a shorthand designation to various aspects of your data so you can easily retrieve specific pieces of the data
Computer software
manage data with system designed for qualitative research - make sure it doesn’t get lost
the goal of data analysis?
to make sense out of data
Step-by-step process of analysis
categories
sorting data into cats
naming the categories
category construction:
notes, comments, observations in margins
sorting to categories and data
compiling notes, renaming categories to reflect the data, creating subcategories. Sorting everything to their category
naming the categories
name the theme from you, participants words or outside sources. Borrowed classifications creates bias
Trustworthiness/rigor
Show that research is trustworthy within the limitations it has
Reliability
extent to which findings can be replicated
internal validity
how research findings match reality, congruent with reality
external validity
extent to which findings can be applied to other situations, how generalizable the results are for the study
credibility
member check, peer review, triangulation
transferability
how much could be taken and used somewhere else
Consistency
applying standardized approaches to data across the study
tolerance for ambiguity
it’s okay if it’s vague, might not be a straight answer because you’re asking about experience not a number
your own epistemology - baggage you bring with you
the questions you ask construct the results
study identity
epistemology - baggage
methods - how you get data
theory - formal theory and school of thought
key feature about focus groups
-Make sure to ask good questions such as: experience, feelings, background, values, sensory, and knowledge.
focus group size problems
too big - partition
too small - isolate people
data units
Smallest, yet most helpful for your objective
