Qualitative Methodology

Question 1

List methods used by qualitative researchers (x7)

Answer 1

Participant Observation
Focus Groups
Archival/Secondary Sources 
Ethnography (and digital)
Ecological Momentary Assessment (diaries)
Interviews
Questionnaires

Question 2

Give strengths and weaknesses of participant observation; how has it been addressed in literature?

Answer 2

+ embedded research; immersive
+ personal perpective not possible to gain from other methods
+ gives people a voice; chance to give back to communities
+ improved by combining with follow-up questionnaires/interviews/focus groups

• time-consuming synthesis
• time restraints on researcher; not necessarily representative time-frame of space
• only 1 researcher; subjectivity and interpretation to consider and acknowledge
• if covert, ethical questions; not always possible to notify everyone; requires briefing/de-briefing

Cloke (2004)

Question 3

Give strengths and weaknesses of interviews, focus groups and questionnaires; how has it been addressed in literature?

Answer 3

+ values are intangible, so verbal communication is v helpful to capture what people truly think/feel
+ adaptable, flexible; follow-ups possible
+ quesionnaires can be done with a large number of people
+ can be participant-led = rich detail

• time restraints
• limited samples; not representative
• risk of loaded/closed questions
• social desirability bias
• social anxiety affecting participants/experimenter effects; ethical concerns
• not longitudinal
• limited age groups reached

Interviews in community gardens - Firth et al., 2011

• Case studies; semi-structured interviwes combined with ethnographic and observational techniques
• To assess social cohesion in community; social capital research gap
• “place-based” and “interest-based” garden types

Question 4

Give strengths and weaknesses of ethnography and diaries; how has it been addressed in literature?

Answer 4

+ real-life; not ‘on the spot’ but reveals trends/patterns of values and behaviour
+ specific details
+ longitudinal; realistic temporality
+ personal perspectives
+ can be digital - accessed by range of people; flexible research possibilities

• diaries not always adhered to
• participants could diverge from desired topic focus
• difficult/complex synthesis
• ethical concerns; intrudes on people’s daily routines
• unrepresentative small scale use; limited application (place-bound results)

Cloke et al. (2000) - Ethics, Reflexivity and Research: Encounters with Homeless People;
Understanding how/why homelessness in rural areas, how experienced, coped with; diary commentaries, self-reflexive accounts, ethnographic encounters

England (1994) - reflexivity in research;
Suspicion of objective value-free research; intersubjective nature of social life; the making of geography requires values, decisions, experience etc.

Question 5

Give strengths and weaknesses of using archived/secondary material; give an example study.

Answer 5

Dr Rebecca Pearce drought lady

Question 6

What are some readings that support qualitative research?

Answer 6

Complexity Turn (Urry, 2005)
Feminist geographies (Valentine; Dixon and Jones; Massey etc.)
Hisorical geographers (Lovelock etc.)
Reflexivity and complexity (England, 1994)

Question 7

What are some readings that show the difficulties in qualitative research?

Answer 7

Law (2004) Mess in social science;
Attempts to describe the complex, diffuse and messy things of world in simplified format - makes a mess
Academic methods don’t always capture all aspects of reality - could be captured in ethnographies?
Knowledge is contexted, and so is limited

Denscombe (2010):
Surveys and sampling - deciding sample size, type of survey to use, response rates, sample bias

Case studies - hard to generalise and define boundaries; gaining setting access; ill-suited to analyses or evaluations

Ethnography - contested within itseld, stand-alone isolated descriptions, story-telling can obscure critical analysis/approach, hard to replicate lacks reliability, ethical problems faced, gaining access, avoiding disruption

Question 8

How is inductive reasoning different to deductive reasoning?

Answer 8

Deductive = general to the particular; using evidence to reach a simple conclusion; hypothesis testing based on theory/rules to deduce a fact (top-down; aim of simplification)

Inductive = specific to general; info from cases to a general law/rule (bottom-up; to understand embeddedness and complexity)

Question 9

Explain what human (cultural) geographers mean by ‘complexity’? (E.g. how is complexity theory used as an analogy?)

Answer 9

Hepple, L. Dictionary of Human Geography

• Originally used in mathematical analysis; incorporating ‘chaos theory’ characterised by non-linear, feedback loop systems
• Used by cultural geographers (cultural turn) to emphasise importance of difference in and between spaces and societies
• Global order and regional disorder making up the world (Urry)

Question 10

How are qualitative methods in research design guides, textbooks and literature?

Answer 10

Cloke (2004)

Richardson and St Pierre:
Difficult to read ethnographic/qualitative styles - cannot be scanned or summarised
Criticised as narcissistic or self-absorbed
Hard for creative/human writers to adhere to mechanistic scientism
Hard to set criteria for judgement of ethnographic work; is the self adequately known?
Allows a way that acknowledges/deals with the fact knowledge/writing always partial, allows researcher to freely incorporate the self into their work

Denscombe (2010)