qualitative methods Flashcards
describe qualitative?
- experiences, perceptions, motivations and intentions
- described in words
- situations
what are qualitative methods end goal?
for participants to provide reliable observations
what are examples or methods?
- semi-structured interviews
- focus group
- participant observation
- text/document analysis
- narrative reviews
what are the advantages of qualitative methods?
- provides human level of understanding
- explore different areas
- hear/understand P’s voices
- produces narrative/stories
limitations of methods?
- small samples
- time intensive
- less rigour (bias)
- researcher training
define nominal data
- categorical
- cannot be ordered or counted
e.g. gender
define ordinal data
- can be ordered
- cannot be added or subtracted
e.g spice level
what is the order (systems to methods in qualitative research?)
move from:
1. epistemology
2. theoretical perspective
3. methodology
4. method
define theoretical perspective
how the researcher, views the world and assumptions that you make about the nature of the world and reality
define epistemology
assumptions made about best way of investigating world and about reality
how do qualitative researchers see the world?
- scientific laws created by people to fit view of reality
- facts depend on viewpoint of observer
- single truth
- facts exist and can be revealed through experiments
risks for researchers?
- might not be representative
- not generalisable
- come up with strategies for studies but need to bring in how socio-cultural-economic backgrounds
define methodology
strategy, plan of action, way to group together research techniques to make coherent picture
define methods
- what you actually do
- techniques and procedures used to gather and analyse data related to specific research question/hypothesis
relative ontologists believe best way to observe world…
is through observations of reality
social constructionist
- researchers believing reality does not exist by itself but constructed and given meaning by people
- focus on feelings, beliefs and thoughts
- relativist ontology
positivists
- best way to investigate world is through objective methods like observations
- realistic ontology
researchers influenced by ontology epistemology…
- realists have positivist approach and gather quantitative sources of data
- relativists have social constructionist approach and gather qualitative sources
step by step quantitative approach
- collect and analyse numerical data
- tells difference but not why
- variables controlled as much as possible (randomised control trials) to eliminate interference and measure effect of change
- randomisation reduces subjective bias
- words, pictures vids, audio
- broader question rather than specific hypothetical and develop theory
what are mixed method approaches?
when you mix qualitative methods with quantitative methods
what matters in qualitative research?
- flexible approach and able to change
- is the data coded correctly
- captured situation in realistic manner
- described context in sufficient detail
- see world through P’s eyes
how to qualitative researchers go about conducting a study
- start with a theory
- try a research design to test whether theory holds together
- collect data and and try ad understand phenomenon and build a theory together
inductive reasoning
- start with data and gather more slowly to build a theory that wasn’t there before
deductive reasoning
- prove whether theory holds together
what is validity?
- accuracy of measure
- do they represent what they are supposed to measure
what is reliability?
- how reliable
- if I do a test about height and do it again the next day - data should be same/similar = reliable
- consistency
trustworthiness
- dependability - consistent and could be repeated
- confirmability - degree of neutrality. remove bias and researcher is neutral
- credibility - confidence in findings truth
- transferability - findings have applicability in other contexts
3 key approaches of quantitative research
- phonomonology - experience of a phenomeno. interviews
- ethnography - describing characteristics of group of people. interviews
3.grounded theory
what is ground theory in more detail?
- enables you to study a particular phenomenon or process and discover new theories based on collection and analysis of real world data
- unravel meanings on peoples interactions, social, interactions and experiences
what is ethnography in more detail?
- used in social and behavioural sciences
- up close observation of participations
what are the types of interview?
- individual-group
- structured-semi-structured-unstructured
- open questions=closed questions
- styles- biographical, clinical, ethnographical
- method- face-to-face, telephone, computer-assisted
strengths of interviewing
- personalisation/interaction
- opportunities to ask Qs
- possible to probe
- good rate of return
- flexible
limitation of interviewing
- labour intensive (cost)
- not extensive
- subjectivities in interpretation and analysis
- memory decay
how to design an interview
- why you asking question
- why are you asking these people
- what do you want to ask
- how do you plan to ask them (open, closed, scales)
what to avoid in interviews
- double Qs
- long complex Qs
- jargon/technical terms
- leading questions
- ambiguous questions
- invasion of privacy
what makes a good interviewer?
- listening skills
- sensitive to non-verbal communication
- eliminates cues leading to particular responses
- don’t look bored
what are the stages of qualitative analysis?
- data reduction - coding, discarding irrelevant data
- data display draw conclusions from mass of data
- conclusion drawing - verifications validity examined thro9ugh references to existing filed notes and critical discussions with tutors
ways of analysing qualitative data?
- ethnographic analysis
- structured analysis
- axial coding and constant comparison
- inductive and deductive analytical procedures
- post-structuralism approach
- feminist approach
how to code qualitative data?
- each code is a category
- first stage providing some form of logical structure to data
codes are labels assigning units of meaning to descriptive info compiled during study
