Qualitative Methods

Question 1

Qualitative research is concerned with text based data.
What is primary data?
What is secondary data?

Answer 1

Primary = surveys, interview, focus groups.
Secondary = news, newspapers, social media, articles, blogs etc

Question 2

Qualitative methods question an _______ reality. It argues that there can be _______ ______ of reality. It focuses on the ________, _________ and _________ of reality.

Answer 2

QRM questions an objective reality
can be multiple versions of reality
focus on experience, construction and interpretation of reality

Question 3

What 4 things do researchers say qualitative methods is associated with?

Answer 3

meaning
personal experiences of events
natural settings
seeking deeper thruths

Question 4

What are the 3 central questions of qualitative research methods?

Answer 4

to count/discover the name
measure listen and observe
questionnaire or talk with someone

Question 5

Qualitative methods is a _________ approach. The data is _______ but _____, and tends to be theory _________.

Answer 5

subjective approach with narrow but rich data
theory generating rather than testing

Question 6

What are the 7 main qualitative research ANALYSIS methods?

Answer 6

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
Grounded theory
Narrative research
Conversation Analysis
Discourse Analysis
Focus Groups
Thematic Analysis

Question 7

What are the 3 main methods of data collection?

Answer 7

Interviews
Surveys
Focus groups

Question 8

Interviews draw out personal ______, ________, _______ and _________ on a matter, and is especially useful when someone has a ______ ______ in the matter.

Answer 8

interviews draw out opinions, beliefs, experiences, perceptions, motivations etc
useful when someone has a personal stake

Question 9

What are the 3 main advantages of interviews?

Answer 9

rich and detailed data
can be flexible
can use smaller samples

Question 10

What are the 4 main disadvantages of qualitative interviews?

Answer 10

Time consuming
lack of breadth with small samples
people unwilling to disclose sensitive info
less control than with surveys

Question 11

What are the 3 types of interview methods, describe them?
Which is most commonly used?

Answer 11

Structured - pre-determined topics
Unstructured - list of topics, but free to roam, strongly participant led
Semi-structured - list of questions, but allowing for participant to discuss - open ended questions
Most commonly used

Question 12

Semi-structured interviews are ______ and ______ to the participant. They include _____-______ questions to allow for further _______ and ______ in detail.

Answer 12

Flexible and responsive to participant
open ended questions allow for richness in detail and further discussion

Question 13

What is transcription?

Answer 13

Process of turning video/audio recordings into text

Question 14

What are the 3 key criteria of an interview, and what do they achieve?

Answer 14

Interview schedule - to build trust/rapport with participant
Order of questions - to creative a flow of topics, and not ask sensitive questions too soon.
Wording of questions

Question 15

When wording questions what 3 things can we avoid?

Answer 15

Open questions to avoid yes or no answers
Non leading questions
Questions which discuss multiple topics - confusing

Question 16

Focus groups place ______ between ________ as the key feature. Groups typically contain __-__ people. The researcher acts as a _________, and discussion is based around a series of _____ and ______.

Answer 16

Focus groups have interactions between people as key feature
typically 6-8 people
Researcher acts as a moderator
Based around series of questions and topics

Question 17

Participants in focus groups may be based on ___-________ groups based on ________ experiences. Focus groups may not always contain _______, but group_______ and reacting to ______.

Answer 17

Groups may be pre-existing based on shared experiences
may not always be about discussion but group tasks and reacting to stimuli

Question 18

What are the 3 main advantages of focus groups?

Answer 18

Flexibility - can explore unanticipated issues, and allows for responding, challenging etc - rich data
engages everyday talking about topics
can facilitate personal disclosure

Question 19

What are the 4 main issues with focus groups?

Answer 19

Logistical difficulty of setting up groups
can get off topic easily - hard to manage
ethical issues of confidentiality
transcription may be time consuming

Question 20

Mixed methods involves the combination of ________ and _______ methods. Give an example

Answer 20

combines qualitative and quantitative
focus groups may inspire a questionnaire

Question 21

Describe the 3 main types of qualitative sampling?

Answer 21

convenience sample - whoever is available
purposive sample - an aim to gain understanding of a type
Theoretical sampling - use data analysis to guide selection of future participants to learn more

Question 22

Qualitative methods tend to use ______ samples than quantitative.

Answer 22

smaller

Question 23

What is the data saturation method of sampling?

Answer 23

selecting participants until no knew themes/knowledge is added to the data