Qualitative methods Flashcards
name the 3 research paradigms
- ontology - what can be known about reality
- epistemology - relationship between researcher and what can be known
- methodology - how to go about studying what can be known
Key principles of interpretism
- meaning cannot be understood without context
- requires empathy - Researcher needs to immerse themselves within the community in order to learn and interpret
- listen, look, question, interpret
- self reflection
How is knowledge socially constructed
- Knowledge is ever-changing
- Power systems are in play
- language is not neutral
for example homosexuality
How does homosexuality lead to different ways of acting
- sick - seek professional help
- devient - conceal, feel shame
- personal choice - pride, advocate agency
- natural - enjoy and be open
Similarities of social constructionism vs interpretism
- concerned with meaning
- interested how people make sense of the world
- thick description
- events occurring in the naturalistic environment
- what is it like to
- not interested in cause and effect
- not interested in generalizing
Interpretive understanding language
- vehicle for getting the facts
- route for underlying realities
- window to access facts/ experiences/ reality
social constructionism understanding language
- not neutral
- constructs reality
- must be the object of study
- concerned with the broader patterns of social meaning
- e.g. the word rainbow
Qualitative frameworks and approaches
- Post-colonial methodologies - dominant and segregation
- Participatory action research (PAR) - produces knowledge
- Ethnography - culture
- Discourse analysis - language
- Narrative approaches - stories in larger context
- Feminist research - theoretical and political analysis
How is research never neutral
- topic being chosen
2. topics being published
How is research political
- advances in agenda
- silences topics
- promotes interest
Questions to ask around research/ politics behind
- Who evaluates?
- Who benefits?
- Findings?
- Funding?
- who’s values are promoted?
- Who is publishing?
Power in research enterprise
- mainly white, working-class males - even in feminist research
- sample = disadvantaged and marginalized populations meaning over-repusentation of the poor and marginalized
The research context
macro (historical, political discourses in place) vs micro (researchers anxieties, personality thoughts etc)
Interviewer- participant relationship
researcher relationship -> data collected
Three central premises to standpoint methodologies
- Seeks to uncover/ critique hidden power dynamics, by conducting research at a deep level rather than surface level
- Working in the interests of the oppressed, disempowered and disadvantaged
- Aims to produce change