qualitative research Flashcards
Qualitative vs quantitative
questions of measurements compared to questions of process
Qualitative
decision making
perceptions and experiences
what is qualitative research
words, study of people and social problems
hypothesis/concept and theory generating
understanding social phenomena in natural setting
examples of qualitative research
why people smoke despite evidence
power of tobacco companies advertisement and gov policies
positivist paradigm
be objective to find the truth
interpretivist paradigm
many truths as we socially construct the truth
people have different perceptions and experiences=multiple realities
quantitative paradigms (positivism)
world independent not effected by research
can conduct objective research
qualitative paradigms (interpretivism)
not possible for objective, value free research
researcher and social world impact on each other
when to use qualitative
explore perceptions, attitudes, experiences
to build theory
flesh out quantitative studies
qualitative research should be or show
conducted systematically and rigorously
strategically conducted
reflexive
ethical practice
ethical considerations
recruitment, informed and proxy consent, capacity
confidentiality and anonymity
risk and incentives
differences quantitative vs qualitative
stance of researcher, POV for quantitative is the researcher
POV for qualitative is the responders
criticisms of qualitative
subjective
difficult to replicate
generalisation problems
phenomenology approach
how people experience world, human consciousness
importance of individuals subjective experiences
ethnography approach
field/case study, observational and daily participation
grounded theory
collect data and generate theory, starts with no hypothesis
biography
how life and time influences existence
trends taken into account-social, political, gender, religion
case study
intense in depth longitudinal study of group
data collection
naturally occurring - record as they occur
documentary analysis - media, documents, photos
generated data - discussions, interviews, surveys
sampling
convenience - most accessible
purposive - sample selected depending on research purpose
snowballing - small group, ask to refer others, repeat
theoretical - choose new cases to compare with one already studied
observation
field notes
use when have lots of time, outcome observable or not sure what looking for
look for characteristics, interactions, non verbal, physical surroundings
types of interviews
semi/unstructured good to probe complex issues or
clarify answers, more relaxed can get more sensitive info
professional or conversations with purpose
issues with interviews
time consuming and difficult to analyse
bias, style. expensive, not large samples
focus groups (4-8ish people)
informal discussion, don’t ask questions but encourage interactions
needs good moderation and participants meet criteria
advantages and disadvantages of focus groups
facilitator less in control, encourages engagement and participation
needs organisation, skilled facilitator, difficult to interpret transcript
analysis
assembling data into meaningful fashion
