Qualitative research Flashcards
What is qualitative research?
Describes and categorises the qualities of data. It focuses on the description/ characteristics of data and historically case studies of individuals were the most common qualitative research.
Often concentrates on real-life conversations, interviews, the media, counselling etc.
Qualitative methods contribute to the eventual development of quantification, which is the main goal of research`
When should we use Qualitative research methods?
When the researcher wishes to study the complexity of something in its natural setting.
When there is lack of clarity about what research questions should be asked.
When there is generally little or no research into the topic.
When the research question relates to the complex use of language such as extended conversation.
Positives of Qualitative research
Provide a more complete understanding of the subject matter of research.
Human behaviour is far too complex to reduce into a few variables as typical in quantitative research.
When is data pure quantitative
The data are collected using highly structured materials such as multiple choice questionnaires or physiological indexes such as blood pressure levels in highly structured settings such as psychological labs.
When is data pure qualitative
The data are collected to give as full and complete picture as the researcher can possibly make. This is done for example by audio-recording extensive amounts of conversation. There may be little or no structure to the data gathered
What is mixed data collection
Between these extremes of quantification and qualification some researchers choose to collect data in a quantitative form where there are good means of quantifying variables and concepts but use open-ended and less structured material where the concepts and variables cannot be measured satisfactory.
Sometimes the researcher may use a mixture of multiple choice and open ended questions
In what circumstances is it undesirable to collect data quantitatively prior to analysis
Not everyone can be expected to supply data in a structured quantitative form. For example a researcher wishing to collect accounts of the expierience of depression may find greater success by employing a sensitive, in depth interview technique.
Researchers may have problems with structuring data collection on some topics so prefer methods that allow for more exploration.
What data collection methods are there for qualitative analysis?
Focus Groups
In depth interviews
Recordings of conversations
Internet sources
Biographies
Explain the method of participant observation
The key aim of participant observation is to describe and explain the social world primarily from the point of view of the actors or participants in the world. By being a participant and not just an observer, access to the point of view of the participant is assured.
Can include Covert, Overt, Participant observer and non participant observer
Explain Focus Groups
Focus groups may be used as an early stage of research in order to explore and identify what the issues are. To generate conversational data on a topic to be analyzed.
To evaluate findings of research/ to discuss research conclusions.
Disadvantages of Focus groups
They take a lot of time and effort to organise, run and transcribe.
Take away the power of the researcher to direct the research process and the kind of data collected. Therefore making it is difficult to imagine a profitable use of the focus group as a method of collecting data for the typical laboratory experiment.
Explain Structured interviews
The questions asked are precisely focused and the answers are selected from a set of alternative pre0coded possibilities. The interviewer mostly sticks to a script of the questionnaire.
Explain In-depth/qualitative interviews
Questions are intended to stimulate extensive, individual and detailed replies. Qualitative interviews are flexible and the interviewer is expected to rephrase questions appropriately.
What is thematic analysis?
Thematic analysis is not a single approach to the analysis of qualitative data, different researchers do it differently. In thematic analysis researchers identify a limited number of themes which reflect their textual data.
What 6 steps make up thematic analysis?
Familiarisation with the data
Initial coding generation
Searching for themes based on the initial coding
Review of the themes
Theme definition and labelling
Report writing
Explain Familiarisation with the data
This is the early stage in which the researcher becomes actively involved with the data and this may involve rereading the information.
Explain Initial coding generation
Initial coding is a step in the process by which themes are generated
Explain searching for themes based on the initial coding
Themes are essentially obtained by joining together several of the codings in a meaningful way. One way of identifying themes would be to write each of the different initial codings onto a separate piece of paper of card. Then initial codings may be sorted into separate piles of coding which seem to be similar.
Explain review of themes
themes are unlikely to be refined and need to be tested against the original data.
Explain definition and labelling
May be appropriate to identify sub themes within a theme which adds to the task of defining and labelling these accurately. The researcher would have to go through the data again to ensure themes and sub themes have been defined effectively.
Explain report writing stage
Final report requires that you illustrate your analysis using extracts from the data.
