Qualitative research Flashcards
Features of qualitative research?
-Inductive
-Interpretivist
-Constructionist
What are the qualitative research methods?
-Ethnography/participant observation
-Qualitative interviewing
-Focus groups
-Language-based approaches: conversation analysis, discourse analysis
-Collection and qualitative analysis of texts and documents
What is the qualitative research process?
General research questions, selecting relevant sites & subjects, Collection of relevant data, interpretation of data, theoretical work, collection of further data, writing up findings
What are the preoccupations of qualitative research?
-Seeing through the eyes of the people being studied
-Description and an emphasis on context
-Process
-Flexibility and limited strucutre
-Concepts and theory grounded in data
Describe triangluation
-Entails using more than one source of data in the study of social phenomena
-Can operate within and across research strategies
-Provides access to different perspectives
Describe Respondent validation
-Providing feedback to research participants
-Forms: Individual, group, specific, general
-Practical difficulties: restrictions, limited ability of participants to validate analysis
Describe Collaborative and participatory research
-Research should be driven by practical outcomes
-Members being studies should participate in research and benefit form it
-Useful when studying disempowered groups
-Form of respondent validation
-Researcher should be familiar with community
Critiques of qualitative research
-Too subjective
-Difficult to replicate
-Problems of generalization
-Lack of transparency
Define ethnography/participant observation
Entail a researcher immersing themselves in the research site, observing behaviour, listening to what is said, and asking questions.
Advantages of covert roles in ethnography
-Reduces the problem of access
-Reduces the problem of reactivity
Disadvantages of covert roles in ethnography
-The problem of taking notes
-The problem of not being able to use other methods
-Anxiety
-Ethical problems
Gaining Research Access
-Using insider contacts
-Negotiated access: offering something in return
-Being honest upfront
-‘Hanging around’
What is theoretical sampling?
-An on-going process of data collection
-you carry on sampling until saturated with data
Other forms of sampling: Time
Ethnogrpaher must make sure that people or events are observed at different times of the day and different days of the week
Other forms of sampling: Context
-Peoples behaviour and opinions are influenced by contextual factors
-Important to ensure that such behaviour is observed in a variety of locations
When to stop ethnographic research?
-Negotiated deadline with organisation
-The ethnographer may feel that they have simply had enough
-The researchers categories are thoroughly saturated
