qualitative research Flashcards
what is qualitative research?
involves subjectivity on the part of both researcher and research participants
5 qualitative methods?
ethnography, case studies, narratives, content analysis, and discourse analysis
what is ethnography?
interpret other worlds
what is participation observation?
ethnography, observing people and actively participating in their activities to obtain an insiders perspective
what is semi-structured interviews?
ethnography, informal face-to-face interviews
what is informants?
ethnography, insiders who help the researcher in becoming accepted by the community and assist with the interpretation of info and behaviour
what is institutional ethnography?
developed by dorothy smith, recognizes that every institution has two sides, each associated with a different kind of data
what is ruling interests?
institutional ethnography, interests of the organizations, its administration and/or the interests of those who hold power in society. written rules and texts provide the data
what are ruling relations?
ruling interests, activated when workers follow rules and practices ( they serve the needs of organization )
what is experiential data?
institutional ethnography, comes from informants. anyone who works for the organization outside of management
what are case studies?
a research design that takes as its subject a single case or a few selected examples of a social entity.
4 examples of case studies
communities, families, roles, relationships
what is the case study approach used for?
to identify and describe best practices, strategies with a proven history of achieving desired results
what are narratives?
the stories people tell
what is voice?
the expression of a unique viewpoint from a social location
what is content analysis?
involves studying a set of cultural artifacts (ex. newspaper articles, artwork, etc.) or events and interpreting themes they reflect
what is discourse analysis?
two types, used by sociologists that focuses on social power relationships
what is the first type of discourse analysis?
analyzing discourse as the term is commonly understood (ex. conversation, written text, etc.)
what is the second type of discourse analysis?
considers a broader definition of “text” going beyond individual works to include larger fields of info over time
what is genealogy?
a method of examining the history of the second type of discourse. seeks to trace the origins and histories of modern discourses
who is michel foucault?
genealogical work captures the dynamic nature of such discourses as mental illness, penal system and sexuality
