Qualitative research Flashcards
qualitative research
attempts to explain social reality by creating conceptual models and narratives from systematically collected observations and textual data
quantitative research
attempts to explain reality by creating and testing mathematical models using systematically collected quantitative data
qualitative research is mainly used in
theory building rather than theory testing as in quantitive
qualitative research is less
generalisable
quantitative research takes
a reductionist approach
qualitative research is much more sensitive to
partipants perspective
overall qualitative research focusses on
experiences, beliefs and values
similarities of qualitative and quantitative research
- both use empirical evidence to answer specific research questions
- data are collected and analysed systematically
- transparency and accountability
results should be treated as
provisional knowledge and are open to scrutiny and challenge
mixed methods research
interaction between qualitative and quantitative research
qualitative research could be used as a PRELIMINARY STEP to an experimental design
e.g. to investigate acceptability of a new intervention that will be tested in a future RCT
qualitative research could be used to generate hypotheses that could be tested in future quantitative studies
e.g. conceptual model of decision making that could be tested in experimental studies
an RCT with a high percentage dropout could be followed by
qualitative investigation of the reasons for withdrawal
simultaneous designs
investigating how effective a complex social intervention is, what are the mechanisms through which it works and what contextual factors modify its effectiveness
types of qualitative research paradigms
ethnography
grounded theory
discourse analysis
phenomenological research
