Qualitative research: data collection

Question 1

interviews can be

Answer 1

structured or informal

Question 2

structured interview

Answer 2

pre-set questions

Question 3

informal interview

Answer 3

goes with the flow of a convo, researcher must keep the convo focused on topic

Question 4

positive of structured interview

Answer 4

time efficient and easy to synthesise data

Question 5

negatives of structured interview

Answer 5

less unexpected responses

-goal of interview may bias results

Question 6

positives of informal interview

Answer 6

can produce unexpected results

more natural responses

Question 7

negatives of informal

Answer 7

data not comparable or generalisable

-more time consuming

Question 8

focus groups

Answer 8

an interview of 6-10 people in a group discussion of Q and A

Question 9

positives of focus groups

Answer 9

• info about several people in one session
• less intimidating environment
• valuable for observing social influences on participants behaviour and attitudes

Question 10

negatives of focus groups

Answer 10

confounding

less depth and breadth of info

less likely to discuss personal topics

participants may not share minority view

Question 11

observations

Answer 11

taking notes while observing behaviour and activities of individuals or groups

Question 12

positives of observations

Answer 12

when participant may not be able to accurately report their experiences

useful in exploring topics that participants may not want to talk about

unusual details notices

Question 13

negatives of observations

Answer 13

confidentiality issues

presence of researcher may influence behaviour

relies on researcher being attentive

Question 14

document review

Answer 14

collection of public docs (newspapers) or private focus (diaries) in order to collect data

Question 15

positives of document review

Answer 15

participants own words

saves time and money transcribing

Question 16

negatives of document review

Answer 16

info may be protected

material may be incomplete

inaccurate

Question 17

audio and visual materials

Answer 17

data collected from photographs, art, video tapes and audio recordings

Question 18

positives of audio and visual materials

Answer 18

unobtrusive and allows participants to share their reality in a creative way

Question 19

negative of audio and visual materials

Answer 19

difficulty in interpretation

no accessible

presence of an observer may effect the response

Question 20

observations require

Answer 20

collecting additional info through informal conversations and interviews

Question 21

the time necessary to process obs

Answer 21

should be considered

Question 22

challenges in collecting data

Answer 22

• social skills and boundaries
• time and personal commitment
• reflexivity

Question 23

research interviews are used to compliment obs when

Answer 23

not convenient, affordable, acceptable or possible

Question 24

focus groups

Answer 24

discuss one or more topics

Question 25

participants in focus groups are

Answer 25

carefully chosen in terms of relevance, experiences and sims and diffs

Question 26

diffs and sims are then

Answer 26

linked to backgrounds of participants

Question 27

focus groups requires 2 researchers

Answer 27

one to ask qs and one to note