qualitative research (Definition, characteristics, research methods & analysis) Flashcards
what is a hypothesis?
an assumption, theory or tentative statement based on limited evidence or a relationship between variables which can be tested, verified or falsified
quan not qual
what is a qualitative research question?
a (broad) question that seeks to explore experiences and meaning-making of a particular topic (Braun and Clark, 2014)
what is a sample?
a selected set of participants recruited to the research from the population or topic under study (Gratton and Jones, 2004)
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what is data?
the information collected by researchers which they analyse to draw their findings and conclusions (Jones, Holloway and Brown, 2013 p.199)
what is research? (Burton and Bartlett, 2009 p.3)
the systematic gathering, presenting and analysing of data
what is the general definition of research?
a process of systematic inquiry that entails collection of data; documentation of critical info; and analysis and interpretation of the data/info, in accordance with suitable methodologies set by specific professional fields and academic disciplines
develops our critical thinking skills as we learn about what works, what doesn’t work and why
what is the purpose of research?
information: acquire new knowledge, find answers, solutions to problems
facilitating change: disrupt and enhance practice, new ways of doing things, improve experiences
ethical issues: prevent harm, reduce waste, improve life conditions, social change
academic mission: interest, profile, contributions, enterprise
what are the two types of research?
qualitative - describing or understanding the quality of something
quantitative - measuring, or measured by the quantity of something
influenced by different paradigms - a set of commonly held beliefs and assumptions within a research community
what is all research underpinned by?
philosophical ideas about what is real (ontology), how we know things (epistemology) and how we can find things out (methodology)
what is quantitative research in general?
- numbers
- emphasis on measurement/counting
- general statements about people as groups
- looks to prove causal relationships
- sets hypotheses
- deductive (testing theory)
what is qualitative research in general?
- words/images - meaning
- (usually) no counting
- emphasis on individuals’ experiences and feelings
- no hypotheses
- inductive (builds theory)
what are research paradigms?
“all research sets out to find things. some sets out to find universal laws of nature. others embark on a journey to collect stories” (Fryer, 2020 p.9)
what is ontology?
the philosophy of knowledge, ‘the study of being’ (Crotty, 1998, p.10)
what is epistemology?
philosophical study of how knowledge is acquired, ‘the nature and forms of knowledge’ (Cohen et al., 2007 p.7)
what is methodology
the framework that guides decisions about the research approach
what are methods?
the tools used to collect data
what is constructivism?
multiple truths
reflects the social sciences and is interested in the ways people make sense of their experiences and the world around them
what is the ontological position (relativism)?
‘this conceives the social reality as humanly constructed and shaped in ways that make it fluid and multifaceted’ (Sparkers and Smith, 2014 p.11)
what is the epistemological position: contructivism?
‘the world does not exist independently of our knowledge of it’ (Grix, 2004 p.91)
multiple realities
what are the characteristics of constructivism?
context: ‘the social world can only be understood from the standpoint of individuals who are participating in it’ (Cohen et al., 2007 p.19)
rich detail: interpretivist research makes room for and values all of the complexity that positivist cannot accomodate. It is organic, open-ended and explanatory
researcher role: the researcher is an intrinsic part of research; they are the main instrument so will bring their biases with them which they examine via a process of reflexivity.
what is qualitative paradigm?
“what a qualitative paradigm tells us is that useful knowledge can be generated by looking at meaning, with small samples, that the researcher should not theorise themselves as absent or removed from this process. It also locates knowledge as contextual, and always partial and as linked to a particular theoretical and methodological commitments” (Braun and Clarke, 2013 p.33)
what is qualitative research?
the most basic definition of qualitative research is that it uses words as data, collected and analysed in all sorts of ways” (Braun and Clark, 2013 p.3)
no clear-cut and all-encompassing definition, reflects its complex nature
Avis (2005) argues each aspect of qualitative research is contested and subject to controversy i.e. what is is, what it’s for, how it’s done and how it’s judged
many authors favour the idea that qualitative research is an umbrella term for a broad, vibrant and diverse collective or camp of researchers and research (Sparkes and Smith, 2014)
what did Lincoln (2010) define qualitative research as capturing some of that diversity?
“we are interpretivists, postmodernists, poststructuralists; we are phenomenological, feminist critical. we choose lenses that are border, racial, ethnic, hybrid, queer, differently abled, indigenous, margin, centre, other” (p.8)
leads to richness and elaboration
what are qualitative questions?
qualitative research does not seek to test a hypothesis but instead is guided by research questions
research questions allow for the uncovering of rich detail and thick description that capture the subjectivities of human experience
what is a quote about qualitative researchers?
qualitative researchers have a wide range of data sources and data collection techniques to draw on, including participant observation, interviews (of various kinds), documentary sources, and visual methods (for example, photography, film) to name a few” (Sparkes and SMith, 2014 p.67)
this means that: as long as your methods align with your research question and with your participants
what are the different qualitative methods?
there is no one-way to do qualitative inquiry (denzin & Lincoln, 2005)
different research questions have implications for the ways you collect data
emphasis on accessing opinions, perspectives and authentic (in-process) actions
commonalities in methods used:
interviews, focus groups, observations
what are interviews?
Holloway (1997) suggests that the qualitative interview as a conversation with a purpose
two main forms; structured and unstructured
what in-depth data can you get from interviews?
- discover how individuals think/feel
- explore their context/experiences
- why they hold certain opinions
- private/confidential conversation
deepen understanding from a person-centred approach
what are semi-structured interviews?
- interview schedule - pre-planned questions
- element of structure, but can be flexible, follow-up questions allowed
- greater ‘standardisation’ across interviews
- more researcher control over topics
what are unstructured interviews?
- single question - no interview schedule
- participant responds freely
- flexible, naturally occurring data
- conversational in structure
- less researcher control over topics
what are focus groups?
focus groups are group interviews where the researcher facilitates the process
“an interview with from four to ten participants, conducted for the purpose of elaborating participants’ perspectives on a given topic” (Ennis and Chen, 2012 p.219)
- originated in market research and is now widely used in social science - akin to semi-structured interviews
- questions around a core aim, but with flexibility to embrace ideas put forward by participants
room for creativity and can involve tasks to aid engagement e.g. drawing, writing, collage, ranking exercises, to stimulate and focus the discussion
evaluation of using focus groups
- focus groups are particularly valuable when conducting research with children and young people
- good explanatory tool for under-researched areas of focus groups do not require any prior research or knowledge
- participants interactions can reveal group dynamics through verbal communication and body language, outside of a focus group such info would often be inaccessible to a researcher
what are observations?
“…one of the oldest and most fundamental research methods approaches. This approach involves collecting data using one’s senses, especially looking and listening in a systematic and meaningful way” (McKechnie, 2008 p.573)
- method for describing events, behaviours and artefacts in real-world settings
- observation can mean the researcher takes an ‘outsider view’
- however, participation style of observation is more involved
evaluation of observations
- good for understanding real life, not just perceptions about real life - explore context, experience cultures, authentic experiences
- particularly valuable when research is interested in practice - facilitate critical approaches e.g. relating to issues of power, social justice, equity (Thorpe & Olive, 2014)
- may be most effective when used in combination with other approaches e.g. interviews, surveys, focus groups
what is the best method?
depends on:
- research question (specific)
-aims of research (broad)
- who your participants are
- your own interests and strengths
how does sampling work in qualitative research
“sampling involves making informed and strategic choices about which people, places, settings, events and times are best fro gaining the data you need to address your research questions” (Sparkes and Smith, 2014 p.68)
between 4-40 pps is normal for qualitative studies however it can be more or less and is guided by your research question (Holloway, 1997)
what is purposive sampling?
the researcher attempts to recruit people to gain as much information as possible
what is theoretical sampling?
constructs a theoretically meaningful sample to help develop or test a theory
what is inclusion criteria?
researchers choose individuals who they believe will provide information rich cases, these can be homogenous or people from different contexts - guided by research question
what is criterion-based sampling?
predetermined criteria
what is snowball sampling?
participants direct the researcher to other participants
what is total population sampling?
everyone who is involved with your topic of study
what is involved with research quality?
care should be taken in research to ensure the quality of your approach/data
rigour - used to describe the trustworthiness of data
“rigour can be judged in many different ways” (Armour & Macdonald, 2012 p.12)
different criteria needed for qualitative and quantitative research?
parallel concepts (Lincoln & Guba, 1985)
- reliability, objectivity, validity (quant)
- dependability, confirmability, transferability (qual)
what is the ‘big tent’ criteria (Tracy, 2010)?
- worthy topic
- rich rigour
- sincerity
- credibility
- resonance
- significant contribution
- ethical
- meaningful coherence
what is an interpretivist underpinning of qual research?
an approach in research whereby reality is considered to be socially constructed and transmitted through ideas, beliefs and social interaction
Interpretivists argue that there is no objective truth (facts) and the world can only be understood by interpreting the information we have available to us (at the time)
what is qualitative analysis? (Sparkes and Smith, 2014 p.115)
qualitative analysis is an artful and scientific interpretive process of meaning-making that begins at the outset of the investigation. It involves transcription, data management, immersion in collected data, a concern with what is in the data or how it is constructed, an examination of any possible interrelationships, and reflexive awareness of the process of writing and representation”
what is thematic analysis?
- a common approach to analysing qualitative data
- flexible approach - can vary depending on the data generated and theoretical frame
- organises and describes data meaningfully in relation to the research questions
- used for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns in the data (themes)
- identifying and describing explicit and implicit ideas within the data
- requires involvement and interpretation from the researcher
what are the uses of thematic analysis?
- understand a pre-determined idea/model
- develop new ideas/theories (inductive)
- explore patterns & meaning emerging or constructed from data
- interpretative - i.e. asks what does the data mean?
what are the arguments about emerging themes?
- perhaps oversimplifies the process ignoring the labour that goes into qualitative analysis, losing sight of interpretivist nature of process by saying that themes are just emerging there
alternatives; identified, constructed, generated, developed
what are the 6 steps of thematic analysis?
- familiarisation with the data
- generating initial codes
- searching for themes
- reviewing the themes
- defining and naming themes
- writing the report
what is the outlined process of thematic analysis by Sparkes and Smith (2014)?
phase 1: immersion in the data (read/re-read transcripts, responses, fieldnotes etc.)
phase 2: generate some initial codes (across the data set), tie into initial research aims
phase 3: identify themes running through the data, sort themes (through coding), create visual map of themes/sub-themes
phase 4: review the themes, examine coherence, look to tell the story of the research through these
what is stage 1 - transcription? (Braun and Clarke, 2006)
- transcription - process of converting speech into text for analysis
- transcription should be:
verbatim - not paraphrased or summarised or in any way ‘doctored’ - partial transcription may be an option in some cases
holistic - recording the words of both researcher and respondent
accurate - a true representation of the conversation
what is stage 2 - coding data?
coding - ‘to pull apart’ data
code - description attached to a piece of data which can be later related to a theme
coding helps to:
- systematically identify the patterns in the data
- reduce the data set into manageable ‘chunks’
how do we code data?
number of ways including:
- working through texts & marking them up (colours)
- cutting and sorting
- using post-it notes
- writing notes in the margins on the transcripts
- CAQDAS (computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software) e.g. Atlas, NVivo
* some critique of software use - still needs researcher engagement, programmes only ‘assisy’ analysis
what are the types of codes?
semantic (data-derived) codes:
“data-derived codes provide a succinct summary of the explicit content of the data;they are semantic codes, because they are based in the semantic meaning in the data” (Braun and Clarke, 2013 p.207)
latent (researcher-derived) codes:
“researcher-derived codes go beyond the explicit content of the data; they are latent which invoke the researcher’s conceptual and theoretical frameworks to identify implicit meanings within the data” (Braun and Clarke, 2013 p.207)
what are codes and memos?
coding categories to identify key themes, helps to organise data
“coding is a pivotal link between collecting data and developing emergent theory to explain these data. Through coding you define what is happening in the data and begin to grapple with what it means” (Charmaz, 2006 p.44)
continuing and evolving process
- double-back steps, not always linear, more focused over time
memos provide additional explanation
“memo writing leads us to explore codes” (Charmaz, 2000 p.517)
highlight potential links to theory/literature
what is stage 3: identifying themes
themes:
- patterns across data sets that are important - theory, aims, RQs
- categorising codes that ‘fit’ together (alignment)
- commonly recurring topic(s) and/or codes
questioning the data:
- are there codes coming up more often than others?
- can some codes be grouped together in a broader category? (e.g. friend, socialising, relationships, being with others = social interaction)
- what are the most important points raised which help us to understand the phenomenon?
what is stage 4&5 - reviewing and labelling?
two key concepts ion qualitative analysis:
- constant comparison: process of repeatedly ‘going through’ your data in order to make sense of it. Involves comparing codes to generate common themes.
- thick description: providing enough detail to enable reader to understand the context
what questions to ask of your themes in stage 4&5?
- do the themes represent the data and help to make sense of it?
- has anything important been missed?
- is the context present and accountable?
- does the theme label accurately define what the theme is about?
what is visual/conceptual mapping?
- condenses large amounts of data
- making sense of codes/memos
- start to see links and patterns - helps give structure
- facilitates the writing process - link in theory, include quotes (from data and literature)
- facilitates understanding for the reader
- can help to clarify ‘storyline’ before writing
what is stage 6: interpreting and writing up?
show your working out…
- why is the theme important?
- what does it tell us about the phenomenon?
- what can we learn from it?
quotations from transcripts act as evidence for your theme development
- shows your interpretation of the data
what makes good research?
rigour is a term used to describe the trustworthiness in research
“rigour can be judged in many ways, and can helpfully be associated with methodological and theoretical robustness and the use of a systematic approach” (Armour and Macdonald, 2012 p.12)
what are parallel concepts noted by Lincoln & Guba (1985)?
quan reliability = qual dependability - to address this; accurate documentation
quan ojectivity=qual confirmability - to address; rigorous documentation, inter-rater reliability, critical friends, post-analysis data audit
quan validity = qual transferability/credibility - to address this; member checks, rich detail, reflexivity, content accuracy, triangulation of methods, prolonged engagement
