Qualitative research designs and data collection (wk 10)

Question 1

What is qualitative research?

Answer 1

Is a process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyses words, reports detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting.

Question 2

What is quality in qualitative research?

Answer 2

Validity, reliability, trustworthiness

Question 3

Quality in qualitative research
-Dependability, confirmability, credibility, transferability

Answer 3

• Dependability – Showing that the findings are consistent and could be repeated
• Confirmability – A degree of neutrality or the extent to which the findings of a study are shaped by the respondents and no researcher bias, motivation, or interest
• Credibility – Confidence in the ‘truth’ of the findings
• Transferability – Showing that the findings have applicability in other contexts

Question 4

What is methodology (strategies of enquiry)?

Answer 4

The strategy, plan of action, the way that you group together your research techniques to make the ‘grand design’

Question 5

What are methods?

Answer 5

What you actually do, the techniques and procedures you use to gather and analyse data/evidence related to a specific research question or hypothesis.

Question 6

Phenomenology
-Research purpose, disciplinary origin, primary data collection method, data analysis, report

Question 7

Ethnography
-Research purpose, disciplinary origin, primary data collection method, data analysis, report

Question 8

Grounded theory
-Research purpose, disciplinary origin, primary data collection method, data analysis, report

Question 9

Types of interviews

Answer 9

-> Individual group, structured-semi-structured-unstructured, open questions-closed questions, styles – biographical, clinical, ethnographical, method face-to-face, telephone, computer-assisted.

Question 10

Strengths of interviews

Answer 10

-> extensive personalisation/interaction, extensive opportunities to ask Qs, possible to probe, flexible

Question 11

Limitations of interviews

Answer 11

Labour intensive (And costly), not extensive, subjectivities in interpretation and analysis, limited reliability, memory decay

Question 12

Questions to avoid in interviews

Answer 12

Double questions, long complex questions, questions involving jargon/ technical terms, leading/biased questions, ambiguous questions, invasion of privacy

Question 13

A good interviewer must have:

Answer 13

Have listening skills, put questions in a straightforward, clear and not threatening way, be sensitive to non-verbal communication, eliminate cues which leads interviewees to respond in a particular way, enjoy it don’t look bored.

Question 14

What are the 3 stages of qualitative analysis

Answer 14

• Data reduction -> Coding, discarding irrelevant data – on going process throughout the research
• Data display -> Draw conclusions from the mass of data
• Conclusion drawing/ verifications validity -> Examined through references to your existing field notes and critical discussions with tutors

Question 15

What are the several ways of analysing qualitative data?

Answer 15

Ethnographic analysis, structured analysis, content analysis, axial coding and constant comparison, inductive and deductive analytical procedures, post-structuralism approach, feminist approach

Question 16

What is the ‘data’ structure?

Answer 16

Words, phrases, paragraphs, connections, patterns, sequences

Question 17

What is the key process in the data reduction stage?

Answer 17

Coding qualitative data

Question 18

What is coding?

Answer 18

-> The organisation of raw data in conceptual categories. Each code is effectively a category – first stage of providing some form or logical structure to the data. Codes are tags or labels for assigning units of meaning to the descriptive information complied during a study. Codes are attached to chunks of words of phrases, sentences or whole paragraphs.

Question 19

What are the stages of data coding?

Answer 19

Data is carefully read, all statements relating to the research question are identified and assigned a code-category. Reread of the transcripts- search for statement that fit into categories. Further codes might be developed- Axial coding. More analytical – look for patterns and explanation.

Question 20

Subjective well-being?

Answer 20

Developmental, social, material, mental, physical

Question 21

Developmental and physical

Answer 21

-> Personal development, independence, health, maintenance, fitness

Question 22

Mental and social

Answer 22

Cognitive function, family, positive affect, social life, contribution, negative affect

Question 23

What is data trustworthiness?
-Confirmability, dependability, credibility, transferability

Answer 23

1. Confirmability (objectivity) -> Link with raw data themes-list of emerged themes
2. Dependability (reliability) -> Triangulation of transcripts and themes
3. Credibility (internal validity) -> Pilot study, member checking
4. Transferability (external validity) -> Demographic characteristics, specific settings