Qualitative research methods

Question 1

What is the difference between Big Q and Little q in qualitative research?

Answer 1

Big Q - qualitative research paradigm i.e. whole framework
Small q - mixed methods research, in which qualitative methods will be used alongside quantitative (methods NOT full methodology)

Question 2

What are the 3 strands of qualitative methods?

Answer 2

Reliability and validity e.g. content analysis to determine validity of a persuasive speech by counting number of persuasive words used
Generating and grounding - generating a theory using the methodological principle of construction i.e. creating meaning
Discursive and reflexive - interested in how people talk about ideas and where ideas come from could conduct discourse analysis or narrative analysis

Question 3

What are the 3 design requirements for all qualitative methods?

Answer 3

Participant-led - gaining data rich in participant meanings, don’t want too much influence from experimenter
Open ended and flexible - allows us to pick up on potential new and unexpected avenues
Accommodating - reframing same question to suit different subjects if necessary

Question 4

What is the data dealt with in qualitative designs like?

Answer 4

Naturally occurring and original - participant should feel relaxed and able to speak freely
Must not be coded, summarised or categorised in early stages - better to use audio recordings rather than taking notes!

Question 5

How does the issue of validity apply to qualitative research and how can we address it?

Answer 5

Must ensure that both collection and analysis methods address the research question accurately
Reflexivity - personal i.e. how personal experiences led to creation of research questions and influenced analyses, and epistemological i.e. how data collection method resulted in data obtained
Critical language awareness

Question 6

What type of reliability are qualitative designs concerned with?

Answer 6

Inter- and intra-rater reliability e.g. making sure same method of coding a transcript is used by the same individual on separate occasions and by different individuals

Question 7

Why is role of participants a data issue in qualitative research?

Answer 7

Not always a clear distinction between participants and researcher, embedded within own data and sometimes even becoming one of the participants

Question 8

What needs to be considered when conducting semi-structured interviews?

Answer 8

Social identities of the researcher and how this may influence participant response
Impact of formal interview setting on participant - need to make them as relaxed as possible
Linguistic variability
Interviewer says very little - not so much a conversation but participant should be doing largely undirected talking

Question 9

What are the 4 phases to a typical interview schedule?

Answer 9

Phase 1 - warming up
Phase 2 - exploring discussion points
Phase 3 - core discussion
Phase 4 - summarising

Question 10

What 4 types of question tactics did Spradley outline?

Answer 10

DESCRIPTIVE - just involve giving a general account
STRUCTURAL - questions organised into categories an follow on from each other
CONTRASTING - where participants are asked to make comparisons between events
EVALUATIVE - asked to give own personal feelings about a topic

Question 11

What are the key features of Jefferson transcription?

Answer 11

Capitals for volume of word
Underlining for emphasis
Asterisk for squeaky voice 
number in brackets for length of pause
Dot in brackets is a micropause
Parentheses when 2 or more speakers
>< either side of sentence indicates it was sped up

Question 12

What is observation like as a method of data collection?

Answer 12

Can be overt or covert, carried out when little is known about a particular group, or when studying a group isolated from the general population, or when a group’s behaviour is not generally publicly accessible

Question 13

What 5 features define the recording of participant observation?

Answer 13

Must be detailed
Soon after event (tricky for covert as don’t want participants to see you jotting things down)
Substantive notes - don’t rely on memory
Methodological notes - varies day to day
Analytical notes i.e. own thoughts

Question 14

What 3 forms can observations take?

Answer 14

One-off, phased e.g. observing kids over several years, or combined data collection and analysis
All need focused and intensive observation of the phenomena - really need to know what we are looking at and how we want to be measuring it

Question 15

Why are diary methods useful?

Answer 15

Can be audio or visual so engage even those people who can’t write
Present data in chronological order (but participants do need to be instructed)

Question 16

What are advantages and disadvantages of diary methods?

Answer 16

ADVANTAGES - chronological, avoids retrospection and forgetting, can cover sensitive material (although need to be careful that we are not keeping the person in continuous trauma, reliving things)
DISADVANTAGES - long-term commitment so high attrition, ethical implications of sharing personal information (diaries need to be password protected)

Question 17

How are focus groups used as a qualitative method?

Answer 17

Researcher acts as a moderator, not too actively involved in the discussion
Groups of around 6 participants or less usually, and participants encouraged to just be themselves and interact normally

Question 18

What are three possible group types for focus groups?

Answer 18

Homogenous or heterogenous
Pre-existing or new
Concerned or naïve

Question 19

What are advantages and disadvantages of focus groups?

Answer 19

ADVANTAGES - people talk more in groups, less artificial than interviews
DISADVANTAGES - people may be less willing to discuss sensitive topics, some may dominate discussion and not let others talk so we may only get biased opinions

Question 20

What is content analysis?

Answer 20

A hybrid technique with empirical epistemology, using qualitative data and converting into quantitative for analysis e.g. turning letters into numbers
Used more for small q than Big Q i.e. to check data against existing theories
The essence of content analysis is CATEGORISATION, describing a set of data in terms of a set of categories and how many examples have been counted in each category - info then presented as a summary table with frequencies in the cells

Question 21

What is a problem/consideration with content analysis?

Answer 21

It is important to be sure that the categories we have chosen are appropriate for our data i.e. we need to spend a lot of time examining the data and research interests
If the data are very complex and meaningful, content analysis can mean we lose a lot of detail - we should do a proper qualitative analysis if we want to retain rich information

Question 22

What is protocol analysis?

Answer 22

A form of qualitative analysis used in conjunction with established psychological theories and in hypothetico-deductive research
Used commonly in cognitive psychology and has origins in information-processing theory i.e. how the human mind deals with information
The root of the technique is the belief that we can analyse some aspects of information processing if we ask participants to think aloud during a task - gives idea at least of what they are attending to at a given moment

Question 23

What is the main assumption of protocol analysis?

Answer 23

Serial processing i.e. when we are dealing with a task we process one strand of info at a time, bringing relevant aspects of the task into our working memory
Thinking aloud allows researchers to record how the working memory deals with information

Question 24

What does collection of data for protocol analysis involve?

Answer 24

Establishing an appropriate research situation in which thinking aloud is freely possible and info can lend itself to audio recording, while the participant is able to conduct task without interference
Participants need to be ready and able to engage in this kind of limited introspection - if the task is too challenging people will often fall silent while concentrating so they may need prompting

Question 25

What is a possible validity issue with protocol analysis?

Answer 25

Is there a possibility that thinking aloud is changing the natural thought processes?

Question 26

What is grounded theory?

Answer 26

Qualitative data used to develop a theoretical base able to then be used for future explorations - it is the traditional qualitative style focusing on discovery rather than verification, studying interactions and meanings

Question 27

What is the process of conducting grounded theory research?

Answer 27

Isnt simply a case of looking at the data and developing theories from it - it is an ITERATIVE CYCLE in which theoretical insights emerge, are tested to see how they can make sense of other parts of the data, producing their own subsequent theoretical insights, then tested against data again etc etc

There is continual flip-flop between theory and data, involves combination of induction and deduction

Question 28

What is the end result of grounded theory research?

Answer 28

Theory firmly grounded in observation of reality, often very context-specific but as grounded in real-world data it can form a strong basis for future investigations

Question 29

What are the 3 steps in conducting a grounded theory analysis?

Answer 29

Preparing the data - fully transcribing for example, getting data into a form that allows it to be repeatedly analysed; important to be VERY SPECIFIC to aid close data inspection e.g. include line numbers
Indexing - Categories are noted using open-ended index system, and again we see flip flop between indexing and the data; categories become more defined as inspection continues and ideas for categories and concepts continue to emerge
Core analysis - indexing system becomes even more refined and categories linked together; eventually concepts become saturated i.e. throw up no new connections, and we can start summarising it, incorporating all of its facets, and integrating everything to produce our grounded theory

Question 30

How does the prep stage of grounded theory analysis differ from thematic analysis?

Answer 30

Categories are not pre-established, but emerge from the data and are developed by the researcher as they read the material

Question 31

What are the 3 main outcomes of grounded theory work?

Answer 31

Taxonomy development - identifying practical set of concepts which can form basis of future research
Local theoretical reflection - explore issues relating to a particular event e.g. comparing insights from the analysis with established theories to see how they match
Fully-fledged grounded theory - attempt to develop full account of topic being studied, generalisable beyond specific context and incorporating enough detail to be able to be treated as a full explanation

Question 32

What is grounded theory analysis most suitable for?

Answer 32

Identifying general THEMES and issues arising in qualitative data - provide fuller reflection on the meaning of the data

Question 33

What is discourse analysis?

Answer 33

Social constructionist methodology concerned with discourse (written or spoken), how language is constructive and constructed (and also how social meaning is constructed), how discourse can be a form of action, and how it can be rhetorically organised (a great deal of discourse is concerned with establishing a particular viewpoint over another)
Rejects quantitative approaches to methodology, and the ideas of studying observable behaviours and human cognitions - limited and impractical and don’t take into account the flexibility of human actions and how we shape/reshape our experiences through discourse

Question 34

What four considerations did Potter identify relating to validity and reliability in discourse analysis?

Answer 34

DEVIANT-CASE ANALYSIS - use of anomalous cases of discourse which can lead to improved measures of reliability in non-deviant cases i.e. cases where normal discursive patterns are broken, and the impact this has
UNDERSTANDING - Participant understanding of a statement/event, rather than imposing an external interpretation; recipient understanding must be taken as the more valid in exploring social construction of knowledge e.g. how they interpret a “compliment”
COHERENCE - how this study fits with previous work
REFLEXIVITY - how the reader evaluates the study; discourse analysis is a reflexive process meaning there is a dynamic interaction between what is being studied and how; each changes the other. So the sense readers make of the study and how they assess analyst interpretations contribute to the validity of the work