Qualitative Research Methods

Question 1

quaNTItative research

Answer 1

• Quantitative research is really useful in capturing the big picture.
• Here we measure and quantify phenomena
• Has the ability to generalise results
• Requires prior definition of the research process
• Argued to be objective

Question 2

quaLITITative reserach

Answer 2

• Qualitative research is good for the smaller picture.
• Here we attempt to provide rich descriptions and possible explanations of people’s meaning making.
• We are not typically able to generalise; instead we aim to say something specific about some phenomena or cohort of people.
• Researchers need a focus, or research question, but this can be quite broad.
• More subjective (but grounded in data analysis)

Question 3

10 Fundamentals of qualitative research (Braun & Clarke, 2013)

Answer 3

• Is about meaning-making
• Doesn’t provide a single answer
• Context is important
• Can be experiential or critical
• Underpinned by ontological assumptions
• Underpinned by different epistemological assumptions
• Involves a qualitative methodology
• Uses all sorts of data
• Involves thinking qualitatively
• Values subjectivity and reflexivity

Question 4

1 - meaning making

Answer 4

• Aim to capture some aspect of the psychological world.

* However, we don’t assume that the same accounts will be generated every time by every researcher.

Question 5

2 - doesn’t provide a single answer

Answer 5

• There is no single right answer, no single truth.
• Accounts are partial and subjective to some extent.
• They need to be plausible, coherent and grounded in the data.

Question 6

3 - context is important

Answer 6

• Where participants come from will be relevant.
• Biases exist and we incorporate that into our analysis.
• Subjectivity is key.

Question 7

4 - can be ethical or critical

Answer 7

• Experiential researchers validate meanings, views, perspectives, experiences and practices expressed in the data.
• Critical approaches take an interrogative stance towards meaning and experiences expressed in the data, seek to understand the factors influencing, and effects of, particular meanings or representations expressed.

Question 8

5 - Underpinned by ontological assumptions

Answer 8

• Experiential: Desire to know people’s own perspectives.
• Critical approaches: How language shapes our reality.
• Underpinned by ontological assumptions – that is the relationship between the world and human interpretations and practices.
• Continuum of belief. At one end realists argue that there is a knowable world and that there is truth out there for us to discover. At the other end relativists argues that there are multiple realities and we can’t get beyond these constructions.

Question 9

6 – Underpinned by different epistemological assumptions

Answer 9

• Epistemology is about what counts as legitimate knowledge.
• It addresses questions such as:
o What is possible to know?
o How can meaningful knowledge be generated?

Question 10

7 – Involves a qualitative methodology

Answer 10

• The framework which our research is conducted in consists of theories and practices for how we go about conducting our work.
• E.g. how are participants selected? What methods of data collection and analyses are appropriate? Who can conduct the research? What is the role of the researcher?
• There are a range of qualitative methods – we’ll be looking at thematic analysis this year

Question 11

8 – Uses all sorts of data

Answer 11

• There are a range of modes of data collection

Question 12

9 – Involves thinking qualitatively

Answer 12

• We have research questions, aims & objectives.

* But we don’t test hypotheses - understanding is our focus.

Question 13

10 – Values subjectivity and reflexivity

Answer 13

• Subjective process
• Researchers history/values/ assumptions/ politics
• Includes the topics we want to consider
• Reflect on this in the research process

Question 14

An example

Topic: gender and health

Answer 14

• Quantitative research is really useful at outlining differences such as men dying at a younger age than women, and across different countries.
• Qualitative research is better placed at understanding why this is. E.g. why men don’t go to the doctors as much as women.
• We might also be interested in LGBTQ communities and how they fit in with that bigger picture.

Question 15

Why do qualitative research?

Answer 15

• To answer the ‘how’ and ‘why’ or the broader picture.
• It’s rich, exciting and challenging.
• To make sense of patterns and meanings.
• It can have impact – we can change things from our research.

Question 16

Different research questions

Answer 16

• Don’t just think about doing qualitative research because you can’t do stats!
• Qualitative research is NOT the easy option and it takes time.
• Do it if the types of things you are interested in can’t be answered quantitatively.

Question 17

What does qualitative research look like in practice?

Answer 17

• Decisions made in any research project will be influenced by methodology.
• You need to define, develop and refine your methodological stance.
• Methodological decisions to be made can be summarised as thus:
• What is your research topic?
• What assumptions are you making about reality?
• How is it possible to know this?
• What do you wish to find out about your research topic?
• What kind of data are you going to collect?
• How will you analyse this data?

Question 18

(insider vs outsider) - insiders

Answer 18

Researchers who share a similar background as the group they are studying
• Greater understanding of issues and context and be more aware and attuned to ethical issues
• May lack critical distance and possibly result in biased observations, such that could over-look parts of the data if they take for granted its content
• Difficulties if participants treat the researcher as a friend, and therefore discloses more than they are comfortable with. Insider status does not necessarily translate to an understanding of shared experience (Clarke, Ellis, Peel & Riggs, 2010).

Question 19

(Insider vs outsiders) - outsiders

Answer 19

Researchers who do not share similar backgrounds or experiences with the group under study
• Outsiders may be unable to understand, or accurately represent, the experiences of their participants.
• May miss contextual aspects and insider norms
• Seeking to represent the voices of others runs the risk of pathologising the Other (Wilkinson & Kitzinger, 1996),
• Outsiders may be able to make observations and draw conclusions that insiders could not, for example, by asking ‘naive questions‘.

Question 20

Decolonising qualitative research

Answer 20

• Decolonisation refers to the undoing of colonial rule.
• Indigenous communities are often un/under represented in academic research communities and hence their voices and concerns are not heard.
• We need to consider how power affects what we select to research, who pays for the research and what purpose the research serves.
• Researcher must be accountable (not distort), be collaborative, and give back to the community they study.
• How is research methodology itself distorted by a dominant tradition? See Deane Bell’s research.