Qualitative research methods (wk 9) Flashcards
What is systems to methods?
Epistemology, Theoretical perspective, Methodology, Method
What is theoretical perspective?
How you, the researcher, view the world and the assumptions that you make about the nature of the world and of reality. What is there? What is reality? How can we understand existence?
What is epistemology?
The assumptions that you make about the best way of investigating the world and about reality. How we know what we know? What is valid knowledge? How can we obtain it?
What is methodology (strategies of enquiry) ?
The strategy, plan of action, the way that you group together your research techniques to make a coherent picture
What are methods?
What you actually do, the techniques and procedures you use to gather and analyse data/evidence related to a specific research question or hypothesis
What is the world view of realist ontology?
The world is ‘real’ and science proceeds by examining and observing it. There is a single truth. Facts exist, and can be revealed through experiments
What is the world view of relativist ontology?
The whole truth is constructed -> Scientific laws are basically created by people to fit their view of reality. There are many truths. Facts depend on the viewpoint of the observer.
How so we see the world?
-Epistemology
The assumption that you make the best way of investigating the world and about reality. Two main schools are positivism and social constructionism:
* Positivists believe that the best way to investigate the world is through objective methods, such as observations. Positivism fits within a realist ontology.
* Social constructionists believe that reality does not exist by itself. Instead, it is constructed and given meaning by people. Their focus is therefore on feelings, beliefs and thoughts, and how people communicate these. Social constructionism fits better with relativist ontology.
How do we see the world?
-Methodology
Influenced by ontology and epistemology. Realists tend to have positivist approach, which tend to gather quantitative sources of data. Relativists tend to have a social constructionist approach, which tend to gather qualitative sources of data.
What are the quantitative approaches?
Collect and analyse numerical data. Tells you why there is a ‘difference’ but nit necessarily explain ‘why’. Variables are controlled. Randomisation to reduce subjective bias.
What is qualitative research?
-> 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 (Creswell, 1998)
What are qualitative approaches?
-> Research that doesn’t involved numerical data. Instead uses words, pictures, photos, videos, audio recordings. Tends to start with a broad question rather than a specific hypothesis.
What is qualitative data collection?
Focus is on collection of rich date to explore how and why things happened. No need for large sample sizes (in comparison to quantitative research). Need to be careful: Do respondents give accurate info or they say what they believe the researcher wants to hear? Can the researcher be objective/ what are ways to ensure that the data is trustworthy?
What are the types of qualitative data?
Interviews (structure, semi-structured or unstructured), focus groups, questionnaires or surveys, diaries/ field notes
Draw the table for the strategies of inquiry: qualitative or quantitative
(purpose, researcher-subject, theory-research, research strategy, findings, social reality, nature of data)
