Qualitative studies Flashcards
What does qualitative research investigate?
Understand the meaning of x to people
Increase the understanding of the phenomenon from the individual’s perspective
Good at picking up complicated nuances of the experience
Why conduct qualitative research?
Giving voice to different people/stakeholder/minorities or marginalized groups
Experiences in context
Complex phenomenon
Answer ‘Why’
Develop theory
Exploratory research
Qualitative methods key to developing and evaluating complex interventions
What are the characteristics of qualitative research sample?
Smaller than in quantitative but we still need depth
Theoretical saturation
We move away from saturation to: Information power (put empthesis on quality not quantitiy of the data); to have the estimate you need to consider these:
Breadth of research question
Relevance of sample
Complexity of topic
Analytical goals
Experiences of researcher (might need more ppl to interview to get needed info)
Can’t be decided in advance
What are some qualitative methods of data collection?
Individual interviews (can be walking interviews- mostly semi-structured)
Focus group discussions
Observation
Documentary methods
Multimedia
Photos, pictures, PhotoVoice
Creative methods, art workshops, performative methodologies, etc.
How to use focus groups?
Method for exploring social norms / values
Insight into operation of social processes
Sensitive topics?
Homogeneous / heterogeneous groups
Participants with relevant characteristics or pre-existing group
What is reflexivity?
Researcher part of the research process
Reflexivity involves reflecting upon influence of values, experiences and beliefs
Techniques to support reflexivity include: keeping a journal, debriefing with others, involving others in the analysis, etc.
Participant observation
Aim to understand social phenomenon in natural setting
Provide direct access what participants do
Immerse self in the setting
Record events and interactions; impressions
Maximise range of behaviours & people
Characteristics of good qualitative research
Trustworthiness
Authenticity
Critical appraisal and integrity
Transparency
Careful and vigorous analysis (negative case analysis)
Challenges of qualitative research
Not easy to generalise
Tolerance of ambiguities
Time consuming
Problems with anonymity
Researcher “bias”
Strengths of qualitative research
Exploration of participants’ reality
Priority of data
Orientation towards naturalism
Flexibility of research design
Holistic approach
