Qualitive Research Flashcards
What is qualitative research useful for?
Finding recurrent themes
Qualitative research can also build on or provide a basis for quantitative research.
Define qualitative research design.
A package of theory, method, and other design elements for doing research.
What do ontology and epistemology together form?
A paradigm.
What does ontology study?
What is out there to know? Nature of reality.
What is the realist position in ontology?
There is ONE reality
One objective, stable reality that appears the same to everyone.
What is the idealist position in ontology?
A focus on mental/conscious phenomena; perception of reality is mediated by our ideas and perspectives.
What does the relativist position in ontology state?
There are as many realities as people
Reality is relative to numerous frameworks and context; it is entirely subjective.
Define epistemology.
How can we find out about reality? How can we know reality?
What is the positivist stance in epistemology?
Knowledge exists outside of the person and can be tested and measured; it is objective.
what is the relativist take on epistemology?
knowledge is specific to social / historical / cultiral contexts
Describe the interpretivist perspective in epistemology.
Humans are unique, and people’s actions are based on how they interpret the social world.
What do the 4 positions believe about research paradigms?
Positivism - One reality we can measure objectively
Critical Realism - One reality but we only know about it through interactions
Constructivism - Multiple realities that need to be interpreted to understand meaning
Pragmatism - Knowledge should be examined using the best tools available, using whichever research design naturally fits into the study the best
What are the three types of interviews in qualitative data collection?
- Structured
- Semi-structured
- Unstructured
What is a semi-structured interview?
The most common and practical type of interview, emphasizing the same meaning of questions.
What is the purpose of focus groups in qualitative research?
A group interview that uses interactions as a source of data. Ppts can respond to and comment on each other’s contributions, and challenge each other in ways they likely would not if it was an individual interview
Differentiate between covert and overt observations.
Covert observations are hidden; overt observations are known to the participants.
What types of existing data can be used in qualitative research?
- News articles
- Media broadcasts
- Social media posts
- Archival data (diaries, letters, newspapers)
What are some questions to consider for qualitative data analysis?
- Have I captured the situation realistically?
- Is the context described in sufficient detail?
- Am I sensitive to particular issues?
What are non-test based methods in qualitative research?
- Repertory grids
- Q-methodology
- Microanalysis of audio/video
- Pluralistic methods
Name some text-based methods for qualitative data analysis.
- Thematic analysis
- Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
- Discourse Analysis (DA)
- Grounded theory
What is thematic analysis?
Identifying recurring themes.
What is the focus of content analysis?
Identifying frequency of themes, words, and concepts in the content.
Differentiate between conceptual and relational content analysis.
- Conceptual content analysis: looks for existence and frequency of concepts
- Relational content analysis: examines the relationship between themes
What are the stages of content analysis?
- Prepare: develop research aims/questions and select data
- Familiarise yourself with the data
- Break text into manageable units
- Condense these units
- Apply initial codes and develop new ones
- Identify themes/categories by grouping codes
- Adjust codes/themes where needed
True or False: Content analysis can be used to draw conclusions about cause and effect.
False
Content analysis cannot be used to draw conclusions about cause and effect but can be combined with other methods.
What is a key limitation of coding in qualitative research?
Coding is a subjective process, influenced by the researcher.
what is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)?
lived experiences, rich description of individual cases
What is discourse analysis?
analysis of language, how reality is instructed
What is conversation analysis?
looks at devices in language when people are talking about experiences, linguistics
What is grounded theory?
data-driven approach, based entirely on data collected, not previous research
What is ethnography?
studying a group of people, look at different elements, become part of that group
What is content analysis?
themes and patterns, can be qualitative or quantitative
