Research methods

Question 1

!!What is the difference between little q and big Q?

Answer 1

little q : deriving a hypothesis and testing it
Big Q : open ended, bottom up, concerned with generating a theory and exploring meaning/depth

Question 2

What is the basis for qualitative research methods? What is this branch of philosophy concerned with?

Answer 2

Epistemology
Concerned with what can we know and how do we know?

Question 3

What are three types of knowledge?

Answer 3

Realism
Social Constuctionism
Phenomenological

Question 4

What is realist knowledge? What is the researchers role in it? What are the assumptions?

Answer 4

Researcher acts as detective that has to uncover something/a phenomenon that is already there.
The world is intelligible and bound by rules
The world can be uncovered as long as the researcher is skilled enough to uncover the patterns/structures/laws that characterize it

Question 5

What is phenomenological knowledge? What is the researchers role in it? What are the assumptions?

Answer 5

Researcher acts as counsellor, trying to understand peoples subjective experiences of something rather than objective realities. The world is experiencially diverse - its experienced differently by everyone. Not trying to understand what things make a persons reality, but simply understanding someones reality, not what shapes it.
Some assumptions are intentionality - consciousness is aware of conscious of something: we need to be comnscious/ackowlegde the things we experience to know we are experiencing something
Accuracy and researchers view of experience is irrelevant, because looking to understand oindividuals expeirence

Question 6

What is social constructionist knowledge? What is the researchers role in it? What are the assumptions?

Answer 6

Researcher acts as the architect
Taking a skeptical position in relation to knowledge, aiming to deconstruct. The key is the language that people use to create realities. Not aiming to understand what is really going on behind it (realist) or understanding the experience of an individual (phenomenological) but rather about the socially constructed versions of reality made through the use of language
Assumptions: all knowledge is constructed through social interactions , where meaning is ollecitvely and collaorativel agreed upon with others

Question 7

What are 4 steps in qualitative data collection?

Answer 7

research question
data collection
create narrative
pattern based analysis

Question 8

What are different types of qualitative data collection?

Answer 8

Interviews
Diaries
Focus groups
Web based data
archival data

Question 9

What are characteristics of Interviews as a data collection method?

Question 10

What are characteristics of diaries as a data collection method?

Question 11

What are characteristics of focus groups as a data collection method?

Question 12

What are characteristics of archival data as a data collection method?

Question 13

What are characteristics of web based data as a data collection method?

Question 14

What are some pros and cons to interviews as a data collection method?

Question 15

What are some pros and cons to diaries as a data collection method?

Question 16

What are some pros and cons to focus groups as a data collection method?

Question 17

What are some pros and cons to archival data as a data collection method?

Question 18

What are some pros and cons to web based data as a data collection method?