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Mixed Methods > Revision > Flashcards

Revision Flashcards

1
Q

What are some characteristics of qualitative research?

A
  • Often takes place in naturally-occurring settings
  • Structure is flexible and emergent
  • Seeks to understand an individuals experience
  • Often subjective, and biased
  • Often N = small
  • Data is collected with general forms, and emerging questions
  • Is often text analysis – with a focus on describing themes
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2
Q

Strengths of qualitative research?

A
  • May identify the variables or suggest the hypotheses to be tested in subsequent research
  • May develop new theories
  • May challenge the status quo and identify new directions of inquiry
  • Provides rich descriptions of complex phenomena
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3
Q

Limitations of qualitative research?

A
  • May be seen as less credible by administrators/funding bodies
  • Longer time for both data collection and analysis
  • More difficult to compare findings across studies
  • Can’t account for cause and effect relationships
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4
Q

What are some characteristics of quantitative methodologies?

A
  • Description of relationships between variables, or group differences
  • Asks narrow questions
  • Analyses numbers using statistics
  • Often N = large
  • Often conducted in laboratory or tightly controlled circumstances
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5
Q

What are some strengths of quantitative methodologies?

A
  • Test and validate theories
  • Establish hypotheses before collecting data
  • Can generalise findings
  • Can make predictions from findings
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6
Q

What are some limitations of quantitative methodologies?

A
  • May not reflect the ‘real world’
  • Miss phenomena
  • Findings may be too abstract to be useful
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7
Q

What is mixed methods research?

A 
“the class of research where the researcher mixes or combines quantitative
and qualitative research techniques, methods, approaches, concepts or
language into a single study”
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8
Q

Characteristics of mixed methods research?

A
  • collects and analyzes persuasively and rigorously both qualitative and quantitative data (based on research questions)
  • mixes the two forms of data concurrently, sequentially, or embedding one
    within the other
  • gives priority to one or to both forms of data
  • uses these procedures in a single study or in multiple phases of a program of study
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9
Q

What research problems fit mixed methods?

A
  • One data source may be insufficient
  • Initial quantitative results need to be explained
  • Exploratory findings need to be generalized
  • A secondary method is needed to enhance a study’s primary method
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10
Q

What are some strengths of the mixed methods design?

A

• Provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both quantitative and
qualitative research
• Provides more evidence
• Helps answer questions that cannot be answered by one approach alone
• Provides a bridge between quantitative and qualitative researchers

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11
Q

What are some challenges of the mixed methods design?

A

The Question of Skills

  • Experience with quantitative research
  • Experience with qualitative research
  • Solid grounding in mixed methods research
    2. The Question of Time and Resources
  • Time to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data
  • Resources to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data
  • Personnel and skills to complete the study
    3. . The Question of Convincing Others
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12
Q

Best world view for mixed methods?

A

Pragmatism

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13
Q

5 reasons for employing a mixed methods design?

A
  1. Triangulation
  2. Complementarity
  3. Development
  4. Initiation
  5. Expansion
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14
Q

What are the major 6 mm design?

A
  1. Convergent parallel design
  2. Explanatory sequential design
  3. Exploratory sequential design
  4. Embedded design
  5. Transformative design
  6. Multiphase design
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15
Q

What is a Convergent Parallel Design? What does the researcher do? What is its purpose and when should you choose this design?

A

The researcher:
- Collects quantitative and qualitative data concurrently
- Analyses the two data sets separately
- Mixes the two databases by merging the results during interpretation (and sometimes
during data analysis)

Purposes:

  • Obtain a more complete understanding from two databases
  • Corroborate results from different method
Choose this design if:
- Need to collect both types of data
in one visit to the field
- Both types of data have equal
value for understanding the
research problem
- Have quantitative and qualitative
research skills
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16
Q

What is a Explanatory Sequential? What does the researcher do? What is its purpose and when should you choose this design?

A

The researcher:
- Starts by collecting and analysing quantitative data
- Collects and analyses qualitative data in a second phase as a follow-up to the quantitative results
- Connects the phases by using the quantitative results to shape the qualitative research
questions, sampling, and data collection

Purposes:
- To use qualitative data to help explain quantitative results that need further exploration
- To use quantitative results to purposefully
select best participants for qualitative study

Choose this design if:
- Researcher and research problem
are quantitatively oriented
- Know important variables and
instruments are available
- Participants available for second
data collection
- Have time to conduct two phases
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17
Q

Strengths and Challenges of Convergent Parallel design?

A

Strengths:

  • Intuitive
  • Efficient
  • Lends itself to teams
Challenges:
- Requires substantial effort and
expertise
- Issues related to the samples
and sample sizes
- Difficult to converge two sets of
different data
- How to resolve discrepant
results?
18
Q

Strengths and challenges of the Explanatory

Design?

A 
Strengths: 
- Appealing to quantitative researchers
- Straightforward to implement two phases
- Final report can be written in
two phases

Chellenges:
- Two phases require lengthy time to implement
- Difficult to secure approval when second phase cannot be specified before first phase complete
- Need to decide what results to follow
up

19
Q

What is a Exploratory Sequential? What does the researcher do? What is its purpose and when should you choose this design?

A

The researcher:
-Collects and analyses qualitative data first followed by quantitative data
- Analyses the qualitative data and uses results to build to the subsequent quantitative phase
- Connects the phases by using the qualitative results to shape the quantitative phase by specifying research questions and variables, developing an instrument,
and/or generating a typology

Purposes:

  • To first explore because variables, theories, hypotheses not known
  • To develop an instrument or typology that is not available
  • To assess whether qualitative themes generalize to a population

Choose this design if:
- Researcher and research problem
are qualitatively oriented
- Important variables not known and instruments not available
- Have time to conduct two phases
- Have limited resources and need to collect and analyse one data type at a time

20
Q

Strengths and challenges of a Exploratory Sequential design?

A

STRENGTHS:
- Straightforward to design, implement, and report
- Quantitative component can make the qualitative approach more acceptable to quantitative-biased
audiences
- Researcher produces a product,
such as an instrument

CHALLENGES:
-Two phases require lengthy time
to implement
- Difficult to specify quantitative procedures when applying for initial approval; may have to apply
twice
- Deciding the qualitative findings to use for quantitative phase

21
Q

What is a Embedded design? What does the researcher do? What is its purpose and when should you choose this design?

A

The researcher:

  • Collects and analyses quantitative and qualitative data within a quantitative research design, qualitative research design, or research procedure
  • Collection and analysis of secondary data set occurs before, during, and/or after the primary methods

Purposes:

  • To address different questions that call for different methods
  • To enhance an experiment such as by examining the intervention process
  • explaining reactions to participation
  • get a more complete understanding

Choose this design if:

  • Have expertise with the primary design
  • Are comfortable with the primary orientation
  • Have little prior experience with the supplemental method
22
Q

What are some strengths and limitations of an embedded design?

A

STRENGTHS:
- May require less time and fewer resources
- Improve the larger design with supplemental data
- Fits team approach well (different qs)
- May be able to publish results
separately

CHALLENGES:

  • Need expertise in primary design and mixed methods
  • Must specify purpose for collecting the supplemental data
  • Must decide when to collect supplemental data
  • Results are difficult to integrate
23
Q

What is a transformative design? What does the researcher do? What is its purpose and when should you choose this design?

A

The researcher:

  • Uses a theoretical-based framework to advance needs of underrepresented or marginalised populations
  • Collects and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data concurrently or sequentially

Purpose:
- To conduct research that is change oriented and seeks to advance social justice causes

Choose this design if:

  • Seeking to address issues of social justice and call for change
  • Focused on the needs of underrepresented or marginalised populations
  • Have a good working knowledge of theoretical framework
24
Q

Strengths and challenges of a Transformative

Design?

A

STRENGTHS:
- Study positioned within a transformative framework
- Help to empower individuals and bring about change
- Participants play a participatory role
- Produce results useful to
community members and credible
to stakeholders

CHALLENGES: 
-Little guidance in the literature
- Approach may need to be justified
- Must develop trust with participants and conduct
research in a culturally sensitive way
25
Q

What is a transformative design? What does the researcher do? What is its purpose and when should you choose this design?

A

The researcher:

  • Examines an overall objective
  • Implements an iteration of connected quantitative and/or qualitative studies
  • Builds each new study on what was learned previously

Purpose:
- To address a set of incremental questions that advance one programmatic objective

Choose this design if:

  • Cannot fill long-term objective with a single mixed methods study
  • Have experience in large-scale research
  • Have sufficient resources and funding
26
Q

Strengths and challenges of Multiphase

Design?

A

STRENGTHS:

  • Flexibility to address interconnected questions
  • Can publish individual results while contributing to objective
  • Fits program evaluation and development well

CHALLENGES:
- Must anticipate typical challenges with
concurrent and sequential approaches
- Need sufficient resources, time, and effort
- Effectively collaborating on a team
- How to meaningfully connect individual
studies

27
Q

What is critical thinking?

A
  • It involves making a logical and rational evaluation of research evidence
  • It encourages a critical examination of the evidence used to support conclusions
28
Q

What are the key elements of critical thinking?

A

Scepticism - never take anything for granted, always question assumptions and conclusions

Objectivity - set aside personal views and judge a researcher’s arguments or conclusions according to the logic and data that underlies them

Open-mindedness - consider all sides of the argument, never ignore potential explanations or interpretations

29
Q

What is a complex intervention?

A

Interventions with several interacting components

  • Population – who is the intervention for?
  • Intervention – what is it? How is it delivered?
  • Comparison – RCTs? What is the comparison group?
  • Outcomes – what are they? Primary vs secondary?
30
Q

What are the steps in a complex interventions?

A

The Development-Evaluation-Implementation process

  1. Develop an intervention
  2. Pilot and feasibility testing
  3. Evaluation (and reporting)
  4. Implementation
31
Q

What is health psychology?

A

Health psychology is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the application of psychological knowledge and techniques to health, illness, and health care

32
Q

What are the Key elements of critical thinking?

A

Scepticism - never take anything for granted, always question assumptions and conclusions

Objectivity - set aside personal views and judge a researcher’s arguments or conclusions according to the logic and data that underlie them

Open-mindedness - consider all sides of the argument, never ignore potential explanations or interpretations

33
Q

What are the 3 main ways of defining science

A
  1. Inductivism
  2. Falsification
  3. Kuhn Paradigms
34
Q

What is naive inductivism?

A

Science is derived from facts, Based on ‘singular statements, Multiple observations lead to ‘universal statements (laws), We generalise from singular to universal statements by induction

35
Q

Pros and Cons of Naive Inductivism?

A

Two pros:

  • it made popular conceptions of science formal
  • supports the idea of objectivity

Five cons:

  • observation guided by knowledge (e.g. Bruner and Postman, 1949)
  • observations guided by theory
  • reporting observations
  • logical problem of induction
  • induction does not = deduction
36
Q

What is falsification?

A
  • Falsifying evidence is more powerful than
    confirmatory evidence (Karl Popper)
  • Falsification is logical. Quicker and easier to look
    for disconfirmatory evidence
  • What we observe is guided by theory
  • Trail and error
37
Q

Cons of falsification?

A

All based on the idea that observations are not always
objective/valid
n Discard the observation and not the theory?
n Historically inadequate as a way of advancing
knowledge
n The possibility of invalid observations makes it difficult
to conclusively falsify a theory

38
Q

What is Kuhns Paradigm?

A

-Neither of the previous two approaches adequately -explain science. We should conceptualize science in terms of theoretical frameworks, or whole structures.
The scientific process is revolutionary. It is not a gradual process. There are Four stages: pre-paradigm; normal science; crisis; and revolution. Paradigm is the crucial concept, it is a set of general laws and assumptions and standard ways of investigating things
Scientific activities have a single paradigm and Kuhn considers how paradigms change over time.

39
Q

What is Stage 1 – Pre-paradigm of Kuhns Paradigm?

A
  • Initially there is no paradigm
  • Pre-paradigm is not science (because not governed by laws)
  • This prohibits detailed work
  • Outcome of this is a multitude of ideas and approaches
40
Q

What is Stage 2 – Normal science of Kuhn’s Paradigm?

A
  • Eventually one theory dominates
  • This becomes ‘normal’ science
  • a single paradigm
  • research tests how well the paradigm matches and explains the natural world
  • individual studies test puzzles generated by the paradigm
  • Normal science assumes the paradigm can solve the puzzles it claims to
  • Disconfirming observations are therefore usually rejected (blamed on scientist/methodological problems), or treated as anomalies
41
Q

What is Stage 3 – Crisis of Kuhn’s paradigm?

A

Multiple anomalies lead to crisis of confidence
n Anomalies are considered serious if:
- they attack fundamental assumptions of the paradigm
- they relate to a pressing social issue
- they have challenged the paradigm for some time
- there is a rival paradigm
n This leads to a crisis, characterised by:
- more radical attempts to solve the problem
- engagement in philosophical and metaphysical disputes
- scientists eventually express dissatisfaction with the paradigm

42
Q

What is Stage 4 – Revolution of Kuhn’s paradigm?

A

New paradigm attracts followers (religious conversion) if:

  • it better addresses a social need
  • believed it can solve puzzles of interest to the scientist
  • If new one takes over this is a revolution
  • Different puzzles seem relevant and are investigated in different ways
  • This new science becomes normal science and the cycle
    continues

Mixed Methods (1 decks)

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