W1: Intro

Question 1

What is research

Answer 1

A systematic process by which we know more about something than we did before engaging in the process

Question 2

Research steps

Answer 2

Topic and research question → literature review → research design → data collection → data analysis → reporting

Question 3

What is qualitative research

Answer 3

An umbrella term covering an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate and find mean gin, not the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world
A situated activity that locates the observer in the world

Question 4

Rather than testing theory qualitative research…

Answer 4

Enables to build theory through step by step analysis of social phenomena

Question 5

Qualitative research is primarily naturalistic:

Answer 5

A study takes place in a real-world setting rather than a laboratory, and whatever is being studied is allowed to happen naturally

Question 6

Role of a qualitative researcher

Answer 6

To be interested in understanding how people interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their experiences

Question 7

Interpretivism

Answer 7

Believes individuals shape society and use qualitative methods
Reality is socially constructed/subjective
Data is constricted with participants
Data is expressed in language, not numbers
Linked to context
Seeing king evidence of meaning

Question 8

Positivism

Answer 8

Believes society shapes the individual and use quantitative methods
reality exists ‘out there’
Objective
Data reflect a real world that is stable and measurable
Data is expressed in numbers
Generalizable
Seeking evidence of frequency

Question 9

How do we get quantitative knowledge?

Answer 9

Collecting data of frequency such as surveys, polls, questionnaires, content analysis
Focus on the etic/outsider’s perspective
You are connected with eliminating bias and the researcher’s influence
researcher’s want the truth, what is real and consistent in different contexts

Question 10

How do we get qualitative knowledge?

Answer 10

Find meaning by gathering interpretations through interviews, ethnography, case studies, and document analysis
You focus on the emic/insider’s perspective
The researcher’s intuition can be an asset
Researchers want meaning

Question 11

Qualitative research: understanding, not predicting

Answer 11

Not attempting to predict what may happen in the future, but understand the nature of that setting
what it means for participants in that setting
What their lives are like
What’s going on for them
What their meanings are
What the wold looks like in that particular setting

Question 12

Types of logics

Answer 12

Deductive logic: quantitative
Inductive logic: qualitative

Question 13

Deductive logic

Answer 13

Quantitative
You start with a theory and what’s already known, then take a hypothesis, test it and confirm or reject it
You go from a theory and narrow down to a specific section/data

Question 14

Inductive logic

Answer 14

Qualitative
Start with observations and start looking at patterns, these give you the urge to propose a new theory with new possibilities
Qualitative data includes: quotes from documents, field notes, interviews, excerpts from videos, electronic communication

Question 15

Steps to identifying research topics

Answer 15

Initial curiosity
Bigger pictures: connected trends or ideas
Reconnaissance: what do you know? Do research to see if it is viable
Opportunity: what don’t we understand, what can you study offer?
Finding a project that is “just right”
too hot: too specific
Too cold: too vague