Week 11 Reporting & Interpreting Qualitative Research Flashcards
To provide an overview of the content of week 11's lecture
What is Qualitative Research?
- Qualitative research utilises a wide variety of methods.
- QR interprets words & images from naturally occurring data with a preference for inductive, hypothesis-generating research rather than testing pre-designed hypotheses.
- In qualitative research ideas and evidence are mutually interdependent.
Allport (1961) distinguished between two approaches to study human behaviour: nomothetic and idiographic. Tell me about Nomothetic
The nomothetic approach – attempts to formulate general principles of behaviour that will apply to most people, most of the time. This approach uses experimental and correlational research designs.
Allport (1961) distinguished between two approaches to study human behaviour: nomothetic and idiographic. Tell me about Idiographic
The idiographic approach - of which the case study is an example - studies the behaviour of individuals rather than being interested in how people behave in general. This approach may be used to investigate rarely occurring phenomena and when properly employed is extremely useful as a research tool.
Most qualitative research takes the case study or interview approach for data collection although there are other methods that are used.
Why must we be careful when using this type of data collection?
researchers must be cautious because cases never constitute a sample in the quantitative sense (inference of statistical generalisation to the population is not the aim of this type of method).
What does Neuman (2000) say about qualitative research in the social sciences?
- The writing in the social sciences is a narrative.
- Typically analysis & interpretation distinguishes between descriptive studies & theoretical or conceptual studies
- Descriptive studies are communicated through the data (e.g.: ethnographies, life histories, etc)
- Theoretical studies are communicated through concepts illustrated by the data & most qualitative studies are directed to the construction of a theory.
- Thus, the purpose of qualitative research is the understanding or explanation of features of social life about the particular people/situations studied in particular contexts
What are some of the qualities of Qualitative Social Research?
- Cultural meanings
- Focus on events
- Authenticity
- Merging between theory and data
- Situational
- Small n
- Thematic analysis
What are the design steps in Research Processes that use the Qualitative Approach (hint, 3-7 are very similar to quantitative research steps)
- Acknowledge the social self
- Adopt Perspective
- Design Study
- Collect data
- Analyse Data
- Interpret Data
- Inform Others
What do I need to do when designing research using an interview format?
- I need to decide on the style of interview format & what sort of questions to ask
- Consider how I’ll gather information – taping, taking notes, etc.
- I need to transcribe the data with as much detail as possible, including the non-verbal information & gestures (gaps, etc)
- Finally, interpretation and analysis – coding, & mapping in a meaningful way – from a broad context decide how responses fit in with the style of interpretation I am going to undertake.
- I am applying a phenomenological approach.
- Consider whether I was trying to tap into the lived experience of the person being interviewed?
When undertaking Qualitative Research, I need to decide on the interview format. What options do I have?
- Unstructured
- Structured
- Semi-structured
Remember each style has strengths and weaknesses.
Tell me about an unstructured interview
- It has an opening statement that provides the interviewee with a starting point.
- Relies on spontaneous generation of questions in the natural flow of a conversation.
- Is appropriate when you want to have maximum flexibility - to be able to pursue questioning in whatever direction, depending on the information that emerges (therefore, it is not possible to have a predetermined set of questions).
What are the strengths and weaknesses of unstructured interviews?
Strength = interviewer is flexible and responsive to individual differences, situational changes, and emerging information. Weakness = may lead to less systematic data that’s more difficult and time consuming to analyse.
Tell me about a structured interview
A series of standardised questions delivered in a standardised manner (i.e., same questions are asked of each person, using the same words, in the same sequence).
What are the strengths and weaknesses of a structured interviews?
Strength = useful if there are several interviewers and you want to reduce variation among them; when you want the same type of information from each person at several points in time and you want to compare among all interviewees; may be more cost effective; if there are time constraints; or if interviewers are inexperienced. Weakness = cannot pursue topics that arise in the moment
Tell me about a semi-structured interview
- There is a set of key questions to be covered in a flexible format, which involves the preparation of an interview guide with a set of pre-determined questions that are to be covered during an interview – BUT the order and wording of the questions doesn’t have to be definitive nor determined in advance.
- This guide serves as a checklist during the interview and means that basically the same information is obtained from a number of people.
- In this format the interviewer is free to pursue certain questions in greater depth.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of a semi-structured interviews?
Strength = interviewing is more systematic (than unstructured), but still allows you to pursue issues important to each person; interview is still conversational. Weakness = interviewer flexibility in wording and sequencing of questions may lead to substantially different responses from different persons, reducing comparability.
How do I decide which interview is right for me?
I need to be clear on what it is you want to know
If I want to conduct this research to identify possible services and/or procedures that would help new students adjust to university life:
- For a semi-structured interview you need 3-5 questions, and an opening and closing statement.
- Consider what areas I could cover, based on 1st students’ experiences, in order to possibly improve the transition to university in future.
How does timing differ between qualitative and quantitative research?
- In qualitative research the timing of analysis varies unlike quantitative research where analysis is conducted after data collection.
- It can follow a similar pattern to quantitative but more commonly data collection and analysis go hand in hand.
- During participant observation, in-depth interviews and other qualitative research, researchers are constantly theorizing and trying to make sense of their data.
- Researchers keep track of the emerging themes, reread their field notes &/or transcripts and develop concepts & propositions to begin to interpret their data.
What does Sarantakos (2005) say about the interpretation process?
- Data is collected, coded, conceptually organised, analysed and evaluated.
- During the process themes interpretations and hunches emerge through corroboration of the informant’s stories.
- Progression from the initial data collection may be delayed so that preliminary frameworks can be refined to provide a better understanding of the data and facilitate further data gathering