week 6

Question 1

Qualitative data analysis

Answer 1

A process of deconstructing and reconstructing evidence
To produce meaningful interpretation

Question 2

Multiple Qualitative Analyses

Answer 2

Qualitative analysis is intense, engaging, challenging, non-linear, contextualised and highly diverse.
Requires a qualitative stance and worldview.
Involves a variety of quite different approaches (different epistemologies).
Approaches to analysis tend to bring different assumptions with them.
Data analysis does not take place in a vacuum, but in the particular context of a research project.

Question 3

Big Q

Answer 3

Processes tend to be flexible interpretative and subjective
Big Q rejects notions of objectivity and context
Contextual and situated nature of meaning

Question 4

Small q

Answer 4

Use of qualitative techniques but within a hypothetical-deductive framework
Concern with accuracy and reliability of coding
Structured codebooks of coding frames-which are then applied to the data
Multiple codes working independently to code the data

Question 5

Qualitative data analysis approaches

Answer 5

Grounded theory, Content analysis, Thematic analysis, Discourse analysis, Discursive psychology, narrative analysis, Conversation analysis, IPA- interpretative Phenomological analysis

Question 6

Thematic analysis

Answer 6

An umbrella term for a set of approaches that share a focus on identifying themes

Question 7

Discourse analysis:

Answer 7

An umbrella term for a range of methodological approaches that analyse the use and function of talk and text within social interaction

Question 8

Interpretative phenomenological analysis

Answer 8

An approach with an idiographic focus, aiming to provide detailed examinations of personal lived experience and how participants are making sense of their personal and social world

Question 9

Pluralistic approaches

Answer 9

TA, IPA and DA are tools for analysing data in psychology.
Grounded theory and Narrative Analysis are also commonly used in psychological studies.
Ongoing debate about the potential of adopting more than one method or methodology in any given research project

Question 10

Analytical Pluralism

Answer 10

The application of more than one qualitative analytical method to a single data set.
Leads to a more comprehensive answer to the research question.
Avoids privileging any particular approach over another.
It enables researchers to develop rich, complex understanding and opens multiple possibilities of interpretation.
Many possible kinds of pluralism, including using multiple methods, data sources, theories, or researchers.

Question 11

Common, Foundational Practices and Norms: 1

Answer 11

Analysing qualitative data is always a meaning-making process.
All starts with reading the data openly, with sensitivity to context.
Focus must be on participant’s intentions and meanings, even if this is understood in different ways.
Researchers must be reflexive, honest, and critical in describing their own presence and procedures.

Question 12

Common, Foundational Practices and Norms: 2

Answer 12

Checking, revising, and refining interpretations by returning to the data.
Writing general account that both reflects and transcends the data:
Supporting knowledge claims with evidence.
Elaborating on the limits and open horizons of the research.
Collecting new data following analysis in iterative cycles.
Transparent accounting of procedures.

Question 13

What is the role of the researcher in the research process

Answer 13

Reflexivity
Representing the other

Question 14

How to establish trustworthiness

Answer 14

Quality evaluation criteria

Question 15

Is there any software that may help with the analysis process

Answer 15

Computer-assisted
Qualitative data
Analysis software

Question 16

Reflexivity

Answer 16

Critical reflection on the research process and one’s own role as a researcher.
Active acknowledgement and explicit recognition that their position may affect the research process.
Challenges the view of knowledge production as independent of the researcher producing it and of knowledge as objective.
Links to epistemology

Question 17

Personal reflexivity

Answer 17

The way in which the research is shaped by the researcher’s own background, identities, interests, views

Question 18

Discursive reflexivity

Answer 18

Detailed attention to the role of the researcher in the process

Question 19

Epistemological reflexivity

Answer 19

The way in which the research is shaped by theoretical assumptions, research questions, methods of data collection

Question 20

Researcher positioning

Answer 20

Gender, ethnic background, affiliation, age, sexual orientation.
Immigration status, personal experiences, linguistic tradition.
Beliefs, biases, preferences.
Theoretical, political and ideological stances.
Emotional responses to participant’s experiences.
Researcher’s beliefs, feelings, andpersonal experience.

Question 21

How may these positions impact the research?

Answer 21

Access to the field
The nature of researcher-researched relationship, which in turn affects the information participants may be willing to share.
The findings and conclusions of the study.

Question 22

But how can we demonstrate reflexivity

Answer 22

Make explicit any beliefs and experiences that may influence how you conduct the research.
Use of first-person language (e.g., I, We).
Provide a detailed and transparent report of decisions and their rationale.
Prolong our engagement with the field.
‘Data triangulation’: use multiple sources of data or multiple approaches to analysing data.
Peer review, forming of a peer support network.
Keep a diary or research journal for “self-supervision”.

Question 23

Who has been constructed as “Other”?

Answer 23

Women.
People with mental health conditions.
People identifying as lesbian, gay, transgender, queer.
Economically disadvantaged people.
People with HIV/AIDS.
People from black and minority communities.
People with disabilities.
…..

Question 24

How to deal with othering

Answer 24

We can, for example:

ask participants to evaluate the validity of our account of them.
listen to how the participants speak of “the research group” so that our own perspective is problematised.
listen to how other members of powerful groups speak about members of the group to which the participants belong.
Try to provide opportunities to create a dialogue between ourselves and the participants, so that no account is privileged.

Question 25

Appraising qualitative research

Answer 25

Credibility- comprehensive trustworthy and sensible explanations of the data
Dependability- coherence between methods and findings, and auditable research process
Transferability- relevance of concepts and findings to other setting
Confirmability-=findings and interpretations that reflect the views of participants

Question 26

What criteria should you use?

Answer 26

Whilst there is no consensus on how to best evaluate qualitative research, there is some agreement on the importance of:

Provision of contextualised accounts of the participants.
Detailed accounts of the analytical process.
An account of the researcher’s speaking position and how this influenced the analysis.
Consistent grounding of interpretations in research data.

Question 27

Is there any software that may help me with the analysis process?

Answer 27

CAQDAS: Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software.
Compatible with several methods of qualitative analysis.
Tools for managing qualitative data, particularly during the coding/annotating phases and with large data sets:
Nvivo (available at YSJ)
Atlas.ti
Transana
LIWC
ELAN (open access).