Lecture 10 Qualitative Research

8/10/2019 Lecture 10 Qualitative Research

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Qualitative Research

Methods

Theres more to it than meets the

eye!


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Qualitative Methods

1. Get over the idea that research means

counting.

2. The focus is on subjective experiences, or the

meanings that people use.3. Because meaning resides in language (people

think with language), qualitative research

largely involves studying text.

4. The best device for collecting and analyzing

qualitative information is the human brain.

Introduction


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Qualitative Methods

5. Qualitative research is local, concrete.

6. Observations and findings depend on

understanding contexts and the meanings held

by the people in those contexts and themeanings of the things in those contexts.

7. Observations are typically of interactions in

smaller groups or selectively defined settings.

8. Exploration is very often the motive, but not

always.

Introduction


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Qualitative Methods

9. Qualitative research often provides idiographic(as opposed to nomothetic) causalexplanations.

10. Qualitative research is typically inductive.11. The research is reflexivedesign is flexible

and can change given the needs of theresearch. E.g., Theoretical Sampling

12. The researcher must be reflexive as wellthebrain tool must be calibrated, understood,active, paid attention to, controlled

Introduction


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Qualitative Methods

13.Qualitative research is very practical,

logical, and critical of itself. Researchers

constantly ask, Am I accurately

depicting the social world given the ways

I am collecting and analyzing my data?

14.Good qualitative research is often the

most rigorous, difficult research.

Introduction


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DEDUCTIVE & INDUCTIVE REASONING


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Elements of the Research Process

Deductivethinking (Quantitative)

THEORY

HYPOTHESIS

OBSERVATION

CONFIRMATION


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Elements of the Research Process (Cont.)

Inductivethinking (Qualitative)

OBSERVATION

PATTERNS

HYPOTHESIS

THEORY


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IDEAL

QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE

Research process is

deductive.

Research process is

inductive.

Measure objective facts. Document social reality,

meaning is constructed.

Focus on variables. Focus on in-depth meaning.

Firewall between research

process and researchers

values.

Values are present & explicit

(empathy).

Cross-contextual. Contextual dependence.

Many cases. Few cases.


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Statistical analysis Thematic analysis

Highly structured research

process.

Loosely structured

research process.

Particularistic, specific Holistic perspective

Separation from data Intimacy with data

Generalize to population

Generalization to properties and

contexts

IDEAL

QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE


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When should I use qualitative methods?

When variables cannot be quantified

When variables are best understood in their natural

settings

When variables are studied over real time

When studying intimate details of roles, processes,and groups

When the paramount objective is understanding

Qualitative Methods


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Qualitative Methods

What skills do I need? Must have requisite knowledge and skills about

methodology, setting and nature of the issue.

Must be familiar with own biases, assumptions,

expectations, and values. Must be empathic, intelligent, energetic, and interested in

listening

Must be open to embracing multiple realities.

Must be prepared to produce detailed, comprehensive, andsometimes lengthy reports.

Source: (Kuh & Andreas, 1991)


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Qualitative Methods

Before collecting data, you have to determine what you want toaccomplish.

Tight versus Loose Design

Ask yourself: How much time do I have?

What resources are available? What is the purpose of the study?

In what am I really interested?

More structure can prevent waste If we already know about the context, it would be wasteful to go

exploring If you have targeted topic, you can reduce data at the collection stage

and cut down on analysis time

Loose produces more data, more surprise discoveriescan bemade

Desi n


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Qualitative MethodsChoose your unit of analysis.

Individuals Certain experiences

Experiences in particular settings

Identities such as student with disabilities, ex-con

Groups Demographic groups

Intervention groups

Types of people such as ball players, secretaries Those in one setting versus another

Organizations

Desi n


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Qualitative Methods

Qualitative research quicklyexhausts resources and time.

Limit the amount of data collected.

Its not the size that matters, its what you do with the data.

Be very clear about the research focus Write down your foggy ideas and then get more

specific. Concentrate on most important issues and not others.

Start writing specific questions you want to answer.

Now get even more specificreduce

Desi n


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Sampling

Plan Data Collection

Define sampling boundaries: Space

Time Social position

Context

Record nothing that is not in your samplingparameters

Desi n

S li


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Select Elements Representative of Target Population

Generalize from sample to populationMake claims about the population

Test theories within population

Select Elements Representative of Research Focus

Generate Detailed and Subjective Understanding

Answer research questionsBuild theories

Sampling:

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Quantitative Sampling

Qualitative Sampling


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Sampling

Make choices that narrowor delimit research focusand activities to a level that

A researchers brain can handle

Can be done in a reasonable amount of time

Is within a reasonable budget

Seek exposure to topic-related information

Focus only on information directly useful for theresearch

Samples should be small, not large

Sampling decisions are made throughout datacollection

Sam lin


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Text is generally collected from or in the formof

Field notes -- Newspaper or magazine stories

Interviews (recorded and transcribed)

Focus groups -- Web pages

Audio & video tapes (transcribed and described)

Copies of documents -- Photographs (described)

Narrative descriptions

Diaries

Data


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1. Read Data, develop ideas and

feelings

2. Code Data, tag items with samemeaning using a unique code

3. Search and extract instances ofcodes

4. Identify patterns among codes

(pattern coding)5. Create figures, tables, or

descriptions of patternsAN

ALY

SIS

THEMES


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Analysis

Process of Qualitative Analysis:

Data Reduction

Data Display

Conclusion Drawing and Verification


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Analysis


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Coding


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Coding

What is coding? In qualitative analysis, coding is the process of

identifying categories and meanings in text, creating and

applying a name or code to each, and systematicallymarking similar strings of text with the same code name.

Coding permits systematic retrieval of categories and

meanings during analysis. Codes help researchersidentify patterns in data.


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C di


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Coding

Source: http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/phpechopage_titleOnlineQDA-Examples_QDA.php

An example of

old schoolcoding


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Coding

Sources of codes (typically both):1.A priori codesexpected, looked for

Previous research

Previous theory

Research question

Your intuition of the data or setting

2.Grounded codesdiscovered(suspend ideas about the subject and let the data determine codes)


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Coding

It helps if code names are meaningful.

When new relevant content is discovered,

a new code is created.

Codes may evolve

A string of text may contain more than onecode.


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Coding

Codes must be consistently applied

Keeping a list of codes helps to: Identify the content of each code, and

Reveal the contents of the text.

Codes should be grouped in some form

(e.g., related clusters) to advance analysis


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Coding

http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/209/461


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Displays

Making sense of the data


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Displays

There are numerous legitimate ways to movefrom codes to final narrative, but core amongthem is systematic work and adherence to logic.

Systematic analysis is advanced when codesare put into data displayswhich reflect theresearchers judgments about the data

Data displays link various codes and help tobuild themes


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Displays

Such arrangements help researchers:

1. dimensionalize,or recognize dimensions of similarthoughts or E.g., thoughts about how to appear masculine:

Clothes Presence

Short hair -- Confidence

Plain shoes -- Taking up space

Shirt with collar

2. Connect codes in more sophisticated ways

3. Document patterns in user-friendlyways (neverrely on memory)


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Displays Relationships between codes become more

apparent as codes are grouped

Themes should be explored Why do some codes co-occur?

Why are some dimensions related to other codeswhile others are not?

Are some codes linked to particular emotions?

Exploration of themes is analysis. Thediscoveries should be written down. Theseeventually (with very heavy and serious editing)turn into your written text.


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Analysis

Process of Qualitative Analysis:

Data Reduction

Data Display

Conclusion Drawing and Verification


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As one creates and views displays, the salient

components of meaning and activities become apparent.

Research may be: Descriptive: Represents the data (meanings, observations) to

readers in such a way that they will understandwhat theresearcher seesin the data.

Causal: Links concepts in the data together to explain observedmeanings or phenomena, and to write in such a way that readerswill understandwhat the researcher sees.

This stage relies very heavily on logical evaluation andsystematic description

Drawing Conclusions and Verification


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The researcher WRITES what he or she sees aslogical descriptions of themes

The researcher always refers back to the datadisplays and raw data as descriptions or causalstatements are made. Systematic, organized, and good coding and notes

will really pay off at this point, allowing efficient,accurate access to data

Conclusions are made through this process


C f


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Articles and reports often include quotes.

They are not the text speaking for itself. Quotes are used for:

Evidence

Explanation Illustration

Deepening understanding

Giving participants a voice Enhancing readability

D i C l i d V ifi i


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In the end, like good quantitative research, good

qualitative research gives a portrayal of the human

experience that is as accurate as possible, but which

always has limitations.


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Qualitative Methods

It is often difficult to plan qualitative research Group Discussion:

Spend several minutes generating ideas for aqualitative research study. What are you going to

study and why? Create a plan for:

Sampling How will you determine whether your sample is representative

of a target group?

Data Collection

Data Analysis How will you evaluate causality?

How will you write about or present your findings?

Documents

Lecture 10 Qualitative Research