qualitative methodology

• ontological perspective

  • researchers view of reality
  • researcher positions reality as subjective incorporating the multiple realities represented by participants
• epistemological assumption

  • researchers role, which is intimate and interactive in qualitative studies, reflexivity
• axiological assumption

  • the values in the qualitative approach, which are inherently biased and subjective, focused on the particularity of the case
• which is this describing:

  • The values in the qualitative approach, which are inherently biased and subjective, focused on the particularity of the case?

  axiological assumption
• rhetorical assumption

  • the use of language in qualitative inquiry, often framed in the first person, as a story or direct experience, and is informal, descriptive and personal
• Methodological assumption

  • The naturalistic process for conducting research, which is inductive, holistic, and depends on triangulation of multiple data sources to corroborate findings

   
• Questions that the key philosophical concepts aim to answer

  • Ontology - what is there in the world ?
  • Epistemology - what is knowledge and what are the sources and limits of knowledge
  • Methodology - how can knowledge about a given issue of problem be produced
  • Methods - what are the specific ways of data collection and analysis that can be used
  • Paradigm - what are the set of practicies that define a scientific didcipline during a particular period of time
• Epistemology

  • Defines how knowledge can be produced
  • Defines the criteria by which knowledge is possible
  • Defines and gives structures to what kind of scientific knowledge is available, what are the limits for that knowledge
  • Offers us an answer to the questions of what constitutes scientific practice and process
  • Objective view in epistemology: it is possible that there exists a world that is external and theory neutral
  • Subjective epistemological view, no access to the external world beyond our own observations and interpretations is possible

   
• relationship betqeen epistemology, methodology. and method

  A) modifies

  B) justifies and evaluates

  C) knowledge

  D) produces

  E) justifies

  
• characteristics of qualitative research

  • natural setting
  • purposeful sampling
  • multiple data sources
  • holistic
  • emergent design
  • frameworks
  • inductive exploration
• characteristics of qlitative research

  natural setting

  • a setting indigenous to the participants, rather than in a controlled setting that may be designed to reduce bias or extraneous factors
  • face to face interactions allow participants to provide their perspectives in the same setting where they experience the phenomenon
• Purposeful sampling

  • Participants are selected intentionally for their capacity to provide detailed information, based on their unique experiences and perspectives
  • Qualitative participants are often known as 'information-rich' cases
• Multiple data sources

  • A variety of data sets, accessd from different participant perspectives and experiences
  • Socially constructed reality
  • Realities derived from the individuals selected for the study, provide the many viewpoints representative of an experiences or phenomenon

   
• Holistic

  • Reflects and extends the complex picture of a particular problem or issue
  • Delves deeply into the views and voices of the participants
• Emergent design

  • Design evolves over the course of the study, a design that is grounded in the researchers original intuition, prior research studies, and an educated assessment of the phenomenon to be explored
  • This design process guides the projects development and should be refined and solifified as the study evolves
• Frameworks

  • Theoretical framework often guides the qualitative project and helps develop the research purpose, research questions, instrumentation, or to frame the research findings
  • Elements of several different theories may be operationalised in a conceptual framework to guide the design and implementation of data collection tools and an interpretation of the findings
• Inductive exploration

  • The study works from the data of specific cases to a more general conclusion
  • Bottom up vs top down approach to data analysis

   
• Fundamental aspects of qualitative research

  
  

  • Phenomenology
  • Ethnography
  • Inductive thematic analysis
  • Grounded theory
  • Case study
  • Discourse/ conversation analysis
  • Narrative analysis
  • Mixed methods
• phenomenology

  • Focuses on individual experiences, beliefs and perceptions
  • Questions and observations are aimed at drawing out individual experiences and perceptions
  • In-depth interviews and focus groups are ideal methods for collecting phenomenological data
• Ethnography

  • Oriented toward studying shared meanings and practices (i.e. culture)
  • Questions and observations are generally related to social and cultural processes and shared meanings within a given group of people
• Inductive thematic analysis

  • Involves identifying and coding emergent themes within data
  • In depth interviews and focus groups are most common data collection techniques associated with ITA. notes from participant observation activities can be analysed using ITA
• Grounded theory

  • Inductive data collection and analytic methods
  • Uses systematic and exhaustive comparison of text segments to build thematic structure and theory from a body of text.
  • Common analytic approach in qualitative studies
  • In-depth interviews and focus groups are the most common data collection techniques associated with GT
  • Sample sizes for grounded theory are more limited than for ITA because the analytic process is more intense and time consuming
• Case study

  • Analysis of one to several cases that are unique with respect to the research topic
  • Analysis primarily focused on exploring the unique quality

   

  • Cases are selected based on a unique (often rarely obsevered) quality.
  • Questions and observations should focus on , and delve deeply into, the unique feature of interest
• Discourse/ conversation analysis

  • Study of 'natually occurring' discourse
  • Can range from conversation to public events to existing documents

   

  • Often use existing documents as data
  • Conversations between individuals that spontaneously emerge within group interviews or focus groups
• Narrative analysis

  • Narratives used as source of data
  • Narratives from one of more sources (e.g. interviews, literatue, letters diaries)

   

   

  • If generating narratives (through in depth interveiws), then questions/ tasks need to be aimed at eliciting stories and the importance those stories hold for participants, as well as larger cultural meaning
• Mixed methods

  • Defined as integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods in one study
  • Two most common designs are sequential and concurrent

   

  • Collection of qualitative data in a mixed methods study can be informed from a wide range of theretical perspectives and analytic approaches
  • Researchers must specify up front, and in detail, how, when, and why qualitative and quantitative datasets will be integrated