social ties

• Observations


  • Complete Participant (researcher conceals role)
  • Observer as Participant (role of researcher is known)
  • Participant as Observer (observation role secondary to participant role)
  • Complete observer (researcher observes without participating)
• Observations


  • Researcher has first hand experience with informant
  • Researcher can record information as it occurs
  • Unusual aspects can be noticed during observation
  • Useful exploring topics that may be uncomfortable for informants to discuss
• Observations


  • Researcher may be seen as intrusive
  • Private information may be observed that researcher cannot report
  • Researcher may not have good attending and observing skills
  • Certain informants (e.g. children may present special problems gaining rapport)
• Interviews


  • Face to Face - one on one, in person interview
  • Telephone - researcher interviews via phone
  • Group - researcher interviews informants in a group
• Interviews


  • Useful when informants cannot be directly observed
  • Informants can provide historical information
  • Allows researcher "control" over the line of questioning
  • Provides "indirect" information filtered through the view of interviewees
  • Provides information in a designated "place," rather than the natural field setting
  • Researcher's presence may bias responses
  • Not all people are equally articulate and perceptive
• Documents


  • Public documents such as minutes of meetings, newspapers
  • Private documents such as journal or diary, letter
• Documents


  • Enables a researcher to obtain the language and words of informants
  • Can be accessed at a time convenient to researcher - an unobtrusive source of information
  • Represents data that are thoughtful in that informants have given attention to compiling
  • As written evidence, it saves a researcher the time and expense of transcribing
• Documents


  • May be protected information unavailable to public or private access
  • Requires the researcher to search out the information in hard-to-find places
  • Requires transcribing or optically scanning for computer entry
  • Materials may be incomplete
  • The documents may not be authentic or accurate
• Audiovisual Material


  • Photographs
  • Videotapes
  • Art objects
  • Computer software
  • Film
• Audiovisual Material


  • May be an unobtrusive method of collecting data
  • Provides an opportunity for informant to share directly his or her "reality"
  • Creative in that it captures attention visually
• Audiovisual Material


  • May be difficult to interpret
  • May not be accessible publicly or privately
  • The presence of an observer (e.g. photographer) may be disruptive and affect responses
• Data Collection Approaches in Qualitative Research


  1. Gather observational notes by conducting an observation as a participant

  2. Gather observational notes by conducting an observation as an observer

  3. Conduct an unstructured, open-ended interview and take interview notes

  4. Conduct an unstructured, open-ended interview, audiotape the interview, and transcribe the interview

  5. Keep a journal during the research study

  6. Have an informant keep a journal during the research study

  7. Collect personal letters from the informants

  8. Analyze public documents (e.g. official memos, minutes, archival material)

  9. Examine autobiographies and biographies

  10. Examine physical trace evidence (e.g. footprints in the snow)

  11. Videotape a social situation or an individual/group

  12. Examine photographs or videotapes

  13. Collect sounds (e.g. musical sounds, a child's laughter, car horn's honking)
• Ethical Standards of Qualitative Research

  • Clear and written articulation of the research objectives and description of how data will be used
  • Written permission from the informant to proceed with the study as articulated
  • Informing the informant if all data collection devices and activities
  • Verbatim transcriptions and written interpretations and reports will be made available to the informant
  • Prioritizing the informant's rights, interests, and wishes when choices are made regarding reporting the data
  • Giving the informant the discretion to decide about his or her anonymity
• Theoretical Sampling


  • Choosing cases in terms of your theory
  • Selecting a sample of particular processes, types, categories or examples which are relevant to appear within the wider universe
  • Choosing deviant cases
  • Instead of selecting a case which is likely to support your argument, seek out negative instances as defined by the theory with which you are working
  • Changing the size of your sample during research
  • Manipulating your sample whenever necessary
• Purposive Sampling


  Used interchangeably with theoretical sampling since the only difference between the two is that purpose behind purposive sampling is not theoretically defined
• Random Sampling is not appropriate in qualitative research
• Major Forms of Observation Research

  • Structured Observation or Systematic Observation
  • Participant Observation
  • Nonparticipant Observation
  • Unstructured Observation
  • Simple Observation and Contrived Observation
• Structured Observation


  • A technique in which the researcher employs explicitly formulated rules for the observation and recording of behavior
  • The rules have observation schedule used to ensure that each participant's behavior is systematically recorded so that it is possible to aggregate the behavior of all samples in respect to each type of behavior being recorded
• Participant Observation


  • Best-known methods of research in social science
  • Prolonged immersion of the observer in the social setting where he/she seeks to observe the behavior of members in the setting (group, organization, community, etc)
• Nonparticipant Observation


  • Used to describe a situation in which the observer observes but does not participate in what is going on in the social setting
  • Structured observers are usually nonparticipants in that they are in the social setting being observed but rarely participate in what is happening
• Unstructured Observation


  • Does not entail the use of an observation schedule for recording of behavior
  • It aims to record in as much detail as possible the behavior of participants with the aim of developing a narrative account of that behavior
• Simple Observation and Contrived Observation

  • Observer is unobtrusive and is not observed by those being observed
  • The observer has no influence over the situation being observed
  • In contrived observation, the observer actively alters the situation to observe the effects of intervention
  • These two are forms of nonparticipant observation and can entail either structured or unstructured observation
• Structured Interview


  • Structured approach to maximize the reliability and validity of measurement of key concepts
  • Emphasis on greater generality in the formulation of initial research ideas
  • The interview reflects the researcher's concerns
  • Standardization of the interview process is strictly followed
  • Inflexible due to standardization
  • Generates answers that can be coded and processed quickly
  • Unless the research is longitudinal in character, the person will be interviewed on one occasion only
• Qualitative Interview


  • Emphasis on greater interest in the interviewee's point of view
  • Rambling or going off at tangents is often encouraged
  • Interviews can depart significantly from any schedule or guide that is being used
  • Flexible, responding to the direction in which interviewees take the interview
  • Generates rich, detailed answers
• Structured Interview


  Qualitative approach to maximize the reliability and validity of measurement of key concepts
• Qualitative Interview


  Emphasis on greater generality in the formulation of initial research ideas and on interviewee's own perspectives
• Qualitative Data Analysis and Interpretation

  1. Data preparation phase

  2. Data exploration and reduction phase

  3. Interpretation
• Data Preparation Phase


  Transcribing data, inputting and storing data in database, printing out copies, reading and correcting entries
• Transcribing Guide Questions


  • Will you videotape or audiotape the interview session?
  • Will you transcribe the entire data session or only summarize key passages/quotes?
  • Will you transcribe all types of data including verbal and nonverbal?
  • Who will transcribe the data?
  • What transcription format will you use?
• Advantages of Transcribing Data

  • Researcher's opportunity to actively engage with research material from the beginning
  • Ensuring awareness of researcher's own impact on the data
  • Connecting with the data in a grounded manner to enhance validity
• Transcription Softwares


  • HyperTranscribe
  • Transana
• Data Exploration Phase and Data Reduction Phase


  1. Read and think about the data, mark up important parts, summarize and write memos

  2. Start coding the data as soon as data collection begins
• Interpretation

  Helps researchers to categorize, manipulate, and summarize the information to answer critical questions
• Memo Writing


  • A written record where researchers document their thoughts, interpretations, and reflections about the data
  • Links analysis and interpretation
  • Concerns about power and control over interpretation process
• Social attributes (race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion or sexual preferences) can affect positions and relations of power and authority in the research process
• Issues of power and control over the interpretation process are unavoidable in qualitative research
• Validity as the Quality of Craftsmanship, Validity as Communication, and Validity as Pragmatic Proof through Action are 3 criteria of validation
• Triangulation


  The use of multiple methods or data sources in qualitative research to develop a comprehensive understanding of phenomena
• Types of Triangulation


  • Theoretical Triangulation - using multiple theories or hypotheses
  • Respondent Validation - taking findings back to subjects for verification
• Reliability can be assessed by questions about whether the data is reasonable, fits together, adds up, and is consistent over time and contexts