QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Remadevi. S
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WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

• Any kind of research that produced findings not
  arrived at by means of statistical procedures or
  other means quantification.
• It is concerned more with meanings and
  processes rather than simply measurements.
• Qualitative research is based on a methodology
  which seeks to understand human behaviour from
  the subjects own frame of reference, hence it
  is called Phenomenological.

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WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH (contd)

• Aims to elicit the individual contextualized
  understanding of a problem
• Achieved through designs that minimize researcher
  manipulation of social setting
• Close interaction with subjects
• Meaning and interpretation cannot be dealt with
  statistically

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WHY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Human behaviours is significantly influenced by
  the setting in which it occurs
• The technique in quantitative research can affect
  the findings
• One cannot understand the human behaviour without
  understanding the framework within which subjects
  interpret their feelings, thoughts and actions

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WHY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

• More valid results based on research
  experiences.
• Nature of research problems some problems
  lend more to qualitative research
• Helps to understand what lies behind any
  phenomenon about which little is known

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WHY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?
Contd

• Details of phenomena that are difficult to
  convey with quantitative methods
• Questionnaires developed in the West threat
  to validity in our setting Qualitative
  methods in the initial phase avoid type III
  error
• Culturally appropriate measuring
  instruments Etic Vs. Emic approach

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WHY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?
Contd

• It helps in identifying variables
  important to the phenomenon under study
• To understand the perceptions and
  experiences of participants and community
• Field study research can explore the process
  and meaning and provide comprehensive
  description

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FUNCTIONS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

• Developing and delineating program elements
  before a quantitative evaluation
• Boosting the power of quantitative design
• Broadening the observation field
• Analyzing process and individual cases to
  explain the how and why of an outcome
• Generating theory

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PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
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POSITIVISM

• Refers to the belief that social science can be
  scientific in the same way as physical science
  and prefer quantitative methods
• Assume that reality is objectively given and
  can be described by measurable properties
  independent of the observer
• Prefers a method standardized, repeatable and
  that test a pre-existing hypothesis

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PHENOMENOLOGY(Edmond Husserl)

• Study situations in the everyday world -
  viewpoint of the experiencing person
• Focus on the social construction of the life
  world, emphasizing that peoples actions can only
  be understood when they are situated in the
  meanings and routines that control their everyday
  life.
• Gain understanding of the essence of phenomena
  Eg. Sufferings of schizophrenia

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ETHNOGRAPHY

• Closely associated with anthropological research
• Focus on culture of a group of people
• Interpret and present findings from a cultural
  perspective
• Heart of Ethnography- Thick description obtained
  through an immersion in the every day life of the
  group or a given social setting

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SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM(G.H.Mead)

• Through the process of role taking a person
  imagines how they appear to others ,thus becoming
  a symbolic object to themselves
• Experiences takes on meaning as they become
  symbolically significant through shared
  interactions
• Meanings are continually created,recreated and
  modified in interactions

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FEMINISM

• It is argued (Dorothy Smith) as a consciousness
  raising that it attempts to identify how private
  experiences of oppression may be understood as
  part of a general system of oppression that
  shapes womens experience
• Many womens private issues are not recorded as
  shared public issues
• Advocates methods that enable women to express
  their experiences from their own perspective

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HERMANEUTICS

• Examine the way people develop interpretation of
  their life in relation to their life experiences
• Similar to phenomenology ,but takes a broader
  view of both past and future and broader cultural
  factors Eg Story telling

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GROUNDED THEORY

• An inductive technique developed by Glaser and
  Strauss(1967)
• Grounded Theories are grounded ( it has its
  root) in the empirical data and built up
  inductively through a process of careful
  analysis and comparison
• Developed in opposition to positivist and
  deductive approach

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WHEN TO USE Q.R

• To inform what people are doing, thinking, and
  saying about a problem
• To identify the important problem to be solved at
  community/local/policy levels
• Generate a list of options for interventions
• To investigate how best to implement promising
  interventions
• To monitor response to interventions and assess
  how best to present its results to public and
  scientific community

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WHEN NOT TO USE

• When numbers are needed to make a decision (what
  proportion of people )
• Results are to be projected to the total
  population (unless generalisability ensured by
  researcher through appropriate measures)

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WHAT KINDS OF SKILLS REQUIRED FOR QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH?

• Qualitative Research required theoretical and
  social sensitivity
• Ability to maintain analytical distance while
  drawing upon experience and knowledge to
  interpret what is seen
• Power of observation
• Good interactional skills.

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WHAT KINDS OF SKILLS REQUIRED FOR QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH?

• Ability to organize and synthesize many
  different types of data
• Ability to gain trust of individuals / groups
• Respect for individuals and awareness of the
  ethical responsibilities
• Knowledge and experience of social,cultural,reli
  gious and economic characteristic of
  group/community/setting.

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COMPONENTS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

• Data come from various sources
• Different analytic or interpretive procedures.
  
• E.g. Coding, Writing of memos, diagramming
• Written and Verbal reports.

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

• NATURALISTIC Natural setting as source of data
• INDUCTIVE It seeks to build theory from data
  avoid imposing researcher own categories of
  analysis
• HOLISTIC It looks at the phenomenon in totality
  takes an overall perspective

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

• THICK DESCRIPTION Descriptive in that the
  researcher is interested in process, meaning
  understanding gained through words pictures
  use quotations
• PERSONAL CONTACT Shares the experience of
  subjects , not trying to be an objective outsider
• DYNAMIC There is constant shifting with
  changing phenomenon context

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

• UNIQUE CASE SELECTION Not concerned about
  generalization stress on uniqueness of each
  case
• CONTEXT SENSITIVITY Emphasis many aspects of
  social, historical physical contexts
• EMPATHETIC Trying to take view of other person
  via introspection reflection, yet
  non-judgemental

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

• FLEXIBLE DESIGN- Emergent design as opposed to
  pre-determined in quan.methods
• INTERPRETIVE Aimed at discovering the meaning
  the events have for the individuals who
  experience them interpretation of these meaning
  by researcher
• PROCESS ORIENTED Primarily concerned with
  process rather than outcome

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

• RESEARCHER AS INSTRUMENT Data are mediated
  through human instrument rather than inventories
  or questionnaires
• MULTIPLE SOURCES OF EVIDENCE-Multiple forms of
  evidence. Judgment at usefulness and credibility
  is left to the researcher

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
GOALS
Stress upon verification of theory by using
statistical prediction Tests hypothesis
Discovery of theory understanding of phenomena
under study suggests hypothesis.
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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
SCOPE

• Particularistic, guided by objectives
• Generalize and extrapolate findings

• Holistic, rich in context, emphasizes
  interactions
• Recognizes the individuality of responses and
  findings.

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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
SETTING DESIGN

• Unfamiliar, artificial
• PRE-determined structured design. Manipulation
  control

• Familiar, natural
• Flexible evolving design

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QUANTITATIVE
QUANLITATIVE
Vs.
DATA COLLECTION METHODS

• Cross sectional studies, cohort, case control,
  RCT

• Semi structured / unstructured interviews,
  Focus group discussions, observations, key
  informantinterviews, case study

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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
TYPES OF DATA

• Deals with words, texts and observations
• Open ended. Depth of information.
• Produce a wealth of detailed data about a much
  smaller number of people. Depends on purpose,
  resources and interests of those involved.

• Deals with numbers
• Use of standardized approach - the experiences
  of people are limited to certain predetermined
  response categories
• Measure reactions of many subjects to set of
  questions, thus facilitating comparison and
  statistical aggregation of data

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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
SAMPLING

• Probability Sampling

• Non-Probability sampling-Typically focus in depth
  on small samples selected purposively

SAMPLE SIZE

• Large Sample Size

• No rule for sample size. Depends on what you
  want to know purpose of enquiring what will be
  useful, what will have credibility and what can
  be done with available resources.

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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
DATA COLLECTION

• Researcher as primary instrument Personal
  involvement empathic understanding

• Inanimate Instruments- Scales,Tests,
  Questionnaires
• Detachment objective portrayal

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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

• Analysis tend to be deductive. Test hypothesis
  using quantitative methods Statistical
  analysis

• Usually inductive. unit of analysis can be
  individuals, families, groups. No statistical
  techniques used.

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QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Vs.
FINDINGS

• Generalizations made. Statistical predictions
  because of representative sample.
• Reliability

• More in depth data and help us to find out
  how and why of an outcome. Sequence of event
  depicted.
• Validity

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SAMPLING- QUAL. STUDIES

• NON- PROBABILITY SAMPLING
• Purposeful selection
• Goal is to understand phenomena, not to represent
  population
• Selection of information-rich cases for intensive
  study

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Non-probability Sampling

• Quota Sampling
• Snowball Sampling
• Typical Case Sampling
• Critical Case Sampling
• Homogeneous
• Maximum variation
• Extreme or deviant cases
• Criterion Sampling

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Quota sampling

• It is a form of convenient sampling
• Selection of quota groups of accessible sampling
  units by age, sex, social class etc
• Assignment of quota groups specified by
  predetermined traits in specific proportions
• A method of stratified sampling in which
  selection within strata is non-random

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SNOWBALL SAMPLING

• Subjects are asked to recommend others they know
  for the researcher to contact
• Useful in studies of social networks or in
  difficult to find populations
• Use in research on sensitive issues like sexual
  practices ,IV drug use etc.

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Typical and deviant case sampling

• To describe a typical case serves as a profile
  for understanding the principal features of a
  group of programes or class of individuals.
• Sample typical case as illustrative
• In deviant case sampling, cases at either end of
  a continuum or unusual cases are selected
• More useful in finding critical variables
  contributing to the phenomenon

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Critical case sampling

• Its effectiveness depends on understanding what
  is happening in that case
• Identification depends on key factors that make a
  case as critical
• The results of intervention would provide a
  critical case for the feasibility of the programe
• If it works here ,it will work everywhere

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Homogeneous sampling

• Subjects with similarities in background are
  selected
• Better able to focus on a central issue that is
  relevant to all of them
• Eg. Focus Group Discussion (stimulating people
  with a common identity to discuss their shared
  experiences)

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Maximum variation sampling

• Selecting sample with maximum variation in
  defined attributes eg. Education, gender
• To highlight the experiences or outcomes which
  these maximally varied samples have in common
• Document unique experiences shared patterns

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Criterion sampling

• Sample cases to meet a criterion of importance to
  the study eg. membership in a particular group or
  participation in a programme
• May be done as follow up of a survey to identify
  particular subjects for in-depth analyses

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Sample Size

• The validity, meaningfulness and insights
  generated from qualitative enquiry have more to
  do with the information,richness of cases
  selected and the observational/ analytical
  capabilities of the researcher than with sample
  size (patton)

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Sample size

• Depends upon completion of data- sample selection
  to the point of redundancy
• Might begin with small sample based on expected
  reasonable coverage and expand if needed
• Large enough to make meaningful comparisons
• Small purposive samples based on study purpose,
  but describe, justify and explain
• Care not to over generalize from purposive
  samples

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Factors affecting sample size

• No of comparison groups- more groups more
  samples
• Complexity and depth of information- more
  in-depth information go for small sample
• Explain similarities and differences in
  particular context
• Availability of resources

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Data collection methods

• In-depth Interviews
• Key informant Interviews
• Observation
• Focus Group Discussions
• Case studies
• Illness narratives, Surrogate patient studies
• PRA / PLA Techniques

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IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
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What is an In-depth Interview

• It is a qualitative research technique that
  allows person to person discussion which can lead
  to increased insight into peoples thoughts,
  feelings and behaviour on important issues.
• It can be used as one of the effective ways for
  understanding reasons for problem behaviours and
  gather ideas to guide measures to correct a
  problem
• Characterized by extensive probing and open-ended
  questions

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When to use an In-depth Interview

• Subject matter is complex
• Detailed information sought
• Highly sensitive subject matter
• Interest on individual experiences and its unique
  interpretation
• Respondents dissimilar to be meaningfully grouped

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Preparing for the interview

• Identification of the respondents
• Ensure Trained interviewer
• Selection of a comfortable location
• Other logistics- transport, audio or video etc
• Consider access to local population

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Selection of Informants

• Limit to a small sample size
• Select people who are well informed about the
  issue
• Purposive sampling
• Respondents fairly representative of the various
  groups in the study population
• Informant preferably unknown to interviewers

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Tools for data collection

• Interview guide
• Structured open-ended schedule
• Different sets may be needed suitable to
  different categories in the study population
• The guide makes the interviewing more systematic
  and comprehensive

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Preparing the Interview Guide

• List the important topics to be explored in the
  study Eg. Malnutrition among children- Feeding
  adequacy, Care of the child, Health seeking
• Write sub themes for each topic Eg. Under
  feeding adequacy, elicit information Breast
  feeding ,weaning, complimentary feeding, food
  preferences etc.
• Make a draft of possible questions based on
  conceptual frame work
• Check that they can help you obtain all the
  information you need
• Questions not to elicit simple Yes or No
  answers

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Preparing the Interview guide

• Construction of probes
• Probes are devices used to prompt a respondent to
  speak further when an initial question fails to
  elicit the desired information
• Sequence of topics- Never rigid. Phrasing and
  order may be redefined to fit the characteristics
  of respondent

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Preparing the interview guide

• Ensure that your questions are
• Clear and unambiguous
• Simple and easy to understand
• Reasonable and within the experience of
  the targeted population

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Interviewer qualities

• Experienced/Skilled
• Knowledge about the topic
• Personality traits easily gain peoples
  confidence and cooperation, good speech and
  language proficiency
• Other qualities self confidence, ability to
  establish rapport, good listener, politeness,
  articulate enough to prompt respondents to talk
• Training is a pre-requisite if team work

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Interview Techniques

• Unstructured interviews
• Semi-structured interviews
• Structured open-ended interviews

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Conducting the interviews

• Self introduction
• Explain the general purpose of the interview
• Impress upon the respondent that his opinions are
  important
• Seek privacy
• Establish rapport and assure confidentiality
• Consent for the interview recording

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Conducting the interviews

• Carry the interview in a natural, conversational
  style
• Know the objectives of each question to make sure
  that the answers satisfy it
• Interview runs dry use expressions like
  Uh-huh or That is interesting or I see
• Be alert to discover drifting of conversation
• Wrapping-up of interview

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Questioning Techniques

• Ask clear and open-ended questions
• Ask behaviour /experience before opinion
  questions
• Sequence-follow a funnelling method-general to
  specific
• Probe and follow-up questions Eg . Could you tell
  me more about it?

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Managing specific situations

• Reluctant participant
• Speculation can help to open up .eg. I am not
  sure, could it be that women do not have access
  to health care, compared to men ?
• Try to explore their thoughts Eg. Could you
  elaborate on that? Or explain why you think that
  way?

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Managing specific situations

• Rambler Politely control Eg. Excuse me, could
  we change the subject a bit and get back on your
  thoughts on ..
• Participant uncomfortable- Let them talk about
  the part he/she comfortable with.
• Confused OK, Sorry, let me rephrase it
• Contradictory statement-seek clarification

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Interviewer Tips the Dos

• Begin with a friendly greeting
• Maintain privacy and confidentiality
• Listen with an open mind
• Use probes where appropriate
• Ensure a natural flow of interview
• play dumb give informant time to talk
• Be open to unexpected information

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Interviewer Tips the Donts

• Judgemental attitude
• Prompting
• Move quickly from one topic to the next
• Letting silence grow while interviewing
• Arguing or enter into dispute

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Managing the field data

• Field editing
• De-briefing
• Transcribing
• Translation if needed

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Interview summaries

• A brief description of the participants
• Memos Helps one to reflect on the interview
• Theoretical memos/notesSummarises theoretical
  ideas surfaced
• Methdological memos What happened during the
  interview, quality of data,participantcomfortleve
  l
• Personal memos Interviewer relaxed ? Were he
  inhibited in asking certain questions?

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Advantages and Disadvantages

• Advantages
• Explanatory tool
• Emic perspective
• Facilitate rapport
• More appropriate in rural setting
• Responses more valid

• Disadvantages
• Replicality difficult
• Results not strictly comparable
• Time consuming
• Require familiarity with language and culture

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Qualitative Data Analysis
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Steps in qualitative data analysis

• Reading Developing an intimate relationship with
  the data
• Coding Identifying emergent themes
• Choosing and using a software if needed
• Displaying data
• Developing hypothesis, questioning, verifying
• Data reduction Getting the big picture and
  interpretation

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Coding

• Deductive coding
• Done prior to data collection
• Use existing literature or theoretical frames to
  develop categories for coding prior to field work
• Provides a conceptual framework to guide the
  research

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Coding Contd.

• Inductive Coding
• Designs coding scheme from data collected through
  interviews, FGDs etc
• They are like street signs inserted into margins
  of notes or typed in after a segment of text
• Main purpose is to allow research findings to
  emerge from frequent dominant or significant
  themes inherent in raw data

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Inductive Coding Contd

• Condense extensive raw text
• Establish clear links between research objectives
  and findings derived from raw data
• Develop a model or theory about underlying
  structure of experience or processes evident in
  the raw data

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Coding procedures in grounded theory

• Open coding involves fracturing, taking data
  apart and examining discrete parts for
  differences and similarities
• Axial coding connections are made between
  categories and sub categories
• Selective coding identifying one or more core
  categories to which all other sub categories
  relate

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Coding process in inductive analysis

• Create 3-8 summary categories from many pages of
  text
• If more than 8 major themes re-examine them
• Decisions on combining and removing unimportant
  categories need to be made

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Semi-quantitative analysis

• Free-listing
• Pile-sorting
• Domain identification
• Coding
• Summarizing
• Comparative table across stakeholders (if more
  than one)

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Government Health Worker
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Responses

• In your opinion, who are the people that
  generally do not bring their children for polio
  drops on NIDs?
• Sometimes, it happens that parents are unaware
  of it or neglect it or there are some parents who
  do not give importance to it or they go
  outstation. Till now, they have not understood
  the importance of the drops and that it should be
  given. Some parents feel we have given three
  doses (routine doses) to out children and if
  these are not given it will do. These are the
  people who dont bring. Usually they are from
  slum areas. Others are educated, they know about
  it, constantly hear on TV/radio, so they bring.
  The area which I had got was a Mehammedan area so
  the women do not go out of the house. They did
  not even know that it had to be given. There was
  an announcement through the mosque but people
  might not have heard or something else, so many
  children did not turn up.

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Free listing

• In your opinion, who are the people that
  generally do not bring their children for polio
  drops on NIDs?
• Sometimes, it happens that parents are unaware
  of it or neglect it or there are some parents who
  do not give importance to it or they go
  outstation. Till now, they have not understood
  the importance of the drops and that it should be
  given. Some parents feel we have given three
  doses (routine doses) to out children and if
  these are not given it will do. These are the
  people who dont bring. Usually they are from
  slum areas. Others are educated, they know about
  it, constantly hear on TV/radio, so they bring.
  The area which I had got was a Mehammedan area so
  the women do not go out of the house. They did
  not even know that it had to be given. There was
  an announcement through the mosque but people
  might not have heard or something else, so many
  children did not turn up.

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• Domain Evolution
• In your opinion, who are the people that
  generally do not bring their children for polio
  drops on NIDs?
• 0. Dont know
• None (everybody received OPV)
• Laborers / daily wages / beggars (affordability)
• No one at home / adult sickness
• Migrants / tribal (accessibility / out of station
  / traveling
• People with remote residence / adverse weather /
  transport difficulties (accessibility)
• Bad past experience (due to /fear of side
  effects) / fear of polio even after polio drops
  (acceptability)
• Non believers (no faith / believers of other
  systems / superstitions / rumours /
  socio-cultural / religious / death / caste)
• Misinformed groups (rich / educated) / do not
  like to go to IP / go to private practitioner /
  wrong impression)
• Lack of awareness / Illiterate
• Children with illness / new born (acceptability)
• Negative influences of the other family members /
  decision of family members
• Irrelevant
• Blank
• Not applicable

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Coding In your opinion who are the people that
generally do not bring their children for polio
drops on NIDs? 7. Superstitious people who say it
is all in hands of almighty, there is no need of
drops 3. If somebody feel sick on home, it was
difficult to bring the children to the IP for
polio drops 4. Migrating and tribal population
usually do not bring their children for polio
drops 3. Those who are not at home, are not able
to come 6. People who think that because of pulse
polio they may get problems in future 7. Wrong
beliefs about polio drops 2. In slum areas,
those mothers who go out for work do not bring
their children. They say we go out for work, we
do not have any time 8. Those who gave
immunization in routine, high class families
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Qualifiers for Semi-quantitative expression of
Observations
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Writing a report

• Develop an outline for report
• Review all field-notes and organize along
  identified domains in conformity with report
  outline
• Compare across stakeholder categories if needed
• Compare results of other qualitative methods with
  these findings

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FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
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What is Focus Group Discussion?

• Focus group discussions are group discussions
  with a small group of individuals from a well
  defined target population on pre-selected topics
  that rely on interaction between group members,
  under the guidance of a trained facilitator. Each
  participant is stimulated by the comments of
  others and in turn stimulate them.

88
What is Focus Group Discussion

• It is a qualitative method which helps to find
  out the How Why of human behaviour
• It can provide insight into how a group thinks
  about an issue, the range of opinions and ideas,
  and the inconsistencies and variations that exist
  in a particular community in terms of beliefs and
  their experiences practices

89
F.G.D.s are useful for

• Obtaining a range of perceptions, opinions or
  beliefs about an issue
• Gathering exploratory data to be used in future
  research Eg. Local names for diseases, local
  pattern of healthcare seeking
• Hypothesis generating
• Assist in explaining and illustrating results of
  a quantitative survey

90
FGDs are useful for

• Intervention programmes- To identify various
  social or cultural factors that need to be taken
  into account in the design and implementation of
  the programme
• Ongoing assessment of programmes or as an
  evaluation tool
• Obtaining feed back for the cross cultural
  adaptation of materials.
• As a means of validating findings obtained by
  other means (Triangulation)
• As a Rapid Assessment Procedure for getting quick
  results

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Key Considerations

• The topic should is narrowly focused
• Selection of participants is also focused by
  targeting individuals who meet specific criteria
• Topic should be of interest to both the
  investigator and respondents.
• The emphasis should be on interaction between or
  among the group members.

92
Key considerations

• A set of detailed guidelines designed to generate
  discussion of concepts and ideas
• A trained moderator and a note taker
• Recording the discussion to permit later analysis
  of the result

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Designing a Focus Group Discussion

• Setting the objectives
• Determine the target population
• Plan the number of of sessions
• Follow the guidelines regarding selection of
  participants, role of moderator/facilitator etc
• Developing F.G.D.guide
• Conducting F.G.D.
• Analysis and interpretation of results

94
Setting the objectives

• Define the problem and decide on the issues or
  areas you want to explore
• Decide on how the information be used Is this
  the only method to gather information or will it
  be used with other methods
• For eg. Are they to supplement quantitative
  data, used to define pretest questionnaires

95
Selecting the Target group

• Determine who can provide the information you
  require and what characteristics define the
  individuals to be participated
• Often incorporate different subsets with
  potentially contrasting views or experiences
  concerning the issues under investigation
• Eg. Rural Vs Urban and Adolescents Vs Elderly

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Number of sessions

• Decide on the no. of sessions to be held
• Number of sessions is based on
• Resources (time and money)
• Types of different groups targeted
• Comparisons you wish to stress in the
  analysis.

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GUIDELINES FOR F. G. D .s
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Group composition

• The composition should be homogeneous.
• Participants with different backgrounds and
  experience restrict the openness of discussion
• Representative of the population in which the
  investigator is interested.
• Ideally efforts may be made to select people who
  do not know each other personally.
• Exclude people previously participated in a FGD
  on the same subject.

99
Number of people per Group

• The number of participants should range between
  six to ten.
• Small group lt6 can be dominated by one person and
  variation of thought and queries remain
  restricted.
• Large group gt12 does not provide chance to all
  participants and often give way for small group
  formation.

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Venue

• Any place people can easily go.
• Acceptable and convenient to the participants
• Any place where 6 to 10 people can be seated.
• Should not be held in open place (Guard against
  unwarranted intrusions)

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Seating Arrangements

• Best is to have participants in a circular
  fashion.
• Each participant should have the provision to see
  all other participants.
• Each one should feel physically and
  psychologically comfortable.

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How many groups ?

• Run FGs until you dont hear anything new
  Redundancy of information. Not over sample

Sampling and Recruitment

• Either random or convenient sampling .
• Usually recruited through informal networks.
  
• Make sure representative ness of
  study population

103
Focus Group Guide

• A flexible unstructured interview guide is used
  to conduct the discussion.
• keep the questions open- ended Eg. How do you
  feel about
• Questions should seek to discover the prevailing
  attitudes of the community, not just those of the
  group.
• Start with general question and then get more
  specific as the session progress. ( funnelling
  effect)
• The number of items in the guide should not
  exceed 6 or 7.
• The guide must be phrased in simple language
  using local terminology.

104
Personal Qualities of Moderator

• Adequate knowledge on background information
  about the topic and experience in conducting FGD
• Good listening skills
• Leadership skills
• Relationship with the participants
• Patience and flexibility
• Clothing

105
Role of Moderator

• Orient the group in a proper manner.
• Put forth issues / sub issues in appropriate
  questions.
• Create a non-judgmental environment in which
  group members feel free to express.
• Encourage interaction between participants.
• Encourage quiet participants to speak up and
  quieten garrulous talkers.

106
Role of Moderator (contd.)

• Guide the direction of discussion so that it does
  not wander too far from the designated focus.
• Pace the discussion appropriate for the
  participant
• Subtly control the time allotted to each question
  and to the entire discussion.

107
Role of the Recorder

• Primarily an observer, tape record the session.
• Observe the nature of interaction , record
  non-verbal communication level of consensus
• Should know what type of data she/he is expected
  to collect.
• If facilitator has omitted a question from the
  guide, the recorder can point them out.
• Identify the speakers. Note down the first few
  words every time a new person speaks and make
  brief notes of the content

108
Sociogram

• Diagrammatic representation of entire session of
  FGD
• Offers a useful method of conceptualising group
  dynamics drawing comparisons between focus groups
  reflecting on moderating technique

109
CONDUCTING FGD
110
Warming-up

• Greet the participant as they arrive
• Create a warm and friendly environment to build
  the rapport and gain their confidence
• Speak casual-talk general non-controversial
  subjects of mutual interest
• Self introduction Socio-demographic details can
  be collected
• Seek verbal consent and permission for using tape
  recorder

111
Beginning the FGD

• Explain purpose of study and its utility.
• Spell out the ground rules of FGD
• Clarify that it is not a question answer session,
  but a discussion.
• Ensure confidentiality of their views.
• Emphasis that there is no right and wrong
  answers.

112
Beginning the FGD

• Encourage participants to talk freely and should
  even express contradictory /opposite views
• Tell them that they should speak clearly , one at
  a time ,avoid interrupting one another
• Start with generic topic before coming to
  specific area of enquiry

113
Discussion Issues Asking questions

• Initiate discussion by suitably framing the
  issues as statements
• Guide the discussion by logically steering the
  issues. Picking up responses and probing further
  can be done
• Avoid questions eliciting Yes/ No answer
• Make sure not to leave any issue

114
Encouraging controlling the discussion

• Atmosphere Warm, friendly and non-judgemental
• Pauses and prompts
• - Pausing allow to think more on the topic, but
  should not last more than five seconds
• -Establishing eye contact, nodding and other
  gestures encourage people to talk
• -Verbal prompts I see, keep on,mmm,
  uh-huh

115
Encouraging discussion (contd)

• The probe Encourage speaker to give more
  information
• -Prepare probes for each question
• -Use probes where ever needed during
  discussion eg. Could you explain further?, Would
  you give an example?
• Rephrasing- A question can be rephrased using
  different words, not diluting the issue

116
Encouraging the discussion

• Clarification- To clarify an issue,facilitator
  can request Can you repeat it or Please
  elaborate
• Reorientation-Facilitator use participants
  response to restate the question for another
  participant
• Hypothetical Question- Suppose the baby develops
  high fever what would you do?

117
Dealing with Specific individuals

• Dominant participant.
• Facilitator should avoid eye contact. Facilitator
  can change the subject. If the said strategies
  failed, the facilitator can politely request that
  the others be allowed to speak.
• The Expert
• Can offer lot of useful information, but should
  not be allowed to take over and prevent others
  from speaking
• Reluctant participant
• Facilitator should have more eye contact.
• Facilitator can ask the person to comment on
  what another person has said or to summarize what
  the group has discussed.

118
Dealing with problems during FGD

• Answering one by one-Explain once more that
  discussion among participants are crucial
• Participant bring small child If dont disrupt,
  let him/her remain
• Leave the group early- allow
• Bored/ look sleepy- Cut jokes, brief break
  serve cold/hot drinks

119
Recording of Information

• Note the details of discussion
• The note should also include
• -Information required for the session report
• -Group dynamics
• -The intermission and distractions occur
• - What makes the participants laugh

120
Recording information

• What seems to make them reluctant to answer.
• Whether the facilitator lost control of the
  meeting.
• How the discussion is concluded
• Should use quotation marks to indicate
  participants words.

121
Closing the discussion

• Inform participants that discussion is going to
  end and if they have any query or want to
  contribute they can do.
• Thank them for their cooperation and valuable
  comments.
• Assure the participants that under no
  circumstances the discussion would prove counter
  productive to the interest of the group
• During this debriefing period, tape recorder
  should remain on valuable comments are some
  times made at this time.

122
Strengths of Focus Groups

• Lot of information - quickly less costly
• Excellent in obtaining information from
  illiterate communities
• Flexibility- discover attitudes and opinions that
  might not be revealed otherwise
• Well accepted by the community
• If simple issues- managed by people not trained
  in qualitative research methods
• Most valuable when used in conjunction with other
  quantitative information

123
Limitations of Focus groups

• Not suitable for arriving at generalizable
  conclusions
• Quality of information depends heavily on
  moderator skills
• Limited value in exploring complex beliefs
• Number of questions are limited
• Sensitive and personal issues-Socially acceptable
  responses unless put as general questions

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125
ANALYSISAND INTERPRETATION
126

• Data source for analysis
• Debriefings
• Quick and easy way of summarizing data
  immediately after the field work.
• Notes
• Notes and comments of both verbal and non
  verbal information compiled by the moderator and
  observer.
• Transcripts
• Transcribing is very demanding,
• Translation from Local Language if necessary

Contd.
127
Analysis of Transcripts

• Two approaches
• Systematic coding using content analysis
• Ethnographic Summary
• Transcript analysis soon after transcripts
  available
• - Not after completion of all FGDs.
• Edit Transcript
• - Removing sections poorly transcribed or do
  not make sense

128
Analysis of FGD Contd

• Free-listing
• Read the transcript with objectives fresh in
  mind. Look for major opinions and attitude.
• Evolving Domains
• Look for patterns and themes evolving from the
  data
• Coding
• Marking the transcripts using codes
• Summarizing
• Sorting the coded transcripts and summarize.

129
Analysis of FGD

• Log Book (Overview grid)
• Useful summarizing tool.
• Enable to find out how many times an issue was
  discussed across all the Focus Groups as well as
  how many times a response was given.
• Try to Avoid quantification while summarizing,
• Semi quantification can be done with groups as
  unit of analysis.
• Comparison can be done across different
  categories of stakeholders

130
EXAMPLE OF A LOG BOOK ON OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS
131
ETHNOGRAPHIC SUMMARY
The researcher undertakes repeated readings of
the transcript until they feel confident they
understand the underlying meaning being
presented. Quotations are used to illustrate the
key points and again are followed or preceded by
narrative explanation.
132

• Writing the report
• Using Log book, codes from transcripts,
  observers notes as well as debriefing notes.
• Present findings according to topics
• Use quotations to illustrate strongly expressed
  thoughts, beliefs and emotions
• Describe overall consensus of the group,
  Majority minority feelings as well as
  differences by characteristics of respondents.
• Common style is to say The majority of
  participants said .. Or few of
  them..

133

• Interpretation
• Interpretation involved explaining your findings
  in terms of the problem or question you want to
  answer.
• The format of FGD report should consist of three
  parts
• 1. Description of setting and participants.
• 2. Discussion of findings.
• 3. Conclusion and recommendations.

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135
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136
OBSERVATION
137
Observation

• Observation may be defined as a systematic
  viewing of a specific phenomenon in its proper
  setting for the specific purpose of gathering
  data for a particular study
• It is a technique that involves directly
  observing behaviour with the purpose of
  describing it .
• To observe means to examine an object, an
  individual, group of people or an event with all
  of the senses in order to describe it. It
  includes seeing, hearing and perceiving.

138
Observation (contd)

• It is a method to collect firsthand data on
  programme, processes or behaviours being
  studied-what people actually do
• Opportunity to collect data on a wide range of
  behaviours to capture a great variety of
  interactions to openly explore a topic
• Holistic perspective, understanding of the
  context within which it operates

139
Scientific Observation

• Serves a formulated research purpose
• Planned deliberately
• Recorded systematically
• Subject to checks and controls on validity and
  reliability
• Validity is assessed by examining how well the
  observations agree with alternative measures of
  the same construct
• Reliability entails consistency and freedom from
  measurement error

140
OBSERVATION
Non-participant

• Participant

Structured
Unstructured

• events planed in advance
• use of observational guide

• No predetermined guide

141
Participant Observation

• Observer is part of the phenomenon or group which
  is observed
• Roots in ethnographic research-immerse in the
  culture to see how people respond to situations,
  how they organise their lives, learning what is
  meaningful in their lives
• See things from people perspective and a deeper
  understanding of them

142
Participant Observation

• Often conduct casual informal interviews while
  watching and recording to increase understanding
• Level of participation depends upon the nature of
  study desired outcome
• Requires lengthy period of engagement in the
  field
• The observed may not be aware of the researcher
  purpose

143
Participant Observation-Uses

• Useful in understanding basic values behaviour
  associated with particular actions
• Discover the relationship between knowledge,
  attitude and practice
• Observer will be able to record context which
  gives meaning to the observed behaviour and heard
  statements
• Can be effectively combined with other methods

144
Participant Observation-Demerits

• Narrows the range of observation
• To the extent that observer participates
  emotionally, the objectivity is lost
• Participation can interfere with observation and
  recording.
• Time consuming
• Research skills essential

145
Non-participant Observation

• Systematically observing and documenting
  something in its natural setting
• Silent observers
• Researcher watches records information about
  people or event without intruding into the scene
• Look for many things and describe the situations
  at many different levels
• Ethical issues need to be addressed
• No rule as to how many- spread observations over
  time

146
Un- structured Observations

• Unstructured observation involves broadly
  focussed encounters without a pre-determined
  guide
• Data primarily used for descriptive accounts
• More of exploratory in nature

147
Structured Observation

• Observes events that have been planned in advance
  
• Validate data obtained from other methods
• Standardization of observational technique
• Typified by clear and explicit decisions on what,
  how and when to observe (Persons/locations,
  duration of observations, time to conduct,
  frequency)
• Can be quantified , but with little contextual
  description

148
What is to be observed

• Selection criteria - Depends on the purpose of
  the study
• Sampling purposive Sampling
• Sources of information consider what is to be
  observed, who is the foci of attention, where
  will the observation take place and what is the
  most appropriate recording system

149
Observer characteristics

• Observer qualities Familiarity with cultural
  background of people being observed
• Knowledge of social research technique
• Observers role unobtrusive, interest in the
  events being observed
• Training to enable them take note of un-forseen
  events, share study objectives, how to conduct
  and how to deal with field problems

150
Observation Guide

• Issues to be observed prepared in advance based
  on the research objectives
• Inputs from observers / observers familiar with
  the issues in the study
• Goal oriented and suitable to local condition
• The items should appear in logical grouping and
  in the order in which to observe them

151
Selection of Site

• Prior site selection and permission from
  authorities
• No of observation sites availability,
  accessibility and study specific
• Date and time- Remember that observations are
  activity linked
• No of observations per site - depend upon the
  purpose of study

152
Conduct the observation

• Inform and explain your presence
• Gain confidence and cooperation of subjects
• Remain detached yet involved with the group
• Take note of the observation situations and also
  of non-verbal communication
• Avoid making extensive notes during observation

153
Documentation in Observation technique

• Use all senses to describe the setting-physical
  and social environment non-verbal communication
• Field notes- include observation notes, feelings
  and reflections
• Direct quotations
• Technological tools-Tape recorder, camera, Laptop
  etc.

154
Analysis and Report Writing

• Categorization of data Qualitative part
• Coding Quantitative aspects and categorized
  data
• Summarizing Report as percentages and / or in a
  narrative style depending on data
• Findings combined with other methods to make a
  complete report

155
Advantages Disadvantages

• Advantages
• Recording in context possibility of cross check
• Basic to other more systematic research
• Emic perspective
• Discover the relationship between K, A and P
• Opportunity for identifying unanticipated outcome

• Disadvantages
• Ideally long periods of intense field work
• Local language fluency
• Replicality a problem
• Difficult to quantify
• No use in studying past event or activity
• Observer bias
• Change in behaviour

156
Some problems and solutions

• Observer bias
• Questionable reliability
• Observer may influence behaviour
• Actins can only be observed-not thinking

• Several researchers make observations
• Systematically repeat observations
• Repeat observations. Spent time to reduce
  self-consciousness
• Mix with other methods like interview

157
Thank You
158
Assessing the quality of qualitative research

• Strategies to ensure rigour systematic research
  design, data collection, interpretation and
  communication techniques
• Create an account of method and data which can
  stand up to independent scrutiny
• Produce coherent explanation of the phenomena
  under scrutiny

159
Ensuring reliability

• Maintain record of interviews and observations
• Document entire processes
• Develop coding framework
• Presence of audio or video tapes provides
  opportunities for analysis by independent
  observers

160
Safeguarding Validity

• Internal Validity
• Quan Measuring what you intend to measure
• Qual Findings need to reflect the truth
• External validity
• - Quan Generalizability through stat
  inference
• - Qual Transferability through understanding
  of relationship between context and findings

161
Triangulation

• Main research tool researchers themselves
• Subjective nature of data can open it to
  criticism
• Method to enhance quality of data through
  triangulation data, researcher, combining methods

162
Assessing Trustworthiness of Findings

• Can be assessed by
• Careful documentation of research process
• Independent replication of research process
• Comparison with findings with previous research
• Triangulation

163
Assessing Trustworthiness Contd..

• Consistency checks Independent coder given
  research objectives categories and their
  description without raw text
• Then given a sample of raw text and asked to
  assign section of text from which initial
  categories where developed.

164
Assessing Trustworthiness Contd..

• Stake holder check Participants, service
  providers, funding agencies comment on categories
  or interpretations made

165
Qualitative data analysis software

• QDA does not completely analyze data
• A tool that supports the process of qualitative
  data analysis
• Large volume of data can be structured very
  quickly and clearly presented
• Helps the researcher in searching texts, memos or
  coded passage easily

166
Advantages of QDA software

• Speed
• Great flexibility
• Complex analysis becomes feasible
• Analysis can be more systematic
• Easy to handle large amount of data
• Increases the status and believability

167
Disadvantages

• Danger of loosing touch with data
• We can perform quick but irrelevant analysis
• High degrees of complexity can lead to poor
  manageability
• Can lead to dull and meaningless analysis result

168
QDA software packages

• Text Base Beta
• CDC-EZtext
• Atlas-ti
• NUDIST
• nVivo
• The Ethnograph

169
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