What is Qualitative Research?

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What is Qualitative Research?

• A holistic approach to questions--a recognition
  that human realities are complex. Broad
  questions.
• The focus is on human experience
• The research strategies used generally feature
  sustained contact with people in settings where
  those people normally spend their time. Contexts
  of Human Behavior.

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Qualitative Research cont.

• There is typically a high level of researcher
  involvement with subjects strategies of
  participant observation and in-depth,
  unstructured interviews are often used.
• The data produced provide a description, usually
  narrative, of people living through events in
  situations.
• Cited from Boyd, pp. 67-68 in Munhall, 2001

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Types of Qualitative Data

• 1. Interviews
• 2. Observations
• 3. Documents

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Types of Qualitative Data

• 1. Interviews
• Open-ended questions and probes yield in-depth
  responses about peoples experiences, opinions,
  perceptions, feelings and knowledge.
• Data consist of verbatim quotations with
  sufficient context to be interpretable.

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Types of Qualitative Data cont.

• 2. Observations
• Fieldwork descriptions of activities, behaviors,
  actions, conversations, interpersonal
  interactions, organizational or community
  processes, or any other aspect of observable
  human experience.
• Data consist of field notes rich detailed
  descriptions, including the context within which
  the observations were made.

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Types of Qualitative Data cont.

• 3. Documents
• Written materials and other documents, programs
  records memoranda and correspondence official
  publications and reports personal diaries,
  letters, artistic works, photographs, and
  memorabilia and written responses to open-ended
  surveys.
• Data consists of excerpts from documents captured
  in a way that records and preserves context.

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Qualitative Traditions of Inquiry

• 1. Biography--Life history, oral
• history
• 2. Phenomenology--The lived experience
• 3. Grounded theory
• 4. Ethnography
• 5. Case Study

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Biographical Study

• The study of an individual and her or his
  experiences as told to the researcher or found in
  documents and archival material.
• Life history--The study of an individuals life
  and how it reflects cultural themes of the
  society.

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Biographical Study cont.

• Oral history--The researcher gathers personal
  recollections of events, their causes, and their
  effects from and individual or several
  individuals.
• The researcher needs to collect extensive
  information about the subject of the biography

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Biographical Study cont.

• The writer, using an interpretive approach, needs
  to be able to bring himself or herself into the
  narrative and acknowledge his or her standpoint.

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Phenomenology

• Describes the meaning of the lived experience
  about a concept or a phenomenon for several
  individuals.
• It has roots in the philosophical perspectives of
  Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, etc.
• --Max Van Manen, Munhall (Nursing)

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Phenomenology

• Moustakas, 1994, p. 13 to determine what an
  experience means for the persons who have had the
  experience and are able to provide a
  comprehensive description of it. From the
  individual descriptions, general or universal
  meanings are derived, in other words, the
  essences of structures of the experience.

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Grounded Theory

• Based on Symbolic Interactionism which posits
  that humans act and interact on the basis of
  symbols, which have meaning and value for the
  actors.

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Grounded Theory cont.

• The intent of grounded theory is to generate or
  discover a theory that relates to a particular
  situation. If little is known about a topic,
  grounded theory is especially useful

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Grounded Theory cont.

• Usually have a question, dont do
• a literature review in the beginning.
• Usually do 20-30 interviews
• (maybe more than one time for each person)

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Grounded Theory cont.

• Data collection and analysis occur
  simultaneously, until saturation is reached.
• Data reviewed and coded for categories and
  themes.

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Grounded Theory cont.

• Data analysis generates a visual picture, a
  narrative statement or a series of hypotheses
  with a central phenomenon, causal conditions,
  context and consequences.
• The researcher needs to set aside theoretical
  ideas or notions so that analytical or
  substantive theories can emerge from the data.
• Systematic approach

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Ethnography

• A description and interpretation of a cultural or
  social group or system. The researcher examines
  the groups observable and learned patterns of
  behavior, customs, and ways of life.
• Involves prolonged observation of the group,
  typically through participant observation.

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Ethnography

• Field Work
• Key Informants
• Thick description
• Emic (insider group perspective) and Etic
  (researchers interpretation of social life).
• Context important, need holistic view.
• Need grounding in anthropology.

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Ethnography cont.

• Need extensive time to collect data
• Many ethnographies may be written in a narrative
  or story telling approach which may be difficult
  for the audience accustomed to usual social
  science writing.

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Ethnography cont.

• May incorporate quantitative data and archival
  documents.

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Case Study

• A case study is an exploration of a bounded
  system or a case (or multiple cases) over time
  through detailed, in-depth data collection
  involving multiple sources of information rich in
  context.
• The context of the case involves situating the
  case within its setting. which may be physical,
  social, historical and/or economic.

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Case Study cont.

• Data collection strategies include direct
  observation, interviews, documents, archival
  records, participant observation, physical
  artifacts and audiovisual materials.
• Analysis of themes, or issues and an
  interpretation of the case by the researcher.

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Designing a Qualitative Study

• Problem Statement or Statement of Need for the
  Study
• No hypothesis Research questions which you want
  to answer instead.
• Opinions differ about the extent of literature
  needed before a study begins.
• Need to identify the gaps in knowledge about the
  topic.

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Qualitative Study Design cont.

• Research questions that are too broad
• Does Buddhism account for the patience that seems
  to dominate the Thai world view?
• How do leaders make their decisions?

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Qualitative Study Design cont.

• Research questions better answered
• by quicker means
• What television programs do Brazilians watch
  most?
• Where can you buy postage stamps in
• Italy?

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Qualitative Study Design cont.

• Examples of Qualitative Questions
• What do people in this setting have to know in
  order to do what they are doing?
• What is the story that can be told from these
  experiences?
• What are the underlying themes and contexts that
  account for the experience?

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Qualitative Sampling Strategies

• No probability sampling

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Sampling Strategies cont.

• Decisions about sampling and sampling strategies
  depend on the unit of analysis which has been
  determined.
• individual people
• program, group organization or community
• genders, ethnic groups, older and younger

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Sampling Strategies cont.

• Purposeful or Judgment Sampling
• In judgment sampling, you decide the purpose you
  want informants (or communities) to serve, and
  you go out to find some Bernard, 2000176
• Key Informants are people who are particularly
  knowledgeable about the inquiry setting and
  articulate about their knowledge.

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Sampling Strategies cont.

• Purposeful Sampling Strategies
• Maximum variation
• Homogeneous
• Critical case
• Theory based
• Confirming and disconfirming cases

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Sampling Strategies cont.

• Snowball or chain
• Extreme or deviant case
• Typical case
• Intensity
• Politically important cases
• Random purposeful

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Sampling Strategies cont.

• Stratified purposeful
• Criterion
• Opportunistic
• Combination or mixed
• Convenience

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Qualitative Data Collection

• Rather than developing an instrument to use, the
  qualitative researcher is the instrument.
• Recording data Field notes, tape recorders,
  video and photographic data
• Interviews must be transcribed.

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Fieldwork Strategies and Observations

• In the fields of observation, chance favors the
  prepared mind. Louis Pasteur
• People only see what they are prepared to see.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Fieldwork Observations

• Learn to pay attention, see what there is to see,
  and hear what there is to hear.
• Practice writing descriptively
• Acquiring discipline in recording field notes
• Knowing how to separate detail from trivia to
  achieve the former without being overwhelmed by
  the latter.

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Fieldwork Observations cont.

• Use rigorous methods to validate and triangulate
  observations.
• Reporting strengths and limitations of ones own
  perspective, which requires both self-knowledge
  and self-disclosure.
• Participant observer or onlooker or both

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Qualitative Interviewing

• 1. Informal conversational interview
• 2. Interview guide approach
• 3. Standardized open-ended interview
• 4. Closed, fixed-response interview

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Qualitative Interviewing cont.

• Sequencing questions
• Use words that make sense to the people being
  interviewed.
• Ask truly open-ended questions
• Avoid questions which can be answered with a yes
  or no.
• One idea per question.
• Be careful with Why questions.

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Qualitative Data Analysis

• When does analysis begin? During data
  collection.
• Thick description is the foundation for
  qualitative analysis and reporting.
• Organize the data. Read all the data and get a
  sense of the whole.
• Coding for recurring themes and categories

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Qualitative Data Analysis

• Computer-assisted qualitative data management and
  analysis
• Ethnograph
• NUDIST (Non-numerical Unstructured Data With
  Indexing, Searching and Theorizing) QSR N6 and
  QSR NVivo
• ATLAS.ti

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Qualitative Data Analysis

• Coding data
• Finding Patterns
• Labeling Themes
• Developing Category Systems
• Looking for emergent patterns in the data

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References

• Bernard, H.R. (2000). Social Research Methods
  Qualitative and Quantitative approaches.
  Thousand Oaks, CA Sage
• Creswell, J.W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and
  Research Design Choosing Among Five Traditions.
  Thousand Oaks, CA Sage
• Munhall, P.L. (2001). Nursing Research A
  Qualitative Perspective, 3rd Edition. Sudbury,
  MA Jones and Bartlett
• Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research
  Evaluation Methods, 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks,
  CA Sage