Qualitative Research

1
Qualitative Research

• Trustworthiness
• Observation and Interviewing
• Content Analysis
• Ethnography

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Features of Qualitative Research (Hoepfl)

• Natural setting as source of data
• Researcher acts as human instrument
• Inductive data analysis
• Reports are descriptive
• Incorporating voice
• Interpretive
• Aimed at discovering meaning
• Pays attention to unique cases
• Emergent design
• Judged using special criteria of trustworthiness

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Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research

• An important check on the trustworthiness of the
  researchers interpretations in qualitative
  research is to compare one informants
  description of something with another informants
  description of the same thing.
• Triangulation is a check on trustworthiness by
  comparing different information on the same
  topic.
• Triangulation
• Data triangulation
• Use of multiple data sources
• Students, teachers, administrators, etc.
• Methods triangulation
• Interviews, observations, etc.
• Researcher triangulation
• Use a team of researchers.

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Group Discussion

• Name a research topic for qualitative researchers
  in which it would be useful to have a team of
  researchers with diverse backgrounds. Explain
  why.

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Criteria for judging research

• Quantitative
• Internal validity
• Did A cause B?
• External Validity
• Are these findings generalizable?
• Reliability
• Are the measures repeatable?
• Objectivity
• Are the findings free of researcher bias/values?

• Qualitative
• Credibility
• Believable from participants view
• Transferability
• Can this finding be transferred to other
  contexts?
• Dependability
• Would another researcher come to similar
  conclusions?
• Confirmability
• Can the results be confirmed or corroborated by
  others

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Judging Qualitative Research

• Role of the reviewer
• Coherence
• Does the story make sense?
• Consensus
• Do others agree?
• Instrumental Utility
• Are the results useful?

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Observation and Interviewing
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Observation

• Certain kinds of research questions can best be
  answered by observing how people act or how
  things look.
• Research role
• A relationship acquired by and ascribed to the
  researcher in interactive data collection.
• There are different roles with regard to
  observation
• Interviewer
• Naturalistic Observer
• Participant Observer
• Participant Researcher
• Inside Observer

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Variations in Approaches to Observation
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Participant vs. Non-Participant Observation

• Participant observation studies
• Researcher participates as an active member of
  the group.
• Non-participant observation studies
• Researcher does not participate in an activity or
  situation.
• Naturalistic observations and simulations.
• Simulations are created situations in which
  subjects are asked to act out certain roles.

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Observer Effect

• The presence of an observer can have a
  considerable effect on the behavior of those
  being observed, and affect the outcome of the
  study.
• Unless a researcher is concealed, it is quite
  likely that they will have some form of effect
  upon the individuals being observed.
• It is for that reason that participants should
  not be informed of the studys purpose until
  after data has been collected.
• Does this present ethical problems?
• How might a researcher reduce his or her impact
  on the setting?

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Observer Bias

• Refers to the possibility that certain
  characteristics or ideas of observers may bias
  what they see.
• Observer expectations
• Comparing notes or impressions among other
  researchers assists in reducing this threat.

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Coding Observational Data

• Coding scheme
• categories an observer uses to record a persons
  or groups behavior.
• Fixed vs. Open
• An observer still must choose what to observe,
  even with a fixed coding scheme.
• Data are coded into categories that emerge as the
  analysis proceeds
• What type of research is this?

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Interviewing

• Interviewing is an important way for a researcher
  to check the accuracy of the impressions he or
  she gained through observation.
• Likely the most important data-collection
  technique for qualitative research.

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Types of Interviews

• Types of interviews
• Informal-conversation
• Questions emerge from the immediate context
• Semi-structured
• Topics selected in advance
• Researcher determines sequence and wording during
  interview.
• Standardized open-ended
• Exact wording and sequence of questions
  predetermined.

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Types of Interview Questions

• Six types of interview questions
• Background/demographic questions
• Knowledge questions
• Experience/behavior questions
• Opinion/values questions
• Feelings questions
• Sensory questions

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Interviewing Behavior

• Respect the culture of the group being studied
• Respect the individual being interviewed
• Be natural
• Develop an appropriate rapport with the
  participant
• Ask one question at a time

• Ask the same question in different ways during
  the interview
• Ask the interviewee to repeat an answer when in
  doubt
• Vary who controls the flow of communication
• Avoid leading questions
• Dont interrupt

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Group Discussion

• In your opinion, does the flexibility afforded by
  semi-structured interviewing open the possibility
  that the interviewer might bias the interview so
  that the interviewer obtains results along the
  lines that he or she already expected to find?
• Why or why not?
• How might the interviewer reduce potential bias?
• Do you think a fully structured interview reduces
  the likelihood of this problem?
• Why or why not?

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Content Analysis
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What is Content Analysis?

• Content Analysis
• a technique that enables researchers to study
  human behavior through an analysis of
  communications.
• Types of communications are
• Textbooks
• Essays
• Pictures
• Songs
• Movies
• Signs
• A person or groups conscious and unconscious
  beliefs, attitudes, or values are often revealed
  in their communication.

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Applications of Content Analysis in Educational
Research

• Describe trends in schooling over time
• Understand organizational patterns
• Show how different schools handle the same
  phenomena differently
• Infer attitudes, values, and cultural patterns in
  different countries

• Compare the myths that people hold about schools
• Gain a sense of how teachers feel about their
  work
• Gain some idea of how schools are perceived
• Also, can be used to supplement more direct
  methods of research

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Categorization in Content Analysis

• All procedures at some point convert the
  descriptive information into categories.
• There are two ways this might be done
• The researcher determines the categories before
  any analysis begins. These categories are based
  on previous knowledge, theory, and experience.
• The researcher becomes very familiar with the
  descriptive information collected and allows the
  categories to emerge as the analysis continues.
• i.e., grounded theory.

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Steps Involved in Content Analysis

• Determine objectives by obtaining information on
  the following
• Formulate themes for organization
• Check other research findings for validation
• Obtain information useful in dealing with
  educational problems
• Investigate possible relationships to test
  hypothesis
• Define Terms
• Clearly define terms before or during the study
• Specify the Unit of Analysis

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Steps Involved in Content Analysis

• Locate Relevant Data
• Develop a Rationale
• Conceptual link needed to relate data to the
  objectives
• Develop a Sampling Plan
• Techniques could involve
• Random sample
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Convenience sampling
• Formulate Coding Categories

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Steps Involved in Content Analysis

• Checking Reliability and Validity
• Test-retest method
• Analyze Data
• Counting
• Use descriptive statistical procedures such as
  frequencies and/or percentages

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Sample Tally Sheet
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Advantages of Content Analysis

• The following are considered advantages of
  Content Analysis
• Unobtrusive
• Useful means of analyzing interview and
  observational data
• Not limited by time and space to the study of
  present events
• Relatively simple and economical.

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Disadvantages of Content Analysis

• The following are considered disadvantages of
  Content Analysis
• Usually limited to recorded information
• Establishing validity
• Question remains as to the true meaning of the
  categories themselves
• Historical research findings might not be
  considered important today
• Temptation to attribute a cause of a phenomenon
  vs. a reflection of it

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Discussion

• Lets say we wanted to test the belief that poor
  people are inaccurately and stereotypically
  portrayed in the media. Describe how you would
  design a content analysis to study the question.
  What coding categories do you anticipate?

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Ethnographic Research
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What is Ethnographic Research?

• A description and interpretation of a cultural or
  social group
• Study of the meanings of behavior, language, and
  interactions of a culture-sharing group.
• Researcher examines the groups observable and
  learned patterns of behavior.
• The key tools are in-depth interviewing and
  participant observation.

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Ethnographic Procedures

• Wolcott (1987) stated that ethnography consists
  of
• Looking for what people do (behaviors).
• Listening for what they say (language).
• What they make and use (artifacts).

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The Unique Value of Ethnographic Research

• Ethnographic research has a particular strength
  that makes it especially appealing to many
  researchers.
• It can reveal nuances and subtleties that other
  methodologies miss.
• By going out into the world and observing things
  as they occur, we are better able to obtain a
  more accurate picture.

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Ethnographic Concepts

• Culture
• Holistic Perspective
• Contextualization
• An Emic Perspective

• Thick Description
• Member Checking
• A Nonjudgmental Orientation

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Emic vs. Etic

• Local Beliefs and Perceptions and the
  Ethnographers
• An emic (native-oriented) approach investigates
  how natives think, categorize the world, express
  thoughts, and interpret stimuli.
• Emic native viewpoint
• Key cultural consultants are essential for
  understanding the emic perspective.
• An etic (science-oriented) approach emphasizes
  the categories, interpretations, and features
  that the anthropologist considers important.

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Topics that Lend Themselves Well to Ethnographic
Research

• Topics that defy simple quantification
• Topics that can be best understood in a natural
  setting
• Topics that involve the study of individual or
  group activities over time

• Topics that involve the study of the roles and
  behaviors associated with those roles
• Topics that involve the study of the activities
  and behavior of groups as a unit
• Topics involving the study of formal
  organizations in their totality

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Sampling in Ethnographic Research

• Ethnographers attempt to observe everything.
• However, no researcher can observe everything at
  once.
• Samples are small and do not permit
  generalization to a larger population.
• Their goal is the complete understanding of a
  particular situation.

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Do Ethnographic Researchers Use A Priori
Hypotheses?

• Ethnographers seldom initiate their research with
  precise hypotheses.
• Attempt to understand an ongoing situation or set
  of activities that cannot be predicted in
  advance.
• Ethnographic research relies on both observation
  and interviewing over time.

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Challenges (Creswell)

• Ethnographer needs to have grounding in cultural
  anthropology.
• Time to collect data is extensive.
• Narratives written in a storytelling approach
  which may limit audience.
• Possibility of going native
• And?

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethnographic
Research

• Advantages
• Provides comprehensive perspective
• Observes behaviors in their natural environments
• And?

• Disadvantages
• Dependent on the researchers observations and
  interpretations
• Difficult to check the validity of the
  researchers conclusion
• Observer bias is almost impossible to eliminate
• May lack transferability
• And?