Qualitative Research Methods A4.2QM3

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Qualitative Research MethodsA4.2QM3

• Carolyn Deighan
• C.S.Deighan_at_hw.ac.uk

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Introduction

• Lecture Aims
• To introduce students to main features of
  qualitative research.
• To highlight aims of qualitative study.
• To provide examples of qualitative research in
  the applied setting of health.
• To indicate why qualitative research may be seen
  as necessary and valid.
• To describe main approaches within qualitative
  research in relation to main epistemological
  approaches within science and social science.

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What is qualitative research?

• The division between quantitative and qualitative
  research may be a false one.
• Unhelpful to characterise qualitative research as
  completely separate from quantitative research.
• Qualitative research tends to use language data
  (written or oral) and quantitative numerical data
  but this is not always the case.
• Many qualitative studies use simple frequency
  counts whereas language data can also be used in
  quantitative studies.

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May be more useful to characterise qualitative
research by the aims of the study

• Qualitative studies more concerned with the
  what how or why rather than the how many
  or how much

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Examples of qualitative research in applied
psychology setting of health

• Title of paper Cancer patients information
  needs and help-seeking behaviour (Leydon et al
  2000)
• Methods of data collection In depth interview
• Aims To explore why cancer patients do not want
  to seek information about their condition other
  than that supplied by physicians.

• Title of paper Doctor in the house (Hardens
  1999)
• Methods of data collection Household interview.
• Aims To examine the internet as a source of
  knowledge in relation to the broader debates
  about deprofessionalisation and consumerism.

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Other examples

• Title of paper Parents. perspectives on the MMR
  vaccine.
• Methods of data collection Focus group
  interviews.
• Aim To investigate what influences parents
  decisions on whether to accept or refuse the MMR.

• Title of paper Renegotiating identitycancer
  narratives (Mathieson Stam 1995).
• Methods of data collection Semi structured
  interviews.
• Aim To explore how individuals negotiate the
  psychosocial changes and events in the illness
  trajectory.

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Qualitative Research

• Although used in psychology qualitative methods
  started elsewhere in social sciences sociology
  and anthropology.
• Using qualitative or quantitative research does
  not make a particular kind of psychologist nor
  does a particular kind of psychologist
  necessarily use qualitative or quantitative
  methods (Silverman 2001).
• Qualitative once regarded as the lesser option in
  research methods in psychology.
• Steady increase in recognition, now considered
  compulsory study by the British Psychological
  Society.

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Why qualitative research?

• Rapid social change.
• New contexts.
• So new that traditional deductive methods of
  deriving research questions and hypotheses from
  theoretical models and testing them against
  empirical evidence are failing in the
  differentiation of objects. (Flick 20022)

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Why qualitative research?

• Social science results are rarely perceived in
  everyday life because in order to fulfil
  methodological standards their investigation and
  findings often remain too far removed from
  everyday questions and problems (Flick 20023)
• Also the ideals of objectivity in scientific
  research in psychology and social sciences may
  never be achieved.

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Validity of Qualitative Research

• Qualitative researchers may claim a creative way
  of approaching research the research process,
  where the object of study may suggest the methods
  used.
• However qualitative researchers would also deny
  that such work cannot be rigorous or systematic.
• The time consuming aspect of in depth research
  using rich data may preclude the use of large
  representative samples.
• Findings may not therefore be generalisable but
  are often transferable.
• Qualitative research therefore uses
  non-probability sampling.

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Increasing Validity in Qualitative Research

• Inter-rater reliability to check that
  categories given to parts of the text are
  consistent across coders.
• Inter-rater reliability used by realist
  qualitative researchers to assess objectivity.
• Non-realist qualitative researchers would use
  multiple coders to explore alternative
  interpretations rather than to claim objectivity.

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Validity in qualitative research

• Important to show a clear development in the
  coding and interpretative process,
• Link with raw data, coding and the researchers
  thought processes at all stages of the research.
• Coding tables and memos used .
• Paying attention to deviant cases
• Triangulation

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Validity

• On going debate in social sciences and the
  sciences about what there is to be known
  (Ontology) and how we obtain knowledge
  (Epistemology).
• Need to clarify our epistemological position in
  order to argue for the validity and reliability
  of our research.
• This is not as hard as it sounds!

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Epistemological Approaches

• Positivism
• Empiricism
• Social Constructionist

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Positivism

• Assumes there is a direct relationship with the
  world (objects, events, phenomena) and our
  perception or understanding of it.
• World exists is independent of the
  circumstances of viewing it.
• To take the epistemological position of
  positivism would imply a position that is
  impartial, unbiased and with no influence of the
  researcher so emphasis on value free enquiry.
• Idealistic viewpoint?

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Empiricism

• Assumes that our knowledge of the world is
  derived from our experience of it notably
  observation and systematic collection of data.
• Theory follows observation, an inductive
  approach.
• Criticism of empiricism- just because something
  has been observed doesnt necessary mean that it
  is part of a general rule (Popper)
• Theories need to be tested.

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Scientific Method

• Deduction and falsification.
• Theories tested by deriving theories from them
  and then testing by experiment or observation.
• Process of elimination.
• Method has been criticised for being elitist, by
  focusing on existing theories communities of
  scientists and researchers testing their own
  theories.

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Social Constructionism

• Highlights that human experience including
  perception shaped by culture, history and
  language.
• No such thing as objective truth or reality.
• Rather there are truths socially constructed
  through language.
• No such thing as an attitude, personality
  trait all these concepts are socially
  constructed and change according to context.

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Epistemology Methodology

• Methodology general approach to studying
  research topics
• Method a specific research technique
• Epistemology more influential on methodology (the
  general approach) rather than on the methods used
• Researchers with different epistemological
  positions use qualitative research methods.

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Differences within qualitative research

• The status of the text depends on our
  epistemological position.
• An empiricist epistemological position may use
  grounded theory or content analysis to identify
  categories and themes. The text or what people
  say is accepted as a reflection of the
  interviewees mental processes.
• By contrast a social constructionist
  epistemological position would not impose
  categories. Rather the focus of study is how the
  participants themselves use different repertoires
  to construct meaning.

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Shared interests within qualitative research

• Qualitative researchers generally do not work
  with pre defined variables.
• Object of qualitative research is to describe
  rather than predict.
• Study people in naturalistic setting, in their
  own context.

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Qualitative research design

• Traditionally loose, precise aims of the study
  may not be known particularly if topic has been
  little researched.
• Decisions may change such as data collection
  methods, who will be included in the sample, time
  taken for field work.
• However most studies need a research protocol.
• Funders of research need to need to know whether
  studies are feasible and likely to produce useful
  findings.

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Research protocol

• A map of the proposed study
• What you want to know
• How will you find out why
• Practical considerations
• Ethical considerations
• Timescale
• May not have a formal hypothesis but research
  question should not be vague.

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Criteria to consider

• Appropriateness of method to the research
  question
• Object of study should be suitable for
  qualitative analysis.
• Epistemological integrity- consistent approach
  between epistemology, ontology and methods.
• Sampling need to provide some rationale for
  choosing some participants and not others

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More to consider!

• Why choose one data collection technique over
  another? Why interview rather than diary study
• Sources of raw data.
• Auditability of analysis procedures
• We will go over all these criteria over the
  course of the module when discussing data
  collection techniques and write up

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Summary

• Qualitative research aims to answer questions
  like what how or why rather than how much
  or how many.
• Generally does not work with predefined
  variables.
• Research is often exploratory.
• Validity within qualitative research can be
  improved in a number of ways including
  inter-rater reliability, clarity in the charting
  of the research process, and triangulation.
• Although those from a positivist or strictly
  scientific approach may question validity of
  qualitative research, the validity these
  approaches have also been criticised.
• Qualitative researchers may be have different
  epistemological positions such as empiricist or
  social constructionist, yet both analyse textual
  information.
• The former may take the emerging themes at face
  value (realist), whereas the latter (non-realist)
  will pay closer attention to how these themes
  have emerged.
• Although research designs may be flexible, there
  is still a need for a coherent plan or protocol.