Qualitative method – Data collection methods Flashcards
Which different coding methods can be used?
Inductive and deductive
Inductive
- Inductive coding: (1) Bottom up (2) Develop codes based on the data (participants) rather than the researcher (3) Capturing the complexity and diversity of the data (4) In explorative theory building research projects
Advantages for inductive coding:
- More flexible
- Increases openness new unexpected findings
- Findings are closer to data
Disadvantages for inductive coding:
- Increases risk of confusing and too large coding sets
- Increases risk of findings with limited theoretical grounding
Deductive
- Deductive coding: (1) Top-down (2) Working from a predefined list of codes (3) Derived from conceptual framework (4) In structured research projects
Advantages for deductive coding:
- Makes coding ”easier”
- More structured
- A stronger link between theoretical framework and coding/findings
Disadvantages of deductive coding:
- Decreases chances of serendipitous findings
What are qualitative methodologies useful for?
Qualitative methodologies are useful in research questions that explore why or how a phenomenon occurs. Qualitative research can also be used to develop/build a theory or to describe the nature of an individual’s experience. Here, you can gain a deep understanding of a phenomena and may focus on meanings, perceptions, concepts, thoughts etc.
(Interviews)
What is an interview? And what can we get from a interview?
Interviews help obtain descriptions of the life world of the interviewee in order to interpret the meaning of a phenomena (Brinkman & Kvale). Thus, we can understand the subjective meanings and aim to obtain different views on them.
We can get:
- Descriptions of past and present experiences and actions
- Interpretations of the logics linking actions to meanings, aims and outcomes
- Validation of immediate analyses
Mention different forms of interviews
Face-to-face
- Maybe easier to build trust, as it is more intimate compared to other forms
- Possible to experience the context if it is done at work etc.
- Bodily clues, Body language e.g.
Phone
Benefits
- Better interviewer uniformity: Only based on your voice
- (Less interviewer effect?): Have less effect on the conversation as such
- Less social pressure due to lack of visual representation?
- Cost efficiency
- Researcher safety
Limitations
- No face – anonymity
- Establishing rapport, trust
Email interviews
Virtual interviewing
Group interviews
- Potential risk of social desirebility bias!
(Interviews)
Brinkmann, what do you attend to do with your study?
What is the difference between the following interview approaches:inductive, deductive and abductive?
Who should be interviewed: What is the difference between selection and sampling?
Selection refers to the general decisions concerning who should be in focus in the study (e.g. adults suffering from depression) and sampling refers to the process of finding a subset of the population that has been selected as relevant (e.g. 20 depressed adults, an equal number of women and men, recruited from Clinic X in Y-ville, representing “adults suffering from depression”)
Sampling becomes a particularly pertinent issue in case-study research. What is the difference between random selection and information-oriented selection?
Random selection can be employed to avoid systematic biases in the sample (here the size of the sample is decisive for generalization, but this is often not relevant for qualitative studies). In general, random selection as a conscious choice is employed only in quantitative projects.
Information-oriented selection is normally more relevant in qualitative inquiry. The goal is here to “maximize the utility of information from small samples and single cases. Cases are selected on the basis of expectations about their information content”
Elaborate on inductive strategies for interview analysis
Inductive: “analytic induction,” which, in the broadest sense, refers to “the systematic examination of similarities within and across cases to develop concepts, ideas, or theories.”
Analysts using this strategy will inductively code data to identify patterns and formulate potential explanations of these patterns. So, a key component of analytic induction is coding. Coding can be either concept-driven or data-driven.
- Concept-driven coding uses codes that have been developed in advance by the researcher, either by looking at selected portions of the material or by consulting the existing literature.
- Data-driven coding implies that the researcher starts out without codes, and develops them upon reading the material.
Elaborate on deductive strategies for interview analysis
Deduction in the analytic phase can involve the use of hypotheses derived from theory in an interpretive process. How hypotheses can also be derived from the empirical material itself and tested in a comparative analysis.
Possible to deduce hypotheses from general theories that can assist in the analytic process of reading and interpreting the data. This kind of deductive analytic strategy is very often criticized for its confirmation bias
Fortunately, a number of strategies exist to counter this tendency, e.g. to play the devil’s advocate against one’s own interpretations. If this is done sincerely, rather than just as window-dressing, it can lead to new and exciting perspectives on the materials.
Case studies functioning like “black swans,” borrowing the well-known example from logic that general statements (such as “all swans are white”) can be falsified just by finding a single instance that contradicts them (e.g. by finding a species of black swans in Australia). If the analyst meticulously shows the reader that care has been taken to avoid confirmation bias, then the ensuing text may become very persuasive, and it often results in a highly readable product if the researcher constructs the text like a series of challenges to her own interpretations that are discussed in turn. A further sign of quality is seen when researchers present several different interpretations of the phenomenon under scrutiny rather than just sticking to a single one. Th is can be achieved by working with more than one theoretical framework, leading to different sets of “sensitizing concepts” that may bring forth different aspects of the material in the analytic process.
(Interviews) What is the connection between discovering, constructing and understanding, when you are considering the research interest and goals?
Brinkmann (Pensum):
What do you attend to do with your study
Discovery - how things in fact are (theory adjustments)
- You need: facilitated by careful methodological design
- Reflexivity: discovery is not an artifact of the study itself
Construction – something you would like to see happen
- Ethical sensitivity about changes in response to the research
- Reflexivity about value
Understanding – something you do not understand
- Flexible design – capturing, justifying the process of knowledge production
Although there is no direct coupling between kinds of design on the one hand and research interests on the other, it is often the case that tight, preset designs are meant to maximize the chances for the researcher discovering the unknown features of reality, whereas more flexible designs are meant to facilitate the researcher’s better understanding of something. In addition, it is also possible to design in a way that involves constructing something new
What are the advantages and disadvantages of interviews?
Advantage:
- Learn about people’s interpretations and points of view
- Compare between different interpretations
- Insight into important narratives/stories
- Insight into local norms, ideals and values
Disadvantage:
- Knowledge depends on the questions asked
- Difference between saying and doing
- Only targets explicit knowledge that can be put into words Tacit knowledge that you normally do but isn’t aware of can be difficult to interview about
- Complex social situations
What types of interviews are there?
Structured
Semi-structured
Unstructured
What is document analysis and what can we use it for?
Bowen
- Document analysis is often used in combination with other qualitative research methods as a means of triangulation—‘the combination of methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon’. The qualitative researcher is expected to draw upon multiple (at least two) sources of evidence; that is, to seek convergence and corroboration through the use of different data sources and methods. Apart from documents, such sources include interviews, participant or non-participant observation, and physical artifacts. By triangulating data, the researcher attempts to provide ‘a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility’. By examining information collected through different methods, the researcher can corroborate findings across data sets and thus reduce the impact of potential biases that can exist in a single study. Triangulation helps the researcher guard against the accusation that a study’s findings are simply an artifact of a single method, a single source, or a single investigator’s bias.
- Document analysis is a low-cost way to obtain empirical data as part of a process that is unobtrusive and nonreactive. Often, documentary evidence is combined with data from interviews and observation to minimise bias and establish credibility. Although the strengths of document analysis are considerable, the researcher should not use it as a stand-in for other kinds of evidence that may be more appropriate to the research problem and the study’s conceptual framework.
- The researcher/analyst needs to determine not only the existence and accessibility but also the authenticity and usefulness of particular documents, taking into account the original purpose of each document, the context in which it was produced, and the intended audience. As the subjective interpreter of data contained in documents, the researcher should make the process of analysis as rigorous and as transparent as possible
What is participant observation? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of it?
Waddington - Participant observer:
“Participant observation” involves social interaction between the researcher and informants in the milieu of the latter’, the idea being to allow the observer to study first-hand the day-to-day experience and behaviour of subjects in particular situations, and, if necessary, to talk to them about their feelings and interpretations.”
Disadvantages of participant observations
- It is evident from the wider literature that participant observers often find themselves confronted by ethical dilemmas involving such hard choices as to whether or not to inform the authorities about illegal and potentially dangerous activities.
Advantages of participant observations
- For all my former diffidence, I have never had much difficulty emphasizing that the benefits to be gained from adopting a participant observation approach to an appropriate research issue will far outweigh any practical or ethical problems likely to be encountered. One of the most advantageous reasons for using this approach is that it promotes the development of confidence and trust between the researcher and his or her respondents – all the more so if the latter have reason to assume that the former is sympathetic towards them. I very much doubt whether the Ansells strikers would have been quite so confiding and willing to admit me to the ‘backstage’ regions of the strike, had they not been given adequate time to thoroughly appraise my character and detect my sympathetic attitude.
- Participant observation also helps to reduce the likelihood of being deceived by one’s respondents. During my research, I was able to assess the consistency of people’s statements, moods and behaviour at different times and in contrasting situations, eliminating the possibility of being fooled by initial appearances. I was also in a position to witness sudden or progressive changes in people’s definitions and emotions – something I could never have appreciated had I used a more conventional, ‘one-shot’ method. There is no doubt, either, that my chosen methodology afforded me an excellent opportunity to observe the creation and exchange of key social ideas.
