Qualitative Methods

Question 1

Qualitative research

Answer 1

Relativist approach

Not one reality, aim to discover many
Takes into account people’s subjective experience of reality

Inductive: start with observations -> theory formed

Aim to find general themes, not one best answer 
Qualitative analyses (focus on content), emphasis on words

Question 2

Relativism

Answer 2

Objectivity is not gold standard of correct research- cannot truly be obtained by humans-> interpret findings

Different assumptions needed to examine complex phenomena

Subjectivity is inevitable

Subjective influences explored through reflexivity:
- researcher reflects upon own attitudes, values, experiences, social and political context

Question 3

Relativist position

Answer 3

Views realism as problematic as it is impossible to compare our representations of world with underlying reality

Truth is created and sustained through subjective social processes

How people make sense of the world regardless of how accurate they may be

Peoples perspectives, beliefs, experiences thoughts by listening to accounts

Question 4

Interviews

Answer 4

Most common method of data collection

Subjective interpretations of individual experience

Exploratory and acknowledge diversity of human experience

Structured- set questions
Semi structured- some set Q’s, flexibility
Unstructured- conversation around a theme

Question 5

Types of questions

Answer 5

Closed

Open

Leading

Non leading

Probes

Question 6

Role of interviewer

Answer 6

Interview as social interaction

Role of interviewer key

Consider how influence the interview

Data is ‘co-produced’ depends what interviewer focuses on and what ppt chooses to present

Question 7

Steinar Kvale 10 criteria of a good interviewer

Answer 7

1) knowledgeable and familiar with the topic of interview
2) clear- questions are simple, easy and short
3) structured- explanation of the structure and purpose
4) gentle- let people finish what they say
5) sensitive- listen
6) open- respond to what is important to interviewer
7) steering- know what is needed to find out, use questions and prompts
8) critical- prepared to challenge what is said
9) remembers- what has been said, refers back
10) interprets- summarising what has been said

Question 8

General set up and practicalities

Answer 8

Choose a quiet room and consider safety and confidentiality

Check equipment

Toilets/ fire exit etc

Start with intro of purpose of research, be relaxed and friendly, check ppt ready to start

Check consent

Learn questions off by heart if possible

Maintain active listening and respond to what the person is saying

End well

Question 9

Transcription

Answer 9

Systematic representation of language in written form

Question 10

Orthographic

Answer 10

Word for word (vertabim)

Focuses on what words were spoken

Question 11

Non- orthographic / phonetic

Answer 11

Not just words but non-verbal features

Paralinguistic (pauses, tone of voice, laughter, volume)

Extralinguistic (body language, gesture, facial expressions, gaze)

Focus on how words are spoke and how other people reacted

Question 12

Playscript

Answer 12

Orthographic, vertabim record

Repetitions, hesitations, false starts etc are transcribed

Researcher decides whether to transcribe er, um, pauses etc

Used for analysis of the meaning of talk, thematic or phenomenological analysis

Investigates meaning- related aspects of spoken language

Do not take into account non verbal features

May miss key aspects of nature of interaction

Question 13

Jeffersonian

Answer 13

Captures what was said and the way in which it was said

Reflects interview as social interaction

Transcribed according to set of symbols representing the non-linguistic features

Captures paralinguistic and extralinguistic features

Used for conversation analysis (talk-in-interaction), phonetic / phonological analysis

More systematic

Harder to learn, very time consuming

Less widely applicable

Question 14

Positivism

Answer 14

One reality

Realism

Objective knowledge

Quantitative data collection

Universal laws

Pre existing truth

Question 15

Post positivist / critical realism approach

Answer 15

Some subjectivity in research

Conducted in a social context

Research can produce knowledge that is more than accurate

Perception of reality comes from within as well as without

Perception of world, things around us, what makes sense of self-> complex interaction

Reality= ‘controller hallucination’- people agree on some truths

Everyone experiences a different reality, based on experiences, but shared biological mechanisms driving perception

Question 16

Thematic analysis

Answer 16

Extract common topics and themes

Use of quotes to illustrate

Deductive: theory driven- based on theory
Inductive: data driven- based on data

Grounded theory: start with data, develop themes to generate theory
Phenomenological analysis: analysis of persons interpretation of a topic

Question 17

Thematic analysis as basic method

Answer 17

Theoretically flexible

Suited to wide range of interests and theoretical perspectives

Works with wide range of research questions

Used to analyse different types of data

Works with small and large data sets

Involves core analytic processes common to most forms of qualitative research

Question 18

What are themes?

Answer 18

Meaningful and coherent pattern in data

Represent concepts in the data

Created from our interpretation of the data

Must recur within and between accounts

Must be distinct from one another- minimal overlap

Allow data to be categorised and organised

Question 19

How to create themes

Braun & Clarke

Answer 19

1) familiarisation with data
2) generating initial codes
3) switching for higher order themes
4) reviewing themes
5) defining and naming themes
6) writing up

Question 20

Familiarisation with the data

Answer 20

Common to all forms of qualitative analysis

Researcher immersed herself in the data, becomes familiar with it

Transcribing, reading, re-reading, listening

Noting initial observations

Question 21

Coding

Answer 21

Generating short labels for important/ interesting features of data relevant to research question

Every data item coded systematically

Capture a semantic and conceptual reading

Essential for systematic and deep engagement with data

Codes must be specific and work independently of the data

Match all codes to relevant extracts from the data

Question 22

Generating themes

Answer 22

Themes are generated from codes- searching for similarities in the codes

Themes should be coherent and defined clearly

Researcher actively constructs themes

Collate all data relevant to each theme

Question 23

Reviewing themes

Answer 23

Checking the themes work in relation to the coded extracts and full data-set

Reflect on whether themes are convincing

Define the nature of each theme, relationship between the themes

Refining theme structure- merge, split or discard

Create thematic map

Question 24

Defining and naming themes

Answer 24

Write a detailed analysis of each theme

What story does this theme tell
How does this theme fit into the overall story about the data

Identifying the essence of the theme and constructing a concise informative definition and name for each theme

Question 25

Writing up

Answer 25

Integral element

Involves weaving together the narrative and selected data extracts to form a coherent story

Final opportunity for analysis

Contextualise your analysis in relation to existing literature

Produce a scholarly report

Question 26

Common errors

Answer 26

Providing extracts of data with little or no analysis

• use extracts to support an analysis beyond the specific content
• interpret the data

Using the interview questions as themes

• conduct analysis across the data, attention to content of responses
• don’t simply describe different responses

Weak or unconvincing analysis, themes not coherent

• provide relevant examples
• all themes should cohere around central idea

Mismatch between data and analysis
-check your data extracts support your interpretation