Week 8 - Qualitative and Mixed Methods Flashcards
(17 cards)
Hypothetico-deductive model
Basically the scientific method (laws that govern cause and effect)
Empirical testing using quantitative methods
Theories adjusted to accommodate new facts
Key assumptions of scientific method
- Natural causality
- Uniformity in nature
- Empiricism
- Objectivity
- Scepticism
- Peer review
Limitations of scientific methods
- Subjectivity in observation
- Ethical constraints
- Complexity of natural phenomena
- Technology limitations
- Data interpretation
- Inherent uncertainty
Theory development
Emphasis on testing existing theories, so little space for development
Scientist also unlikely to reject theories based on evidence (Kuhn - failures attributed to researcher not theory)
Humanistic psychology
Mid 20th century, holistic approach
Focus on personal experience, social relationships, cultural backgrounds
Quantitative research cannot capture human experience (misses subjectivity)
Post-humanism - addresses complexities of modern life considering broader context (integration of technology, beyond human-centredness)
What is qualitative research?
Focused on making sense of the human experience within contexts (ontology important, aware of gap between study object and how we represent it, reflexivity interrogates subjectivity-objectivity nexus)
Research purposes - deep/detailed understanding, smaller samples for thicker data, trade generalisability for depth
Qualitative research spectrum
Researcher objectivity - content analysis, grounded theory, thematic analysis
Researcher subjectivity - narrative inquiry, participatory action, arts based narrative analysis
Different approaches
Participatory action research, case study, content analysis, discourse analysis, ethnography, field study, focus groups, participant observation
Shared characteristics
Immersion required to understand context on many levels
Impossible to bracket out researcher personality
Notion of ‘truth’ in question
Description, context, meaning, interpretation
Role of researcher
Researcher must reflect on themselves and process (i.e. reflexivity statement)
Research is cyclical and non-linear (modify accounts continually)
No pre-ordinate assumptions (theories and hypotheses emerge)
Research paradigms
What is thought to exist, how it is understood and how it should be studied
All-encompassing system of practice and thinking
Examples - positivist, interpretive, constructionist
Proliferation - ‘anti-positivist’ paradigms developed into several different paradigms (with different POEMs)
Anti-positivist paradigms - too much info lost in quantification, observation not objective, different theories can explain same data
Four pillars of research
- Purpose - why
- Ontology - nature of reality
- Epistemology - what can be known
- Methodology - how
Research interviews
Most common qualitative data collection
Open-ended Qs with prompts
Types of interview schedule
- Structured
- Semi-structured
- Unstructured
Modes and methods of analysis
Categorisation of data through word coding (open > axial coding)
Modes - qualitative computer packages (NVIVO), or pen and paper
Methods - depends on focus
- meaning - ethnography, grounded theory
- language - linguistic/discourse analysis
- eclectic/theoretical - bricolage
Example methods of analysis
Grounded theory - theory development grounded in data
Narrative sampling - understanding experience
Discourse analysis - use of language to achieve interpersonal objectives
Bricolage - flexible, interdisciplinary approach
Ethnography - detailed understanding of cultural, social dynamics in group
Mixed methods
Whether to use qual or quant depends entirely on purpose
Benefits of Mixed
- deeper understanding, inform each other, clarifying contradictions, expansion, increased reliability
Possible Combinations
- Qual-QUANT
- Quant-QUAL
- QUANT-Qual
- QUAL-Quant
