Qualitative Approaches to Research

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Qualitative Approaches to Research
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Assumptions of naturalistic paradigm

• Reality is dynamic multiple
• Multiple meanings can be derived from similar
  experiences
• Meanings can change over time
• Phenomena must be studied within context
• Researchers dont manipulate or control variables
  to obtain data
• Researcher is an integral part of the research
  process

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• Qualitative Quantitative
• Research

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Comparing Quantitative Qualitative
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Comparing quantitative qualitative
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Some things about qualitative

• Qualitative research A systematic, subjective
  approach to describe life experiences give them
  meaning
• Qualitative research design used to observe,
  discover, describe, compare, analyze the
  characteristic attributes, themes, underlying
  dimensions
• Qualitative data are words, phrases, and/or
  concepts from interviews, journals, diaries,
  notes, literature, documents, photos
• Qualitative analysis attempts to understand by
  describing or uncovering meaning

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• Common Types of Qualitative Inquiry

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Descriptive Studies (ethnoscience)

• Aim is to describe the types characteristics of
  events, people

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Descriptive (Ethnoscience) The Airports
International Gate
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Ethnography

• Used in Anthropology to describe cultural groups
• Broad, but detailed study of cultural or
  subcultural groups
• General purpose is to understand the cultural
  meanings people use to organize interpret their
  experiences
• To grasp the persons point of view
• Involves
• Researcher as the instrument
• Field work
• Ex Exploration of the meaning of aging among
  elderly in a variety of clinical settings

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Ethnography The Airports International Gate
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Grounded Theory

• Used in sociology to generate theoretical
  constructs to explain the action or the what
  is going on here in a social context
• The theory developed is related to the specific
  context in which the study is conducted
• The theory is grounded in the data

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Grounded Theory

• Ex Understanding the experience of returning to
  work after a cancer diagnosis
• Mobilizing Social Support in the workplace after
  a cancer diagnosis

Design personal strategies Tell/swap stories Draw
comparisons Explore Priorities
Reactions Receive Information Hear Stories
Return to the workplace
Telling Others
Clarification Sort out meaning
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Grounded Theory The Airports International
Gate
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Phenomenology

• Rooted in biblical interpretation, philosophy,
  sociology psychology
• Attempts to
• uncover the meaning of human experience through
  analysis of participant descriptions
• Understand make explicit human phenomena within
  a context
• Describe the meaning of the lived experience
• Answer What is the essence of this phenomenon
  as experienced by these people?
• Ex How do stroke survivors define recovery,
  experience their bodies after a stroke?
  (Doolittle, 1991)
• Ex What is the lived experience of social
  support in a self-help group? (Hildingh, et al.,
  1995)

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Types of Qualitative Approaches

• Describing/understanding the problem drinkers
  lived experience of suffering
• 6 problem drinkers
• In-depth interviews
• Found Suffering viewed as a spiraling vicious
  circle of physical, psychological, social
  spiritual distress

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Phenomenology The Airports International Gate
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Qualitative data collection techniques

• Participation
• Immersion in the setting allowing the researcher
  to hear, see, begin to experience reality as
  heard, seen experienced by participants
• Interviews focus groups
• Conducting conversations with a purpose

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Data collection techniques

• Observation
• Systematic noting recording of events,
  behaviors, artifacts (objects) within the
  social setting chosen for study
• Document/Artifact reviews
• Gathering analyzing documents /or artifacts
  (often to supplement participant observation,
  interviews and observation)

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Mixing qualitative quantitative methods

• Strengths of quantitative methods
• Produce factual, reliable outcome data that are
  usually generalizable to a larger population
• Strengths of qualitative methods
• Generate rich, detailed, valid process data that
  usually leave participants perspectives in tact

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Mixing qualitative quantitative methods

• Qualitative methods used initially to help
  develop quantitative measures (e.g., focus groups
  or elicitation interviews conducted to develop
  questionnaires)

Results
Quantitative
Qualitative
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Mixing qualitative quantitative methods

• Qualitative methods used to help interpret
  explain a studys quantitative findings (e.g.,
  interview people to gain in-depth insight into
  findings)

Quantitative
Results
Qualitative
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Mixing qualitative quantitative methods

• Quantitative results used to interpret
  qualitative findings (e.g., in Anthropology,
  researchers may conduct survey of members of
  community they were studying)

Qualitative
Results
Quantitative
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Mixing qualitative quantitative methods

• Qualitative quantitative methods are used
  equally parallel often results of each
  approach are used to cross-validate the study
  findings (e.g., researchers analyze results of
  each method separately then decide if results
  suggest same conclusions)

Results
Quantitative
Qualitative
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• Parallel approaches to assessing rigor in
  quantitative qualitative research

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Similar, yet different

• You would not apply rules guidelines of
  baseball to football
• Both are sports,
• but their rules guidelines differ

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Similar, yet different

• Qualitative quantitative research are both
  scientific approaches to answering questions
  about a phenomenon
• Still, they are different
• Each approach has distinct rules guidelines
  that enhance
• Rigor of studies
• Believable interpretation of data results

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Establishing Rigor
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Establishing Quantitative Rigor
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Establishing Qualitative Trustworthiness or
Rigor
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Some strategies for establishing
Trustworthiness/Rigor

• Activities in the field
• Prolonged engagement
• Persistent observation
• Triangulation (sources, methods, investigators)
• Peer debriefing
• Negative case analysis
• Member checking (preliminary final)
• Thick description
• Audit Trail
• Reflexive Journal

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Terms that are often used

• Prolonged engagement in the field
• Spending enough time in the field to detect
  take account of distortions that might otherwise
  creep into the data
• Persistent Observation
• Identifying characteristics elements in the
  situation that are most relevant to the problem
  or issue focusing on them in detail
• Triangulation
• Involves using 2 data collection sources,
  methods or investigators

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Terms that are often used

• Peer debriefing
• Process of asking a peer (who does not have stake
  in the study) exploring aspects of the study
• Member checks
• Researcher returns to participants to verify that
  results/interpretations accurately reflect the
  information they have given

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Terms that are often used

• Thick description
• Description of the phenomenon that provides
  information about anything that a reader may need
  to know in order to understand the findings
• Audit Trail
• Documents important information that might be
  submitted to an objective reviewer to confirm
  that the researchers conclusions are dependable
  including
• Who, what, when, where, why, hows of the study
  
• Raw data from data collection
• Records of the investigators decisions
  throughout the process

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Types of audit trail documentation

• Contextual (fieldnotes)
• E.g., description of the setting, activities of
  people present, things going on in the setting,
• E.g., descriptions of non-verbal behaviors,
  distractions, interruptions during data
  collection
• May include written notes, photographs, sketches
  or diagrams of the setting, collection of
  artifacts (media newspaper clippings)

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Types of audit trail documentation

• Methodological
• Documentation of all methodological decisions
  made throughout the study
• Because qualitative research designs are often
  emergent, decisions are made on continual bases
• Need documentation to rationalize decisions made,
  and to assess dependability of the study

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Types of audit trail documentation

• Analytical
• E.g., researchers thought processes during data
  analysis
• Documentation needed to retrace analysis steps
  (coding decisions, theoretical insights,
  speculations)
• Ex Hope vs. hopelessness is emerging as a
  major themeNeed to explore how hopelessness
  changes over time

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Types of audit trail documentation

• Personal Response
• As an instrument of research, the investigator
  comes with baggage that may influence or
  contribute to the study findings (e.g.,
  background, personal experience, knowledge base,
  beliefs, philosophical approaches, psychological
  emotional responses)
• Credibility of findings depends on self-awareness
  of researcher
• Ex After 3 interviews today I am exhaustedI
  wonder if I missed anything during the last
  interview.

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Terms that are often used

• Reflexive Journal
• A kind of diary maintained by the researcher on a
  daily basis, or as needed, to record information
  about self methods
• Re Self the journal provides notes about the
  researchers reactions, reflections experiences
  which may have influence on the study
• Re Method the journal provides information
  about methodological decisions made the reasons
  for making them information also of great
  important to an external auditor

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How one researcher established Trustworthiness/Rig
or
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• Common terms used by qualitative researchers

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Terms that are often used

• Bracket
• Process where qualitative researchers examine
  their personal biases in order to minimize the
  influence on the research
• Intent is to recognize ones biases and how they
  might impact study
• Context
• The particular setting, place, time that form the
  background of the phenomenon being studied

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Terms that are often used

• Emic research
• Research carried out with an insiders
  (subjective) perspective
• Etic research
• Research carried out with an outsiders
  (objective) perspective

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Terms that are often used

• Emergent Design
• Although there are a set of questions
  methodology as part of the study...
• Based on participants responses or observations
  a new path might be forged to
• Explore some of the participants behavior and
  interactions
• Follow an interesting lead
• Ask new questions
• Key informants
• People selected from a group for a more intensive
  focused interviewing
• People who know the community, or the subject

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Terms that are often used

• Field/field setting
• Culture/organization/location where the
  phenomenon or issue is being studied
• Purposive sampling
• Selection of specific individuals to participate
  in the research because of their experience with
  the phenomonena under study

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Terms that are often used

• Researcher-as-instrument
• Refers to the fact that when the investigator
  asks questions, conducts observations, or reviews
  the artifacts, the investigator is the
  data-gathering instrument.
• This deems it necessary for the investigator to
  describe his/her credentials to establish
  reliability validity of self
• Saturation
• A point in the data collection period of when the
  researcher is gaining no new information