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Week 1 - Lecture Slides - January 31There are different types of research:Basic vs. AppliedDeductive vs. InductiveInduction: Specific – GeneralDeductive – General to Specific Exploratory vs. ExplanatoryQualitative vs. Quantitative. Qualitative vs. Quantitative “Quantitative observations provide a high level of measurement precision and statistical power, while qualitative observations provide greater depth of information about how people perceive events in the context of the actual situations in which they occur.” (Frey et al. 1991: 99)“Qualitative research involves an interpretive approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (Denzin & Lincoln 1994: 3). There are 4 different worldviews or paradigms: Postpositivism: structured, more different methodologies to know you’re right. One reality that can be empirically found/researchedSocial Constructivism: there is not one realityAdvocacy/Participatory: researcher wants to change reality for the betterPragmatism: combination of the above, you tally whatever makes sense. Week 1 – Chapter 2 (pg. 16/18 important)ParadigmsPost positivist More similar to quantitative (empirical/systematic)Cause and effect orientated Positivism: One reality that we can observe. If you can’t measure it, it is not therePost positivism: similar to positivism, in positivism everything had to be empirical, now still has it as a basis but softer/more open to acknowledge that their might be things that we can not measure directly but are still there and relevant. Social ConstructivismIndividuals seeks understanding of the world in which they live and work inMultiple realitiesSubjective meanings of their experiences Meanings directed toward objects or thingsGoal of research is to rely as much as possible on the participants views of the situationInstead of starting with theory they generate or inductively develop a theory or pattern of meaning. Advocacy/ParticipatoryEmancipates people (free people from certain constructs that their in)Action agenda for reform that may change the lives of participants, the institutions in which they live and work, or even the researchers lives.Examples of study/use: oppression, domination, suppression, alienation, & hegemonyPragmatismFocus on outcomes of research (actions, situations, consequences of inquiry)Concern with applications “does whatever works” and solutions to problems. The important aspect of research is the problem being studied and questions asked about this problemPhilosophical assumptions to be found in the textOntologicalAbout the nature of realityParticipants see multiple realities Reality is subjective and multiple and seen by participants in studyHow the world works, issue questionsEpistemologicalHow people know what they knowHow we as researchers come to know things about the worldResearcher becomes an “insider” lessens distance between himself/herself and researchNeed to experience the world, how do we get to know about it? Procedural questionsAxiologicalResearcher has bias (certain values attached to it)Everyone has different values (this influences your research)RhetoricalInformal style of research and use of qualitative terms and limited definitionsMethodologicalInductive logicStudies topic within its context Uses an emerging designWeek 1 - Chapter 3 – Designing a Qualitative StudyQualitative research begins with assumptions, a worldview, the possible use of a theoretical lens, and the study of research problems inquiring into the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. To study the problem, qualitative researchers use an emerging qualitative approach to inquiry, the collection of data in a natural setting sensitive to the people and places under study, and data analysis that is inductive and establishes patterns and themes. The final written report or presentation includes the voices of participants, the reflexivity of the researcher, and a complex description and interpretation of the problem, and it extends the literature or signals a call for action. Key components to qualitative research:Natural settings Collect data at the site where participants experience the issue or problem.Do not bring individuals into a lab.Fieldwork in a natural setting is a major component to qualitative research.Researcher as a key instrumentThe qualitative researchers collect data themselves through examining documents, observing behavior, and interviewing participants. They do not rely on questionnaires or instruments developed by others. Multiple sources of data Qualitative researchers typically gather multiple forms of data, such as interviews, observations, and documents – instead of a single source or type. Uses this data to identify categories or themes.Inductive data analysisResearchers build their patterns, categories, and themes from the “bottom-up”, by organizing data into increasingly more abstract units of information. Researcher goes back and forth between themes and the database until they establish a comprehensive set of themes. Participants meaningThe researcher must focus on learning the meaning that the participants give to an issue or problem. Emergent designThe structure of the research is tentative – meaning that the design needs to change and be flexible in accordance to what is being researched.i.e. – questions may change, forms of data collection may shift, and the individuals being studied may be modified. Theoretical LensResearchers often use a lens to view their studies – i.e. the concept of culture, central to ethnography, or gendered, racial, or class differences .Interpretative inquiryResearchers make an interpretation of what they see, hear, and understand.The researchers interpretation cannot be separated from their own background, history, context, and prior understandings. People reading the published research report also make an interpretation of the study. Holistic account Researchers try to develop a complex picture of the problem or issue under study.This involves reporting multiple perspectives, identifying the many factors involved in a situation, and generally sketching the larger picture that emerges. When to use qualitative research? When we identify a problem that needs to be explored – exploratory research. This exploration may be needed to:Study a group or populationIdentify variables that can be measuredTo hear silenced voicesWe also conduct qualitative research because it enables us to develop a complex and detailed understanding of an issue.This detail can only be established by talking directly with people, going to their homes or places of work, and allow them to tell the stories unencumbered by what we expect to find or what we have read in the literature. Qualitative research also enables the researchers to write a literary, flexible style that conveys stories or theater, or poems , without the restrictions of formal academic structures of writing. Researcher can better understand and describe events in their context. The Process of designing a qualitative study? Creswell notes that there is NO agreed upon structure for how to design a qualitative study! However, there is a basic structures that all researchers seem to follow:Start with an issue or problemExamine the literature in some way related to the problemPose questionsGather data and then analyze themWrite up reportsThe backbone of qualitative research is extensive collection of data, typically from multiple sources of information:InterviewsObservationsDocuments Audiovisual materialsFollowing the collection of the data, the researcher must begin to analyze it, working inductively from particulars to more general perspectives, whether these perspectives. The perspectives can be considered themes, dimensions, codes or categories. Following the collection and analysis of data, the author then begins to develop and shape a narrative. The narrative unfolds over time and focuses on four aspects: problem, question, method, findings. Characteristics of a good Qualitative StudyThe Researcher employs rigorous data collection procedures. This means that the researcher collects multiple forms of data, adequately summarizes the, and spends a great deal of time in the field. The researcher frames the study within the assumptions and characteristics of the qualitative approach to research. This includes fundamental characteristics such as an evolving design, the presentation of multiple realities, the researcher as an instrument of data collection, and a focus on participants views. The researcher uses an approach to qualitative inquiry such as the ones mentioned in the book: narrative, epistemology, grounded theory, phenomenology, case study. The use of a recognized approach to research enhances the rigor and sophistication of the research design. The researcher begins with a single focus – focus on a single concept of idea. The study includes detailed methods, a rigorous approach to data collection, data analysis, and report writing. Rigor pertains to extensive data collection in the field, multiple levels of data analysis, formation of narrow codes to broad interrelated themes. The researcher writes persuasively so that the reader experiences being there.The study reflects the history, cultures, and personal experiences of the researcher. The qualitative research is ethical! Week 2 - Lecture Slides - February 7Qualitative research is mostly done in the field and not in a laboratory/stimulus environment. Does not aim to generalize the outcome of experiments, it is more explorative and more in-depth and VERY INDUCTIVEQualitative interviewingSurvey questioningFace-to-faceOften not face-to-faceFlexibleStandardizedNo fixed order of questionsFixed order of questions“Guided” conversation“Interrogation”Interative: continuous analysisData gathering and data analysis are 2 separate phasesSeeks understandingSeeks patterns / test hypothesisThere are 5 approaches to qualitative inquiry: Narrative Research (e.g. on the life on an individual)“A specific type of qualitative design in which “narrative is understood as a spoken or written text giving an account of an event/action or series of events/actions, chronologically connected” (p. 54)Provides a chronology of eventsAnalysis of a narrativeThemes of storiesProcedures:1) does the topic fit narrative research?2) select individuals, devote time to gathering their stories3) contextualize the stories4) restorying: “the qualitative data analysis may be a description of both the story and themes that emerge from it” (p. 56)5) collaborationAn example in the appendix: a life story of one person (including the metaphor of sitting in a bus). Challenges narrative research … Collect extensive information;Have a clear understanding of the context of the individual’s life; Critical assessment of source materials to identify themes;Be willing to collaborate with participants and reflect on one’s own backgroundPhenomenology “Describes the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or phenomenon…the basic purpose is to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence” (p. 57-58)Procedures:1) Does the topic fit phenomenology?2) Identify a phenomenon of interest to study3) Specify the philosophical assumptions of this approach (e.g., epoche)4) Collect data (often in-depth, multiple interviews; ask two broad general questions)5) Data analysis/textural description/essenceChallenges Phenomenology…One must understand (and identify) the broad philosophical assumptions of the approach;Carefully chosen participants; Difficulty of epoch/bracketing (impossible?)Grounded Theory “The intent of grounded theory is to move beyond description and to generate or discover a theory…” (p. 62-63)Procedures:1) Does the topic fit a grounded theory approach?2) Research questions are asked of the participants; focus on how they experience the process/steps of the process; repeat until theoretical saturation is reached3) Data analysis (stages): open, axial and selective coding4) Result: a substantive-level theoryChallenges grounded theory…Must set aside preconceived ideas so theory can emerge; Must determine when categories are saturated; Must keep in mind the outcome is a theoryEthnograhpy“A qualitative design in which the researcher describes and interprets the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group” (p. 68)Seen as a method of studying but also as a way of producing a final written product of researchRealist: more objective, reported in 3rd person and simply records the facts about what has already been discovered (no desire to advocate)Critical variation: takes on the advocacy perspective. You advocate for participants in some way (written in first person, as immersing yourself in research)Procedures:1) Does the topic fit ethnography?2) Identify a culture-sharing group to study3) Select themes for analysis of the culture-sharing group (decide which type of ethnography)4) Conduct fieldwork5) Data analysis/create a cultural portraitAn example is the analysis of a subculture and their shared beliefs and values. Challenges ethnography.. Grounding in the approach; Fieldwork is extensive (“going native”); Sensitivity of the researcherCase Studies“…a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a bounded system (a case)…over time, through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of data…and reports a case description and case-based themes” (p. 73).Procedures:1) Does the topic fit a case study approach? (Clearly defined boundaries i.e. which newspaper what page etc…) 2) Identify the case(s) using purposeful sampling3) (Extensive) data collection4) Data analysis: holistic (Analyzing a whole case) or embedded (analyzing a specific aspect of a case)5) “Lessons learned” (reflecting on the research process)For example the political protests in Egypt. Challenges case studies.. Identifying the case(s)/bonded systemProviding a rationaleOverarching question: “How does the type or approach of qualitative inquiry shape the design or procedures of a study?”Week 2 - Chapter 4 – Five Qualitative Approaches to InquiryNarrative study, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography & case studyNarrativeCan be both a method and the phenomenon“Narrative is understood as a spoken or written text giving an account of an event/action or series of events/actions, chronologically connected” (p.54)Procedure: focusing on studying one or two individuals, gathering data through the collection of their stories, reporting individual experiences and chronologically ordering (using life course stages) the meaning of those experiences.Types of NarrativesNarrative analysis: collect descriptions of events or happenings and then configure them into a story using a plot lineAnalysis of narratives (Polkinghorne): how individuals are enabled and constrained by social resources, socially situated in interactive performances and narrators develop interpretations. A biographical study: a form of narrative study in which the researcher writes and records the experiences of another person’s lifeAutobiography: written and recorded by the individuals who are the subject of the studyLife history: portrays an individuals entire lifeOral history: gathering personal reflections of events and their causes and effects from one individual or several individualsChallenges:Needs active collaboration with the participant is necessary, and researchers need to discuss the participants stories as well as be reflective about their own personal background that shapes how they give the accountWho owns the story? Who can tell it? Who can change it? Whose version is convincing? What happens when narratives compete? What do stories do among us?Phenomenological ResearchReports the life of single individuals, the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or phenomenon. What they have in common in their experiencePopular in psychology, social and health sciences, education, sociologyEpoche (bracketing): in which investigators set aside their experiences as much as possible to take a fresh perspective toward phenomenon under examinationMethods: often interviewsProcedure: have a transcript of the data (textual data) and analyse which themes keep on popping up (dominant themes)TypesHermeneutical phenomenology: research orientated toward lived experience and interpreting the ‘texts’ of life. Transcendental phenomenology: consist of identifying a phenomenon to study, beacketing our one’s experiences, and collecting data from several persons who have experienced the phenomenon. Reduce the information to significant statements or quotes and combines statements into themesTextual description: what participants experiencedStructural description: how they experienced it in terms of the conditions, situations, or contextCombination of the textual and structural description to convey an overall essence of the experience. Challenges:Bracketing of personal experiences may be difficult for the researcher to implementSeparating the researcher from the textStewart & Mickunas philosophical perspectivesA return to the traditional tasks of philosophy: empirical science similar to that of 19th century “scientism” which was limited to exploring the world by empirical meansPhilosophy without presuppositions: suspend all judgements about what is real “natural attitude” – epocheIntentionality of consciousness: reality is not divided into subjects and objects but into dual nature of both subjects and objects as they appear in the consciousnessThe refusal of the subject-object dichotomy: the reality of an object is only perceived within the meaning of the experience of an individualGrounded TheoryIntent is to move beyond description and to generate or discover a theory. Participants in the study would all have experienced the process, and the development of the theory might help explain practice or provide framework for further researchPopular in sociology, nursing, education, and psychology and other social science fieldsUnits of analysis: situationsUseful in analysis of situations: situational, social world/arenas and positional cartographic maps Low level theory (still very specific to the case but may be able to be generalised) Purest form of inductive research not looking for grand theories (exploratory)Types:Systematic approach: seeks to systematically develop a theory that explains process, action, or interaction on a topic. i.e. interviews based on several visits to the field to collect data to classify them in categories/makes use of open/axial/selective coding. Also collects data and documents but rarely used. Category: represents a unit of information composed of events, happenings and instances. Constant comparative method: process of taking information from data collection and comparing it to emerging categoriesOpen coding: coding data for its major categories of informationAxial coding: identifies one open coding category to focus on and then goes back to the data and create categories around this core phenomenon. Causal conditions: what factors caused the core phenomenonStrategies: actions taken in response to the core phenomenonIntervening conditions: broad and specific situational factors that influence the strategies. Selective coding: takes the model and develops propositions (hypothesis) that interrelate the categories in the model or assembles a story that describes the interrelationship of categories in the modelConditional matrix: coding device to help researcher make connections between the macro/micro conditions influencing phenomenonConstructivist approach: emphasizing diverse local worlds, multiple realities, and the complexities of particular worlds, views and actions. A focus on theory developed that depends on the researchers view, learning about the experience within embedded, hidden networks, situations and relationships and making visible hierarchies of power, communication and opportunity. Researcher makes decisions about the categories throughout the process, brings questions to the data and advances personal values, experiences and priorities. Charmaz: conclusions by grounded theorists are suggestive, incomplete and inconclusiveEthnographyExamine many individuals not necessarily located at same time, on entire cultural group (i.e. heavy punk rock culture)Study participants that are not likely to be located at the same place often enough to share learned behaviours, beliefs and language. Researcher describes and interprets the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviours, beliefs and language of culture sharing group Method: conduct fieldwork, go onto the site/respect them (natural habitat) can gather information via multiple means and then analyse data via interpretation of group (emic) point of view of researcher that participates in the group (etic)Participant observation: participating/immersed within the group your observingTypes:Realist ethnography: Objective account of the situation, typically written in 3person point of view and reporting objectively on the information learned from participants at a site. Researcher in background as omniscient reports of ‘facts’Critical ethnography: authors advocate for the emancipation of groups marginalized in society. Usually politically minded who seek to speak out against inequality and domination. i.e. power, empowerment, inequality, dominance, repression, hegemony and victimization. Case StudyDon’t try to explain what happened but used as an illustration of what is supposed to happen in theory. Can use quantitative data i.e. survey’sHolistic: how all the things in the case study are linkedEmbedded: one aspect of the caseWeek 2 – Summary Chapter 5 – Five Different Qualitative StudiesThe chapter is divided into 2 parts- first part focuses on each of the type of qualitative study through the prism of the stories from appendix –B-F, whereas the second part of the chapter differentiates between these different approaches. Narrative- biographical approach- Appendix BFocus: on the life of an individualThe study illustrates the biographical type of narrative study. Life story of Vonnie Lee, an individual with a mental retardation, who likes to travel on a bus (for him it’s a symbol of wealth, freedom and empowerment). In short a narrative research’s main characteristics in this research are:Story of a single individual as a central focus of a studyingThe data collection consists of stories and conversations; the reconstruction of life experiences through researcher participant observationsThe individual recalled a special event in his life- epiphany (eg. The bus ride)Epiphany is then situated within the contextThe researcher is presented in the study, reflecting on his own experiences- he interprets the storyPhenomenological approach- Appendix CFocus: concept of phenomenon and the essence of lived experiences of persons about phenomenonStudy about individuals who have experienced AIDS and the images and ways they think about their disease. 58 men and women diagnosed with AIDS were interviewed during the period of 18 months, questions like “What is your experience with AIDS? What meaning does it have in your life?”. They also asked patients to draw pictures of their disease. Results: 11 major themes based on 175 significant statements. Phenomenological approach’s main characteristics in this research are:The use of systematic data analysis procedures of significant statements, meanings, themes, and an exhaustive description of the essence of the phenomenonThe inclusion of tables illustrating significant statements, meanings and theme clustersA central phenomenon and the contextGrounded Theory- Appendix DFocus: to develop a theorySensitive topic- how 11 women survived and coped with childhood sexual abuse- detailed view of women’s lives. Two open- ended questions: Tell me, as much as you are comfortable sharing with me right now, what happened to you when you were sexually abused? What were the primary ways in which you survived?”. Data collected through one-on-one interviews, focus groups and participant observation. Grouping data into categories and then reassembling the data through systematically relating the categories into a visual model. Grounded Theory approach’s main characteristics in this research are:The authors mentioned at the beginning that their purpose was to generate a theory using a construct oriented approach.The procedure was thoroughly discussed and systematicThe authors presented a visual model, a coding diagram of the theoryThe language and feel of the article was scientific and objective whole, at the same time, it addressed a sensitive topic effusively.Ethnographic Study- Appendix EFocus: description of a culture- sharing groupResearch about the core values of the straight edge (sXe) movement that emerged on the East Coast of the US from the punk subculture of the early 1980s. The sXers adopted a clean living ideology of abstaining for life from alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, and casual sex. The authors participated in the movement for 14 days, attended 250 music shows, interviewed 28 men and women plus gathered data from secondary sources. Ethnography approach’s main characteristics in this research are:Study was about a culture- sharing group and their core values and beliefs.The authors first described the group, then advanced 5 themes about the group, and ended with a broad level of abstraction beyond the themes to suggest how the subculture worked.The author positioned himself by describing his involvement in the subculture and his role as an observer of the group for many yearsUnlike other critical approaches, the study did not end with a call for a social transformation, but the overall study stood for reexamining subculture resistance. Case Study- Appendix FFocus: a specific case in examined, often with the intent of examining an issue with the case illustrating the complexity of the issue.Research about the reaction of people at a large Midwestern university to a student who entered a classroom in actuarial science with a machine gun and attempted to shoot at the students. Data were collected through the multiple sources of information (triangulation), such as interviews, observations, documents, and audiovisual materials. Themes of denial, fear, safety, retriggering and campus planning emerged from the data analysis. Case study structure- the problem, the context, the issues, the lessons learned. Description of the personal experience of the researchers at the end of the study. Case Study approach’s main characteristics in this research are:Researchers identified the “case” for the study, the entire campus and its response to a potentially violent crime.This case was a bounded system, bounded by time (6 months) and place (one campus)Use of extensive, multiple sources of information in data collection to provide the detailed in- depth picture of the campus response.Description of the context and/ or setting for the case, situating the case within a peaceful Midwestern city, a tranquil campus, a classroom, along with the detailed events during a 2 week period following the incident.612775272415Differences among the approachesNarrative: is on the life of an individual. Gathering materials about the person, either historically or from present-day sources (convo’s or observations)Phenomenology: a concept or phenomenon and the “essence” of the lived experiences of persons about that phenomenon and meaning individuals hold. Gathering data through interviews. Grounded theory: to develop a theory. Data collection primarily through interviews, and systematic procedures for analysing and developing the theory i.e. open/axial/selective coding.Ethnography: describe behaviours of culture-sharing group (individual). Data collection through observation and interviewsCase study: specific case (bounded in time or place) is examined often with the intent of examining an issue with the case illustrating the complexity of the issue (clear boundaries). Needs wide array of information for in depth understanding. Week 3 Lecture Slides - February 14 Why Interview?Direct examination of the empirical worldConstruction of meaningsTalk about topics themes that may otherwise be too embarrassing to talk aboutWhat is an interview? Interviewing is a qualitative method of data gathering. In-depth interviews are unstructured, unlike (structured) surveys. Topics don’t have a necessary order, there just is a topic list the interviewer deals with. After the interview, the interviewer also writes down the atmosphere, thoughts he or she has: own experiences are significant too. Activities can be noted down between brackets [laughing]. The interviewer is supposed to be active, interested, guiding the conversation, serious and understanding. The interviewee tells the story in his or her own words, and is supposed to be active as well. It is important that the interviewer: ‘Compulsory topics’Check recording deviceIntroduce yourselfExplanation of interview process Discuss privacy and guarantee anonymityWhy should one use interviewing as a method? Construction of meaningTracing cultural meaningsDifficult/sensitive topics Principles Active Interview:Conversation interactionConstructed at a certain time and placeSite of knowledge productionTwo active participants involvedCollaborationReflection at a different time than interview i.e. not having a list of set QS, conversations depends on where you are/time and who you talk to. Difference between active (can be qualitative) and conventional interview (Quantitative) is that conventional interview is when researcher has a good idea what the interview is going to be like. Active is more fluid, not so static and more of an interaction, meaning making process. The more inductive the research, the more likely the use of an active interview is pursued. Interviewer:Active (listening and questioning)Leads/guides the interviewStimulates the narrative processIs serious, attentive and understandingUse words that interviewee uses, don’t conInterviewee:Active (construction of meanings) with emotions/environment/historyTell story in their own wordsNot a repository of knowledgeGets to tell the story in his/her own wordsSetting up the interview:Topic and aimKind of interviewWho to interviewContacting the intervieweesSetting a date Topic list (1 A4) for conversation & closure. Takes a few days to createTranslate into theory i.e. researching genres and they don’t think they like a specific genre but like house and grey’s anatomyTopic list:Check record deviceIntroduction and explanation of interviewDiscuss privacy and guarantee anonymityGet acquainted and tell something about yourself i.e. leisurely activitiesStyle of Moral Deliberation - TheoryLawrence Kohlberg and Carol GilliganMoral thinking/perspectives2 styles:Ethics of justice: perspective about rules and regulation. Men tend to be orientated to ethics of justice. Break a rule, deserve punishmentEthics of care: Reasoning by thinking about others. Women tend to be oriented to ethics of care i.e. stealing medication for ill wifeInterview Techniques (see lectures slides for the full example of the interview)Open questions:NO: do you also agree that Lady Gaga’s style is cool?YES: how would you describe Lady Gaga’s style?Follow up questionExplanation/examplesRepeating/parrotingRepeat key termsSummarizing (careful)Probing:UhmhumThe art of being silentParrotingResearch AttitudeCuriosity of the intervieweeYour own opinion in irrelevantTrust your intervieweeWatch your body languageInterview: PracticalBatteries/power cordExtra tapeSnacksRecording deviceTake a seat at tableTake notepadFamiliarise yourself with the topicsDifferent strokes for different folks: how do you deal with this?Reflection on your role as an interviewer: how to?After the interview – analysisWrite down your experiences immediatelyWhat kind of atmosphereBefore the interviewThoughts for analysis (if applicable)Transcription of the interviewLocation and time of interviewName etc. of intervieweeHow did you get in touch with intervieweeDifferent styles of transcription (dependent on research question)Verbatim: simply transcribe everything that is saidTime coded: some purposes useful, what is actually useful? (Spoken text)PhoneticDo not correct words or grammarDon’t change content, intent or put words in the interviewee’s mouthPlace certain recorded activities into squared brackets i.e. (laughs), (phone rings)Unintelligible parts of the recording? Listen carefully. What what you think it says and add (???) or (unclear)Use dashes-for pauses-interruptions-and incomplete sentences Useful tools for transcription: headphones, foot pedal, Philips writer set, large marginsDepends on the RQ. AnalysisDiscourse analysis'A text is the site of struggles for meaning that reproduce the conflicts of interest between the producers and consumers of the cultural commodity.' (Fiske, 1987, p. 14) Looking for patterns/repetitions (sometimes called repertoires) in the text.Data-matrix: i.e. IV on rows and DV on ic 1topic 2topic 3resp. 1resp. 2resp. 3resp. 4Grounded Theory Approach: coding as a method of analysis based on grounded theory:Self as an instrumentFlexibility/accessibilityAbsorptionInterview analysisInduction: from a set of specific facts to general conclusionDeduction: from general conclusion to specific setDeduction observationinductionanalysisreflectionOpen coding: every sentence is read with the questionsi.e. Friends sitcom; CSI drama/crime; I think a mother should be there for her child moral messageReality of analysisTranscript is finishedUnderline everything that seems importantPut a label/code in the margin Do not pay attention to used code words/labels but Axial coding: relations, differences, similaritiesSignal words: of course, of course not, everyone knows that, I am not a … but… (so called disclaimers) (Point out something interesting)Silences, what is not being saidBe aware: ignore your own ideas Organise categorize quotationsSimilar contentThemeCode/labelPay specific attention to oppositions wording context of quotations etc. Selective coding: key themes and reduction of themesWhat, how & why?Aim to discover overreaching themes that together answer your RQsStep 1 readStep 2 writing in marginsStep 3 ThemesStep 4 ReadStep 5 ThinkStep 6 Theme reductionStep 7 ReadStep 8 ThinkStep 9 Write resultsNOTE: If you find something strange, keep it in your analysis (authentic & vital)Four Research Phases during Analysis Exploration formulating sensitising concepts Specification building a theoretical framework Reduction formulating key themes Integration construction of 'new theory'CHECK. Internal Validity: Are the used research techniques sufficient to formulate the results you formulate?Does it have:Principle of objectivity?TriangulationMember checksPeer debriefingExternal Validity:Can your results be generalized to a larger population?Rarely possible, but often has strong indicationsReliability: The role of the researcher Non-reproducable dataMember-checksPeer debriefingDesk research Week 3 - Chapter 6 Summary – Introducing and Focusing the StudyThe Research ProblemQualitative studies begin with authors stating the research problem of the studyThe “problem” leading to the studyIt is the “need for study”The research problem is the rationale or need for studying a particular issue or “problem”. Why is this study needed?Research problems can be found in personal experience, a job-related problem, and adviser’s agenda or in literature. It is important to provide a rationale, as a need exists to fill a gap in the literature.May form a new line of thinking or it may assess an issue with an understudied group or population. Furthermore, the problem has to foreshadow one of the five approaches to inquiry. This can be done by mentioning how the particular approach fills a need or gap in the literature. E.g. in a narrative study, you could mention how individual stories need to be told to gain personal experiences about the research problem. Or, in grounded theory that we need a theory that explains a process because existing theories are inadequate or do not exist yet. The Purpose StatementA statement that provides the major objective or intent, or “road map”, to the studyNeeds to be carefully constructed and written in clear, concise language. There is a “script statement”“The purpose of this grounded theory study is to develop a phenomenon for study for Dutch people in the Netherlands. At this stage in research, the phenomenon will be generally defined as… …In the purpose statement:The writer identifies the specific qualitative approach used in the study by mentioning the typeThe writer encodes the passage with words that indicate the action of the researcher (describe, discover, develop, generate)Identifies the central phenomenon (the concept being explored or studied)Writer foreshadows the participants and the site for study.A general definition is given for the central phenomenon. There are a bunch of examples on pages 105, 106 and 107. The Research QuestionsThe Central QuestionResearch questions are divided into four types:Exploratory: to investigate a phenomenon little understoodExplanatory: to explain patterns related to phenomenonDescriptive: to describe the phenomenonEmancipatory: to engage in social action about the phenomenonResearch questions are open-ended, evolving, and nondirectional. It is recommended that the researcher reduce his/her study to a single overarching question and several subquestions. Ask the BROADEST question possible. SubquestionsIssue Oriented Subquestions: they take the phenomenon in the central research question and break it down into subtopics for examination. E.g. What are the experiences in this individuals life?What are the stories that can be told from these experiences?Topical/Procedural Subquestions: These cover the anticipated need for information. They advance the procedure in research, and help identify the procedure they intend to use in inquiry. What statements describe these experiences?What themes emerge?What is the structural meaning?Week 3 Article – “Active Interviewing” – Holstein/GubriumIntroductionIt has been estimated that 90% of all social science investigations use interviews in one way or another.Interviews are seen as ‘windows on the world’. Interviews are specialized forms of conversationEither:Highly structured, standardized, quantitatively oriented survey interviews or;Semi-formal guided, free-flowing informational exchanges. To do an interview that minimizes bias, error, misunderstanding or misdirection simply ask the question properlyTreating interviewing as a social encounter in which knowledge is constructed suggests the possibility that the interview is not merely a neutral conduit, but a producer of knowledge about yourself. Simply put, interviewers deeply and unavoidably implicate in creating meaning that resides within respondents.Both parties are activeMeaning is actively assembled in the interviewStripping interviews of their interactional ingredients will be futile and will harm the content. Interviewers should consciously attend to the interview process and acknowledge on the respondents contributionsTo be active you must:Harvest the interview and its transactions for narrative analysis. NOT lose track of what is being asked in interviewsNOT lose track of what is conveyed by respondentsSeek to ask and control questions that serve as relevant, and do not get side-tracked. Traditional Images of InterviewingTerkel’s image of interviewing:Prospecting for true facts and feelings residing within the respondent.A “search and discovery mission”The challenge lies in extracting information as directly as possibleSpecific wording, flexible interviews etc… The Subject Behind the RespondentSubjects are vessels of answers for questions put to respondents by interviewers.They are facts and the related details of experienceThe lurk behind the intervieweeEven in sensitive interviews, where it may be difficult to obtain an accurate and ‘real’ answer, the information from the subject Is viewed as ‘true’ via the vessel of answers. The trick is to formulate questions in an easy manner to get ‘true’ answers.The Vessels of Answers Approach The subject is not engaged in the production of knowledge (epistemologically passive)Interview goes non-directional and unbiased, the respondent WILL give an unadulterated fact and valid answer. Contamination may result from the setting or the interactionWhat happens if we try to “look for the subject behind the respondent?”We get details that are added to and transformed for detailsThe subject pieces experiences togetherThe answers are continually being assembled and modified and the truth cannot be judged simply in terms of whether they match the ‘objective knowledge’ Simply put, we cannot expect the same answers two times in a row. It cannot be replicated. All of this is best compared with Survey Interviewing and Creative InterviewingSurvey InterviewingHere, the interviewer must not interfere with what the passive subject is willing to disclose. Interviewers must shake off self-consciousness, personal opinion.The interview should be conducted in privateGood ‘hard data’ should be produced via ‘soft’ conversationCreative Interviewing“Creative” refers to the interviewer, not the respondentHere, subjects also have the answers, yet they are well-guarded vessels that have to be dug out of the person ‘creatively’ This is done by ‘getting to know’ the real subject behind the respondent. It moves beyond words and tries to create a climate for mutual disclosure.The interviewer shares his/her feelings and the respondent does the same. Creative interviewing is a lot more emotional rather than rationalYou have to dig deepThe Active InterviewIt conceives an interview as an interpersonal drama with a developing plot.From this perspective, interview participants constantly work to discern and communicate the recognizable and orderly features of experience. Meaning is created through interpretive practice (whatever it means…)The active interview turns the subject into a productive source of knowledgeThe imagined subject behind the respondent emerges as part of the project, not beforehand. The interview and its participants are constantly developing So, why is interviewing so darn important?It engages a formal and systematic way to interpret a subjectActive interviews therefore have a developing plot, in which roles and format are fashioned during the interview. It is improvising. In active interviewing the interviewer has to actively narrate production, and to approach the respondent by narrating what he/she is saying LIVEImplications for AnalysisThe active approach seems to invite unacceptable forms of biasFor more is going on than simply retrieving information from the respondents’ repositories of knowledge“contamination” is everywhereYet, this is a narrow point of view, as interviews are generally impossible to do without some form of bias.All participants are inevitably implicated in making meaning. Analyzing active interviews us done by looking at the whats and the hows. The goal is to show how interview responses are produced in the interaction between interviewer and respondent, without losing sight of the meanings produced or the circumstances that condition the meaning making process. It is not merely to describe the situation production of talk, but to show how what is being said relates to the experiences and lives being studied. Week 4 - Lecture Slides – February 21Discourse AnalysisDiscourse is ‘a system of language’ (for example medical or political discourse). Discourses “help to create and reproduce systems of social meaning”. However, this does NOT mean that DA is not empirical or systematic!! Post-structuralism:“Language is seen not simply as a neutral medium for communicating information, but as a domain in which our knowledge of the social world is actively shaped”. Therefore, language itself can be seen as the topic of research. NOTE: I am not able to copy the tables of this lecture. In the table content and discourse analysis are compared! RESEARCH PROCESS 1. ) Selecting and approaching data2.) Sorting, coding, analyzing data identify themes/patterns, look at social context3.) Presentation and argumentationThe lecture mentions Steiner’s Study as an example, highlighting that ‘paying attention to silences’ (what is not said) is very important too. Steiner’s conclusions: A community understands messages delivered by various sources, but reconstitutes those messages in its own termsCommunication involves struggle and powerContent becomes meaningful in contextWeek 4 - Chapter 7 – Data CollectionWithin all approaches, data collection resembles a circle of interrelated activities:How each of these steps is different for the five approaches, is summarised in the table. I copied the table to make it more readable when printing. Data collecting is a number of activities. Locating a site or an individual, gaining access and making rapport, sampling purposely, collecting data, recording information, exploring field issues, and storing datacenter1243965Data Collection ActivityNarrativePhenomenologyGrounded TheoryEthnographyCase StudyWhat is traditionally studied? (sites or individuals)Single (rarely multiple) individual(s), accessible and distinctiveMultiple individuals who have experienced the phenomenonMultiple individuals who have responded to an action or participated in a process about a central phenomenonMembers of a culture-sharing group or individuals representative of the groupA bounded system, such as a process, an activity, an event, a program or multiple individualsWhat are typical access and rapport issues?(access and rapport)Gaining permission from individuals, obtaining access to information in archivesFinding people who have experienced the phenomenonLocating a homogeneous sampleGaining access through the gatekeeper, gaining the confidence of informantsGaining access through the gatekeeper, gaining the confidence of participantsHow does one select a site or individuals to study?(purposeful sampling strategies)Several strategies, depending on the person (e.g. convenient, politically important, typical, a critical case)Finding individuals who have experienced the phenomenon, a "criterion" sampleFinding a homogeneous sample, a "theory-based" sample, a "theoretical" sampleFinding a cultural group to which one is a "stranger", a "representative" sampleFinding a "case" or "cases," an atypical" case, or a "maximum variation" or "extreme" caseWhat type of information typically is collected?(forms of data)Documents and archival material, open-ended interviews, subject journaling, participant observation, casual chattingInterviews with 5 to 25 peoplePrimarily interviews with 20 to 30 people to achieve detail in the theoryParticipant observation, interviews, artefacts, and documentsExtensive forms, such as documents and records, interviews, observation, and physical artefactsHow is information recorded?(recording information)Notes, interview protocolInterviews, often multiple interviews with the same individualsInterview protocol, memoingFieldnotes, interview and observational protocolsFieldnotes, interview and observational protocolsWhat are common data collection issues?(field issues)Access to materials, authenticity of accounts and materialsBracketing one‘s experiences, logistics of interviewingInterviewing issues (e.g. logistics, openness)Field issues (e.g. reflexivity, reactivity, reciprocality, "going native", divulging private information, deception)Interviewing and observing issuesHow is information typically stored? (storing data)File folders, computer filesTranscriptions, computer filesTranscriptions, computer filesFieldnotes, transcriptions, computer filesFieldnotes, transcriptions, computer filesCreswell adds a few ideas throughout the text, of which the most important points are summarised here.Gaining access and making rapportCrewell raises ethical concerns and mentions that permissions need to be sought from a human subjects review board. Although most qualitative studies are exempt from a lengthy review, studies involving individuals such as minors or high-risk, sensitive populations such as HIV-positive individuals are usually subjected to thorough review. Oftentimes, there is a consent form signed by participants and researchers that specifies their rights (e.g. withdrawing from the study at any time).Sampling purposefullyPurposeful sampling refers to the inquirer selecting individuals and sites for study because they can purposefully inform an understanding of the research problem and central phenomenon in the study.Decisions need to be made about who or what should be sampled, what form the sampling will take, and how many people or sites need to be sampled. Further, the researchers need to decide if the sampling will be consistent with the information needed by one of the five approaches to inquiry.Researchers can sample at the site level, at the event or process level, and at the participant level. In a good plan for a qualitative study, one or more of these levels might be present and they each need to be identified.Typology of Sampling Strategies in Qualitative InquiryType of SamplingPurposeMaximum variationDocuments diverse variations and identifies important common patternsHomogeneousFocuses, reduces, simplifies, and facilitates group interviewingCritical casePermits logical generalisation and maximum application of information to other casesTheory basedFind examples of a theoretical construct and thereby elaborate on and examine itConfirming and disconfirming casesElaborate on initial analysis, seek exceptions, looking for variationSnowball or chainIdentifies cases of interest from people who know people who know what cases are information-richExtreme or deviant caseLearn from highly unusual manifestations of the phenomenon of interestTypical caseHighlights what is normal or averageIntensityInformation-rich cases that manifest the phenomenon intensely but not extremelyPolitically importantAttracts desired attention or avoids attracting undesired attentionRandom purposefulAdds credibility to sample when potential purposeful sample is too largeStratified purposefulIllustrates subgroups and facilitates comparisonsCriterionAll cases that meet some criterion; useful for quality assuranceOpportunisticFollow new leads; taking advantage of the unexpectedCombination or mixedTriangulation, flexibility; meets multiple interests and needsConvenienceSaves time, money, and effort, but at the expense of information and credibilityForm of dataAlthough there are continually newly emergent forms of data in qualitative research, all forms might be grouped into four basic types of information: observations (ranging from nonparticipant to participant)interviews (ranging from close-ended to open-ended)documents (ranging from private to public)audiovisual materials (including materials such as photographs, compact disks, and videotapes)Interviewing and observing deserve special attention, because they are frequently used in all five of the approaches to research.InterviewingIdentify interviewees based on one of the purposeful sampling proceduresDetermine what type of interview is practical and will net the most useful information to answer RQUse adequate recording proceduresDesign an interview protocol, a form about four or five pages in length, with approx. five open-ended questions and ample space between the questions to write the interviewee‘s comments.Refine the interview questions and the procedures further through pilot testing.Determine the place for conducting the interview.After arriving at the interview site, obtain consent from the interviewee to participate in the study. During the interview, stay to the questions, complete the interview within the time specified, be respectful and courteous, and offer few questions and advice. A good interviewer is a good listener.ObservingObserving in a setting is a special skill that requires addressing issues such as the potential deception of the people being interviews, impression management, and the potential marginality of the researcher in a strange setting.Select a site to be observed (obtain permission if required)At the site, identify who or what to observe, when, and for how long.Determine, initially, a role to be assumed as an observer (from complete participant (going native) to complete observer).Design an observational protocol as a method for recording notes in the fieldRecord aspects such as portraits of the informant, the physical setting, particular events and activities, and your own reactions.During the observation, have someone introduce you if you are an outsider, be passive and friendly.After observing, slowly withdraw from the site, thanking the participants and informing them of the use of the data and their accessibility to the study.Week 4 – Summary Article by TonkissThis chapter focuses on the study of language and texts as forms of discourse, which therefore helps to construct systems of social meaning. I Approaches to discourseThis is a method which is frequently used in different disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, politics, etc. It is primarily concerned with the production of meaning through talk and text (also knowledge construction). Language is not simply a method of communication, but a domain in which our understanding of the social world is actively shaped. It does not reflect meaning, but constructs meaning.Language also works to divide up, stereotype and categorize different groups of individuals (people with physical disabilities) and thus, shape the attitudes of the society towards different problems. This critical approach to language is associated with post-structuralist social theories (Michel Foucault)II What is discourse?Discourse can refer both to a single utterance or specific speech act and to a more systematic ordering of language (legal discourse).Language is viewed as the topic of the research in discourse analysisDiscourse refers to a system of language which draws on a particular terminology and encodes specific forms of knowledge (the jargon which doctors use). Such an expert language has 3 effects: marks out a field of knowledge, confers membership, bestows authority). III Discourse in a social contextInterpretative context of discourse- language in its larger social context, the analysis “goes beyond” the text and is situated within the outside world. Analysts also pay attention to the small-scale contexts of particular interactionsRhetorical organization of discourse- it is related to the effects that the statements of a discourse seek and their insertion into a larger rhetorical context. It is a about how persuasive the arguments are (for example the legal defenses in a court room). IV Doing discourse analysisDA is a messy method, no particular structure of analysis is presented. However there are several steps which Tonkiss presents.Selecting and approaching data- you select the problem first, then you collect the data and afterwards the RQ arise from what you have in your data. At first you have to begin with some broad question for the future study. Typically DA looks at e.g. “how is the immigration presented in the newspapers”. The data is collected through multiple sources. Not the amount, but the quality of the materials is important. In depth data which gives the insights of a problem is required.Sorting, coding, analyzing- abandon all preconceptions, challenging common-sense knowledge, selecting a number of themes. All these may end up making you change the initial domain of the interest.Using key words and themes- this process will bring order and structure into the data. These themes are then being compared and contrasted. Looking for variation in the text-internal hesitations and inconsistencies, combating alternative accountsAnalyzing contrasts, oppositions, alternative accountsReading for emphasis and detail- a three part list(building up a sequence to create a “crescendo” effect). Repetitions, synonyms, etc. Also looking for vague but difficult to rebut formulations.Attending to silences- reading against the grain, search for gaps, exclusions or omissionsPresenting the analysis- take into account validity and reflexivityWeek 5 – Lecture - Doing Participant-ObservationBy: David R. NovakQualitative researchers need to develop and maintain research skills, and learn how to change and adapt skills will help you achieve inclusion, credibility and rapport. Skills a researcher needs: Curiosity & opennessRigor & structure Systematic observationDefinition Systematic Observations: Weick (1985) – “sustained, explicit, methodical observing and paraphrasing of social situations in relation to their naturally occurring contexts.”The success of observing depends on what the observer learns through participation and the uses to which that knowledge is put. Participant-ObservationParticipant-Observation needs to be performed in ways that are honored by group members. AnalysisCreate increasingly sharp, detailed, and theoretical relevant descriptionRecord as much as possible, also seemingly insignificant detailsDevelop a system (record dates, times, places, people involved ect.)Tolerance for Marginality When in the field, qualitative researchers should bare in mind that: They must move from the center to peripheryTemporary duration of Participant-Observation can cause problems, if a researcher is in a group for a very short period of time this might bring limitations to his perception of the groupEmbrace/ Reject group ideologies or practices Don’t confuse/overlap ‘home’ bases with ‘the field’, keep separatedRequisite VarietyDifferent beliefs and broad knowledge will lead to a better understanding of complex environments Actively seek out different perspectives VisualitySeeing is privileged, which can lead to disembodiment, omniscience, and voyeurism, therefore we should attempt to include all senses like tastes, smells, touches, sounds even colors, lights, shapes and textures. Different Roles of a researcher in Participation ObservationComplete Participant: role as researcher is hidden (researcher might affect what happens)Participant as Observer: role as a researcher is acknowledged, can take part in interaction, does not commit to the group completely. Observer as Participant: primary role is observer, no central roles in group are takenComplete Observer: role as researcher is hidden ( researcher does not affect what happens)Practical Tips What kind of notes should you take? You can not capture everything. Do not worry about mistakes at first.Recognize what can/cannot be observed, give participants the benefit of the doubt. Keep a log. Week 5 - Chapter 8 Summary - Data Analysis & RepresentationData analysis consists of preparing/organising the date for analysis, then reducing the data into themes through a process of coding and condensing the codes, and finally representing the data in figures, tables or a discussion.Falls back on the three ‘I’s’: insight, intuition and impressionThree Analysis StrategiesSteps: Preparing and organizing the data for analysisReducing the data into themes through a process of coding and condensing the codesFinally representing the data in figures, tables or a discussionHuberman and Miles (1994) provide detailed steps in the process i.e. writing marginal notes, drafting summaries of fieldnotes, and noting relationships among the categoriesMadison (2005): introduces the need to create a point of view – a stance that signals the theoretical perspective (i.e. critical, deminist) taken in the studyWolcott (1994) discusses the importance of forming a description from the data, as well as relating the description to the literature and cultural themes in cultural anthropologyThree Analysis StrategiesThe Data Analysis Spiral: to analyse qualitative data, the researcher engages in the process of moving in analytic circles rather than using a fixed linear approach.Data analysis is choreographedOnce again, it falls back on the 3 I’s: insight, intuition and impression4 Loops:Data management (reading & memoing): organising data and converting it to appropriate text units (e.g. via computer programs)Reading and Memoing: researcher interprets data via interacting with text visuals by writing memo’s and notes. Describing, classifying and interpreting: code/category formation and in detail description of themes through some classification, descriptive detail or interpretation (heart of qualitative data analysis)3 Issues with coding:Whether qualitative researcher should count codes (more quantitative approach)The use of pre-existing/a priori codes (may limit analysis as it does not open up the codes to reflect views of the participants)The question as to the origin of the code names or labels (may have different sources)Deconstruction strategies:Dismantling a dichotomy/difference, exposing it as a false distinction (e.g. public/private, nature/culture, etc.)Examining silences – what is not said (e.g. noting who/what is excluded by the use of pronouns such as ‘we’)Attending to disruptions and contradictions; places where a text fails to make sense or does not continueFocusing on the element that is most alien/peculiar in the text – to find the limits of what is conceivable/permissibleInterpreting metaphors as a rich source of multiple meaningsAnalysing double entendres that may point to an unconscious subtext, often sexual in contentSeparating group-specific and more general sources of bias by ‘reconstructing’ the text with substitution of its main elementsInterpreting the data; making sense of the data, the ‘lessons learned’ – based on hunches, insights and intuition (may be a social science construct). Representing the data: representing the information found, either through visual imagery, or explanation of hypotheses or propositions1971675-1057275Analysis within approaches to inquiry:1485900916940Narrative Analysis:Two approaches:Analytic process that involved analysing text data for five elements of plot structure – characters, setting, problem, actions, and resolution (Yussen & Ozcan)The three-dimensional space approach that involved analysing the data for three elements – interaction, continuity and situation (Clandinin & Connelly)Common elements: collecting stories of personal experiences in the form of field texts (interviews, conversations), retelling the stories based on narrative elements, rewriting the stories into a chronological sequence, and incorporating the setting/place of the participants’ experiences.Denzin suggests that a researcher begin biographical analysis by identifying an objective set of experiences in the subject’s life good beginning point for analysis.Steps (according to Denzin):Identify set of experiencesLook for life-course stages/experiences (e.g. childhood/marriage/employment)Develop a chronology of the individual’s life based on these stages (stories/epiphanies will emerge from the individual’s journal/interviews)Look in the database (interviews/documents) for concrete, contextual biographical material. Prompt the participant during the interview to expand on various sections of the stories and asks to theorise about their life. Isolate narrative segments and categories within the interview-story and determine larger meanings/patternsReconstruct the individual’s biography and identify factors that have shaped the individual’s life. This leads to the writing of an analytic abstraction of the case that highlights (a) the processes in the individual’s life, (b) the different theories that relate to these life experiences, and (c) the unique and general features of the life.Phenomenological analysis There have been specific, structure methods of analysis advanced.Approach:Describe personal experiences with the phenomenon under study, including a full description.Develop a list of significant statements, treating them as having an equal worth.Take the significant statements and group them into larger units of information – ‘meaning units’/themesWrite a description of ‘what’ the participants in the study experienced with the phenomenon – ‘textural description’ of the experienceWrite a description of ‘how’ the experience happened – ‘structural description’ (place it into context)Write a composite description of the phenomenon incorporating both the textural and structural description. Grounded Theory analysis Consists of three phases of coding: open, axial and selective.Open coding: the researcher examines the text for salient categories of information supported by the text – attempting to ‘saturate’ the categories. Axial coding: the database is reviewed to provide insight into specific coding categories that relate/explain the central phenomenon (causal conditions, strategies, context, intervening conditions and consequences). Selective coding: the generation of propositions/hypotheses that interrelate the categories in the coding paradigm – creating of conditional matrix. Ethnographic analysisThree aspects of data analysis: description, analysis, interpretation of the culture-sharing groupStarting point: describing the culture-sharing group and setting.From an interpretive perspective, the researcher may only present one set of facts.This description may be analysed by presenting information in chronological order – ‘a day in the life of’.This includes highlighting specific material introduced in the descriptive phase through tables, charts, diagrams and figures.Case study analysisAnalysis consists of making a detailed description of the case and its setting (like in an ethnography)Includes analysis multiple sources and placing data in a chronological order (if necessary)The setting is particularly important, including how the incident fits into the setting.Four forms of data analysis (Stake):Categorical aggregation – researcher seeks a collection of instances from the data, hoping that issue-relevant meanings will emergeDirect interpretation – the researcher looks at a single instance and draws meaning from it without looking for multiple instances Establishing patterns and correspondence – similarities and differences) i.e. use of 2 x 2 table. Easier to view similarities and differences between categories. Naturalistic generalizations: creating generalization that people can learn from the case either for themselves or to apply to a population of parison of the 5 approaches:Similarities: Across all five approaches, the researcher typically begins by creating/organising files of information, followed by general reading/memoing of information and making sense of them (phase of description)Phase of description does not occur in grounded theory, in which the inquirer seeks to begin building toward a theory of the action/processDifferences:Grounded theory/phenomenology have the most detailed, explicated procedure for data analysisEthnography/case studies have analysis procedures taht are commonNarrative research represents the least structured procedureThe terms used in the phase of classifying show distinct language among these approaches (what is called open coding in grounded theory is similar to the first stage of identifying significant statements in phenomenology and to categorical aggregation in case study research).The presentation of the data reflects the data analysis steps, and it varies from a narration in narrative approach to tabled statements, meanings and description in phenomenology to a visual model/theory in grounded puter Use in Qualitative Data AnalysisAdvantages:It provides an organised storage file systemIt helps researchers local material easilyIt encourages a researcher to look closely at the dataThe concept mapping feature of computer programs enables the research to visualise the relationship among codes/themesIt allows the researcher to easily retrieve memos associated with codes/themes/documents.Disadvantages: It requires that the researcher learn how to run the program.It may put a machine between the researcher and the actual data (too much distance)The categories/organisation of the data may be changed by the software user.Instructions for using computer programs vary in their ease of use and accessibility. It may not have the features/capabilities that researchers need.Use with the 5 approaches:It helps store/organise qualitative dataIt helps locate text/image segments associated with a code or theme.It helps locate common passages/segments that relate to 2 or more code labels.It helps make comparisons among code labels.It helps the research to conceptualise different levels of abstraction in qualitative data analysisIt provides a visual picture of codes and themesIt provides the capability to write memos and store them as codesIt allows the researcher to create a template for coding data within each of the five puter software: use when more than 500pgs of text, good for structure and easy use as can locate material quickly. Identify text/image segment Assign code labelSearch through database for all text segments that have the same code labelDisadvantages: learn how to use program (does not come easy to all), software may change the fixed or set categories and computer may not have features or capability researcher needs. Computer ProgramsAtlas.ti: Windows, PC based enables organization of text, graphic, audio and visual data files, along with your coding, memos and findings, into a project. Code, annotate, and compare segments of the information. NVivo: latest version from QSR. Combines features of popular programs N6 and NVivo 2.0. For PC only and helps analyse, manage, shape and analyse qualitative data. Provides security, allows team research and enables researcher to easily manipulate data and searchHyperRESEARCH: PC/Mac easy-to-use software enabling coding and retrieving build theories, conduct analyses of the data. Allows researcher to draw visual diagrams. MAXqda: PC that helps researcher to systematically evaluates and interpret qualitative texts. Also good for developing theories and testing conclusions. Hierarchal code system and can attach a weight score to a text segment to indicate the relevance of the segment. Week 6 – Lecture - Qualitative Methods available in an online context By: J. WardAlthough the Internet offers a rich source of data, it also offers some challenges to the researcher. A particular problem is dealing with bias in the research sample. In order to use the Internet as a tool, it may be necessary to develop technical skills in order to make use of the full possibilities offered by the Internet. Of course some considerations like ethics also apply to Internet research. Care must be taken to avoid sample biasStandard methods need adaptation to ensure that Internet data collection online is effectiveAttention needs to be paid to the development of trust onlineEthical research still appliesThe Internet SampleIt is relatively easy (compared with other methods) to…Obtain global samples of respondents Locate respondents from are groups Keep in mind: International digital divide in western developed nations, a majority of people have access to the internet, in less developed nations, the proportion is much lower. Online Surveys Representativeness:Internet access is different in different countries. i.e. UK more likely among men, youth, better educated, and higher incomesIf pick a language you will be excluding a large proportion of internet usersPeople use internet in different ways and thus may therefore react in different ways to your researchAdvantagessaves postal costsaccess to a geographically dispersed sample ability to target particular groupsautomatic generation of computer readable data Disadvantages possible sample biaslittle or no help for respondents on how to answer from the researcherlow response rate Also keep in mind that particular attention needs to be paid to the development of trust online and ethical research practices apply equally to online data collection. Online InterviewingBy email, instant messaging or internet telephony (e.g., Skype)Best for those respondents already familiar with the technology Can be more difficult to build rapport than with face-to-face interviewsBut good for interviewing at home/across time zones and on sensitive topicsOnline Focus Groups Synchronous and asynchronous optionsAdvantagesparticipants can be questioned over long periods of timelarger numbers can be managedmore heated and open exchanges occurDisadvantagesobtaining complete informed consentrecruiting individuals to participate choosing times to convene given different international time zonesOnline ObservationsYour field is a : - chat room or social networking site And you collect data from: observations of web pages, discussion forumscontent analysis of archives online interviews offline interviews Online documents Data Online: documents available online billions of documents are available on the web sampling can be tricky document can be analyzed using conventional techniques developed for paper documents Online Data: analyzing online interactivity e.g. transactional (site Producer asks for certain information i.e. name/email) vs. coproductive interactiviy Also can analyze the links between pages (hyperlink analysis)The Ethics of Online ResearchThe idea of ‘informed consent’ can be difficult to apply to online materials, e.g. in a chat room, where participants come and goPages published on the web may be publicly accessible, yet considered by their originators to be privateDirect quotes from web pages can be traced back to the authors using a search engineAlso keep in mind that particular attention needs to be paid to the development of trust online and ethical research practices apply equally to online data collection. Week 6 - Chapter 10 - Standards of Validation and EvaluationIn this chapter two interrelated questions are addressed: Is the account valid, and by whose standards? How do we evaluate the quality of qualitative research?Validation and Reliability in Qualitative ResearchPerspectives on ValidationQualitative research has been criticized by scientists for failure to “adhere to canons of reliability and validation” in the traditional sense. Different studies incorporated different terms that are simply synonyms of quantitative research terms i.e. Lincoln & Guba’s use of “credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability” due to the argument that use of positivist terms encourages acceptance of qualitative research in quantitative worldLincoln & Guber 1985: To establish findings that are transferability between researcher and those studied thick description is necessary. Trustworthiness = Credibility, Authenticity, Transferability, Dependability, confirmability (naturalist equivalent for internal validity, external validity, reliability and objectivity)Credibility = prolonged engagement in the field and the triangulation of data of sources, methods and investigatorsDependability that the results will be subject to change and instability = reliabilityConfirmability = objectivity NOTE: Both dependability and confirmability are established through a review of research processInstead of validation Eisner constructed structural corroboration, consensual validation and referential adequacy. Structural corroboration: researcher related multiple types of data to support or contradict the interpretationConsensual validation: seeks the opinion of others, an agreement among competent others that the description, interpretation and evaluation and thematic’s are correct. Referential adequacy: the importance of criticism to illuminate the subject matter and bring out more complex and sensitive human perception and understanding.Lather four frames of validation:Ironic validation: researcher presents truth as a problemParalogic validation: concerned with undecidables, limits, paradoxes, and complexities, provides direct exposure to other voices in an almost unmediated way.Rhizomatic validity (situated/embedded): questioning proliferations, crossings, and overlaps without underlying structures or deeply rotted connections also questions taxonomies, constructs and interconnected networks whereby reader jumps from one group to another moving from judgement to understanding. Voluptuous validity: researcher sets out to understand more than one can know and to write toward what one does not understand. Wolcott 1994: “validation neither guides nor informs”, instead identifies “critical elements” and write “plausible interpretations” from them. Rather understand than convinceAngen 2000: validation is a judgement of the trustworthiness or goodness of a piece of research. Ethical validation: all research agendas must question underlying moral assumptions, their political and ethical implications and the impartial treatment of diverse voices. “generative promise” raise new possibilities, questions, discourse, transformative value (leading to action and change) as well as nondogmatic answers to the questions we pose Substantive validation: understanding one’s own understandings of the topic, understandings derived from other sources, and the documentation of this process in the written study. (self reflection & interpretive research for other to judge the trustworthiness of the meanings arrived at the end)Whittemore, Chase & Mandle 2001: validation towards interpretive lens with an emphasis on researcher reflexivity and on researcher challenges that include raising qs about ideas developed during research. Primary criteria: Credibility (accurate interpretation of participants meaning?)Authenticity (are different voices heard?)Criticality (is there a critical appraisal of all aspects of the research?)Integrity (investigators self-critical?)Secondary criteria:Explicitness, vividness, creativity, thoroughness, congruence and sensitivity. Richardson & St Pierre 2005: Validity as a crystal, that grows, changes and alters but not shapeless. What we see depends on our angle of response (i.e. crystals with different colours, patterns and arrays casting off in different directions) Validation as an attempt to assess accuracy of findings as best described by the researcher and the participants. Any report of research is a representation of the author. Creswells own stance:Validation in qualitative research is an attempt to assess the accuracy of the findings as best described by the researcher and the participants. Any report of research is a representation by the author.Validation is a distinct strength of qualitative research because the account made through extensive time spent in the field, the detailed thick description, and the closeness of the researcher to participants all add to the value or accuracy of a study.The author uses the term validation to emphasize a process rather than other historical words. The author acknowledges that there are many types of qualitative validation and researches should choose those with which they are comfortable, and reference them.Distinct validation approaches do not exist for the five approaches to qualitative research. It is recommended to use validation strategies regardless of the type of qualitative approach.The authors framework for thinking about validation is to suggest that researchers employ accepted strategies to document the accuracy of their studies. Which are called “validation strategies”Validation StrategiesEight strategies that are frequently used by qualitative researchers:Prolonged engagement and persistent observation in the field include building trust with participants, learning the culture, and checking for misinformation that stems from distortions introduced by the researcher or informants. In the field, the researcher makes decisions about what is salient to the study, relevant to the purpose of the study, and of interest for focus, In triangulation, researchers make use of multiple and different sources, methods, investigators, and theories to provide corroborating evidence. Typically this process involves corroborating evidence from different sources to shed light on a theme or perspective. Peer review or debriefing provides an external check of the research process. The peer debriefer is “devil’s advocate” an individual who keeps the researcher honest, asks hard questions, and provides the researcher with the opportunity for catharsis by sympathetically listening to the researchers feelings. Written accounts are kept of the sessions, called “peer debriefing sessions”.In negative case analysis, the researcher refines working hypotheses as the inquiry advances in light of negative or disconfirming evidence. The researcher revises initial hypotheses until all cases fit, completing this process late in data analysis and eliminating all outliers and exceptions. Clarifying researcher bias from the outset of the study is important so that the reader understands the researchers position and any biases or assumptions that impact the inquiry. In member checking the researcher solicits participants views of the credibility of the findings and interpretations. This approach involves taking data, analysis, interpretations, and conclusions back to the participants so that they can judge the accuracy and credibility of the account.Rich, thick description allows readers to make decisions regarding transferability because the writer describes in detail the participants or setting under study. With such detailed description, the researcher enables readers to transfer information to other settings and to determine whether the findings can be transferred “because of shared characteristics”. External audits allow an external consultant, the auditor, to examine both the process, and the product of the account, assessing their accuracy. This auditor should have no connection to the study. Creswell recommends that qualitative research engages at least two of these validation strategies.Reliability PerspectivesIn qualitative research “reliability” often refers to the stability of responses to multiple coders of data sets. One of the key issues is determining what exactly the codings are agreeing on, whether they seek agreement on code names, the coded passages, or the same passages coded the same way. We also need to decide on whether to seek agreement based on codes, themes, or both codes and themes.Can be addressed in multiple ways (Silverman 2005)If researcher obtains detailed field notes through good quality tape for recording and transcribingDone ‘blind’ with the coding staff and analysts conducting their research without knowledge of the expectations and questions of the project directors and through the use of computers to assist in recording and analysing data. Intercoder agreement: multiple coders to analyse data. Main issue: establishing what coders are agreeing on i.e. code names, coded passages or same passages coded same way, also seek agreement on codes, themes, or both codes & themes. Coding suggestions:Agreed that when assigning a code word to a passage, all coders assigned the same code word to the passage. 1. Develop codebook of codes2. Code few transcripts then meet and examine codes, names, & text segments in order to create a codebook of MAJOR codes. 3. Codebook contained a definition of each code, and the text segment that’s assigned to each code. (More important to have agreement on the text segments assigned to codes than to have same passages coded.)4. After comparison and asking whether all coders used same code word to passage collapse group back to broader themes and compare whether coders coding of themes were consistent in the use of the same theme. 5. Revise codebook, conduct a new assessment of passages that were all coded and determined if used same or different codes/themes. NOTE: Silverman states with each step they achieved a higher % of agreed upon codes and themes for text segments. Evaluation CriteriaQualitative PerspectivesAlthough validation is certainly an aspect of evaluating the quality of a study, other criteria are useful as well. Howe and Eisenhardt (1990) state that only broad, abstract standards are possible for qualitative/quantitative research. 5 standards in research:1. Assess a study in terms of whether the research questions drive the data collection and analysis rather than the reverse2. Examine the extent to which the data collection and analysis techniques are competently applied in a technical sense3. Are researcher’s assumptions made explicit? i.e. aware of own subjectivity4. Does study have overall warrant? I.e. robust (strong case made), uses respected theoretical explanations, and discusses disconfirmed theoretical explanations5. Value in both informing and improving practice. Also in protecting the confidentiality, privacy, & truth telling of participants8 Standards in Methodological criteria:The standard set in the inquiry community, such as by guidelines for publication.The standard of positionality guides (your own stance on the subject) guides interpretive or qualitative research.Another standard is under the rubric of community ( research serves takes place in, is addressed to, and serves the purpose of the community in which it was carried out).Interpretive or qualitative research must give voice to participants so that their voice is not silenced, disengaged or marginalised. Alternative or multiple voices must be heard in the text.Critical subjectivity as a standard means that the researcher needs to have heightened self-awareness in the research process and create personal and social transformation (high quality awareness). This enables the researcher to understand their own psychological and emotional state before, during, and after the research process. High-quality interpretive or qualitative research involves reciprocity between the researcher and those being researched.The researcher should respect the sacredness of relationships in the research-to-action continuum. Sharing of the privileges acknowledges that in good qualitative research, researchers share their rewards with persons whose lives they portray.4 Criteria when reviewing papers and looking at interpretive standards:Substantive contribution (does the research contribute to our understandings of social life?)Aesthetic merit ( does the use creative and analytical practices open up the text and invite interpretive responses?)Reflexivity ( How has the authors subjectivity been both a producer and a product of the text?)Impact ( does the piece affect me emotionally or intellectually?)Creswell prefers the methodological standards of evaluation.Narrative ResearchDenzin (1989) is primarily interested in the problem of “how to locate and interpret the subject in biographical materials?”Creswell would look for the following aspects of a good narrative study:Focuses on a single individual (or two or three)Collects stories about a significant issue related to this individual’s lifeDevelops a chronology that connects different phases or aspects of a storyTells a story that restories the story of the participant in the studyTells a persuasive story told in a literary wayPossibly reports themes that build from the story to tell a broader analysis Reflexivity brings himself or herself into the studyPhenomenological ResearchTo Polkingjorne (1989), validation refers to the notion that an idea is well grounded and well supported. He asks “Does the general structural description provide an accurate portrait of the common features and structural connections that are manifest in the examples collected?”Creswell would look for the following aspects of a good phenomenological study:Does the author convey an understanding of the philosophical tenets of phenomenology?Does the author have a clear phenomenon to study that is articulated in a concise way?Does the author use procedures of data analysis in phenomenology?Does the author convey the overall essence of the experience of the participants? Does this essence include a description of the experience and the context in which it occurred?Is the author reflexive throughout the study?Grounded Theory ResearchStrauss and Corbin (1990) identify the criteria by which one judges the quality of a grounded theory study.Creswell would look for the following aspects of a good grounded theory study:The study of a process, action, or interaction as the key element in the theoryA coding process that works from the data to a larger theoretical modelThe presentation of the theoretical model in a figure or diagramA story line or proposition that connects categories in the theoretical model and that presents further questions to be answeredA reflexivity or self-disclosure b the researcher about his or her stance in the studyEthnographic ResearchThe ethnographers Spindler and Spindler (1987) emphasize that the most important requirement for an ethnographic approach is to explain behaviour from the “native point of view” and to be systematic in recording this information using note taking, tape recorders, and cameras. This requires that the ethnographer be present in the situation and engage in constant interaction between observation an interviews. Creswell would look for the following aspects of a good grounded theory study:The clear identification of a culture sharing groupThe specification of cultural themes that will be examined in light of this culture-sharing groupA detailed description of the cultural groupThemes that derive from an understanding of the cultural groupThe identification of issues that arose “in the field” that reflect on the relationship between the researcher and the participants, the interpretive nature of reporting, and sensitivity and reciprocity in the co-creating of the accountAn explanation overall of how the culture-sharing group worksA self disclosure and reflexivity by the researcher about her or his position in the research.Case Study ResearchStake (1995) provides a rather extensive critique checklist.Creswell would look for the following aspects of a good case study:Is there a clear identification of the case or cases in the study?Is the case/cases used to understand a research issue or used because the case has intrinsic merit?Is there clear description of the case?Are assertions or generalisations made from the case analysisIs the researcher reflexive or self-disclosing about his or her position in the study?Week 6 – Article by Pyett : Validation of qualitative research in the “ real world” In qualitative research, an account is valid if it represents accurately those features of the phenomena that is intended to describe explain or theorize. As a researcher you should always ask yourself: how can I be confident that my account in an accurate representation? You should also be aware that a researcher is a key instrument in the research process. How do we achieve valid qualitative analysis?There are no straightforward tests to make sure a research is valid, but there are some guidelines, collected from previous literature on this topic:Rigor in sampling, data collection and analysisTriangulation of data sources, methods, investigators and theoriesSearch for negative cases (don’t close your eyes for cases that do not fit your model, include them in your research)Thick description (very detailed description)Detailed reporting in writing up our accountsAdopt strategies of honesty/openness and reflexivity (reflexivity in qualitative research means checking your methods, analysis, interpretations, not only with literature, but also in the group you are researching; member check. You go trough every step you have taken so far)The actual steps researchers make to make sure their research is valid are rarely described in the literature. The quality of researcherAs a qualitative researcher you should accept that your individual attributes and perspectives have an influence on the research process. The human factor is the great strength and also the fundamental weakness of qualitative research. The best way for checking validity is by testing it in the real world, but this is rarely possible. How do I have confidence?In a qualitative study of the health and risk behaviors of female sex workers, Pyett and her colleague undertake the following three steps to make sure their research was valid:they established a critical reference groupthey applied triangulation to recruitment/interviewing and codingchecked the initial analysis with not only the reference group, but also with a sex-workers organization and two welfare agencies. Multiple realities:As post-modern qualitative researchers we acknowledge that there are multiple realities. As researchers you often have to choose who you are going to represent. You should also check in the group you research if your interpretations are correct. Winter (2000) believes that participants have more analytic authority than the researcher, but Pyett believes that a researcher must always respect their participants, but they do not have to agree with them, because individuals do not always understand their own actions. As a qualitative researcher you should also look at the quality of a participants answer instead of looking at the number of responses or the number of similarities between answers. Examples. Pyett describes two of her researches, and she explained which methods she used to make sure her researches were valid. Example 1: The Private Relationships of Two Sex WorkersIn this research she looked at the relationships of sex workers with other sex workers, and the use of condoms in those relationships. She made her research valid by:doing a peer reviewpresenting her work to an audience of doctors and nurses, whose clients are often sex workers. Examples 2: The Street Worker and the JournalistThis research was about how the youngest street workers coped with the fear of being raped or killed. She ensured validations by:giving an interview to a critical journalists who believed that Pyett was only looking for sensationalism the journalist interviewed the youngest street workers, and they gave him the same answers as were reported in the research of Pyett. Week 7 - Lecture 7 – Payal AroraFocus GroupsWhat are focus groups?They have a moderator and participantsCan be both qualitative and quantitativeFocuses on a problem solving and outcome creationParticipants are aware that they are being studiedAims to link the social beliefs, expression and decision making abilities of participants to a method3 types of Focus groups1. Traditional – 1 moderator, 6-12 participants2. 2 way focus - one focus group watches another focus group and discusses the observed interactions and conclusion3. Technologically mediated – via internet, conference call, Skype etc.Case #1 – The MilitaryIn the past it was assumed that men went to war to protect their country and because it was the right thing to do. Thinking this, advertisements were designed with these types of themes. So…a focus group research was done.From this they learned that the biggest factors influencing a soldiers decision were: -family social support- soldiers social environment In turn, advertisements reflected these new themes and focused on portraying:Financial security – signing bonusEducation – money for collegeSkills – job training Problems with Focus Groups:Group thinkLess control and thereby messy dataArtificial settings – laboratoriesDependent on the quality of the moderatorCrowd manipulationWeek 7 - Summary Choi et al. (2005)AbstractUse of mobile data services had spread across the globe, the effect of cultural differences on user requirements has become an important issue. This paper proposes a set of critical design attributes for mobile data services that takes cross-cultural differences into account. To determine these attributes, a qualitative method is devised and in-depth long interviews are conducted in Japan, Korea and FinlandIntroductionAs little research has been conducted on the role that cultural factors play in the design of mobile data services, this paper investigates a set of critical design attributes for mobile data services that take cross-cultural differences into account. Cultural factors exert an influence on how web and other technology applications are used. Culture also has a strong effect on what users look for in a system’s interface and how they interpret such interfaces. Due to these cultural factors, simply translating messages and online documents is not enough to achieve interface localization.Culture is defined as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from people from another.” Four Dimensions of culture used in this study are:Uncertainty avoidance, i.e. the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity, along with the eagerness to avoid such situations. Individualism/collectivism, where individualism represents a preference for a loosely-knit social framework where people are expected to take care of themselves and their own interests.Context, i.e. the information that surrounds an event (similar to Hofstede’s low/high context cultures).Time perception, i.e. monochronic (people carry out only one task at a time in a linear manner) and polychronic (people carry out many tasks simultaneously and in a concurrent manner). MethodTwenty-four individuals from Korea, Japan, and Finland were interviewed after asking each subject to view video clips of mobile data services and to discuss their impressions. These qualitative interviews allowed the researchers to identify fifty-two substantial attributes of mobile data services. After the identification of these attributes, relationships between the significant attributes of mobile data services and the culture to which an individual belonged were investigated. Data collectionThe (in total 12) video clips that were shown to the studied subjects prior to the qualitative interviews displayed the process of using mobile data services in four specific cases in each of the three countries, namely downloading ring tones, downloading games, reserving movie tickets, and reading sports news. A pilot test was conducted in which the video clips were shown to one Japanese, one Finish, and four Korean users who had lived in their own country for more than ten years. This pilot test also included qualitative interviews. After the pilot test was conducted, 24 people (eight from each country) participated in the study. Each interviewee watched the video clip from his/her own country’s mobile data service first, and then video clips of services in the other two countries. Participants watched the videos at their own pace and were asked some general open-ended questions when they finished watching a video clip. Each interview took more than three hours; all interviews were recorded and transcribed.Data analysisRaw data of the transcripts was broken down by theme and analyzed to conceptualize, label, and categorize the design attributes interviewees considered important; 52 mobile data service attributes were elicited. The Kappa ratio for inter-coder reliability was found to be high, namely 0.83. Particpants preference for the 52 attributes was investigated by eliminating the attributes that were not referred to at least once by 90% of the interviewees of each country. This yielded 11 attributes, which were related to the cultural characteristics of each interviewee. ResultsThe interview results show that people in the same country demonstrate similar cultural characteristics in terms of their preference for mobile data services. Uncertainty avoidance: efficient lay-out or space usage and a large amount of information within a screen help high uncertainty-avoidance (i.e. Japanese and Korean) users comprehend the overall structure of menu items. Over 90% of Koreans and Japanese participants preferred efficient lay out or space usage, large amount of information within a screen, clear menu labeling and secondary information about contents. Individualism/collectivism: individualist users (i.e. Finish and Japanese) prefer a wide variety of options for contents, but don’t like a wide variety of actual contents. The Finnish interviewees wanted to focus just on what they were interested in. Since individualistic people tend to base their actions on personal goals. Korean interviewees have more collectivist tendencies, they often use services that enable them to feel more connected to other people. Context: users from high context-cultures (i.e. Korean and Japanese) prefer implicative menus with icons or animations over text-based explanatory menus.Users from a high-context culture prefer implicative menus with icons or animations over text-based explanatory menus. High-context people get information about the menu from diverse colors and sizes. They can obtain more info from implicit menu style than low-context people. Time perception: all groups (i.e. Finish, Korean, and Japanese) displayed monochronic tendencies. LimitationsThe number of interviewees was small.Familiarity with certain attributes in an interviewee’s country could influence an interviewee’s preference regarding the attributes. The interviews were conducted without any real use of mobile data services. Culture may not be the only factor in the differences observed across countries. Week 8 – Lecture Slides – How To Write a Qualitative Study Creswell’s 4 Rhetorical issues:Reflexivity and representation – the researcher has an impact on how the data is interpreted. He/she positions themselves in various ways, self-disclosing (i.e. having a particular political background will alter research)Audience – be aware of who you are writing for (Colleagues, Participants, Policy Makers, General Public)Watch use of jargon – only when writing to people familiar with the jargon.Encoding- References, language, stylePerceive needs for our audienceUse referencesLanguage and style of writing (formal/informal)Quotes – taken from the interviews, help determine themes from the research Narrative Research “Understood as a spoken or written text giving an account of an event/action or series of events/actions, chronologically connected” (pg. 54)Procedures:Does the topic fit narrative research Select individuals, devote time to gathering their storiesContextualizing the storiesRestorying :”the qualitative data analysis may be a description of both the story and themes that emerge from it” (pg.56)CollaborationKeep in mind:Must be chronologicalTells a storyBiographer can start with a key eventFocus on an individual or storyPhenomenology“Describes the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or phenomenon…the basic purpose is to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence” (pg. 57-58)Procedures:Does the topic fit phenomenology?Identify a phenomenon of interest to studySpecify the philosophical assumptions of this approachCollect data (often in-depth, multiple interviews, ask two broad general questions)Data analysis/ textural description/ essenceKeep in mind:Define a phenomenon or eventFind key themesDetailed formUnderstand essence of experienceHighly structuresIdentify themes within phenomenonIdentify key statements (5-25 participants)Grounded Theory“The intent of grounded theory is to move beyond description and to generate or discover a theory” (pg. 62-63)Procedures:Does the topic fit a grounded theory approach?Research questions are asked of the participants, focus on how they experience the process/ steps of the process, repeat until theoretical saturation is reachedData analysis (stages): open, axial and selective codingResult: a substantive-level theoryKeep in mind:Deduction – general to specificDiscover a theory for a specific caseRQ broad20-60 people Be specific about samplingOpen, axial and selective codingCan also include examples of there your theory also or may also applyEthnography“A qualitative design in which the researcher describes and interprets the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group” (pg. 68)Procedures:Does the topic fit ethnographyIdentify a culture-sharing group to studySelect themes for analysis of the culture-sharing group (decide which type of ethnography) Conduct fieldworkData analysis/ create a cultural portraitKeep in mind:Realistic tales - portrait of studied cultures (scientific, objective)Description of a culturePattern of themesInterpretation strategies – link to a theoryObjective vs. advocacy“thick” description (pg. 194)Case Study “A qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a bounded system (a case)…over time, through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of data…and reports case description and case-based themes” (pg. 73)Procedures:Does the topic fit a case study?Identify the case(s) using purposeful samplingExtensive data collectionData analysis: Holistic or embedded“Lessons learned”Keep in mind:Broad to narrow perspectiveMultiple sources of information neededDescribe a caseKey issuesFinding patternsCan use a vignette (small story to pull in the reader) at begin and/or endWeek 8 - Chapter 9 Summary - Writing a Qualitative StudyRhetorical issuesQualitative writing has been shaped by a need for researchers to be self-disclosing about their role in the writing, the impact of it on participants and how information is read by audiences. This leads to four rhetorical issues when writing a qualitative study:Overall Rhetorical Structure: The overall organization of the report of the studyEmbedded Rhetorical Structure: Specific narrative devices and techniques that the writer uses in the report. Reflexivity and representations in writingResearchers are often much more self-disclosing about studies these daysHow we write is often a reflection of our own interpretation based on culture, social, gender, class, and personal politics. Researchers often accidentally put their positions on subjects in their texts, based on cultural and personal politics. The researcher should acknowledge this prejudice and point it out in their text. The best writing does this acknowledgement. Objectivity and distancing from researcher might lead to ‘silencing’ both the researcher and the participants. However, subjectivity might lead to wrong display of participants.Important is how the text will be perceived. Does the audience understand the text exactly as the researcher wanted it to be interpreted – and if not, what are the consequences?Self-reflection is key!!!Audience for our writingsResearchers often write while consciously having their audience in mind, sometimes more than the research itself. Different audiences perceive texts in a different way; colleagues might understand certain theories better than the general audience will, so you have to think about how you write to attract an audience.Encoding our writingsRelated, the best way of writing might be to encode the whole text. If there are multiple audiences, one can code the text in several ways so all audiences are satisfied; professionals need theories, academic background etc, while enthusiasts need practical background etc. Creswell proposes three basic strategies:An overall structure that does not conform to standard titles such as methodology, results etc. Instead, the researcher should use his own titles, sometimes based on themes identified by participants.A personal writing style, made readable for a broad audience; persuasive and grabbing.Details make the work come alive. Verisimilitude: making the writing real and alive, taking the reader right in to the world of the study.Quotes in our writingsQuotes are used to bring in the voice of the participants. Three types:Eye-catching quotes:Short and eye catching, easy to read quotes, standing out from the researcher’s own text.Embedded quotes:Embedded quotes, preparing the reader for a shift in the text and support that new theme.Allows the writer and reader to move on. Embedded quotes therefore consume little space, and provide specific concrete evidence in informants words to support a themeLonger Quotations:Long quotes that express ideas, and are thus quite difficult to read because the reader needs to be guided into it, and out of it.Used to convey more complex understandingsDifficult to use due to space limitationsMay contain many ideas. Rhetorical structures:For all types of qualitative research, there are overall rhetorical structures and embedded rhetorical structures that can be identified – see table 9.1 on the next page, that summarizes it quite well.Creswell discusses how he believes the table does not show major similarities in structures among the five research approaches, but how there definitely should be overlap. The writing of the study, regardless of the approach, is dependent on the way of data gathering, analysis and report writing. Some approaches have less structure than others.Research DesignAssumptions, Worldviews, TheoriesApproach to InquiryWeek 8 - Chapter 11 – “Turning the Story” and ConclusionTo capture the essence of a good qualitative study, it should contain as shown in the circle (figure 11.1, p. 224) the approach of inquiry, research design procedures, and the philosophical and theoretical frameworks and assumptions.“Turning the story”: considering alternate scenarios for specific problems. i.e. studying a single individual’s reaction to a gun incident is different from specific problem of how several students as a culture sharing group reacted. Done via distinguishing general problem.Looking at the research general problem from different study approaches (narrative, case study, grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology). Knowing more information would help us devise better plans for reacting to certain types of problem as well as add to literature Research, phenomenon or concept can be examined from multiple study approaches (narrative, case study, grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology).Pure objectivity is impossible. We cannot step aside and be ‘objective’ about what we see and write. Our words stem from our own personal experiences, culture, history and backgroundsApproach to research shapes the language of the research design procedures in a study especially in terms used in the introduction, data collection and the analysis phases of design. Approach to research includes the participants who are studied. May consist of one or two individuals (narrative study), groups of people (phenomenology, grounded theory) or an entire culture (ethnography)The distinctions among the approaches are most pronounces in the data analysis phase as it ranges from unstructured to structured approaches. Ethnographies, case studies and biographies employ substantial description where as phenomenologies use less description and almost none in grounded theory. Less structured approaches: ethnography & narrative, more structured approached: grounded theory with a systematic procedure and phenomenology. The approach to research shapes the final written product as well as the embedded rhetorical structures. This explains why qualitative studies look so different and are composed so differently. The criteria for assessing the quality of a study differ among the approaches. Overlap in procedures for validation but not in criteria for assessing ................
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