lecture 1- intro to qualitative research

What are the advantages of qualitative research?

• requires less ppts

• Can reuse qualitative data for secondary research

• Can recycle research questions

• Can be exploratory and form theories

• Flexible and open to change

• Simultaneous data collection and analysis

• Systematic and transparent

What is ontology?

• “what do we know”

• Ontological perspectives are concerned with what we know what the phenomena we are attempting to study.

• Origins in metaphysics e.g. what happens after we die?

• Can’t be answered directly so we try to develop understanding using interviews e.g. of those with near death experience or are near end-of-life

• Taking an ontological position shapes what you believe you can know which influences study design etc

What are the 3 positions in ontology?

• positivism

• Pragmatisms

• (Phenomenological) interpretivism

What is positivism?

• reality is all that can be measured and observed through the use of physical senses rather than though or feeling- only these measurable factors we can interpret as knowledge

• One objective reality exists independently of human perception, interpretation, social context

What is pragmatism?

• there are differing, often competing ways the world can be viewed and interpreted. No single POV will ever give whole picture when there is always possibility of multiple realities occurring.

• Reality is often experienced and acted upon.

• Multiple versions of reality exist

What is interpretivism?

• reality and knowledge cannot exist in its own right- knowledge is always associated with contextual factors, without them= knowledge and reality meaningless.

• Reality is constructed through lived experience- context and embodiment shape what is real.

What is epistemology?

• Concerned with how we know what we know. How do we distinguish truth from a belief.

• Epistemic perspectives relate to the nature of knowledge itself and its acquisition

• Guides how researchers judge whether their knowledge claims are well-grounded rather than based on assumptions, bias, unsupported interpretation.

• An epistemological position clarifies what type of knowledge you think study can produce and how, and how findings should be interpreted.

What are the positions of epistemology?

• realist

• (Pragmatic) empiricist

• Social constructionist

What is the realist position?

• believe we can only acquire knowledge about a reality that exists independently of our minds i.e. real whether we believe it or think about it, or not

• People’s accounts are not the reality itself but provide insight to it

• Reality not created by researcher or ppt, but understanding is mediated through language, context and interpretation.

What is the empiricist position?

• knowledge and reality is based on what is practical to measure in the real world and are time-based and culturally bound.

• Knowledge is provisional, context-dependent, and action-oriented. Valued for practical usefulness, not whether it perfectly represents objective reality.

• Less concerned with philosophical debates about whether knowledge is true, more with whether it works in practice

• Different kinds of knowledge can coexist if fit for purpose.

What is the social constructionist position?

• reality does not exist, so both researcher and ppt must create it, and learning of knowledge comes from what has been created.

• Knowledge is contextual, contingent, and historically situated.

• Multiple possible interpretations of any phenememon

• Meaning is not fixed, but produced through language and interaction.

• Acknowledges research findings are interpretations of interpretations.

What is the qualitative approach?

• example interview question- how often do you see any of your family?

• Ask additional prompts to ppts

• Not as many assumptions

• Subjective expectations over objective measurement

• Deductive approach (top-down)- testing theories

• Inductive approach (bottom-up)- building theories