Qualitative Research Methodology and Design

History of Qualitative Research - 1970's

Before the 1970's - Anthropology and U of Chicago school of sociology , first of its kind

History of Qualitative Research - 1980's

Gained popularity in academic arenas like nursing, women studies, disability studies and psychology

- to understand people's experiences

Topics that are appropriate for qualitative inquiry

- research that is on discovery stage

- individual experiences

- individuals studied within their habitat (real-life natural).

- phenomenon for which standardized instruments have not yet been developed

Which of these is a qualitative study?

- How adults with stroke conceptualize physical activity

- cross- validation of the factorial validity of the stroke impact scale on patients with a stroke.

How adults with stroke conceptualize physical activity

Characteristics of qualitative research

- naturalistic settings

- local groundedness

- thick description

- lived experience

- researcher is the primary research tool

Describe naturalistic settings

- things in their natural settings

- "field" - study site

- situate the data into their contexts

Example of naturalistic setting

"caregiving experiences of latino families with children with ASD"

- what settings would you select?

Rehabilitation settings

Caregivers home

Local Groundedness

- study is embedded in participants local, everyday life

- capture what "real life looks like"

T or F: In local groundedness, both visible and non visible parts are addressed?

TRUE

Thin Description

describe the observable behaviors and actions

Thick Description

Describe not only the behavior but also the meaning and context so that the behavior is more understandable to an outsider.

Lived Experiences

meanings, perceptions, assumptions, judgements, and suppositions participants' place on events, processes, and structures of their lives.

- able to reflect

Researcher as the main instrument

- maintain prolonged contact with field or life situation

- adopt a learner role

- constant questioning

- read analyze and interpret words or text materials

Qualitative Research Designs

-ethnography,

-phenomenology

-grounded theory

- narrative analysis

Ethnography

Process of discovering and describing a culture

"what is the culture of a group of people, or people in a particular setting?"

Culture

Knowledge "that is learned and shared and that people use to generate

behavior and interpret experience

Explicit culture

coded in language

Tacit culture

not expressed by words

What is often required in an ethnography study?

prolonged stay in the a field (over 6 months)

Phenomenology

Process of understanding the phenomenon of a lived experience

Assumption to phenomenology

There is an essence to shared experience

What does phenomenology emphasize?

Given the focus on individual's experience and perspectives,

phenomenologists emphasize the use of in-depth interviews.

What is the most quoted method in qualitative research?

Grounded Theory

Grounded theory

Process of generating a theory of social interaction and its structural content

What is often emphasized in grounded theory?

Given its purpose of theory generation, a heterogeneous group of

participants or a higher sample size, is often emphasized.

T or F: Grounded theory is a bottom up process?

True

- over 20 participants

- higher sample size

Narrative Analysis

Process of storytelling

- smaller sample size

T or F: Narrative analysis is NOT recommended for beginners

True

What does each qualitative research design drive researchers to do?

make different

decisions about how they will recruit participants (sampling) and collect qualitative data.