PSY 236.3 Lecture 6: Research Design for Qualitative Inquiry

Comprehensive practice flashcards for PSY 236.3 (Qualitative Research in Psychology) Lecture 6, covering research design principles, the hourglass metaphor, the three pillars of research, philosophical paradigms (positivism, interpretivism, realism), problem formulation via thesis-antithesis-synthesis, explanation versus understanding, research questions, and the avoidance of methodolatry.

What is the definition of research design?

A logical and systematic plan for conducting a study and answering research questions that outlines the topic of interest, research problem, philosophical assumptions, study purpose, and research questions, along with methods and procedures for generating and analyzing data. It serves as the roadmap for the proposed study.

In the Hourglass Metaphor for Research Design shown in the diagram, what are the four sequential levels of the central inverted triangle?

From top to bottom, the four levels are: TOPIC, PROBLEM, RESEARCH QUESTIONS, and METHODS.

In the Hourglass Metaphor for Research Design, which two external components frame the research problem?

The Philosophical Paradigm (on the left) and The nature of the object of a study (on the right).

According to the lecture, what is the ultimate goal of science?

To get to the unknown and decipher the hidden codes of nature, of the human mind, and of the products these minds create, including culture, society, and social institutions.

Why are methods and data generation techniques considered secondary to the research problem?

Methods are merely tools used to address the research problem; they must be congruent with the nature of the phenomenon under investigation and the stated problem, meaning the problem must always drive the choice of methods.

What is the ultimate product of and condition for successful scientific research?

A theory that describes and explains contexts, systems of meaning, and mechanisms of the processes that constitute a phenomenon under scrutiny.

How did Pierre Bourdieu paraphrase Immanuel Kant regarding research and theory?

Research without theory is blind and theory without research is empty.

What components constitute 'The Three Pillars of Successful Research' shown in the diagram?

1. Philosophical paradigms and related modes of inference; 2. The nature of the object of a study (its ontology); and 3. Research problem. Together, these pillars determine the Methods.

What did Hammersley (1992) state regarding researchers and philosophical assumptions?

There is no escape from philosophical assumptions for researchers. Whether researchers like it or not, and whether they are aware of them or not, they cannot avoid such assumptions, and sometimes these assumptions lead researchers into error.

According to Blaikie and Priest (2017), what four aspects of research are determined by a researcher's philosophical paradigm and understanding of the object's nature?

1. The kind of problems selected for research; 2. How they are defined; 3. How they are investigated; and 4. How the products of investigation may be understood and used.

How does Positivism conceptualize the nature of the object of a study?

Mental and social phenomena are enumerated by measuring them. Positivism focuses on establishing stable empirical regularities between variables (If A, then B) and applying deductive reasoning to explain the phenomenon.

How does Interpretivism conceptualize the nature of the object of a study?

Mental and social phenomena are studied through participants' direct accounts, which are interpreted to uncover underlying systems of meaning.

How does Realism conceptualize the nature of the object of a study?

Mental and social phenomena are studied through participants' direct accounts, with a focus on discovering unobservable mechanisms that produce the problematic phenomenon.

Why were philosophical assumptions and paradigms not explicitly stated in Frazer et al. (2017)?

Because they were 'taken-for-granted,' meaning the authors assumed all researchers already know them and that repeating them was unnecessary.

What explicit philosophical and methodological perspectives did Cicognani et al. (2018) adopt?

They adopted a critical community psychology perspective, a liberation psychology approach, and a generic interpretivist qualitative approach driven by a constructionist epistemology.

What is the definition of a research problem?

A specific issue, difficulty, or knowledge gap that a researcher aims to address through systematic investigation. It defines a study's focus and guides the formulation of research questions and objectives.

What are the four primary functions of a research problem?

1. Directs a researcher's thinking and predetermines study purposes and research questions; 2. Dictates methodology and design alongside the nature of the phenomenon; 3. Precludes questions like 'So what?' or 'What was the point?'; 4. Motivates and provides meaning for the project and researcher's career.

What is the distinction between theoretical and applied research problems?

Theoretical problems arise in basic research when new, puzzling facts cannot be explained by existing theories, requiring mechanisms and theories to be discovered. Applied problems stem from practical issues of human functioning in societies, such as regulating behaviors and addressing unwanted thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

What are the steps of the 'Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis' logic for formulating a research problem (Chirkov, 2016)?

1. State a thesis (well-established facts, accepted theories, or research findings); 2. State an antithesis (showing how facts/findings contradict each other, existing theories, or common sense); 3. Formulate the problem as the contradiction or tension between thesis and antithesis; 4. Propose a synthesis (hypotheses or propositions that reconcile the tension).

How did Herbert Blumer (1969/1986) characterize the purpose of exploratory investigation?

To move towards a clearer understanding of how one's problem is to be posed, learn what data are appropriate, develop ideas about significant lines of relation, and evolve conceptual tools in light of what is learned.

According to Norman Blaikie (2010), what does it mean 'to describe' in social research?

To provide a detailed account, or the precise measurement and reporting, of the characteristics of some population, group, or phenomenon, including establishing regularities.

How does Norman Blaikie (2010) define the explanatory purpose of research?

Making intelligible the events or regularities that have been observed and cannot be accounted for by existing theories, eliminating puzzles, and giving an account of why a phenomenon behaves in a particular way or why particular regularities occur.

In positivist explanation, what is the difference between explanans and explanandum?

Explanans are the general laws or empirical regularities used to explain a phenomenon. Explanandum refers to the specific events, facts, or actions that require explanation.

Following Wilhelm Dilthey, how does explanation in the natural sciences differ from understanding in the human-social sciences?

Natural sciences aim to explain events by subsuming them under universal laws (deductive-nomological models and causal explanation). Social-human sciences aim at understanding by recreating the mental atmosphere, thoughts, feelings, and motivations of actors (empathetic understanding) and discerning the aims and purposes of sociocultural institutions (intentional understanding).

How did Max Weber (1947) distinguish between direct observational understanding and explanatory understanding?

Direct observational understanding relies on surface hermeneutics and thin descriptions to answer 'What is going on here?' Explanatory understanding relies on depth hermeneutics and thick descriptions to understand the motive and meaning an actor attaches to actions in specific circumstances.

How is explanation defined within Realism according to Blaikie (2010)?

To establish elements, factors, and mechanisms that are responsible for producing the state of or regularities in a social phenomenon.

What is the 'symmetry of prediction and explanation' in positivism?

The logical congruence where both explanation and prediction rest on the same lawful empirical regularities: explanation accounts for past events by citing the law, whereas prediction forecasts future events using the same law.

Why do proponents of Realism reject empirical prediction in the social sciences (Bhaskar, 1979/2015)?

Because the social world consists of open systems where prediction is difficult or impossible; realists instead aim to discover underlying causal mechanisms and the environmental conditions that support or hinder their functioning.

According to the lecture, how should potentially ambiguous 'Why' and 'How' research questions be rephrased?

'Why' questions should be replaced by 'Because of what reason?' or 'What is the purpose?' questions. 'How' questions should be replaced by 'Through what mechanisms?' or 'Through what processes?' questions.

How does the conceptualization of a hypothesis differ across Positivism, Interpretivism, and Realism?

In Positivism, a hypothesis is a testable conjecture about relationships between variables. In Interpretivism, interpretations are always hypothetical and understandings are tentative. In Realism, hypotheses are conjectures about unobservable causal mechanisms retroduced to explain phenomena.

What is the definition of 'methodolatry' in empirical research?

The uncritical worship of a method regardless of ever-changing particulars and steadfastly ignoring past negative results, seen when researchers decide on a method before problematizing and planning their research.

What are the major negative consequences of methodolatry?

It jeopardizes research quality, yields little to no useful knowledge about a phenomenon, kills researcher creativity, and undermines the reputation of science due to its limited ability to solve real societal problems.

What are the best remedies against methodolatry?

Informing researchers about its hazards, cultivating problem-oriented thinking, and training students in a wide variety of data collection and analytical methods so they choose tools contingent upon the problem at hand.