01. Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

Focuses on lived experience and provides a deep, contextualized analysis of data. It uses methods like interviews, case studies, and focus groups to understand experiences. It contributes to theory development and captures the voices of marginalized individuals.

Thematic Analysis

A common analysis in Qualitative Research , which is focused on the themes of text.

Glassner and Hertz (1999)

Take the ordinary events and make them extraordinary, and demonstrate how the extraordinary is routine.

Advantages of Qualitative Research

Reduced sample requirements due to richness, balance of homogeneity and diversity, able to reduce data, able to recycle data, can be used to find a ‘golden thread’ in large amounts of data, participant-led, appreciation of context, and exploratory

Positivism

Recognizes only that which can be scientifically verified, or which is capable of falsification. Has 3 principal attributes: realist perspective, causal knowledge, and deductive reasoning.

Post-positivism (1960)

Arose from criticisms of quantitative methods, emphasizing lived experience and context. It values words over numbers and employs inductive reasoning.

Phenomenology

Concerned with an individual’s interpretation of a particular phenomenon, focusing on how an individual interprets an event or phenomenon

Ethnography

Examines characteristics that define us as being part of a particular cultural group, and how members of that group ascribe meaning to everyday life

Grounded Theory

Generates inductive theory that is fundamentally grounded in the data, useful for underexplored phenomena.

Quantitative approach

Survey or standardised interview, likert scale response options. Has assumptions based on Donnellan et al. (2017)

Qualitative approach

Based on Donnellan et al. (2017), focuses on prompts around participants experinces, such as frequency or feelings.

Rubin and Rubin (1995)

Designing a study is like planning a holiday, takes a tailored, inductive approach.

Mixed methods

• The gold standard of psychological research.

• The use of multiple methodologies to better examine the different dimensions of a given domain

Parallel methods

Qualitative and quantitative data are collected and analysed separately, findings are compared and contrasted when it comes to interpretation.

Sequential methods

Either qualitative or quantitative data is collected and analysed first, then the other method follows, the second phase of data collection is often informed by the findings of the first phase.

Interpretive mixed methods

• Both types of data are analysed together, with the aim of interpreting and understanding the context and meaning behind the results

• Integration of both data types happens simultaneously, with an emphasis on understanding the broader picture and context rather than just comparing numbers of themes.

Transformation methods

• Qualitative data is converted into quantitative data, or quantitative data is translated into qualitative descriptions.

• Intentional transformation of one type of data into another for integration, comparison, and write-up.