Qualitative Research in Action - A Canadian Primer

Based on Notes

Standardized interviews

used to collect "standardized information about a large number of respondents relatively cheaply"

Standardized interview questions

worded to collect structured data - close-ended or forced-choice questions - respondent must choose from a list of answers

Limitations of Standard Interviews

• Assumes validity across various social contexts

• No two interviews can remain exactly the same - tone and body language can impact interview

In-depth interviews

allow people to explain their experiences, attitudes, feelings - free to talk about situation in their own terms and in a way that’s meaningful to them

Qualitative interviews

• Include "a series of pre- determined but open-ended questions" and "use a variety of probes that elicit further information"

• Can be formal and informal but the interviewer should focus on the topic at hand

Interviews diverge from conversations in three important ways

• Bring the discussion back to the topic

• Make sure the interview isn’t overtaken by one voice

• Investigator must focus on the conversation

Active interview

focus on what the participant is saying and how they behave in relation to the interviewer - can learn a lot from behaviour

Designing an interview guide

list broad categories in relation to study, develop open ended questions about study, compose draft guide

Avoid in interviews

asking questions with “why”, double-barrelled questions (questions that ask more than one thing at a time)

Transcribing Interviews

Some believe in transcribing the whole interview, word for word, while others transcribe only what seems applicable to their own study

Data Analysis

transcribing interviews, correcting transcripts, reading and rereading transcripts and notes, and coding data

Many researchers engage in reflexivity as they interpret their data

recognize that their own experiences and status affect the way that participants interact with them

Coding

means finding terms or phrases to categorize chunks of the data so that we can work with them

The first step in coding

called open coding - a process closely associated with grounded theory

After sorting data into open codes

step-focused coding - go through the material that relates to each broad, open code and recode for specific aspects of the theme

Two approaches to understanding participants' situations in depth

analyzing stories and developing sensitizing concepts

What can we do with stories

we can analyze them to understand how our participants understand their place in the world and how they interpret their own status in relation to others

Researchers develop sensitizing concepts

to help them understand their participants' world view

civil inattention

Generalizable sensitizing concept - explain individuals' habit of subtly acknowledging the presence of others but not focusing on them too intently, thus avoiding any feelings of threat or confrontation - by Erving Goffman

Emotion work and feeling rules

attendants work to make themselves feel a certain way (they engage in emotion work) so that they can display the feelings they are required to have while they are working (feeling rules) - by Arlie R. Hochschild