Qualitative and mixed method designs (Topic 5)

Qualitative Research Methodology

A method of research that produces descriptive (non-numerical) data, such as observations of behavior or personal accounts of experiences.

Goal of gathering qualitative data

To examine how individuals can perceive the world from different vantage points.

Methods and practices used by qualitative researchers

Qualitative researchers use semiotics, narrative, content, discourse, archival, and phonemic analysis—even statistics, tables, graphs, and numbers.

Qualitative Research Focus

The study of how we create meaning and narrative and discourse and how we put things together to make people behave in a certain way.

Ethnomethodology

An approach focused on what people use everyday conversation to construct a common-sense view of the world

Phenomenology

The study of subjective, conscious experience and the way things appear to us.

Hermeneutics

The branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts.

Rhizomatics

A way of understanding the self, identity, and learning as interconnected, non-linear, and constantly evolving networks, rather than as fixed, hierarchical structures

Unconverted Data

Text as words, actions, sounds, images.

Textual data

Explores how written and spoken language can reveal insights into human psychology

Coding

How information is processed and stored in memory, and how researchers analyze qualitative data

Content analysis

A research method used to analyze qualitative data by systematically identifying, categorizing, and interpreting themes and patterns within texts, images, or other forms of communication.

Thematic analysis

A qualitative research method used to identify, analyze, and interpret patterns of meaning (themes) within qualitative data

Mixed methods designs - sequential

Involve conducting qualitative and quantitative research phases in a specific order, where the results of one phase inform the next.

Mixed methods designs - concurrent or concomitant

Involve collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data at the same time, often independently

Mixed methods designs - embedded or nested

Integrating one research approach (qualitative or quantitative) within a larger study primarily focused on one approach with the other as backup.