Scientific Foundations Of Psychology Week 7 notes

god i hate exams

Qualitative Research

Approach to empirical research that relies primarily on the collection of qualitative data

Design Stratergies

• Naturalistic Inquirty

• Emergent Design Flexibility

• Purposeful Sampling

Naturalistic Inquiry

Studying real-world situations as they unfold naturally; non-manipulative/controlling

• anything can happen

Emergent Design Flexibility

Openness to adapting inquiry as understanding depends and/or situation change

• avoids rigid designs and eliminates responsiveness

• persues new paths as discovery as they emerge

Purposeful Sampling

Cases selected because they are information rich

• offer manifestations of phenomenon of interest, letting sampling them be aimed at phenomenon

Data-Collection And Fieldwork Stratergies

• Qualitative Data

• Personal Experience

• Empathic Neutrality

• Dynamic Systems

Data Collection/Fieldwork Strategy: Qualitative Data

Observations that yield detailed, thick descriptions

• captures direct quotations about people’s personal perspectives and experiences

• case studies

Data Collection/Fieldwork Strategy: Personal Experience And Engagement

Researcher has direct contact with and gets close to people, situation and phenomenon

• Researcher personal experience is important to understanding phenomenon

Data Collection/Fieldwork Strategy: Dynamic Systems

Attention to process, assumes change as ongoing whether focus is on individual, community, organization or culture

Analysis Strategies

• Unique Case Orientation

• Inductive Analysis And Creative Synthesis

• Holistic PErspective

• Context Sensitivity

• Voice, Perspective and Reflexivity

Analysis Strategy: Unique Case Orientation

Assumption that each case is special and unique

• First level of analysis if being true to, respecting and capturing details of individual cases being studied

Analysis Strategy: Inductive Analysis And Creative Synthesis

Immersion in details and specifics of data to discover important patterns, themes, and interrelationships

• explore rather then confirm

• guided by analytical principles rather than tules

Analysis Strategy: Holistic Perspective

Whole Phenomenon under study is more important than its parts

Analysis Strategy: Context Sensitivity

Places findings in a social, historical and temporal context

Analysis Strategy: Voice, Perspective And Reflexivity

Qualitative analyst owns and is reflective about their voice/perspective

• Credible voice conveys authenticity and trustworhiness

Ways to Reduce Research Bias:

• Reflexivity: Constantly attempting to identify your potential biases and discerning how you minimize their negative effects

• Negative Case Sampling: Attempting to locate and examine cases that disconfirm your prior expectations

Descriptive Validity

Provide accurate description of a particular phenomenon, situation or group

• Present to a degree that the account reports by the researcher is accurate and factorial

Obtain Descriptive Validity Through

Intesgiaor triangulation: Use to multiple investigators to collect and interpret data

Validity Strategies That Should Be uSed in Qualitative Research

• Data Triangulation

• Extended Fieldwork

• External Audit

• Investigator Triangulation

• Low-Inference Descriptors

• Methods Triangulation

• Negatice-Case Sampling

• Participant FEedback

• Pattern Matching

• Peer Review

• Reflexivity

• Researchers As Detectives

• Rule out Alternative Explainations

• Theory Triagnulation

• Triangulation

Interpretive Validity

Present to the degree that the researcher accurately portrays the meaning given by the participants to what is being studied

• Use participant feedback to obtain this

• Low-Inference Descriptors: Phrase description of participants thinking in language close to participants accounts and field notes during study

Theoretical Validity

Explanation provided by the researcher accurately fit the data

• Extended fieldwork, theory triangulation

• pattern matching and peer review

Way To Obtain Theoretical Validity: Extended Field Work

REsearcher collects data over an extended perios of time

Way To Obtain Theoretical Validity: Theory Triangulation

Consideration of multiple theories/perspectives to interpret/understand qualitative data

Way To Obtain Theoretical Validity: Pattern Matching

Researcher Makes Unique/Complex predciiton and determines whether its supported

Way To Obtain Theoretical Validity: Peer Review

Interpretations/Conclusions/Explianations with peers to colleagues who can provide diffreent perspective

Internal Validity

Degree to which a researcher is justified in concluding that an observed relationship is causal

Idiographic Causation

Making very specific and local claim

• Opposie is nomological causation

Researcher-As-Detective

Thinking about cause and effect and examining each possible “clue” then drawing conclusion

Methods Triangulation

Involves use of multiple data collection methods to determine if the conclusions are the same through each method

External Validity

Degree to which you can generalizse your results to other people

• natural generalization: based on similaity of people and conetxt reported in the study and the people and context in which the generalization is made

• Theoretical Generalization: Generalizing the theory is generated in a study. Ideas might be able to be generalized

Major four Qualitative Research Methods

• Phenomenology

• Ethnography

• Case Study Research

• Grounded Theory

Phenomenology

Involves description of individuals conscious experience of a phenomenon

• What is the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived experience of this phenomenon for a particular individual or for many individuals

• Attemtpts to gain access to patients life/world

Ethnography

Refers to discovery and description of the culture of a group of people or a cultural event

• Core concept relied upon is culture

• Holism, shared values, shred beliefs and more

Case Study Research

Intensive and detailed description and analysis of one or more cases

Grounded Theory

General methodology for generating and developing a theory that is “grounded” in empirical data

Mixed Methods Research

Approach n which quantitative and qualitative data or techniques are combined/mixed in a signal research study/set of closely related studies

Inside-Outside Validity

Refers to degree t which researcher accurately understands and presents the participants subjective insider/native view and concurrently presents the objective outsider viewpoints

Weakness Minimization Validity

Degree to which you have combined the quantitative and qualitative approaches to have non overlapping weaknesses

• compensates for weakness of one approach by using additional approach

Sequential Validity

Make sure results are not due to ordering of quantitative and qualitative components

Sample Integration Validity

Present when you make appropriate claims from the combination of your qualitative and quantitative data

• Can conclude from your quantitative and qualitative data separately or combined

Multiple Validites

Present to the degree that you fufill both the relevant quantitative and qualitative types of validity in the study

Aspects of Qualitative Research

• Non-numeric data

• Focus on information rich cases

• understanding peoples experiences/perceptions

• Typically uses purposeive sampling

Types of Qualitative Research Methods

• Interviews

• Focus Groups

• Qualitative Surveys

• Secondary Soruces

• Observation

• Participatory Methods

• User Generated Online content

• Diaries

• Creative and Visual Methods

Unstructured format

Comversations with natural flow, sometimes used in clinical and theraputic sessions

• Elicit life history of biographical information

Structured Format

Like a oral/written survey. Set of standard questions asked to all interviewees

Semi-structured

Questions set around a theme

• More flexible

Types Of Mixed Methods Researcj Designs

• Basic Designs (covergent parallel design, xplanatory sequential design and the exploratory sequential design)

• Advanced Design ( The embedded design, the transformative design, the multiphase design)

Strengths Of Mixed Methods Design

- Draws on strengths and accommodates weaknesses for one method by including the other

- Assist in theory development

- Can provide fuller, deeper, more cplex/comprehensive explaination

- Check opertionalisation and meaning of measurement instruments

- Can provide multiple types of validity in a single study

Weaknesses Of A Mixed Methods Design

• Requires researchers to be skilled in both types of research

• time consuming and can be expensive

Third Variable Problem

Another existing variable influences the two variables being looked at that you didnt measure/take into account

Extrapolation Of Findings

One must be careful that they have similar characteristics to the initial study