week 8/9/10: qualitative research design

what is a qualitative interview?

professional conversation between researcher and participant

what happens during a structured interview?

researcher predetermins all qs to ask ppts

what happens during an unstructured interview?

researcher doesn’t use question schedule

what happens during a semi structured interview?

question guide used but new questions are asked based on ppt responses

what type of investigation ordinarily uses a semi structured interview?

focus groups

give 3 ethical issues which may stem from interviews

privacy/confidentiality - your responsibility to anonymise ppts and remove identifiers

probing for interesting information vs gossiping (especially regarding sensitive topics)

you are not a friend/counsellor/therapist - may need to breach confidentiality to protect safety

consent - initial consent vs ongoing consent

the power dynamic between ppt and researcher may make ppt uncomfortable and unwilling to disclose

what is a focus group?

group discussion of a topic

can reframe a persons perspective

data comes from that group and their lived experiences

what is the role of the researcher in a focus group?

facilitator encourages group conversation

then steps back to allow group conversation to naturally happen

guides convo but is not involved

give 3 pros of focus groups

in depth info on personal/group opinions and attitudes

reduces power dynamic and feels more like a group of people having a conversation about common lived experience

multiple ppts reduces ppt anxiety

encourages debate

flexibility of conversation

can open further avenues for future research

inexpensive and time saving

real life data in a social setting means high eco val

give 3 cons of focus groups

may not be a representative sample or generalisable across targeted population

research topic restrictions - sensitive topics frequently not appropriate for focus groups

dominant vs quiet personalities in the group may increase ppt anxiety

pressure on moderator to remain neutral and not allow interference of personal beliefs

give 2 ethical issues which may arise in a focus group

group activity - will everyone keep everything private and confidential outside of the room?

how to check on individuals who may be triggered/withdrawing mentally from the conversation

difficult/impossible to withdraw a ppts data

social desirability - are people agreeing with the group leader instead of giving their true opinion?

define secondary research

uses data which already exists

naturalistic data - public chatrooms, billboards etc.

insight into how topics are discussed

give 3 pros of secondary research

ease of access to data because it already exists

low cost/free to access

saves time - don’t have to go through the same level of ethical consideration etc

new insights from past research

longitudinal options - how were topics discussed in online forums 15-20 years ago

anyone can collect data

wide variety of sources

give 3 cons of secondary research

not specific to your personal needs

can’t control data quality

data can be biased towards its original creator or audience

data may be out of date

since the data is publicly available you have a responsibility to the data and how it may be received when presented a certain way

give 2 ethical considerations of secondary research

what is the original purpose of the data?

who owns this data? - especially in public chatrooms etc

what is an ethnography?

immersion of the self within a culture in order to understand it

interviewing as you go

viewing social interaction in its natural environment

give 3 pros of an ethnography

rich in depth information

huge amount of data to be collected - lots of insight

natural environment which increases ecological validity

identify problems and face them as they occur - continually improving the research as it happens

build a rapport with ppts and partially overcome power dynamic between researcher and ppt

give 3 cons of an ethnography

huge amount of data - how do i bring all that data together and do it justice?

going native - potential to lose sense of researcher role and feel more like a ppt

can focus on perceived things of importance overly

can be difficult or impossible to eliminate bias/prejudice

costly/time consuming/logistical nightmare

give 3 ethical concerns which may be raised by an ethnography

consent from all subculture members

going native eg on the run by alice goffman

vulnerability of ppts/researcher - when do you need to step back? are you still protecting ppts from harm?

dissemination of findings - are ppts properly anonymised?

are you telling an interesting story or being fully accurate?

research quality needs to be very high

highly competent researcher required

give the ethical issues presented by online methodologies

limited digital literacy

catfishing by ppts

do ppts have safe spaces for interviews to be conducted?

are you/your interviews being secretly recorded in order to breach ppt confidentiality?

why are ppt diaries useful in research?

free flowing thought about a physical topic - ppts are open and honest and power dynamic is less important

most popular as a triangulation tool

what two types of diary may be kept by ppts?

unsolicited diary - created in general

solicited diary - specifically around the research topic of interest

give 2 ethical issues presented by ppt diaries

issue of attachment - how do you feel when the diary is then taken from you for analysis?

very personal information may be shared

high dropout rate

who owns this data?