research 1: qualitative research models

qualitative research philosophy

nothing to do w norms, mean, median, mode, numbers

researcher never manipulates, we want to understand (inductive reasoning)

qualities of qualitative research:

naturalistic (observations occur in more natural context)

inductive (use observations to create or influence understanding)

constructivism (a philosophy that allows for the construction of knowledge)

tend to be more longitudinal in nature (weaker than quantitative)

flow of qualitative research:

established need

literature review

research methodology

results (much different here when compared to quantitative)

discussion

what is a good literature review study?

recently published; <5 years

qualitative research questions:

not about cause and effect or relationships

instead:

\-discovery

\-inquiring

\-describing

\-exploring

begin w what? or how?

qualitative designs:

case study

grounded theory

phenomenology

ethnography

narative

case study:

concerns w the individual during a specific event or time

catches factors that quantitative study might miss

does not generalize

grounded theory:

should work toward the creation/development of some new theory; constant comparative approach

use a constant comparative approach which allows for the development of conclusion over time

phenomenology (focus group research)

lived experience of a few individuals about some phenomenon, event, or occurrence

all individuals have involvement or perspective on topic

non-random sampling

ethnography (field observation)

describes groups of people including their behaviors and cultures

localized (country, specific city, state, home etc)

report should reconstruct the culture and give insight into the human condition

narrative (historical research):

think of stories being told about a persons experience

biographies and autobiographies

non-ramdom sampling examples:

purposive

snowball

setting

purposive:

participants are chosen due to specific characteristics

snowball:

participants gather more participants

setting:

can influence outcomes; natural context is best

5 purposes of narrative:

1. increase awareness of what happened in the past
2. learn how things were done in the past to assess current applicability
3. assist in prediction
4. observe relationships or trends


1. understand present practices and policies

data collection interviews:

interviews, group interviews, artifacts

interviews:

structured

semi-structured

unstructured

structured interviews:

pre-established questions presented uniformly without variation

semi-structured interviews:

most useful for qualitative

topics identified but questions are adaptable

unstructured interviews:

informal/conversational

group interviews (focus groups):

small groups/participants interviews at once

may cause decreased honesty

provide a variety of viewpoints that can then be discussed by all

artifacts:

photos, videotapes, charts, writing samples

data collection observations:

field notes

participant observations

timing and frequency

field notes:

used to both record what was observed and to record he researcher impressions

most often completed as an observer

participant observation:

when the research becomes part of the environment or context and takes field notes based on being part of the condition being researched

improving qualitative study strength:

trustworthiness (validity)

transferability (amount of findings can be applied to similar situations)

credibility:

data accurately reflects what is actually happening

purposive sampling:

not a random sample, purposeful groups

prolonged engagement:

data collected should happen over days, months, and/or years

triangulation:

combing several sources of data to confirm one idea

member checking:

going back to participants and asking for confirmation of your interpretation of observations

saturation:

the point at which the researcher does not come across new findings

properties of strong qualitative studies:

dependability

confirmability

dependability:

extent to which the data collected are consistent

\-triangulation

\-code recode procedures

confirmability:

extent to which the findings can be corroborated by others

reflexivity:

identification of the researcher’s bias

\-bracketing or use of reflexive journal

audit trail:

keeping data in a way that is viewable to others for inspection

member checking:

taking my interpretation of client and ask if its accurate