Qualitative Analysis & Evaluation (Research and its Methods)

What will you learn?

→What is credibility in qualitative research?

→Bias in qualitative research?

→Participant bias?

→Research bias?

→Sampling and generalizability in qualitative research

Tool Reference: (red- #d9677c; yellow- #dbd4a3; ↳; blue- #a3d6db)

Credibility in Qualitative Research

Internal Validity: measure of the extent to which the experiment what it is intended for

↳to ensure this, researcher must make sure that the IV is the only cause of the change in DV

→Research can several types of measures to ensure valid results of a qualitative study:

  • Triangulation: combining different approaches to collect and interpret data

    ex: using interviews, observation, interpretations from different researchers, etc.

  • Establishing a rapport: researchers need to make sure participants in an experiment are being honest

→Iterative Questioning: in some studies with sensitive data, there’s a risk that participants will lie or try to make an impression on the researcher

→Reflexivity: when a researcher reflects on their own biases that may influence the experiment. This includes their personal beliefs and history of how they observe a certain behavior

Thick Descriptions

Thick Descriptions: refers to the researcher’s obligation to explain the context in which a behavior is seen to make it explainable and understandable to an outsider

ex: imagine a person smiling at you. Out of context, the smile could mean anything, but explaining who, what, where, and the circumstance makes it more meaningful

Bias in Qualitative Research: Participant Bias

→In qualitative research, keeping bias out of the experiment is impossible since the researcher is the tool to collect data

→There are major sources of potential bias:

  • Acquiescence bias: tendency to give positive answer whatever the question; can be avoided with neutral or open-ended questions

  • Social desirability bias: participants give answers they think will make them liked or accepted, especially if they think they know the study’s aim

  • Dominant respondent bias: occurs in a group setting or when groups of participants are being interviewed; one participant in the group influences the behavior and/or response of the others

  • Sensitivity bias: participants answer regular questions honestly, but distort or hide information because the questions are sensitive

Bias in Qualitative Research: Researcher Bias

  • Confirmation bias: occurs when the researcher has a previous belief and uses the research to reinforce or confirm that belief

  • Leading questions bias: occurs when respondents are guided to answer a certain way since the question is designed to do so

    ex: leading: there was a man with dark glasses standing outside, right?

    non-leading: was anyone standing outside?

  • Sampling bias: occurs when the sample of participants is not adequate for the purpose of the research

  • Question order bias: occurs when the response to one question influences how the participant will respond to the following questions

  • Biased reporting: when the researcher does not equally represent the findings of the study in their report

Qualitative Research Methods

What will you learn?

→What is observation and types of observation

→Purpose and reasons for choosing interviews

→What are focus groups and case studies

Observations

→There are many reasons why a researcher would want to use this qualitative research method of research:

  • Focus is on how people interact or interpret each other based on behavior

  • Researcher believes that meaningful information can only be obtained through observation

  • Researcher can become better immersed in the studied phenomenon

  • Observation can generate diverse data about behavior

→There are several types of observations:

  • Laboratory vs. naturalistic observation: Naturalistic being carried out in naturally occurring settings; laboratory being carried out in a controlled environment

  • Overt observation: observation type in which participants are aware they are being observed

  • Covert observation: observation type in which participants are not aware they are being observed

  • Participant observation: researcher/observer becomes part of the observed group like when anthropologists spend time among members of an indigenous society

  • Structures vs. unstructured observation: structured when information is observed in a systematic and checklist-style way; unstructured when researcher does not use a systematic way and only want to observe participants

Interviews

→In-depth interviews are one of the most popular qualitative research methods

*attitudes, values, patterns of interpretation, and other subjective phenomena are unobservable

↳so, in-depth interviews provide a straightforward way to study them using participants’ verbal reports

→There are three types of interviews:

  • Structured interviews: includes a fixed list or pre-chosen questions that need to be asked in a fixed order

  • Semi-structured interviews: don’t necessarily follow an order or set of questions; researcher knows the questions to be asked, but can be asked in any order

  • Unstructured interviews: mostly participant-driven, but the researcher asks the next question based on the answers given by the participant

Focus Group

Focus group: specialized type of structured interview in which multiple people, 6-10 people, are interviewed at once

→Advantages of focus groups:

  • Quick way of collecting lots of information at the same time

  • Removes bias and un-comfortability of interviewing face-to-face

  • Responding to sensitive information in a group can support an individual to answer accurately

  • A group of diverse individuals provides for variation in answers given by participants

Case Study

Case study: more in-depth investigation of an individual or a group of people

↳purpose is to gain a unique and/or deeper understanding of a group or individual like studying an archaeological site of an ancient city