GEOG361 Research Design & Qualitative Methods Notes PDF

Research Design and Qualitative Methods → GEOG361 Class 1: Bouma and the Research Process Theory is applying and developing a framework for understanding the world Developing theories based on patterns and observations We know what we know through our own experiences...

Research Design and Qualitative Methods → GEOG361 Class 1: Bouma and the Research Process Theory is applying and developing a framework for understanding the world Developing theories based on patterns and observations We know what we know through our own experiences, authorities, science, etc Research resolves a concrete immediate problem Science helps to better understand the world We know stuff through research and authorities Research is a systematic way of knowing Quantitative are things that we can count Qualitative are things that we can’t necessarily count Both methods follow the scientific method We need data to support hypotheses People tend to believe those with authority (ex: Taylor Swift thinks this, the president says this) It's essential to think about the position of those with authority → choosing your authority The basic scientific process has not changed and it never will The research process is a disciplined way of coming to know something about our world and ourselves Research relates theory to data A theory is an informed guess about a research question Data is empirical evidence to test the theory Using theory to understand the data, and using the data to question the theory Research is systematic and reproducible 3 phases of research: planning, data collection, analysis and interpretation In quantitative research, data collection is the most important/relevant The research question must be limited, feasible, observable, tangible and countable Bouma says theory is a guess of what is going on → prof disagrees Freeman says the job of science is to say that there is a pattern and we need evidence to prove it Freeman says theories are generalizations about how the world functions Freeman sees scientific enterprise as a way of building knowledge  Freeman says the research process is about filling in the gaps and finding new ways to describe the analysis of the world Starting points of the research process → observation, interest, policy issue, literature review, debate Northey says there are 14 principles of the Scientific Method Class 2: Gentrification and Food Gentrification is the social upgrading of a neighborhood Raising the social class of a neighborhood, rural area, a block, etc Gentrification is an investment and re-commodification of a human landscape Renovating a neighborhood attracts new businesses such as Starbucks, art galleries, etc Once the value of the area goes up, lower class people cannot afford to live there anymore → this causes displacement Rich areas are appealing and attracts a certain class of people which creates stereotypes Gentrification is the way we transform the world to make it useful for us Commodity is a good that is created for the sole purpose of accumulating capital Capitalism must grow and expand → transform more things into commodities Neighborhoods in the past were part of capitalism → turning areas into commodities At some point in the 80’s, it became appealing for wealthier people to move into working class areas Looking at people’s desires when analyzing neighborhoods Working class people worked in factories which allowed for capital to exist Working class areas are rundown and nobody wants to live there because its poor Higher class moves into suburbs far from factories The Rent Gap according to Neil Smith: if the price of the neighborhood gets low enough, there will be a gap between the price and the potential value of the property (when the gap is big, this causes capital to move in) Accumulation of capital is about making commodities and generating a profit out of it Gentrification can be seen as a means of accumulation by dispossession (taking away land) Cities promote gentrification as neighborhood revitalization → they want property prices to increase  Class 3: Catungal & Dowling and Ethics in Qualitative Research Every interaction we have affects what were trying to study Insider research allows us to project our own experiences onto the population we’re trying to study Benefits to insider research: you’re part of the group, you know how the group works Outsiders see what insiders don’t see → pros and cons to both We live in a world full of power relations → class, race, gender, sexuality Every aspect of research involves power relations Studying up is when you’re studying people in a position above you and with power Studying down is when you’re studying people with less power Research raises lots of ethical issues More powerful people are hard to make appointments with, some may also manipulate the outcomes of research Interviewing people like us where there isn’t a power difference gives a sense of comfort Trying to connect with people you are interviewing How I am will reflect how people respond to me Institutions address ethical issues through informed consent forms Snowball sampling: starting off by interviewing one person, then asking them if they know anyone that would be interested in answering some questions Research ethics are defined as being about the conduct of researchers and their responsibilities/obligations to those involved in the research Research diary = thinking about how you’re being perceived, how do i affect the research Fieldnotes = data These 2 types of writing are connected to each other Anonymity is when the person’s identity is unknown Confidentiality: researcher keeps track of subjects information but won’t reveal it to the public You're invading someone’s life every time you’re doing research Deception shouldn’t be involved → exceptions apply There’s research where compensation is involved Don’t injure, harm or disturb participants  Keep the data secure Accurately record information → don’t put words in subjects mouths Maintain confidentiality Be considerate → treat people the way you want to be treated Ensuring that questions are relevant to the research (no personal curiosity) Asking questions in a way that are open enough → leading questions Don’t add any risks to the situation of your research Class 4: Pollan and the Omnivore’s dilemma + The commodification of Food This is more of a US story than a Canadian one Capital is in the business of commodities Corn is commodible and allows for colonization of different territories Concentration of corn is easily transportable Nature’s cornucopia makes a great entrance for a market Industrial food chain We don't consciously make decisions about food → we’re marketed to The supermarket is a place where you are presented with the veil → ripping away the veil and finding out the truth behind commodities Marx is interested in finding the truth of production and labor Commodity is a good that is produced for the sole purpose of accumulating capital Commodification is about turning something that wasn't a commodity into a commodity The history of commodification where more and more of what we need and want is commodities, less and less is what we produce for ourselves Commodities present a false front and presents this story to us in the marketplace Ex: nuggets are marketed as fun, but it's anything but the chicken A complex division of labor where i don't make my clothes or phone, i have a job and go out to buy these things → social relationship Under capitalism, we have the stretching of social relationships → we don’t know who produces our products We don't see the ecological consequences of the way our food is produced We don't fully know how our food is produced The marketplace is a fantasy that hides the truth and provides us with a false reality  Commodity fetishism is when we focus on the surface appearance of products in the marketplace → the fake story that commodities tell When you walk in a mall you are given a sense of diversity, until you realize that these shops are at other malls Capitalism gives us a perception of diversity while showing sameness The production chain that goes from place to place The cows and pigs increasingly come subdivided into boneless and bloodless geometrical cuts → nuggets for kids are fun and when they grow up, they realize they're actual chickens being killed and become vegetarians? The real money is made when corn is transformed into other products → adds value by creating commodity fetishism Industrial food: any food whose provenance is so complex or obscure that it requires expert help to ascertain Industrial food chain: the one that now feeds us most of the time and culminates in a supermarket or fast-food meal We become dependent on the market because it has everything that we need to survive What is free and available to everyone now becomes sold Accumulation by dispossession More and more of the things we want are delivered to us in the form of commodities I'm in a social relationship with people who provide me with the things that I need Ecological consequences of the capitalist mode of production Class and race affect our access to food, our information about food, what kind of food we can consume, what food we can afford to purchase Class 5: Lloyd and Neo-bohemia in the postindustrial city Middle class people moving into the area → the focus in the story was on their safety How gender affects our sense of safety Gentrification implies displacement of minority groups or working class people Gentrification creates social dysfunction → pushing these issues out of the spotlight to the edge of the city where it’s less visible  The succession story where the working class neighborhood can't afford rents anymore, and gentrified communities are attracted to areas with cheap rent in proximity to downtown Loyd tells the story from an artistic perspective Freeman suspects that the artists who colonized Soho in the 1960’s found a counter culture appeal to this working class/industrial neighborhood → what is being emphasized We have capitalism critiques that emerge and people see through the system and realize that they're being fed mass produced commodities Through gentrification, people realize that mass produced housing lacks somethings (they are inauthentic) Trying to create a more authentic urban landscape Turning commodities into desires Mass produced products lack authenticity → there’s a search for authenticity Commodified art vs authentic art The system must expand or die → capitalism needs to grow 2.8% to survive or a crisis emerges There’s pressure of capitalism to raise prices Lloyd’s research question → he's trying to explain what is the attraction/appeal of this area to middle-class people Ethnography → observing the area and he interviews people He gives us the perspective of this earlier wave of gentrifiers of the 80’s before the 90’s Middle-class people want to live in this area with drugs, prostitution and alcoholism, why? People see through the fetishes of the commodity and they’re looking for authenticity Living in this world where everything is perfect and delivered to you, but people moving to this area are looking for something authentic The danger of the area appears to middle-class people as real Gentrification as a search for authenticity Artists are attracted to this area because their job is to criticize the fakeness of society Bohemian traditions are passed on through the arts and new young generations want to live where earlier artists of the city lived Artists complain the most about gentrification  Nelson Algren’s neighborhood: he's a novelist who won a book award in the US about the park → using literature that talks about the Bohemian tradition and doing research on it (using library and ethnographic research) Artists are like anthropologists → entering this place and getting familiar with it Artists become insiders and start taking drugs so they fit in better with the street culture The point of this text is to show how ethnographic research can be portrayed in gentrification Class 6: Cresswell, Northey and Review of the Literature Titles can be single or double Titles should get the reader's attention, yet be concrete The title becomes a major road sign in research Title should be max 12 words The title is a tangible idea that the researcher can keep refocusing on and changing as the project goes on Someone did something similar and we need to acknowledge that before starting our own research → this is essential in the social sciences The goal of the literature review is to build off an existing research Different kinds of literature reviews in different disciplines In QM, the inquirer might locate the theory discussion and literature in a separate section towards the beginning of the write-up Don't bring up anything new in the conclusion All research should go back and forth between deductive and inductive Deductive → this is the theory and now i'm going to do the study Theoretical framework as a basis for our research Research is a process of building → our knowledge about the world grows and develops The point of the literature review is to acknowledge that this type of research already exists and explain how you want to address the broader set of discussion It takes years to get research published The published record: what is already known on the subject The literature review is an interpretation, synthesis and critical analysis of published literature relevant to the study  Organizing the literature around themes and trends is the right approach Were doing a pilot literature review in this course How does my study fit in the literature? Group articles together and identity if there’s a gap between my topic and previous researches Trying to see how my research fits into the existing studies on the topic You don't summarize the article in the literature review, you explain how your topic fits in Class 7: Bryman and Bell Ch.10 Ethnography in Geography dictionary: employs participant observation and other qualitative methods to convey the inner life and texture of a particular social group or neighborhood Ethnography is a method that's commonly used in geography, sociology, anthropology Ethnography in sociology dictionary: the direct observation of an organization or small society, and the written description produced → researchers gather data by working in the society being researched, seeking to immerse themselves as fully as possible in the activities under observation while keeping records Ethnography can refer to a written description or the practice of going out there and doing the participant observation Anthropology is mostly tied to ethnography Bryman and Bell: participant observation is an older term → ethnography is the more common word to describe the same thing Freeman: Ethnography is a broader term and participant observation is a subset of ethnography Classic form of ethnography is participant observation Deep hanging out is the participant observation: you're going and living with people that you're trying to study Thick description is the text that's produced on the research The problems of gaining access to different settings and ways of overcoming them: open and closed social settings, public and private spaces, luck, creativeness, persistence Open and closed social settings → public vs private settings A spectrum of publicness: public spaces are outdoor spaces that are open to everyone, regardless of who they are (streets, parks)  Public spaces that have access control: bureaucratic procedure to identify yourself to get access to these spaces (you must be a Concordia student to have access to library) Pseudo-public spaces: bar, shopping mall → private business that is using public space to make money Private spaces: home The more public the space, the easier it is to gain access to do ethnographic research Ethical problems with covert: deception, informed consent, invasion of privacy In overt research, people are aware of the fact that they’re being observed In covert research, the researchers identity is hidden from those involved in the study (people are more natural) The danger of being caught in covert research Networking: asking family, friends, acquaintances if they know anyone I can research Gatekeeper: a person who is willing to help with recruitment of research participants where the researcher has no direct access to potential participants “It’s just about hanging around” → hang out in a place where you can observe phenomenon to research and write about it Key informants: under reliance on them can lead researchers to see social reality through their eyes only Roles for ethnographers: can be on a continuum from complete participation to complete observer Ethnographers feel they have no choice about getting involved because a failure to participate might suggest a lack of commitment to the group → happens in covert research Overidentification with groups/people: have to remind yourself that you’re not there to enjoy yourself, but to conduct an academic inquiry Annoyance or animosity towards a group/people: researching people with power and not being shy to say that you disagree with them Field notes have 3 types: mental notes, jotted notes, full field notes Mental notes occur in situations where you can’t physically take notes on the spot Jotted notes are written with a notebook and pen → notes you take while you’re observing or participating in the research Field notes are taken by the end of the day and are detailed with summaries, events and reflections → reconstruct the day  Field notes are your data → going back and using quotes or data to include in the research Writing is a huge part of the ethnographic process Visual ethnography = photography through a realist perspective Reflexive: why did I take this photo? → analyze the photo and me as the researcher Photovoice in the past: get disposable cameras and distribute them to people (you can ask someone about their experience, or you can get them to agree to take photos of their experiences for you) Photovoice today: using cell phones to take pictures, send them to me and tell me your analysis on the photo Probability sampling is almost never used in ethnographic research and is rarely employed even in QM research based on interviews There's no statistics or proving in qualitative research → using a theory to go out and find evidence that supports changes and present the story with enough evidence so its convincing Purposive sampling: searching for people who are likely to be a rich source of info on the group in the study → choosing people intentionally Snowball sampling: start with one person and ask them to refer you to other people (a way to access people) Time and context may also be sampled Knowing when to stop → the danger is knowing when to stop because you have a deadline Ethnography is feminist → most researchers have been men and certain biases have crept in because men have controlled the research process The point of ethnography is to recognize social difference and that people have different experiences in life based on who they are Ethnography is about trying to understand people from their point of view Women perspectives have been lost in the history of ethnography