Lecture 1 - L2B Qual Lecture Notes PDF

Please remember to log your attendance on Moodle Qualitative Analysis & Design: Lecture 1 Dr Katie McArthur (she/her)  Lecture 1: Intended Learning Outcomes Describe the main features and theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research methods Understand the ‘3 types of kn...

Please remember to log your attendance on Moodle Qualitative Analysis & Design: Lecture 1 Dr Katie McArthur (she/her)  Lecture 1: Intended Learning Outcomes Describe the main features and theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research methods Understand the ‘3 types of knowledge production’ in qualitative analysis Understand the main techniques used to collect qualitative data What is Qualitative Research?  Words vs. numbers? Distinction between big Q and little q (Kidder & Fine, 1987) Little q: incorporation of non-numerical data collection techniques into hypothetico-deductive research designs Hypothetico-deductive: the basis of mainstream experimental psychology, deriving hypotheses and testing them Big Q: open-ended, participant-led, bottom-up research methodologies concerned with theory generation and the exploration of meanings Epistemology  What is Epistemology? Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge. ‘How, and what, can we know?’ “We need to be clear about the objectives of our research and we need to have a sense of what kinds of things it is possible for us to find out. In other words, we need to adopt an epistemological position.” – Willig (2013) p. 17.  Three Types of Knowledge Realist: Quantitative Realist, Methods, what you Phenomenological, can see and Social Constructionist: empirically measure Qualitative Methods, people interpreting their own worlds Realism Researcher as Detective Aims to Discover/uncover reality The world is Intelligible & rule bound  Realist Knowledge Reflects as truthfully as possible something that is happening in the real world and that exists independently of the researcher/participant views or knowledge about it Questions using a realist model may ask things like: What happens when someone joins a group? How does a person who has panic attacks on public transport plan a journey?  Realist Knowledge Assumptions Certain processes or structures underlie the behaviour/thinking of research participants, and they can be identified and conveyed by the researcher The world (material, social, psychological) can be understood, provided that the researcher is skilled enough to uncover patterns/structures/laws that characterise it Valid and reliable knowledge about a social or psychological phenomenon exists independently of the researcher’s awareness of it A discovery orientation (see Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000)  Phenomenology Researcher as Counsellor Aims to Discover/uncover experience The (social-psychological) world is: Experientially diverse “What is the world like for this participant?”  Phenomenological Knowledge Aim to produce knowledge about the subjective experience of research participants (rather than about the social or psychological patterns or processes that underpin, structure, or shape such subjective experience, as realist knowledge does) Researcher aspires to capture something that exists in the world (namely the participants’ thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, that is – their experiences) Questions may include: How do students experience exams? What do young people experience during counselling?  Phenomenological Knowledge Assumptions Knowledge and truth exist within individual lived experience Intentionality: consciousness is always conscious of something The world can only be understood through consciousness Claims about accuracy of accounts made by participants are not made  Social Constructionism Researcher as Architect Aims to deconstruct The world is: Socially constructed  Social Constructionism Skeptical position in relation to knowledge What is of interest is not so much what is really going on (realist approach) or how something is actually experienced by participants (phenomenological approach) Rather how people talk about the world and therefore how they construct versions of reality through the use of language Questions: What is family? How do we understand childhood?  Social Constructionist Knowledge Assumptions All knowledge is constructed through social interactions Meanings are collectively and collaboratively agreed with others Ideas or concepts constructed within human society would not exist without the people who validate them and the language that they use to do so Social groups can choose to replace old conventions with new ones Chapter 2: Epistemological bases for qualitative research  Qualitative Data Collection Data Collection Intervie w Focus Patter Resear n group ch Narrati Questio Diaries ve based Archives analys n Web based is  Interviews “A conversation with a purpose” Sampling approach Interview schedule Ethical Issues Recorded Transcription-word for word Reflexivity  Evaluating Interviews Advantages Disadvantage s Allows reconstruction Less naturalistic of events More detailed data Interaction ignored Allows longitudinal Time consuming research Specific focus Agenda of interviewer/interview ee Easier to transcribe Overused (Potter &  Focus Groups Recorded group interview Several participants (6-10) and a moderator Individuals in a social context Discussion of specific issue Study interaction between group members How are opinions expressed and 22 modified through group discussions? Conducted online or face to face  Evaluating Focus Groups Advantages Disadvantages Naturalistic (social Researcher has less interaction) control ‘Collective Sense Tendency for more Making’ (Frith, 2000) agreement than disagreement Empowering Potential for participant discomfort Efficient More difficult to  Diaries Record of experiences over a period of time Clear instructions & completed at: specific intervals response to events Advantages: Events as they happen Personal account Disadvantages: True reflection? Varied completion/information Drop out rates  Web based data Examples: Marcus et al (2012); Whitlock et al (2013); Brady & Guerin (2010) Advantages Anonymous Volume of data Disadvantages Unrepresentative sample Trustworthiness Consent  Archival Data Media & text sources Example: Representation of mental illness in the media (Paterson, 2007) Advantages Data collection and transcription Less researcher bias Wide variety of sources Disadvantages Specific Research Question Longer process of understanding the data Chapter 3: Qualitative research design and data collection Key Terms Epistemology / Epistemological Position Realism Phenomenology Social Constructionism Knowledge Assumptions Data Collection Dr Katie McArthur [email protected] Office hours: Tuesdays 11-1, room 423, 62 Hillhead Street or on Zoom Please remember to log your attendance on Moodle