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**Introduction to qualitative research**   **Lecture objectives** - Differentiate between quantitative and qualitative study designs - Understand key theoretical underpinnings that inform qualitative research design - Describe the key characteristics and features of qualitative re...

**Introduction to qualitative research**   **Lecture objectives** - Differentiate between quantitative and qualitative study designs - Understand key theoretical underpinnings that inform qualitative research design - Describe the key characteristics and features of qualitative research design - Understand examples of qualitative research designs   Quantitative- distinct numbers Qualitative- finding about emotions and opinions related to themes/experiences       **What is qualitative research?** - Understand what a problem is or issue that needs to be explored - Assumptions inform the study of research problems - Involves the collection of data in a natural setting sensitive to the people and places under study\> usual environment - Establishes patterns and themes - The written report involves presentation of participant voices, reflexivity of the research and interpretation of the problem - All contributes to the literature or a call for change   - Addresses an individual or group of people\> helps us to understand that population sample - Main take away: Qualitative research understand a problem or issue that needs to be explored and understand assumptions/ opinions of the participants involved in the study   **Differences between qualitative and quantitative methods**        **Differences between qualitative and quantitative methods**   **Quantitative methods** - Provide mechanism in terms of which we can predict and control specific health variables: - Discovering the causes of disease or disabilities - Developing and validating assessment procedures - Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions   - predicting or controlling a variable   **Qualitative methods** - Provides evidence and theories that enable us to **understand** our participants as human beings \> client centred and holistic approach to client health - Examines **personal meanings of individuals experiences** and actions in the context of their social environment. - By 'qualitative' we mean that the data consists of language or pictures recorded by the researcher.   - Want to understand THEIR experiences and THEIR meaning - Tell a story   (Polgar & Thomas 2013)     **Differences between qualitative and quantitative methods**       **How does qualitative research inform practice?**   Think about your profession - Occupational Therapy or Speech Pathology   - Understand client experiences and perspectives - Facilitates a client-centred approach to clinical practice - One could make a good argument that healthcare professionals are informal qualitative methodologists when they interact with people in a setting everyday of their professional lives. - Need to be aware and understand the different qualitative methodologies and how the results can inform your practice.   (Creswell, 2013)   **Assumptions underpin qualitative research**   - Ontological beliefs: - Multiple realities experienced by others that the researcher reports and staying separate to participants (e.g. particular client group might have unique and different experiences and perspectives). - Important that researcher reports and stays separate from participants - Gain multiple realities and beleifs   - Epistemological beliefs: - Getting closer to the lived experience of participants under study enhances the researchers understanding and capacity to report. (e.g. involves observation). - Observing participants - Immersion in the research   - Axiological beliefs: - Researcher discloses own bias and includes own values and perspective in interpretations - Researcher discloses their own opinions and values throughout the research   - Methodological beliefs: - The researcher follows a methodological structure, from the ground up to develop an understanding of the participants experience as analysis proceeds. - Uses a structures process to gain qualitative information and analyse data we have       **Key Characteristics of Qualitative Research** - **Natural setting** - Researchers collect data on site where participants experience the problem - Gather up-close information   - **Researcher as a key instrument** - Research collects data themselves by examining documents, observing behaviour and interviewing participants   - **Multiple methods** - Typically gather multiple forms of data such as interviews, observations and documents   - **Complex reasoning: Inductive and/or deductive reasoning** - I**nductive reasoning:** "bottom-up" researcher working back and forth, collecting data to build patterns, categories and themes. Specific information to generalized information.   - **Deductive reasoning**: Build themes that are constantly checked against the data. - Generalised information \> specific information.   - **Participant meaning** - Focus is on learning the meaning that the participants hold about the problem or issue.   - **Emergent design** - The initial plan is not tightly prescribed- phases may change depending on the data collected. - Allow data to gradually guide the research program   - **Reflexivity** - Researchers position themselves and acknowledge how their background can inform the interpretation of the data. This involves self-reflection.   - **Holistic account** - About understanding the complex picture of the problem or issue under study. - Not able a cause and effect relationship-rather the complex interaction of factors in any situation.   **In health sciences 4 main type of qualitative research exist:**    - Type of research is influenced by different philosophical assumptions and interpretive frameworks. - Each stage of qualitative research can look similar or different for different types.   **Phenomenology\> UNDERSTAND LIVED EXPERIENCE**   **Learning Objectives** Students will: - Describe the nature of phenomenological research - Differentiate phenomenological research from other qualitative research methods   **Outline** - Purpose and Principles - Research questions - Data collection - Data analysis - Trustworthiness - Application to Allied Health (OT & SP)   **Purpose** - "...seeks to understand, describe and interpret human behaviour and the meaning individuals make of their experiences" (Liamputtong, 2017, p. 159) - Describe experiences from the perspective of (several) people who have the experience - (e.g., teenagers with disabilities, carers of people who have dementia) - Outcome: to improve policies and practices \> change deliverance of client services   **Types of phenomenology** - **Descriptive** -- Compile a composite description; find commonalities, describe features or essence of experiences   - **Interpretive or hermeneutic** -- derive and interpret meaning of the experience, consider individual components in relation to the whole   **Nature, principles** - Concept of 'lived experience': **only** those who have lived the experience are fully knowledgeable. - **Multiple realities** -- different perspectives from different people. Derive meaning from the same phenomenon in different ways - Explore perceptions -- seeing, hearing, feeling etc - Explore meaning -- thinking, reasoning, believing, valuing etc   **Research questions** What is the experience of...? - High school students who stutter with respect to friendships and bullying? - Older adults experiencing a fall? - Speech pathologists working in palliative care? - Occupational therapist in completing NDIS application forms?   **Data collection** - Collect multiple sources of data about a phenomena - In-depth interviews with participants - Surveys & questionnaires   - Usually 5 to 25 people who have experienced the phenomenon - Focus of questions: - What have you experienced? - What contexts or situations have influenced or affected your experiences?   **Data analysis** - Draw out statements or quotes that epitomise the experience - Determine theme or clusters of meaning - Describe the experience, conditions, situations or context - Describe the 'essence' of the experience **Narrative Research/ Inquiry \> PEOPLES EXPERIENCE FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVES**   Learning Objectives Students will - Describe the key features of narrative research - Differentiate narrative research from other qualitative research methods   **Outline** - Purpose and principles - Types of research questions - Data collection - Analysis - Application to speech pathology and occupational therapy   **What is narrative research?** - Study of - A spoken discourse or written text that provides an account of an event or series of events - The stories told by individuals, usually of experiences and the their personal meaning of those experiences.   - Reveals - **People's experience, from their perspective** - What is important to people - The context that shapes their experience     **Types of narratives** - **Biographical** -- - experiences of another person's life   - **Autobiography** -- - described by the person who is the subject of the study   - **Ethnographical** -- - set within a (cultural) context - Understand series of events\> about a particular cultural context   - **Life history** -- - an account of a person's whole life   - **Oral history** -- - personal reflection of events and causes   **Types of research questions** - (what's the story here?) - What is the client experience of generalising voice changes into everyday contexts following therapy? - What is the experience of recovery from TBI in the teenage years? - How do parents approach and manage home practice for their child with a speech/language disorder? - How were new role-emerging placements for students in aged care settings developed?     **Participants** - People "who are rich in information and able to express their experiences or recall events in depth" (Liamputtong, 2013, p. 75) - **Purposive sampling** - Select small numbers; ensure participants have the desired qualities or abilities by setting inclusion and exclusion criteria - **Snowball sampling** - Ask participants to identify others with similar experience, often by forwarding information   **Data collection** Conversations with participants In-depth interviews; variable structure & prompting \> MOST POPULAR Self-recording Journals, diaries and letters -- collect & review Methods of recording Make notes Audio record Audiovisual record Emails Graphic representations -- photos, drawings\> paediatrics not as experienced as expressing their feelings/emotions     **Data Analysis** - The process of searching for the 'story' inherent in the telling of experience - Take a systematic approach to sifting through the data; impose a structure on the telling of a story - **Create a 'storied account'** and share with participant -- **narrative analysis** - Derive **themes** from the stories -- **analysis of narratives**   **Data Analysis** - **Preparation** - Listen to the interview - Transcribe data ourselves - Set in a table with space for analysis on the RHS - **Meaning** - **Thematic**: Identify common themes, often across several narratives - **Content**: Identification of key elements in the story - **Structure or Plot** - Organisation of the story - Abstract, Orientation, Complication, Result, Evaluation, Coda (Labov, 1972)   **Conclusion/summary** - Narrative research tells an account of events/actions chronologically connected - Different types and purposes **Ethnography\> explore culture or human behaviour**   **Ethnographic Research Methods**   Learning Objectives Students will - Describe the key features of ethnographic research - Differentiate ethnographic research from other qualitative methods   **Outline** - Purpose and Principles - Research questions - Data collection - Data analysis - Generalisability and critique - Application to speech pathology/occupational therapy   **Purpose and principles** - Understand the way of life or work for the group of people under study - Explore **culture and human behaviour** - Originally - travelled long distances to study isolated groups little known to the Western world; conducted over lengthy periods of time - (e.g., Margaret Mead -- Asia & Pacific). - Now - seek to understand people and events within local cultures (including roles, relationships, interactions, patterns of behaviour, rules,) - e.g. ethnic or social groups, neighbourhoods, workplaces, institutions, or groups in cyberspace.   **Research questions** - What are the key features of a typical work day for a hospital speech pathologist/occupational therapist? - What kinds of social environments are provided for residents of aged care facilities? - How does free play (e.g., recess, lunchtime) at school facilitate or inhibit communication for children with language disorders?   **Data collection** Fieldwork observation \> documenting them in a systematic way   1\. Observations about people, places, events and processes, 2\. Researcher's own actions and reactions, 3\. Theoretical insights, questions and reflections   Interviews and narratives Artefacts, photos, diaries, documents, clothing   **Data analysis** - Organise information\> organise it into a meaningful whole - **Interpret what the data means** - Other qualitative methodologies for analysis: **TRIANGULATION** - Content, Narrative, Comparative, Thematic - Comfortable with seeking an overall perspective of analysing the data from multiple different perspectives   - Four types of analysis: - **Domain** -- identify categories - **Taxonomic** -- how domains are organised - **Componential** -- attributes, contrasts, components - **Thematic** -- recurring principles, relationships among domains   **Generalisability of Findings** General relevance beyond the local circumstances in which it was produced when: - the case being studied represents only one part of the setting - the case being studied is typical of a larger collective Assess and present evidence about the validity of generalisations   **Critiquing Ethnography** - **Focus (wider topic)** -- its articulation (scope, boundaries), importance, relevance - **Case(s) studied** -- the limited aspect of the wider focus that is the actual subject of research - **Methods** -- including processes through which data are generated, relationships between ethnographers and participants, analytic techniques - **Claims about the case** -- different kinds of claims and the different kinds of evidence that would warrant them - **Conclusions drawn** --saying something about the wider focus, moving beyond the specific case(s) via e.g. theoretical inference, generalisations     - Overall reflecting on the process you have used which involves the critiquing of the process used   **In summary....** - Ethnography is a **form of research that has a specific interest in describing culture and in cultural interpretation** and analysis - Ethnography usually has most of the following features - People, words and actions are studied in everyday contexts: in other words research takes place in the field - Data are gathered from a range of **sources** but participant observation and interviews are usually the main ones - Data is for the most part relatively **unstructured** - The focus is usually on a single or a few cases: this is to facilitate in-depth study **\> small participant numbers are okay** - The categories for interpreting what people say or do are generated out of the process of data analysis **Grounded Theory\> GENERATE OR DISCOVER A THEORY**   Overview - Design definition - Pertinent research questions - Participants - Ethical Issues - Data Collection - Data Analysis   **What is Grounded Theory?** "Grounded theory methods consist of systematic, yet flexible, guidelines for collecting and analysing qualitative data to construct theories 'grounded' in the data themselves." (Charmaz, 2006, p. 2)   - Inductive, bottom up approach - Look at participants, what their saying, explain their experiences, developing a theory that accounts for their experiences   **The principles** - Grounded theorists collect data **in order to develop a theory** - The purpose is to understand what happens in particular research settings and in the lives of research participants - The focus is on how people explain their experiences and what they mean - During analysis the researcher attempt to make sense of the statements and actions of participants by exploring connections between different 'codes', 'categories' and 'themes     - Grounded theorists start with an area of interest or a research problem BUT they do not start with a hypothesis that they aim to 'test' - Explore research problem, allow insight and issue to emerge from close examination of the problem   - Rather, insights and issues 'emerge' from close examination of the data and from researcher interpretation, and are built from the ground up - Data is simultaneously collected and analysed using a process called **'constant comparison'**   - **Quantitative: there is a set theory or hypothesis to test in relation to a problem. Qualitative: emergence of the data allows us to build a theory that represents the data appropriately**   **The proponents** - Grounded theory originally developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, sociologists (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Glaser, 1978) - Since then the authors have 'split' and evolved the grounded theory method in different ways - There are now three (3) main interpretations of this method used in research contexts   **Interpretations of Grounded Theory**      **The process** There are different 'interpretations' of grounded theory methods, but almost all share the following steps in the process:   **START FROM \'BOTTOM UP\'**   **Pertinent research questions** - Grounded Theory is a helpful method to use when there is very little known or understood about a topic - It can help generate specific research questions to which quantitative methods can be applied - As a method it is highly suited to the exploration of 'complex phenomena' - As a method it is **highly suited to exploration of questions related to social constructs** -- i.e. how people interact with the world, each other and themselves   **Example research questions** - How do people experience chronic illness? (Charmaz, 1990) - How do adults with cerebral palsy and complex communication needs experience loss and grief? (Dark, Balandin, & Clemson, 2011) - How do Occupational Therapists understand and use intuition in mental health settings? (Chaffey, Unsworth, & Fossey, 2010) - How do community dwelling adults with diminishing autonomy define spirituality and its contribution to meaningful occupation? (Griffith, Caron, Desrosiers, & Thibeault, 2007)     **Participants** - The goal of recruitment for grounded theory studiesis to source a group of participants who have 'lived experience' of the topic in question - Small sample numbers are appropriate in grounded theory studies - In grounded theory, participants can be 'purposefully recruited' at late stages of a project to advance conceptual and theoretical development and ensure saturation of concepts     **Ethical issues** Informed consent Good communication ability (alternative and augmentative modes of communication are appropriate) Insight into own experiences Communication support Participant verification of emerging data     **Data Collection** - "All is data" (Glaser, 2002) - The aim of data collection is 'rich data' and 'rich description' - Therefore, data may take the form of: - Interviews - Focus groups - Written documents - Reports - Artefacts - Field notes and observations     **The Interview Conversation** - Intensive interviewing / In‐depth interviewing - An interview is a 'directed conversation' (Lofland & Lofland, 1984; 1995) - The purpose is to elicit a participant's interpretation of their own experience - -- The participant will be asked to: **reflect, describe, narrate, illustrate, explain** - A good interview schedule will be based on focused but **open ended questions**; an interviewer will be flexible and will follow the lead of the interviewee   **Data Analysis** - **In grounded theory methods, data is collected and analysed concurrently** - The analytic tool used in grounded theory is called '**coding**' (Charmaz, 2006) "Qualitative coding, the process of defining what the data are about, is our first analytic step. Coding means naming segments of data with a label that simultaneously categorises, summarises and accounts for each piece of data" (Charmaz, 2006, p. 43)   - **Coding generates themes**     **Coding** - Coding is the process that takes the researcher from **raw, concrete data to the framework for interpreting meaning** - Grounded Theory coding involves at least 2 phases: - 1\. An initial phase which involves naming each word, line or segment of data (Initial coding) - 2\. Selection of the most frequent initial codes to sort, synthesize, integrate and organise large amounts of data (Focused coding)\> themes   **Interpretation of Results** - **Interpretation happens at the same time as data analysis** - As codes are applied to data, the underlying aim is to understand and explain the meaning of the participant's experiences i.e. interpret what is happening for that person - In grounded theory, quality interpretation depends on good quality data and good quality analysis   **Presentation of Results** - In Grounded Theory, results are ultimately presented as a coherent theory that explains the experience in question - Often theories are visually represented as models which show how the different concepts and categories are related to each other; they often capture the complexity of an experience        Summary and key messages Grounded theory is a qualitative research method which utilises inductive methods to generate theory that is grounded in data ** There are different 'schools' of Grounded Theory** Processes for coding, categorising and integrating data are clearly explicated