เอกสารประกอบการสอนเร��องQualitative Research Methods427-302 1-2553

Some Terminology of Qualitative Inquiry

• Phenomenology: It refers to a consideration of all perceived phenomena, both the “objective” and “subjective”o To discover the subjects’ experiences and how they

make sense of those experiences• Interpretivism: It seeks to discover how the

subject interprets his or her experience of lifeo More focusing on understanding by means of

conversations with the human beings to be understood

o More idiographic than nomothetic approach

• Hermeneutics: The interpretation of religious textso Interested in the interpretivist’s process of

discoveryo Overall understanding of a text gives us a

place from which to examine and interpret the meaning of its parts

o The examination of the parts may lead us to reframe our overall assessment

• Participant Observation: a specific form of field research in which the researcher participates as an actor in the events under study

• In-depth Interview: less structured and gives the subject of the interview more freedom to direct the flow of conversation

• Case study: an idiographic examination of a single individual, family, group, organization, community, or societyo Description is a chief purpose

• Ethnography: naturalistic observations and holistic understandings of cultures or subcultures

• Generic Propositions: Interested in the patterns of human social life

• Unfettered Inquiry: field researchers basically side with the view that anything is fair game

• Deep Familiarity: Place yourself in the position of those you wish to understand

• Emergent Analysis: theory emerges in the course of analyzing observations rather than preceding observation in the form of hypotheses

• True Content: Interested in what is “really” going on

• New Content: not replicating findings, but creating new observations, or new analyses, or both with each research effort

• Developed Treatment: Interested in balance between the presentation of data from observations and the elaboration of theoretical concepts that can represent and make sense of those data

Grounded Theory

• Inductive approach to understanding• It begins with observations and looks for

patterns, themes, or common categories• The selection of new cases is guided by

theoretical sampling conceptso Theoretical sampling begins by selecting new

cases that seem to be similar to those that generated previously detected concepts and hypotheses

Coined by Glauser & Strauss in 1967

• To better ground your hypothesis in the empirical world, you might interview several additional practitioners with good clinical reputations to see if the same patterns are generated

• The process of using notes and memos in ground theory resembles the social worker’s use of process recording and problem-oriented case record keeping

Topics Appropriate to Field Research (Lofland & Lofland, 1995)

• Practices• Episodes • Encounters• Roles• Relationships• Groups• Organizations• Settlements• Social Worlds• Lifestyles or subcultures

See p. 430

The Various Roles of the Observer

• Complete participant• Participant-as-observer• Observer-as-participant• Complete observer

Relations to Subjects

• How you may relate to the subjects of your study and to their points of view?o “Really” jointing or “pretending” joiningo Insider understanding: adopt their points of

view as true temporarilyo Symbolic realism: to treat the beliefs they

study as worthy of respect rather than as object of ridicule

Preparing for the Field

• Begin with a search of the relevant literature, filling in your knowledge of the subject and learning what others have said about it

• Make use of informants• Be wary about the information• Establish a certain rapport with them

Sampling in Field Research

• Quota sampling• Snowball sampling• Deviant case sampling

o Intensity samplingo Critical incidents samplingo Maximum variation samplingo Homogeneous samplingo Theoretical sampling

• Purposive sampling

Select cases that are more or less intense than usual, but not so unusual that they could be called deviant

See p. 445

Qualitative Interviewing

• Informal Conversational Interviews• General interview guide approach• Standardized open-ended interview

Life History

• Researchers ask open-ended questions to discover how the participants in a study understand the significant events and meanings in their own lives

• Oral history interviews

Client Log

• Qualitative logs are journals that clients keep of events that are relevant to their problems

• The logs can be utilized to record quantitative data about target behaviors as well as qualitative information about critical incidents

Focus Groups

• Group interviewing• To assess whether a new social program

or social service being considered is really needed in a community

• 12 to 15 people were recommended• Discussion of a specific topic

Recording Observations

• Tape recording• Taking notes

o Don’t trust your memory any more than you have to: it’s untrustworthy

o It’s usually a good idea to take notes in stages Need to take sketchy notes (words and phrases) to keep

abreast of what’s happening Remove yourself and rewrite your notes in more detail

o To write out all of the details you can recall right after the observation session

Qualitative Data Processing

• Rewriting your notes• Creating files• Using computers

Qualitative Data Analysis

• Similarities and dissimilarities• Norms of behavior• Universals• Six different ways of looking for patterns

o Frequencieso Magnitudeso Structureso Processeso Caseso Consequences

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Field Research

• Depth of understanding• Subjectivity• Generalizability

Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies

• Threats to Trustworthinesso Reactivityo Research biaseso Respondent biases Social desirability

Researcher’s perceptions