Qualitative Research Methods

Communication ResearchWeek 12

Who uses qualitative methods? Philosophers Psychologists Sociologists Anthropologists Students of literature Historians …anyone who finds the methods of the

physical sciences inappropriate for understanding human realities

Why qualitative methods?

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

… Albert Einstein

Varieties of Qualitative Methods

Sources of data can include: One’s own immediate experience Other’s experiences that can be

sought to be understood via … their speaking or writing their other behaviours their other products – technology,

artwork, footprints etc

Qualitative Methods

provide in-depth descriptions study things in natural settings

from the individual’s perspective complexity

in-depth examination of a number of issues

contextual situational and environmental concerns

specific to people

Myths and Realities of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research …

is not as reliable as takes more time than does not involve numbers like is generalisable unlike is subjective unlike is not as systematic as

…quantitative research

Why do some researchers prefer qualitative methods?

Ethical concerns about manipulation Reliance on measurement a concern Issue of control in quantitative

methods Concern on quantitative tendency to

reductionism Concern that experimental methods

are deterministic

Some types of qualitative research methods

Historical Survey Case Study Participant Observation Ethnography Phenomenological Interviews

Historical Research

Studies available data to study, understand, and interpret past events

Uses primary, secondary and tertiary data sources Art or science? Interpretation can change over time and according

to political, social and philosophical perspectives ie historical revisionism was Australia “discovered” or “invaded”? C19th Colonialism and the “White Man’s Burden”

Views of history

History is the record of progress … History is the study of class conflict …

Marx History is bunk … Henry Ford History is the story of great figures … History is the study of everyday life …

What is history?

“These so-called facts which are the the same for all historians, commonly belong to the category of raw materials of the historian rather than of history itself … The necessity to establish these basic facts rests not with any quality in the facts themselves, but on an ‘a priori’ decision of the historian …

What is history? …continued

It used to be said that facts speak for themselves. This is, of course untrue. The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context.”… E.H. Carr (1961,5) What is history?

Potential problems of historical research

Limited to data already available

Excessive reliance on secondary sources

Uncertainty about authenticity and/or accuracy of sources

Lack of objectivity

Need to find patterns/weave a narrative

Case Studies

Pioneered by Sigmund Freud – case of Anna O

Examine the characteristics of a particular entity, phenomenon, or person

Focus is on a single subject or unit (could be multiple individuals)

A rich account of a phenomenon not available by other means

Problems with case studies Limited generalisability

Deep but not broad

What you see is not always what you get

Researchers notes may only reflect one reality

Observer (researcher) bias

Cause-effect links difficult to validate

Need for extensive data collection

Ethnographic Research studies cultural patterns and perspectives of

participants in their natural settings describes and analyses practices and beliefs of

cultures and communities guided by theory: anthropology, education,

psychology understand the culture from insider and outsider

perspective focus on behaviors, ideas, beliefs, knowledge, etc…

Phenomenological Research considers how the experience of particular

participants exhibits a unique perspective aims to understand and describe an event

from the point of view of the participant subjective experience is the centre of the

inquiry researcher does not make assumptions

about reality that is outside of the individual

Unstructured Interviews Interaction between researcher and

person(s) of interest Guiding questions; but no formal structured

instrument or protocol Interviewer moves conversation in direction

of responses Need to tape record the interviews Consent forms for tape recording

Focus Groups

group interviews that rely on the interaction within the group

designed to elicit more of the participants’ points of view

interested in how individuals perceive a problem

Focus Groups exchange of ideas of how to interpret key

terms or differences are resolved and consensus is built

systematic variation across groups variations in:

ordering of questions background traits of participants homogenous groups vs heterogeneous groups compare responses of individuals who meet

several times

Grounded Theory – Glaser & Strauss 1960s

method for developing grounded theory is based on data that are systematically gathered and analysed

theoretical propositions are not stated at the beginning

generalisations (theory) comes from the data and not before data collection

Grounded Theory emerging theory is ‘grounded’ in the

current project constant comparative method researcher interprets the data and uses

it to generate theory must verify the hypotheses that emerge

from the study

Key Features of Grounded Theory

constant interaction with data to identify possible theories & relate to the study

select incidents that seems to reflect the emerging theory; ask more questions that will fill in the gaps

coding techniques to help organize the information

Finally …general characteristics of qualitative research...

Data sources are real-world situations

Data are descriptive

Emphasizes a holistic approach (processes and outcomes)

Data analysis is inductive

Describes the meaning(s) of research finding(s) from the perspective of the research participants

The general characteristics of qualitative research...

Involves developing generalisations from a limited number of observations or experiences

Highly dependant upon the representativeness of the specific observations used to make the generalisation

The last word on qualitative methods from a famous researcher…

Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to abandon exact science, put away his scholar’s gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart through the world. There in the horror of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling hells in the salons of the elegant …

Last word continued …

…the Stock Exchange, socialist meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic sects, through love and hate, through the experience of passion in every form of his own body, he would reap richer stores of knowledge than text books a foot thick could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick with the real knowledge of the human soul. …Carl Jung