qualitative research methods

1. Qualitative Research
Trustworthiness
Observation and Interviewing
Content Analysis
Ethnography

2. Features of Qualitative Research
(Hoepfl)
• Natural setting as source of data
• Researcher acts as human instrument
• Inductive data analysis
• Reports are descriptive
– Incorporating “voice”
• Interpretive
– Aimed at discovering meaning
• Pays attention to unique cases
• Emergent design
• Judged using special criteria of trustworthiness

3. Trustworthiness
in Qualitative Research
• An important check on the trustworthiness of the researcher’s
interpretations in qualitative research is to compare one informant’s
description of something with another informant’s description of the
same thing.
• Triangulation is a check on trustworthiness by comparing different
information on the same topic.
• Triangulation
– Data triangulation
• Use of multiple data sources
– Students, teachers, administrators, etc.
– Methods triangulation
• Interviews, observations, etc.
– Researcher triangulation
• Use a team of researchers.

4. Group Discussion
• Name a research topic for qualitative
researchers in which it would be useful to
have a team of researchers with diverse
backgrounds. Explain why.

5. Criteria for judging research
Quantitative
• Internal validity
– Did A cause B?
• External Validity
– Are these findings
generalizable?
• Reliability
– Are the measures repeatable?
• Objectivity
– Are the findings free of
researcher bias/values?
Qualitative
• Credibility
– Believable from participant’s
view
• Transferability
– Can this finding be transferred
to other contexts?
• Dependability
– Would another researcher
come to similar conclusions?
• Confirmability
– Can the results be confirmed
or corroborated by others

6. Judging Qualitative Research
• Role of the reviewer
– Coherence
• Does the story make sense?
– Consensus
• Do others agree?
– Instrumental Utility
• Are the results useful?

7. Observation and Interviewing

8. Observation
• Certain kinds of research questions can best be
answered by observing how people act or how
things look.
• Research role
– A relationship acquired by and ascribed to the
researcher in interactive data collection.
• There are different roles with regard to
observation:
1) Interviewer
2) Naturalistic Observer
3) Participant Observer
4) Participant Researcher
5) Inside Observer

9. Variations in Approaches to
Observation
A single observation of limited Multiple observations; long-term
duration (e.g., 30 minutes). duration (e.g., months, even years).
Narrow focus: Only a single Broad focus: Holistic view of the activity or
element or characteristic is observed. characteristic being observed and all of
its elements is sought.
The purpose of the The purpose of the No explanation is False explanations are
observation is fully explained observation is given to any of the given; participants are
to all involved. explained to some of participants. deceived about the
the participants. purpose of the
observation.
Full-participant Partial Onlooker;
observation participation observer is an outsider
Participants know Some but not Participants do not know
that observations are being all of the that observations are being
made and they know who is participants made or that there is
making them. know the observer. someone observing them.
Role of the Observer
How the Observer Is Portrayed to Others
How the Purpose of the Observation Is Portrayed to Others
Duration of the Observations
Focus of the Observations

10. Participant vs. Non-Participant
Observation
• Participant observation studies
– Researcher participates as an active member of the group.
• Non-participant observation studies
– Researcher does not participate in an activity or situation.
– Naturalistic observations and simulations.
• Simulations are created situations in which subjects are asked to
act out certain roles.

11. Observer Effect
• The presence of an observer can have a considerable effect
on the behavior of those being observed, and affect the
outcome of the study.
• Unless a researcher is concealed, it is quite likely that they will
have some form of effect upon the individuals being observed.
• It is for that reason that participants should not be informed of
the study’s purpose until after data has been collected.
– Does this present ethical problems?
– How might a researcher reduce his or her impact on the setting?

12. Observer Bias
• Refers to the possibility that certain
characteristics or ideas of observers may
bias what they “see”.
• Observer expectations
• Comparing notes or impressions among
other researchers assists in reducing this
threat.

13. Coding Observational Data
• Coding scheme
– categories an observer uses to record a person’s or group’s
behavior.
• Fixed vs. Open
• An observer still must choose what to observe, even
with a fixed coding scheme.
• Data are coded into categories that emerge as the
analysis proceeds
– What type of research is this?

14. Interviewing
• Interviewing is an important way for a researcher
to check the accuracy of the impressions he or
she gained through observation.
– Likely the most important data-collection technique for
qualitative research.

15. Types of Interviews
• Types of interviews:
 Informal-conversation
 Questions emerge from the immediate context
 Semi-structured
 Topics selected in advance
 Researcher determines sequence and wording during
interview.
 Standardized open-ended
 Exact wording and sequence of questions
predetermined.

16. Types of Interview Questions
• Six types of interview questions:
1) Background/demographic questions
2) Knowledge questions
3) Experience/behavior questions
4) Opinion/values questions
5) Feelings questions
6) Sensory questions

17. Interviewing Behavior
– Respect the culture of
the group being
studied
– Respect the individual
being interviewed
– Be natural
– Develop an
appropriate rapport
with the participant
– Ask one question at a
time
– Ask the same question
in different ways
during the interview
– Ask the interviewee to
repeat an answer
when in doubt
– Vary who controls the
flow of communication
– Avoid leading
questions
– Don’t interrupt

18. Group Discussion
• In your opinion, does the flexibility afforded by
semi-structured interviewing open the possibility
that the interviewer might bias the interview so
that the interviewer obtains results along the
lines that he or she already expected to find?
– Why or why not?
– How might the interviewer reduce potential bias?
• Do you think a fully structured interview reduces
the likelihood of this problem?
– Why or why not?

19. Content Analysis

20. What is Content Analysis?
• Content Analysis
– a technique that enables researchers to study human behavior
through an analysis of communications.
• Types of communications are:
• Textbooks
• Essays
• Pictures
• Songs
• Movies
• Signs
• A person or group’s conscious and unconscious beliefs,
attitudes, or values are often revealed in their
communication.

21. Applications of Content Analysis in
Educational Research
• Describe trends in
schooling over time
• Understand
organizational patterns
• Show how different
schools handle the same
phenomena differently
• Infer attitudes, values,
and cultural patterns in
different countries
• Compare the myths that
people hold about
schools
• Gain a sense of how
teachers feel about their
work
• Gain some idea of how
schools are perceived
• Also, can be used to
supplement more direct
methods of research

22. Categorization in Content Analysis
• All procedures at some point convert the
descriptive information into categories.
• There are two ways this might be done
• The researcher determines the categories before any
analysis begins. These categories are based on previous
knowledge, theory, and experience.
• The researcher becomes very familiar with the
descriptive information collected and allows the
categories to emerge as the analysis continues.
– i.e., grounded theory.

23. Steps Involved in Content Analysis
• Determine objectives by obtaining information
on the following:
– Formulate themes for organization
– Check other research findings for validation
– Obtain information useful in dealing with educational problems
– Investigate possible relationships to test hypothesis
• Define Terms
– Clearly define terms before or during the study
• Specify the Unit of Analysis

24. Steps Involved in Content Analysis
• Locate Relevant Data
• Develop a Rationale
• Conceptual link needed to relate data to the objectives
• Develop a Sampling Plan
• Techniques could involve:
» Random sample
» Stratified sampling
» Cluster sampling
» Convenience sampling
• Formulate Coding Categories

25. Steps Involved in Content Analysis
• Checking Reliability and Validity
• Test-retest method
• Analyze Data
• Counting
• Use descriptive statistical procedures such as
frequencies and/or percentages

26. Sample Tally Sheet
Number Number Number
Newspaper of Editorials Subjective of Pro-Abortion of Anti-Abortion
ID Number Location Circulation Coded Evaluationa
Editorials Editorials
101 A 3,000,000 29 3 0 1
102 B 675,000 21 3 1 1
103 C 425,000 33 4 2 0
104 D 1,000,000 40 1 0 8
105 E 550,000 34 5 7 0
a
Categories within the subjective evaluation: 1 = very conservative; 2 = somewhat conservative; 3 = middle-of-the-road; 4
= moderately liberal; 5 = very liberal.

27. Advantages of Content Analysis
• The following are considered advantages of
Content Analysis:
– Unobtrusive
– Useful means of analyzing interview and
observational data
– Not limited by time and space to the study of
present events
– Relatively simple and economical.

28. Disadvantages of Content Analysis
• The following are considered disadvantages of
Content Analysis:
– Usually limited to recorded information
– Establishing validity
• Question remains as to the true meaning of the categories
themselves
– Historical research findings might not be considered
important today
– Temptation to attribute a cause of a phenomenon vs.
a reflection of it

29. Discussion
• Let’s say we wanted to test the belief that
poor people are inaccurately and
stereotypically portrayed in the media.
Describe how you would design a content
analysis to study the question. What
coding categories do you anticipate?

30. Ethnographic Research

31. What is Ethnographic Research?
• A description and interpretation of a cultural or social
group
• Study of the meanings of behavior, language, and
interactions of a culture-sharing group.
• Researcher examines the group’s observable and
learned patterns of behavior.
• The key tools are in-depth interviewing and participant
observation.

32. Ethnographic Procedures
• Wolcott (1987) stated that ethnography
consists of:
1) Looking for what people do (behaviors).
2) Listening for what they say (language).
3) What they make and use (artifacts).

33. The Unique Value
of Ethnographic Research
• Ethnographic research has a particular
strength that makes it especially appealing to
many researchers.
– It can reveal nuances and subtleties that other
methodologies miss.
– By going out into the world and observing things
as they occur, we are better able to obtain a more
accurate picture.

34. Ethnographic Concepts
• Culture
• Holistic Perspective
• Contextualization
• An Emic Perspective
• Thick Description
• Member Checking
• A Nonjudgmental
Orientation

35. Emic vs. Etic
• Local Beliefs and Perceptions and the
Ethnographer’s
• An emic (native-oriented) approach investigates how
natives think, categorize the world, express thoughts,
and interpret stimuli.
– Emic = “native viewpoint”
– Key cultural consultants are essential for
understanding the emic perspective.
• An etic (science-oriented) approach emphasizes the
categories, interpretations, and features that the
anthropologist considers important.

36. Topics that Lend Themselves Well
to Ethnographic Research
• Topics that defy simple
quantification
• Topics that can be best
understood in a natural
setting
• Topics that involve the
study of individual or
group activities over time
• Topics that involve the
study of the roles and
behaviors associated with
those roles
• Topics that involve the
study of the activities and
behavior of groups as a
unit
• Topics involving the study
of formal organizations in
their totality

37. Sampling in Ethnographic
Research
• Ethnographers attempt to observe everything.
• However, no researcher can observe everything
at once.
• Samples are small and do not permit
generalization to a larger population.
• Their goal is the complete understanding of a
particular situation.

38. Do Ethnographic Researchers
Use A Priori Hypotheses?
• Ethnographers seldom initiate their research
with precise hypotheses.
• Attempt to understand an ongoing situation or
set of activities that cannot be predicted in
advance.
• Ethnographic research relies on both
observation and interviewing over time.

39. Challenges (Creswell)
• Ethnographer needs to have grounding in
cultural anthropology.
• Time to collect data is extensive.
• Narratives written in a storytelling
approach which may limit audience.
• Possibility of “going native”
• And?

40. Advantages and Disadvantages
of Ethnographic Research
• Advantages
– Provides comprehensive
perspective
– Observes behaviors in their
natural environments
– And?
• Disadvantages
– Dependent on the
researcher’s observations
and interpretations
– Difficult to check the
validity of the researcher’s
conclusion
– Observer bias is almost
impossible to eliminate
– May lack transferability
– And?