Transcript Philosophies of Qualitative Research

Philosophies of Qualitative
Research
Research Methods Unit
November 2007
Dr Carol Taylor
CPD and Postgraduate Division
School of Health, Psychology and Social Care
Manchester Metropolitan University
•What do we mean
by ‘philosophy’?
Paradigms
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Dark ages
Enlightenment (18th C)– Positivism
Post positivism 1940s
Constructivism
Interpretivist
Modernism
Post-modernism
Feminism
Research Paradigms
Research pradigms
Positivism
Interpretivism
Experimental / Survey
Aiming to find facts / 'truth'
Quantitative
Interpreting meaning
Aiming to understand subjective 'reality'
Qualitative
Ethnography
Malinowski
Phenomenology
Husserl
Heidegger
Gadamer
Symbolic interactionism
Mead
Blumer
Research Paradigms
Positivism
• Experimental
RCTs,
• Surveys
questionnaires
Establishing facts /
truth
Hypothesis testing
Quantitative
Deductive
Interpretivism
• Ethnography
• Phenomenology
• Symbolic
interactionism
Understanding meaning
Hypothesis generating
Qualitative
Inductive
Ethnography
• Definition:
The scientific description of races
and peoples with their customs,
habits and mutual differences. (The New
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)
• In qualitative research it is now used
to mean, the study of human
behaviour in its natural setting.
Ethnography: Principal methods of
data collection
• Participant observation + interviews
and conversations / ‘going native’
• Compare with surveys – it generates a
different epistemological focus, a
different type of knowing.
Phenomenology
• Definition:
The science and study of phenomena.
• Complex and often misunderstood
• Undergone considerable change over
the years
Phenomenology
• Husserl (1859-1938)- Essence of the
phenomenon was important rather than
the experience of it.
• Heidegger (1889-1976) - added meaning and
interpretation (hermeneutics)
• Gadamer (1900–2002) - added context
(hermeneutic circle) and even the
researcher’s perspective
Phenomenological study into
‘stroke’
• Husserl: What is ‘stroke’? (as
perceived by the stroke victim only)
• Heidegger : What is the stroke
victim’s interpretation of ‘stroke’?
• Gadamer: What is it like to be a
stroke victim?
Total description of the
phenomenon…
• The phenomenon
= ‘stroke’
• The lived experience = What is it like
to be a ‘stroke’ victim?
• Phenomenology is neither inductive
nor deductive. It neither generates
theory nor tests theory
E.g. Field (1981) Giving an injection
Symbolic Interactionism
• Definition:
The way humans act towards things is
based on the meaning those things have for
them. Those meanings emerge from social
interaction and are modified and dealt with
through an interactive process.
• It is a lens or framework for
understanding behaviour
Symbolic Interactionism
• Mead (1863 – 1931)
• Blumer (1900 – 1987)
• Glaser (b 1930) and Strauss
(1916 – 1996)
Homelessness
What it means to live as a homeless
person
Strategy
Question
Type of results
Ethnography
What is it like living
as a homeless person?
Day to day description
of life for homeless
people
Phenomenology
Homelessness
In depth experience of
what it is like to be
homeless.
Symbolic
Interactionism
Being homeless
What is going on in the
experience of being
homeless. An
understanding of
homelessness.
Approaching research questions
Philosophy
What is my world view?
Research question
What do I want to know?
Research Method
What is the best way to find out?
Approaching research questions
Philosophy
How do we know that this will address the question?
Research Method
What is the best way to find
out?
Research question
What do I want to know?
Data collection or
generation?
Generate Quality Data
• Ask relevant questions
• Explore concepts and ideas
• Consider the context of the data
• Clarify meaning, establish common meaning
• Make field notes
Qualitative data…
• Observation – social groups, behaviour,
interaction
• Conversation – naturally occurring talk
• Narrative
• Interview
• Documents – diaries, letters, reports
• Pictures / paintings
• Body language
Is this science?
Positivism
Interpretivism
Results structured round
numerical measurement,
statistical analysis.
Find regularities in
phenomena, consistencies,
patterns of observed
events.
Checked by reliability
and validity.
Checked by rigour