Transcript Variations in Qualitative Inquiry

Qualitative Research Design
Instructor: Julian Hasford
Teaching Assistant: Keith Adamson
PS398 Qualitative Methods in Psychology
January 24, 2009
Agenda
• Review
– Group Exercise: Variations in Qual Inquiry
• Lecture: Research Design
– Glossary: Extreme Case Sampling
• Course Check-in
Learning Objectives
• By the end of this session, students should
be able to
Review
• Theoretical traditions covered last
session
– Symbolic Interaction
– Narratology
– Hermenuetics
– Feminist Inquiry
– Participatory
Group Exercise
• 4 groups
• Each group assigned one theoretical tradition
• Discuss the following
– Develop a qualitative research study of money based
on a theoretical tradition
• Research question(s)?
• Methodology?
• Underlying philosophical assumptions (Ontological,
Epistemological, Axiological)?
• Report back
Memo #2
– What qualitative research tradition would I use
to study money? Why?
– What possible research problem and
question(s) could I study using this theoretical
tradition?
– Based on this tradition, what methodology
could I use to explore this problem?
– What would be my underlying ontological,
epistemological, and axiological
assumptions?
Symbolic Interaction
• Philosophical Assumptions
– People create shared meanings through their
interactions, and those meanings become reality
– 3 theoretical premises
• Humans act toward things based on the meanings the things
have for them
• The meaning of things arises out of social interaction
• The meanings of things can change through an interpretive
process of the person dealing with them
– Meaning and interpretation viewed as essential
human processes
Symbolic Interaction
• Foundational Question
– What common set of symbols and understandings
gives meaning to people’s interactions?
• Focuses on symbols and social interactions to understand
individual and group behaviour
– Possible research questions
• What is the meaning of particular symbols to individuals or
groups?
• How is are symbols and meanings produced through social
interaction?
• How do symbols, meaning, or social interaction influence
human behaviour and experience?
Symbolic Interaction
• Methodological approaches
– Close interaction (e.g., participant
observation, interviews)
– Inductive analysis
– “Panel of experts”
Narratology
• Philosophical assumptions
– Reality is constructed through personal and
collective stories
– People understand (know) their lives and the
world through stories
– Stories reveal psychological, cultural, and
social patterns through the lens of individual
experiences
Narratology
• Foundational question
– What does this story reveal about this person
or community?
• Stories at the center of narrative analysis
– Possible research questions
• What is the lived experience of a particular person
or community?
• How do stories reflect psychological and social
processes?
• How do different types of stories shape human
behaviour and experience?
Narratology
• Methodological approaches
– Narrative or life story interviews
– Document analysis
– Fieldwork
– Narrative Analysis
• Depends on purpose of the research and research
questions
– (Re-)Construction of stories (Description)
– Deconstruction of stories (Interpretation)
– Mixed methods
Feminist Inquiry
• Philosophical assumptions
– Reality and knowledge are mediated through
power relations - particularly through gender
– Historically, the construction of knowledge
and reality has been dominated by privileged
men who marginalized other ways of knowing
– Research must challenge taken-for-granted
and oppressive forms of knowledge
Feminist Inquiry
• Foundational questions
– How is gender reflected in this phenomenon?
• Gender (and power) are at at the center of analysis
– Possible research questions
• How do gender relations influence subjective
experience and social processes?
• How does gender intersect with other social
structures (e.g., class, race) to oppress/empower
people?
Feminist Inquiry
• Methodological Approaches
– Participatory Action
– Close research relationships
– Reflexivity
– Recognize multiple ways of knowing (e.g.,
emotions, intuition, embodied)
Heuristic Inquiry
• Philosophical Assumptions
– Subjectivity is central to knowledge and reality
– There are essential meanings of various lived
experiences
– Researcher’s personal knowledge and
experience at the core
Heuristic Inquiry
• Foundational Questions
– What is my experience of this phenomenon
and the essential experience of others who
also experience this phenomenon?
• Focuses on intense human experiences
• Methodological Approaches
– Systematic dialogue with self and others
– Depth interviewing
– Immersion, incubation, illumination,
explication, creative synthesis
Grounded Theory
• Foundational Question:
– What theory emerges from systematic and
grounded comparative analysis so as to
explain what is observed?
• Disciplinary origins
– Sociology (Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
• Symbolic Interactionism
– The most influential tradition in qualitative
research
Grounded Theory
• Philosophical Assumptions
– Draw on multiple paradigms
• Constructivist and objectivist approaches
– Knowledge emerges through study that is
grounded in the empirical world
– Emphasizes rigorous, systematic,
inductive/abductive methodology
Grounded Theory
• Methodological approaches
– Coding procedures to build theory, rather than test
theory
– Inductive analysis (Glaser)
– Abduction (Strauss)
• Analysis through inductive and deductive procedures for
connecting through
– Constant comparative method
– Theoretical sampling
– Testing emergent concepts with additional fieldwork
– Memoing
Research Design
• Research design is a plan for collecting
and analyzing evidence that will make it
possible for the investigator to answer
whatever questions he or she has posed
(Ragin,1994,p191 as cited in Flick p135)
Types of Designs
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Case studies
Comparative Studies
Retrospective Studies
Snap Shots
Longitudinal Studies
Formative/Summative Evaluation
Action Research
Key Design Questions
• What are the goals of the study?
– Description—Theory—Action
•
What are the main research questions?
•
What methodological approach will be used?
• What are the units of analysis
– individual, family, group, communities
• What will be the sampling strategy?
• Types of data to be collected?
•
What analytic approach will be used?
Key Design Questions
• Standardization vs emergence
• How will rigor and quality be addressed?
• How will logistics be handled? Time, resources?
• How will ethical issues be handled?
• Generalization – transferability?
Sampling
• Random Probability
• Purposeful
– Convenience
• Snow ball/chain
– Criterion
– Theoretical sampling
– Maximum variation (on dimensions of interest)
– Critical case
– Deviant case/Intensity
Extreme Case
Sampling
Nicole Dimech and Jenny White
Definition

Extreme case sampling is:


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A type of purposeful sampling generally used in qualitative
research
Singles out cases that are unusual or outstanding as
opposed to simply focusing on the central tendencies of
quantitative data
 Such as distinctive successes or notable failures (Patton,
2002)
Allows for information rich data as the chosen subjects are
assumed to provide a depth of information to the topic at
hand (Haynes-Lawrence, 2008)
Theoretical and
Methodological Significance


Value oriented
Can provide powerful lessons


Can help enhance typical programs

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For example, Jim Paul’s book (1994) on What I Learned
Loosing A Million Dollars (Patton, 2002)
For example if an early childhood program is implemented
nationwide, and all but one are effective, we can strategize
to enhance the program for all (Patton, 2002)
Actively seeks out to project the voices of
marginalized or under-researched groups in society
Generalizability is often limited (Robles-Pina,
Defrance & Cox, 2008)
Examples from Patton (2002)
Text

Covey’s (1990) Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People

Brown’s (1987) When Battered Women Kill

Peter & Waterman’s (1982) Eight Attributes
of Excellent Companies
Purpose

To examine the ways in which parents have
successfully facilitated friendships for their
sons and daughters with a disability with
friends who do not have a disability
Design and Methodology

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Participatory Action Research (PAR) was used to define
the research focus as well as throughout the entire
research process
Eleven children were identified as having successful
relationships
 Children/youth varied in terms of disability
classification and disabilities
 Ages ranged between five years old and 19
These children were identified as a result of extensive
examination on literature concerning social networks and
friendships among children without disabilities
Design and Methodology
Continued

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Successful relationships were recognized by:
 Minimum 6 month on-going relationship
 Both children initiate activities
 They share experiences in at least two settings
 No more than 18 months separate them
Individual and group interviews of the children’s parents
were done to collect data
Interviews were transcribed, coded and comprehensively
analyzed for themes and patterns
Findings

Turnbull, Pereira and Blue-Banning (1999)
classified four parent facilitating themes:
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
Foundational Theme –based on accepting the
child unconditionally
Creating Opportunities – advocating for inclusion
in neighbourhood schools, supporting
participation in community activities, initiation and
facilitating a circle of friends, and setting siblingconsistent expectations
Findings Continued

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Making Interpretations – encouraging others
to accept the child by addressing strength
and ensuring that the child has an attractive
appearance in terms of grooming and
clothing
Making accommodations – advocating for
partial participation in community activities
References
Haynes-Lawrence, D. (2008). Home visitors'
perceptions of teen mothers: Using qualitative
research to explore labeling theory. Children and
Youth Services Review, 30(12), 1386-1394.
Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research &
Evaluation Methods (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks:
Sage Publications.
Robles-Pina, R. A., Defrance, E., & Cox, D. L. (2008).
Self-concept, early childhood depression and school
retention as predictors of adolescent depression in
urban hispanic adolescents. School Psychology
International, 29(4), 426-441.
References
Turnbull, Ann, Lourdes Pereira, and Martha
Blue-Banning. "Parents' Facilitation of
Friendships Between Their Children With
a Disability and Friends Without a
Disability." Research and Practice for
Persons with Severe Disabilities 24.2
(1999): 85-99.
Class Discussion
• Choosing a research question
Course Check-in