Transcript Variations in Qualitative Inquiry II Instructor: Julian Hasford Teaching Assistant: Keith Adamson Guest Lecturer: Robb Travers, Ph.D. PS398 Qualitative Methods in Psychology January 20, 2009

Variations in Qualitative
Inquiry II
Instructor: Julian Hasford
Teaching Assistant: Keith Adamson
Guest Lecturer: Robb Travers, Ph.D.
PS398 Qualitative Methods in Psychology
January 20, 2009
Agenda
• Review
• Lecture: Variations in Qual Inquiry II
– Glossary: Hermeneutics and Feminist Inquiry
• Guest Lecture: Participatory Research
• Group Exercise
• Course Check-in
Review
• Questions…
• Theoretical traditions covered thus
far…
– Ethnography
– Autoethnography
– Phenomenology
– Heuristic Inquiry
– Ethnomethodology
Review
Paradigms
Theoretical
Tradition
Ontology
Epistemology
CONSTRUCTIVIST
Symbolic Interaction
Phenomenology
CRITICAL
REALIST
Ethnography
Narrative
Hermeneutics
Relativism, Constructionism
Participatory
Orientational
Realism
Subjectivism
Objectivism
Axiology
Values acknowledged
Value-driven
Value-free
Rhetoric
First Person, Active Voice
Critical Voice
Third Person, Passive Voice
Qualitative
Action-oriented
Quantitative
Focus
Ideographic
Experience, Subjectivity, Social processes
Power
Social issues
Nomothetic
Universal phenomena
Goals
Description
Understanding (Verstehen)
Emancipation
Explanation
Prediction and Control
Methodology
Design
Setting
Sampling
Emergent
Naturalistic
Purposeful Sampling (Small)
Data Collection
Qualitative Data
Source
Active participants
Instruments
Researcher is Instrument (Personal Engagement)
Res. Relation.
Empathic Neutrality
Analysis &
Findings
Unique-case orientation
Inductive
Reflexivity
Holistic, Contextual
Experimental
Controlled (Laboratory)
Random/Probability Sampling
Collaborative
Numerical Data
Passive subjects
Tests, Questionnaires
Objective
Generalization
Hypothetico-Deductive
Verification/Falsification
Acontextual
Learning Objectives
• By the end of this session, students should
be able to
– Identify the disciplinary origins, foundational
questions, and methodological approaches of
various qualitative theoretical traditions
– Analyze the paradigmatic and philosophical
assumptions of various qualitative theoretical
orientations
Variation in Qualitative
• Theoretical traditions vary in terms of
– Foundational questions (Goals)
– Disciplinary origins
– Paradigmatic and philosophical assumptions
– Methodological approaches
• Design, Data Collection, Analysis
Variation in Qualitative
• Qualitative traditions
– Symbolic Interaction
– Narratology
– Hermeneutics
– Feminist
– Participatory (Orientational)
Disciplinary Variation
– Social Psychology

Symbolic Interaction
– Social Sciences, Literary Arts

Narratology
– Linguistics, Philosophy, Theology

Hermeneutics
– Social movements

Feminist
– Social movements

Participatory
(Orientational)
Symbolic Interaction
• Foundational Question
– What common set of symbols and understandings
gives meaning to people’s interactions?
• Philosophical Assumptions
– 3 theoretical premises (Blumer)
• 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
Symbolic Interaction
• Disciplinary Origins
– Developed in 1930’s by George H. Mead (social
psychologist)
• Emerged as response to mechanistic views of behaviourism
– Further developed in 1960’s by Herbert Blumer
(sociologist)
• Methodological approaches
–
–
–
–
–
Close interaction
Inductive analysis
“Panel of experts”
Influenced development of Semiotics
Also influenced development of Grounded Theory
Narratology
• Foundational question
– What does this story reveal about this person or
community?
• Philosophical assumptions
– Reality is constructed through stories
• Disciplinary origin
– Humanities
• Philosophy, Literary criticism, Hermeneutics
– Social sciences
• Psychology (Jerome Bruner, Dan McAdams, Theodore
Sarbin)
Narratology
• Methodological approaches
– Narrative or life story interviews
– Document analysis
– Fieldwork
– Narrative Analysis
• (Re-)Construction of stories
• Deconstruction of stories
• Mixed methods
Narratology
• Example (Hasford, Rathwell, & Pratt, 2008)
– Background
• Study explored the predictors of community identity among
emerging adults.
– Community involvement, Generativity, Values, Socio-Demographics
• Narrative identity theory – presumed that a highly developed
community identity is reflected by a prototypical community story
– Five dimensions: story presence, prosocial content, positive emotional tone,
specificity, and personal impact
– Methodology
•
•
•
•
•
85 emerging adults (age 26, 60 females)
Narrative interviews (community involvement story)
Stories rated using quantitative scale
Quantitative measures of predictor variables at ages 17, 19, 23, 26
Statistical analysis (correlation, regression) of predictor and story
variables
Narratology
• Example (Hasford, Rathwell, & Pratt, 2008)
– Findings
• Participants with greater generativity and prosocial values
tended to tell more prototypical community stories
– More highly developed community identity
• Participants who were more involved in the community during
teen years told more prototypical community stories
• Community involvement at age 23 was not a significant
predictor of community stories
• However, current community involvement (age 26) was a
strong predictor
Hermeneutics
Jenna Reiner
Hermeneutics
Definition:
 The science of interpretation and explanation
 What something means depends on the cultural context in which
the text was originally created as well as the cultural context
within which it is subsequently interpreted (Patton, 2002).
 Focuses on the relationship between the author, reader, and text.
 Challenged the assertion that an interpretation can never be
absolutely correct or true. It must remain only and always an
interpretation (Patton, 2002).
 A hermeneutic interpretation requires the individual to
understand and sympathize with another's point of view.
Hermeneutics
Methodological/Theoretical Significance:
Hermeneutics
Example 1:
 Used a hermeneutic approach to explore the perspectives of
hospitalized patients with cancer on the quality of the nursing
care
 The analysis of this study’s narratives focused on the meaning of
lived experiences when they wrote about being treated for cancer
 The special emphasis on perspective and context is especially
important in this case as one with cancer would obviously have a
very different perspective on things than someone else
 The hospital and nursing staff could then use this information to
provide improved care to the cancer patients.
Hermeneutics
Example 2:
Design:
 Fifteen Norwegian relatives narrated their
experiences of being met by mental health care
personnel regarding the care of their adult family
member who had seriously thought about or
attempted suicide.
 The narrative interviews were audiotaped,
transcribed into text, and then interpreted using a
phenomenological hermeneutic method.
Hermeneutics
Findings:
 “The five themes that were constructed describing being
met were: Being-seen as a human being; trusting
personnel, treatment, and care; feeling trusted by
personnel; being consoled; and entering into hope.”
(Talseth et al., 2001)
 The experience of being met in the midst of the care of a
relative in crisis created possibilities for hope and greater
optimism overall.
 This study also provided the participants with
appropriate and productive approaches to dealing with
their suicidal relatives.
Hermeneutics
References:
Charalambous, A., Papdapolous, R., & Beadsmoore, A.
(2008). Ricoeur’s hermeneutic phenomenology: an
implication for nursing research. Scandinavian Journal of
Caring Sciences, 22(4), 637-642.
Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation
Methods (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Talseth, A., Gilie, F., & Norberg, A. (2001). Being met – a
passageway to hope for relatives of patients at risk of
committing suicide: a phenomenological hermeneutic
study. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 15(6), 249-256.
Definition
•
It is a type of Orientational Qualitative Inquiry,
which is built upon phenomenology and
hermeneutics. The researcher captures the
perspectives of the people being studied and their
own selves. Research is conducted and analyzed
based on an ideological or theoretical perspective
(Patton, 2002, pg 129).
•
“A feminist perspective presumes the importance
of gender in human relationships and societal
processes and orients the study in that direction,”
(Patton, 2002, pg 129).
These can include:
•
•
•
An Article by Michael Messner (1990)
He explores and interprets the meanings that
males associate to their experiences with
organized sport, the mediating factors of class
and race, and the problems that arise from
constructions of masculinity (Messner, 1990).
He conducted interviews with 30 athletes
retired from organized sports between the ages
of 21 and 48 (Messner, 1990).
•
•
•
Messner found that the men were rarely asked
to talk about their feelings, particularly in order
to validate an experience
He found that men perceived the seperation of
genders ‘natural’ and that they were
introduced to sports by male figures;
masculinity was equated with “competition,
physical strength, and skills” (Messner, 1990).
The men’s need for unity and acceptance leads
to a conditional self worth determined by
success (Messner, 1990).
•
Messner concludes that the institution of
organized sport is both gendered and
gendering and that boys bring ambivalence to
any intimate interactions (Messner, 1990).
Messner, M. (1990). Boyhood, organized sports,
and the construction of masculinities. Journal of
Contemporary Ethnography, 18, 416-444.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and
evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.
Participatory Research:
Form and Function
Robb Travers, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Wilfrid Laurier University
[email protected]
Assistant Professor
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Toronto
what I’d like to talk about today....
 to explore and discuss participatory research
 to explore its principles and action orientation
 to review a case study - the Toronto Teen Survey
epistemological standpoint…
typically,
research is
characterized
by...
 researcher
initiation/academic
freedom
 objectivity (unbiased)
 positivist ideals about
‘methodological rigour’
 people with credentials
 ‘knowledge production’
aims (vs. social action)
ethics and traditional research
wasted resources/irrelevance of questions
insensitive methods
outsider comes in as expert (cultural invasion)
problem of ‘sudden entry’ and ‘irresponsible
disappearance’ (helicopter research)
 exploitation - little or no return for
communities
 little attention to vulnerability of communities




what’s in a name?
what they are called…
 participatory action
research
 participatory inquiry
 action research
 participatory research
 community-based
participatory research
 feminist methods
 community-based research
what they share in common
 axiological commonalities
 ‘do no harm’ to ‘do good’
 concern for social justice
 a desire to uncover
oppressive conditions
 community involvement
 privileging ‘voice’
 partnerships
 an action orientation
Community-Based Research...
 a form of collaborative inquiry where diverse
partners join efforts and commit to identifying,
researching and providing solutions to complex
health inequalities.
 partners – community members, academic
researchers, policy-makers, service providers
Community-Based Research...
 CBR is a collaborative approach to research that
equitably involves all partners in the research
process and recognizes the unique strengths that
each brings. CBR begins with a research topic of
importance to the community with the aim of
combining knowledge and action for social change
to improve community health and eliminate health
disparities.
Minkler & Wallerstein (2003)
Community-Based Participatory Research for Health
Jossey-Bass (2004)
a transformative stance on research…
Community-Based Research...
 CBR differs from more
traditional forms of
research in terms of
community involvement in:
 input (research is driven
by community needs)
 process (community
plays a role in
gathering, analyzing and
disseminating
information)
 outcome (research is
intended to be used by
the community to
enhance health and
build on community
assets)
Community-Based Research...
relevance
initiation
partnerships
community engagement
social action
mobilization
The assumptions that I bring to my
work.....
 HIV research should:
 be community-driven and relevant
 emphasize health promotion and the social
determinants of health;
 help build the capacities of communities to address
the social determinants of health;
 draw on the lived experience of people – to
influence policy analysis and policy change
Knowledge as power….
Engaging in CBR means asking ourselves.....

Who has the ‘right and the ‘credibility’ to produce
knowledge?
 Sharing power and conceptualizing community as:
 initiators of research
 collaborators in research
 principal investigators in research
Investigators:, Sarah Flicker, Robb Travers, Jason D. Pole, June LarkinHazelle Palmer. Research
Manager: Susan Flynn. Research Coordinator: Crystal Layne. Collaborators: Karen Chan & Adinne
Schwartz, Toronto Public Health Students & Interns: Ana Bobesiu, Chavisa Brett, Emily Dauria,
Chase Lo, Melisa Dickie, Alycia Fridkin, Adrian Guta, Peggy Harowitz, Ali Lakhini, Sarah E McCardell ,
Kristin Mcilroy, Safiya Pindare, Roxana Saheli, Helena Shimeless, Dan Stadnick.YAC Members: Alice,
Andrea, Ayesha, Brette, Claudia, David, Gemini, Feven, Melani, Nikole, Nyla, Pamela, Janice, Rosimay,
Sam, Stanley, Sunshine.
The TTS has been funded largely by The Ontario HIV Treatment Network and CIHR, with support from the
Centre for Urban Health Initiatives, York University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University
and the Wellesley Institute.
Context
• Increase in HIV and STI rates
• Misinformation, myths & decrease in
knowledge among youth
• Failure or lack of sexual health education
and services
• Multiple and ever-changing needs of
Toronto‘s diverse youth communities
Objectives
• Identify what sexual health, including
HIV/AIDS, services and information are
being used by diverse youth across
Toronto.
• Identify the barriers and faciliators to
youth accessing sexual health services
and resources.
• Discover how diverse youth would like to
see these gaps and barriers addressed.
Methods
• Peer-to-peer model; Youth Advisory
Committee (15 youth aged 13-17)
• YAC facilitated 90 workshops in a variety
of youth settings
• In workshop, participants completed
anonymous survey that was designed by
YAC.
1,216 Toronto Youth Surveyed
Focus Groups
• 13 focus groups with 90 service providers
from 55 agencies.
• (in process) 16 focus groups with youth
who experience heightened barriers to
access
• e.g LGBTQ, Black young men and women,
young parents, newcomers,
By Race/Ethnicity
Other Facts About Our Sample
33% born
outside
Canada
4% report a
disability
5% problems
with
drugs/alcohol
7% identified
as LGBTQQ
6 % lived in
foster/group homes;
8% lived
independently
Pregnancy
Involvement
• 8% females
• 6% males
Contact
Dr. Robb Travers
[email protected]
www.ppt.on.ca
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
• Identify your underlying paradigm and philosophical
assumptions (Ontological, Epistemological, Axiological)
• Research question(s)? Methodology?
• Report back
Course Check-in