SOWK 6003 Social Work Research Week 9 Qualitative Research and its Analysis By Dr. Paul Wong

Overview Topics Appropriate for Qualitative Research Prominent Qualitative Research Paradigms Qualitative Sampling Methods Strengths and Weaknesses Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies Research Ethics in Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research Methods Qualitative research methods attempt to tap the deeper meanings of particular human experiences, generating theoretically richer observations that are not easily reduced to numbers By going directly to the phenomenon under study, and observing it as completely as possible, researchers can develop a deeper understanding of it Qualitative research is not only a data-collecting activity, but also frequently, and perhaps typically, a theory-generating activity.

Topics Appropriate for Qualitative Research Qualitative research is especially appropriate to the study of topics for which attitudes and behaviors can best be understood within their natural setting Qualitative research is especially appropriate for the study of social processes over time (e.g., rumblings and final explosion of a riot as events actually occur)

Topics Appropriate for Qualitative Research Appropriate topics for field research include: Practices Episodes Encounters Roles Relationships Groups Organizations Settlements Social worlds Lifestyles or subcultures

Prominent Qualitative Research Paradigms Naturalism An old tradition that emphasizes observing people in their everyday settings E.g., Ethnography involves naturalistic observations and holistic understandings of cultures or subcultures Grounded Theory Attempts to derive theories from an analysis of the patterns, themes, and common categories discovered among observational data This section examines four qualitative field research paradigms that are particularly applicable to social work: naturalism, grounded theory, participatory action research, and case studies.

Prominent Qualitative Research Paradigms Participatory Action Research Implicit belief that research functions not only as means of knowledge production, but also as a tool for education and development of consciousness as well as mobilization for action Case Studies Idiographic examinations of a single individual, family, group, organization, community or society

Qualitative Sampling Methods Probability sampling is sometimes used in qualitative research, however nonprobability techniques are much more common Nonprobability samples used in qualitative research are called purposive samples

Qualitative Sampling Methods Purposive samples include: Quota sample Snowball sample Deviant case sample Intensity sample Critical incidents sample Maximum variation sample In purposive sampling, you select a sample of observations that you believe will yield the most comprehensive understanding of your subject of study. For example, in a study of homelessness, you might wish to observe many different locations in the city. You could use standard probability methods to pick a sample of locations, or you could use a rough quota system, observing busy areas and deserted ones, or including samples from different times of the day.

Strengths and Weaknesses Depth of understanding Flexibility Cost Subjectivity Generalizibility Strengths: depth of understanding, flexibility (can modify research design), cost (relatively inexpensive) Weaknesses: subjectivity (=less reliability), generalizability (seldom can generalize findings to larger population)

Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies Given the variety of research methods and paradigms, a general agreement exists that one key issue in evaluating the rigor of qualitative research is trustworthiness Three key threats to trustworthiness: Reactivity Researcher bias Respondent bias

Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies Contemporary Positivist Standards Strategies to minimize threats: Prolonged engagement Triangulation Peer debriefing and support Negative case analysis Member checking Auditing

Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies Social Constructivist Standards This paradigm views trustworthiness and strategies to enhance rigor more in terms of capturing multiple subjective realities than of ensuring the portrayal of an objective social reality, the objective of contemporary positivists.

Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies Empowerment Standards Those who take a critical social science or participatory action research approach to qualitative research include empowerment standards in critically appraising qualitative research Research must evoke action by participants to effect desired change and a redistribution of power

Research Ethics in Qualitative Research Conducting qualitative research responsibly involves confronting ethical issues that arise from the researcher’s direct contact with participants: Is it ethical to talk to people when they don’t know you will be recording their words? Is it ethical to see a severe need for help and not respond to it directly? Is it ethical to “pay” people with trade-offs for access to their lives and minds?

Qualitative Research: Specific Methods PowerPoint presentation developed by: E. Roberto Orellana & Lin Fang

Overview Preparing for the Field The Various Roles of the Observer Relations to Participants: Emic and Etic Perspectives Qualitative Interviewing Focus Groups Life History Feminist Methods Recording Observations

Preparing for the Field Search of relevant literature Use key informants Discuss the group/community with others who have already studied it Discuss the group with one of its members Establish initial contacts with the group to be studied

The Various Roles of the Observer Four different positions on a continuum of participant observation roles are: Complete participant Participant-as-observer Observer-as-participant Complete observer

The Various Roles of the Observer A complete participant may either be a genuine participant in what she is studying or pretend to be a genuine participant. People will see her only as a participant, not as a researcher A participant-as-observer would participate fully with the group under study, but would make it clear that he is also undertaking research

The Various Roles of the Observer The observer-as-participant is one who identifies herself as a researcher and interacts with the participants in the social process but makes no pretense of actually being a participant The complete observer observes a social process without becoming a part of it in any way. The participants in a study might not realize they are being studied because of the researcher’s unobtrusiveness

Relations to Participants: Emic and Etic Perspectives Qualitative researchers should learn how to simultaneously hold two contradictory perspectives: Trying to adopt the beliefs, attitudes, and other points of view shared by the members of the culture being studied (the emic perspective) Maintaining objectivity as an outsider and raising questions about the culture being observed that wouldn’t occur to members of that culture (the etic perspective)

Qualitative Interviewing Qualitative researchers often engage in in-depth interviews with the participants, interviews that are far less structured than interviews conducted in survey research Qualitative interviewing tends to be open-ended and unstructured. Three forms of qualitative, open-ended interviewing are: The informal conversational interview The general interview guide approach The standardized open-ended interview

Qualitative Interviewing An informal conversational interview is an unplanned and unanticipated interaction between an interviewer and a respondent that occurs naturally during the course of fieldwork observation With the interview guide approach to qualitative interviewing, an interview guide lists in outline form the topics and issues that an interviewer should cover in the interview, but it allows the interviewer to adapt the sequencing and wording of questions to each particular interview

Qualitative Interviewing The standardized open-ended interview consists of questions that are written out in advance exactly the way they are to be asked in the interview. Probes are to be limited to where they are indicated on the interview schedule

Focus Groups To conduct a focus group, researchers bring participants together to be observed and interviewed as group Focus groups are based on structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews. They allow the researcher to question several individuals systematically and simultaneously

Focus Groups Inexpensive Generate speedy results offer several advantages: Inexpensive Generate speedy results Offer flexibility for probing The group dynamics that occur in focus groups can bring out aspects of the topic that the researchers may not have anticipated and that may not have emerged in individual interviews

Questionable representativeness of participants Focus Groups Focus groups however, also have disadvantages: Questionable representativeness of participants The influence of group dynamics to pressure people to say things that do not accurately reflect what they really believe or do The difficulty in analyzing the voluminous data generated

Life History Life histories or life stories involve asking open-ended questions to discover how the participants in a study understand the significant events and meaning in their own lives. AKA: Oral history interviews Because life histories provide idiographic examinations of individuals’ lives, they can be viewed within the case study paradigm

Recording Observations Tape recorders are powerful tools for qualitative interviewing. It ensures verbatim recording and frees interviewers to keep their full attention focused on the respondents The field journal is the backbone of qualitative research, because that is where the researcher records the observations. Journal entries should be detailed, yet concise.

Recording Observations Note-taking in qualitative research should include both the investigator’s empirical observations and the investigator’s interpretations of them. You should record what you “know” has happened and what you “think” has happened. If, possible observations should be recorded as they are made; otherwise, they should be recorded in stages and as soon as possible. Don’t trust your memory any more than you have to.