University of Durham D Dr Robert Coe University of Durham School of Education Tel: (+44 / 0) Fax: (+44 / 0) Qualitative Methods Doctor of Education (EdD) Analysing, Interpreting and Using Educational Research (Research Methodology)

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 2 What is qualitative research? Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible. These practices transform the world. They turn the world into a series of representations, including field notes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings and memos to the self. At this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them … It is understood, however, that each practice makes the world visible in a different way. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000, p3)

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 3 Features of Ethnography Natural contexts Observation / informal conversations Unstructured, not predetermined Small number of cases Interpretation of meanings / functions Hammersley, 1998

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 4 Principles of qualitative / ethnographic research Naturalism Direct observation of ‘natural’ settings Minimise effects of researcher Importance of context Understandings Humans interpret and construct (hence different view of ‘causality’) Need to understand views of those studied Discovery Inductive (open minded), not hypothesis testing Minimal assumptions Research focus develops / changes Theory emerges Hammersley, 1998

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 5 Strengths / weaknesses Criticisms of quantitative approaches: Ignores humanity Artificial contexts Emphasis on measurable / observable Ignores meaning Reifies phenomena by measurement Criticisms of qualitative approaches: Impressionistic / vague Subjective (biased, unreliable) Not generalisable Can’t establish causality Can’t be replicated Hammersley, 1998

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 6 Validity in qualitative research (Hammersley, 1998) Validity = Truth But, Truth  Certainty Three questions: Is the claim plausible? Are the methods credible? What evidence is provided? Judgement is made within a scientific community with three principles: All members seek to resolve differences All open to persuasion Anyone can participate (given 1 & 2)

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 7 Do reliability and validity matter in qualitative work? “Qualitative researchers, especially in sociology and anthropology, are more likely to be concerned with the kinds of questions I raised in the body of my paper: whether data are accurate, in the sense of being based on close observation of what is being talked about or only on remote indicators; whether data are precise, in the sense of being close to the thing discussed and thus being ready to take account of matters not anticipated in the original formulation of the problem; whether an analysis is full or broad, in the sense of knowing about a wide range of matters that impinge on the question under study, rather than just a relatively few variables.” Becker (1996)

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 8 Grounded Theory Glaser and Strauss (1967) Defence of qualitative analysis in a positivistic world Key ideas Emergence – theory and methods Constant comparison Coding – categories and properties Memoing Theoretical sampling Saturation Literature as data

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 9 Grounded Theory (cont.) … the aim of theorizing is to develop useful theories. So, any technology, whether qualitative or quantitative, is only a means for accomplishing that aim. We do not believe in the primacy of either mode of doing research … An instrument is an instrument, not an end in itself. The issue is not primacy but rather when and how each mode might be useful to theorizing Strauss and Corbin (1998)

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 10 Crystal, not triangle …the central imaginary for “validity” for postmodernist texts is not the triangle, a rigid, fixed, two-dimensional object. Rather the central imaginary is the crystal, which combines symmetry and substance with an infinite variety of shapes, substances, transmutations, multidimensionalities, and angles of approach. Crystals grow, change, alter, but are not amorphous. Crystals are prisms that reflect externalities and refract within themselves, creating different colors, patterns, arrays, casting off in different directions. What we see depends on our angle of repose. Not triangulation, crystallization. In postmodernist mixed-genre texts, we have moved from plane geometry to light theory, where light can be both waves and particles. Richardson, 1997

© 2003 Robert Coe, University of Durham 11 Words can quantify too ‘most’, ‘many’, ‘none’, ‘all’ ‘frequently’, ‘generally’, ‘often’, ‘typically’ Miles and Huberman (1984) ‘Qualitative Data Analysis’ is full of quantification Znaniecki (1934) arguing against quantification: “Whenever the statistical method definitely gains the ascendancy, the number of students of high intellectual levels who are attracted to sociology tends to fall off considerably” which is “a statistical proof for the deplorable effects of statistics.” (Lundberg, 1964)