Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Chapter 9 Developing an Approach for a Qualitative Study

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Typical Phases of Qualitative Design Orientation and overview—getting a handle on what is salient about a phenomenon Focused exploration—in-depth exploration of the phenomenon Confirmation and closure—efforts to ascertain trustworthiness of the findings

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Overview of Qualitative Research Traditions Anthropology (Domain: Culture) –Ethnography; Ethnoscience Philosophy (Domain: Lived Experience) –Phenomenology; Hermeneutics Psychology (Domain: Behavior) –Ethology; Ecological psychology

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Overview of Qualitative Research Traditions (cont’d) Sociology (Domain: Social Settings) –Grounded theory; Ethnomethodology Sociolinguistics (Domain: Communication) –Discourse analysis History (Domain: Past Events & Conditions) –Historical research

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ethnography Describes and interprets cultural behavior Types of ethnography: –Macroethnography (broadly defined cultures) –Microethnography (narrowly defined cultures) –Autoethnography –Ethnonursing research –Ethnoscience (cognitive anthropology )

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ethnography (cont’d) Relies on extensive, labor-intensive fieldwork Culture is inferred from the group’s words, actions, and products Assumption: Cultures guide the way people structure their experiences

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ethnography (cont’d) Seeks an emic perspective (insiders’ view) of the culture Relies on a wide range of data sources Product: An in-depth, holistic portrait of the culture under study

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Phenomenology Focuses on the discovery of the meaning of people’s lived experience Descriptive phenomenology—describes the meaning of human experience Steps: Bracketing, Intuiting, Analyzing, Describing Interpretive phenomenology (hermeneutics)— interprets human experience

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Phenomenology (cont’d) Asks: What is the essence of a phenomenon as experienced by these people, and what does it mean? Four aspects of experience: Lived space, lived body, lived time, lived human relation Main data source: In-depth conversations with participants

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Grounded Theory Aims to discover theoretical precepts about social psychological processes and social structures, grounded in data –Substantive theory—grounded in data on a specific substantive topic –Grounded formal theory—a higher, more abstract level of theory based on substantive grounded theory studies

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Grounded Theory Studies Primary data sources: In-depth interviews and observations Data collection, data analysis, sampling occur simultaneously Constant comparison used to develop and refine theoretically relevant categories Alternative views of grounded theory:  Glaser and Strauss  Strauss and Corbin

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Historical Research Systematically attempts to establish facts about and relationships among past events Types of historical research: –Biographical history –Social history –Intellectual history

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Historical Data Typically written records (can be physical remains, photographs, interviews) Requires evaluation –External criticism—authenticity of the source –Internal criticism—worth of the evidence Often found in historical archives Can be primary source or secondary source

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Other Types of Qualitative Research Case studies: Focus on a single entity, or a small number of entities, with intensive scrutiny Narrative analysis: Focus on story; designed to determine how individuals make sense of events in their lives

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Other Types of Qualitative Research (cont’d) Qualitative outcome analysis (QOA): An approach to confirming the applicability of clinical strategies suggested by a qualitative study and evaluating clinical outcomes Qualitative metasynthesis: Interpretive translations produced by integrating findings from qualitative studies

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Research with Ideological Perspectives Critical theory research: Concerned with a critique of existing social structures and with envisioning new possibilities

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Research with Ideological Perspectives (cont’d) Feminist research: Focuses on how gender domination and discrimination shape women’s lives and their consciousness

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Research with Ideological Perspectives (cont’d) Participatory action research: Produces knowledge through close collaboration with groups/communities that are vulnerable to control or oppression

Copyright © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Comparison of Traditional Qualitative Research and Critical Research