1. GS/PPAL 6200 3.00 Section N Research Methods and Information Systems February 10, 2015 Professor Brenda Spotton Visano Office: 130 McLaughlin Voice Mail: (416) 736-2100 ext. 20470 E-mail: spotton@yorku.caspotton@yorku.ca

2. Agenda Review of last class Qualitative Research: – Process – Assessing Quality – Ethnography and the Interview Assignment #2 Instructions Preparing for Quantitative Analysis Return and Discussion of Assignment #1

3. Qualitative Research Features: – Inductive – specific to the general – Interpretivist – seek to understand a phenomenon through others’ interpretations – Naturalistic – minimize disturbances to social phenomenon studied Methods: – Ethnography/Participant observation – Interviews: structured/semi-structured/unstructured – Focus groups (semi-structured format) – Discourse analysis – Textual analysis

4. Process 1.Pose General Research Questions 2.Select Sample 3.Collect Data 4.Interpret Data 5.Generalize (Refine 1. Research Question, 3. Collect further data) 6.Conclude 7.Write Up Findings

5. Assessing Quality of Qualitative Research Reliability and Validity (Construct, Internal, External) Relevance? Or Trustworthiness and Authenticity? Reliability: can we replicate?  Dependability Construct Validity: subjective?  Objectivity Internal Validity: Impressionistic and subjective?  Credibility External Validity: can we generalize?  Transferability

6. Ethnography and Participant Observation Role of Researcher: Participant … Participant- observer … Non-participant - observer Overt/Covert Role of Researcher Issues of Access, Ethics, Note-taking One step removed: Key informant interviews, Elite interviews

7. Interviews Unstructured with interview prompts only, narrative interviews of life history, oral histories Semi-structured: Interview Guide with list of questions as starting points Structured with specific questions

8. Questions, Topics, Researcher Traits A. Bryman, E. Bell, J.J. Teevan Social Research Methods 3 rd Canadian ed. Oxford University Press, 2012 Questions: Introduction, Follow up, Probing, Specifying, Direct, Indirect, Structuring, Interpreting Topics: Values, Beliefs, Behaviour, Roles, Relationships, Places, Emotions, Encounters Characteristics of a Good Researcher: Knowledgeable, Structuring/Steering, Clear, Gentle, Sensitive, Open, Critical, Remembering, Balanced interventions, Ethically sensitive, Non- judgmental

9. Generalizing from Readings Lessons for – Interviewing from (Sabot, 1999) – Participant-Observer Research from (Winlow et al, 2001) Checklist again: – Research Question: – Philosophy: – Research Design: – Data Collection Method: – Data Analysis Method: – Sample Size and Representativeness: – Conclusions: – Reliability/Replicability  Dependability – Validity  Objectivity, Credibility, Transferability