1. An Introduction to Qualitative Research
Anna Voce
Department of Public Health Medicine

2. Resources
Ulin et al (2002) Qualitative methods: A field guide for applied research in Sexual and Reproductive Health. Family Health International.
Patton MQ (2002) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 3rd Edition. Sage Publications
Resource CD

3. The complementary nature of research approaches

4. Approaches to Research
Positivist
Objective, stable reality governed by context-free cause-effect relationships
Scientific, evidence-based, deductive knowledge
Research methods structured, replicable, experimental; results are quantifiable

5. Interpretive
Subjective, socially constructed reality, which must be interpreted
Knowledge influenced by multiple realities, sensitive to context; research aims to uncover the meaning of phenomena
Researcher is a co-creator of meaning, brings own subjective experience to the research, methods try to capture ‘insider’ knowledge, research conducted in natural settings

6. Mixing methodologies
“Let us be done with the arguments of [qualitative versus quantitative methods] … and get on with the business of attacking our problems with the widest array of conceptual and methodological tools that we possess and they demand.”
Trow, 1957 In: Ulin et al. (2002) p. 49

7. “A paradigm of choices rejects methodological orthodoxy in favour of methodological appropriateness as the primary criterion for judging methodological quality ”
McKinlay JB (1993) In:Baum (1995) p.464

8. Choosing the appropriate research methodology
Quantitative research
Descriptive (who, how many, where, when, how often)
Analytic (why – causal links)
Applied (test interventions – what change)
Quantitative methods on their own do not offer sufficient understanding of the complex web of relationships between the factors that determine health and disease

9. Qualitative methods help to:
Explain the factors that influence health and disease
Understand how individuals and communities understand health and disease
Study the interactions between players who are relevant to a public health issue
Answer questions like:
Why did it happen in that context? Why do some participate and others not? How do professionals exert their power?

10. Example: Smoking and lung cancer
Epidemiological research has established the association b/t smoking and lung cancer
Qualitative methodology helps to explain:
The power of tobacco companies and advertising
Reasons why people continue to smoke despite the evidence
Social meaning of smoking (eg among women and the youth)

11. Integrating methods Match the research methodology to:
The type of research question
The nature of the problem being investigated
Mixing methodologies
Qual preliminary to QUANT (generate hypotheses)
Quant preliminary to QUAL (guides purposive sampling)
QUANT followed-up by qual (helps interpret findings)
QUAL followed-up by quant (tests generalisability)

12. The process of qualitative research

13. The steps in designing a qualitative study
Establish the general problem to be investigated
Of interest to the researcher
Stating the purpose of the study
Based on problem analysis
Arises from previous studies
Guided by literature review
Determined by who will use the research results

14. Develop a conceptual/theoretical framework for the study
Formulate general and specific research questions (aims and objectives)
Select a qualitative research design
Select a sampling strategy
Establish site of the research
Selection of participants

15. Ensure trustworthiness of the study
Determine data collection methods and develop data collection tools
Establish how data will be managed and analysed
Interpretation and discussion of findings
Prepare research report

16. Qualitative research designs

17. Types of qualitative research designs
The case study
Ethnography
Grounded theory
Phenomenology
Participatory research

18. The case study

19. The Case Study
Interest is in an individual case rather than in a method of inquiry
Data may be quantitative or qualitative
Focus on what can be learned from the individual case
A ‘case’ may be simple or complex
Single child
Class of children

20. Types of case study Intrinsic Instrumental case study
The case itself is of interest
Instrumental case study
A particular case is studied to provide insight into an issue or to refine a theory
Collective case study
A number of cases are studied jointly in order to investigate a phenomenon (instrumental study extended to several cases)

21. Ethnography

22. Ethnography Rooted in anthropology
Also called participant observation/ naturalistic enquiry
Ethno = people
Graphy = describing something
Characterised by immersion

23. Role of the observer Complete observer Observer as participant
Behind one-way mirror, invisible role
Observer as participant
Known, overt observer
Participant as observer
Pseudo-member, research role known
Complete participant
Full membership, research role not known

24. Not relevant Researcher’s Focus of Attention Not Important
Amount of time in the field site
Not relevant
Researcher’s Focus of Attention
All details in the field
Amount of time in the field site
Not Important
Figure: Focusing in field research (Adapted from Neuman 1997)

25. Grounded Theory

26. Grounded Theory Rooted in social sciences
Emphasises the development of theory
Which is grounded in data systematically collected and analysed (constant comparative analysis to produce substantive theory)
Theory must be faithful to the evidence
Looks for generalisable theory - by making comparisons across situations
Focus is on patterns of action and interaction

27. Phenomenology

28. Features of Phenomenology
Rooted in philosophy
Central question: what is the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived experience of this phenomenon for this person/group of people?
How is each individual’s subjective reality applied to make experiences meaningful?
Analysis of the language used

29. Approaches to Participatory Research

30. Participatory Action Research (PAR)
Emphasises the political aspects of knowledge production
Concerned about power and powerlessness – empowerment through conscientisation (building self-awareness and constructing knowledge)
Importance of people’s lived experience – ‘honour the wisdom of the people’
Concerned with genuine collaboration
Democratic values

31. Action Research Build action theories - action science
Aim is to develop effective action, improve practice, and implement change
Cyclical process, alternating between action and reflection

32. Action-research groups
Action-learning group – facilitated or self-directed
Emphasis on individual learning
Reflection-in-action
Reflection-on-action
Action-research team
Focus on operational problems
Facilitated (technical to empowering continuum)

33. Sampling in qualitative research

34. Considerations in sampling
Purpose of qualitative research
Produce information-rich data
Depth rather than breadth
Insight rather than generalisation
Conceptual rather than numerical considerations
Choose information-rich sites and respondents

35. Common sampling approach
Purposive sampling
Not haphzard
Select information-rich cases
Not the same as convenience sampling

36. Purposive Sampling Strategies
Deviant case sampling
Information rich cases that are unusual (e.g. In Search of Excellence)
Intensity sampling
Excellent examples of the phenomenon of interest but not highly unusual cases
Heterogenous sampling
Sample people with diverse characteristics to see whether there are common patterns

37. Opportunistic sampling
Homogenous samples
Describe a particular sub-group in depth
Typical case sampling
To describe and illustrate what is typical to a particular setting
Snowball sampling
Through informants identify others who know a lot about the issue
Opportunistic sampling
Taking advantage of on-the-spot opportunities

38. Considerations in sample size
Saturation
Redundancy
Minimum samples based on expected reasonable coverage, given the purpose of the study and constraints

39. Ensuring the trustworthiness of qualitative research

40. General criteria inlcude:
Criteria for judging the quality and credibility of qualitative research
Criteria for judging the quality of qualitative research specific to the research design selected
General criteria inlcude:
Clear exposition of data collection and analysis methods
Generating and assessing rival conclusions
Alternative themes, divergent patterns, rival explanations
Attention to negative cases

41. Triangulation Methods – interviews, observations, document analysis
Sources – public/private, over time, different perspectives
Analysts – multiple analysts, independent analysis and compare findings
Theories – to understand how diferent assumptions affect findings, illuminate inconsistencies

42. Respondent validation Reflexivity Relevance
The researcher as research instrument
Relevance
Adds to/affirms existing knowledge
Generalisable to similar settings

43. Ethical considerations
Informed consent
Possible risks and benefits
Voluntary participation
Assurances of confidentiality
Purpose of the research
How chosen to be a participant
Data collection procedures
Whom to contact with questions and concerns

44. Data Collection Methods

45. Observation Purpose of observation
Describe the setting
First-hand experience – assists with analysis
See what is normally taken for granted or not easily spoken about
Confirm perceptions of respondents
Requires training, preparation and discipline
Develop an observation checklist

46. Types of observation Observer as outsider - unobtrusive
Participant observation
Mystery client technique

47. Sources of observational data
The setting
The human and social environment
Historical information
Planned activities
Informal interactions and unplanned activities
‘Native’ language
Nonverbal communication
Unobtrusive observations
Documents
What does not happen
Oneself

48. Document review
Negotiate access to important documents at the beginning of the study
Can help the researcher to identify what needs to be pursued further in direct observation and interviews
Respect confidentiality – to what extent is the document a public document?
Use checklist to guide document review

49. Interviewing Purpose of interviews Elicit feelings Thoughts Opinions
Previous experiences
The meaning people give to certain events

50. Types of interviews Informal conversational interview
General interview guide approach
Standardised open-ended interview
Closed fixed-response interview
Combination of approaches

51. Types of questions Experience and behaviour questions
Opinion and value questions
Feeling questions
Knowledge questions
Background/demographic questions

52. Focus Group Discussion
Purpose of FGD
Get a variety of perspectives/reactions to a certain issue
In a short time
Mainly for eliciting opinions, values, feelings

53. Advantages Cost-effective
Quality of data enhanced by group participants
Can quickly assess the extent to which there is agreement or diversity on an issue
Enjoyable for participants

54. Limitations Restricts number of questions that can be asked
Responses by each participant may be constrained
Requires group process skills
Silences the minority view
Confidentiality not assured
Explores major themes, not subtle differences
Outside of natural setting

55. Holding a FGD Homogenous Strangers 6-10 people 1-2 hours
2 FGD per type of respondent
Moderator and note taker
Prepare discussion guide

56. Qualitative data analysis

57. Stages in qualitative data analysis
Qualitative data analysis is a non-linear / iterative process
Numerous rounds of questioning, reflecting, rephrasing, analysing, theorising, verifying after each observation, interview, or Focus Group Discussion

58. During data collection
Reading – data immersion – reading and re-reading
Coding – listen to the data for emerging themes and begin to attach labels or codes to the texts that represent the themes

59. After data collection Displaying – the themes (all information)
Developing hypotheses, questioning and verification
Reducing – from the displayed data identify the main points

60. Interpretation (2 levels)
At all stages – searching for core meanings of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours described
Overall interpretation
Identify how themes relate to each other
Explain how study questions are answered
Explain what the findings mean beyond the context of your study

61. Processes in qualitative data analysis
Reading / Data immersion
Read for content
Are you obtaining the types of information you intended to collect
Identify emergent themes and develop tentative explanations
Note (new / surprising) topics that need to be explored in further fieldwork

62. Read noting the quality of the data
Have you obtained superficial or rich and deep responses
How vivid and detailed are the descriptions of observations
Is there sufficient contextual detail
Problems in the quality of the data require a review of:
How you are asking questions (neutral or leading)
The venue
The composition of the groups
The style and characteristics of the interviewer
How soon after the field activity are notes recorded
Develop a system to identify problems in the data (audit trail)

63. Read identifying patterns
After identifying themes, examine how these are patterned
Do the themes occur in all or some of the data
Are their relationships between themes
Are there contradictory responses
Are there gaps in understanding – these require further exploration

64. Coding – No standard rules of how to code Record coding decisions
Emergent
Borrowed
Record coding decisions
Record codes, definitions, and revisions
Usually - insert codes / labels into the margins
Building theme related files
Cut and paste together into one file similarly coded blocks of text
NB identifiers that help you to identify the original source
Identify sub-themes and explore them in greater depth

65. Displaying data Capture the variation or richness of each theme
Note differences between individuals and sub-groups
Return to the data and examine evidence that supports each sub-theme

66. Developing hypotheses, questioning and verification
Extract meaning from the data
Do the categories developed make sense?
What pieces of information contradict my emerging ideas?
What pieces of information are missing or underdeveloped?
What other opinions should be taken into account?
How do my own biases influence the data collection and analysis process?

67. Data reduction Get an overall sense of the data
i.e.distill the information to make visible the most essential concepts and relationships
Get an overall sense of the data
Distinguish primary/main and secondary/sub- themes
Separate essential from non-essential data
Use visual devices – e.g. matrices, diagrams

68. Interpretation Credibility of attributed meaning
i.e. identifying the core meaning of the data, remaining faithful to to the perspectives of the study participants but with wider social and theoretical relevance
Credibility of attributed meaning
Consistent with data collected
Verified with respondents
Present multiple perspectives (convergent and divergent views)
Did you go beyond what you expected to find?