1. Chapter 11: Qualitative and Mixed-Method Research Design
EDUC 502
November 14, 2005

2. Characteristics of qualitative research
Natural settings - field research
Behavior is studied as it occurs naturally
Beliefs related to a natural setting
Behavior is understood bests as it occurs without external constraints or control
The situational context is very important to understanding behavior

3. Characteristics of qualitative research
Data collection - data is collected directly from the source
Observations
Interviews
Document analysis

4. Characteristics of qualitative research
Rich narrative descriptions
Process orientation - how and why behaviors occur
Inductive data analysis
Participant perspectives define what is "real"
Emerging research design - the design plans change as data is collected, analyzed, and understood

5. Characteristics of qualitative research
Four type of qualitative designs
Ethnography
Case study
Phenomenology
Grounded theory

6. Assumptions that differentiate qualitative and quantitative studies
Epistemology
Qualitative researchers believe there are multiple realities represented by the participants' perspectives
Quantitative researchers believe a single, objective reality exists

7. Assumptions that differentiate qualitative and quantitative studies
Context
Qualitative researchers believe context is critical to understanding the phenomena being studied
Quantitative researchers do not believe context is an important fact
Researcher bias
Qualitative researchers believe the researcher's biases and perspectives must be understood to interpret the results
Quantitative researchers believe researcher bias is controlled through the control of internal validity threats

8. Ethnography
An ethnography is an in-depth description and interpretation of cultural patterns and meanings within a culture or social group
Culture - shared patterns of beliefs, normative expectations, behaviors, and meanings
Shared, not individualistic
Examples of ethnography: Peshkin and Boaler studies.

9. Ethnography Problem statements
Foreshadowed problem - a general framework for beginning a qualitative study
Specific question - a question(s) that emerge from the interactive relationship between the problem and data
Identifying and entering the research site
Access to all parts of the site (e.g., the participants, documents, physical locations, etc.)
Rapport - need to be "integrated" within the site to gain the trust of the participants
Often site entry takes a long time

10. Ethnography Selecting participants
Use of purposeful sampling strategies to select "information rich" participants
Purposeful sampling strategies
Maximum variation - selecting individuals or cases to represent extremes (e.g., very positive or very negative attitudes, highest and lowest achieving students)
Snowball (i.e., network) - initially selected participants recommend others for involvement
Sampling by case - selecting individuals or cases for their unique characteristics
Key informant - selecting an individual(s) particularly knowledgeable about the setting and or topic

11. Ethnography Observation Use of field notes to record observations
Unstructured in nature
Comprehensive - continuous and total over an extended period of time
Participant-observer role of the researcher
Use of field notes to record observations
- Descriptions of what occurred
Reflections of what the descriptions mean (i.e., speculations, emerging themes, patterns, problems)

12. Ethnography Interviews Unstructured in nature
Begins with a general idea of what needs to be asked and moves to specific questions based on what the respondent says
Tape recording and transcribing interviews afford the opportunity to study the data carefully

13. Ethnography Document analysis Written records Types of sources
Print (e.g., minutes from meetings, reports, yearbooks, articles, diaries)
Non-print (e.g., recordings, videotapes, pictures)
Types of sources
Primary - original work
Secondary - secondhand interpretations of original work

14. Ethnography Data analysis
Observations, interviews, and document analyses result in large quantities of narrative data
Analysis includes critically examining, summarizing, and synthesizing the data

15. Ethnography Three stages of analysis
Coding: Organizing the data into reasonable, meaningful units that are coded with words or very short phrases that signify a category.
Summarizing the coded data: Examining all similarly coded data and summarizing it with a sentence or two that reflects its essence
Pattern seeking and synthesizing: Synthesizing identifies the relationships among the categories and patterns that suggest generalization. The researcher interprets findings inductively, synthesizes the information, and draws inferences

16. Case Studies
An in-depth analysis of one or more events, settings, programs, groups, or other "bounded systems"
Focus on one entity
Defined by time and place
Examples of case studies: Benny and IPI mathematics, Study of teachers’ online discourse.

17. Case Studies Types of case studies
Historical organizational - focus on the development of an organization over time
Observational - study of a single entity using participant observation
Multi-case - a study of several different independent entities
Multi-site - a study of many sites and participants the main purpose of which is to develop theory

18. Case Studies Research problem statement Selecting participants
Focus on in-depth description and understanding
Use of a single major question and several sub-questions
Emerging nature of the problems
Selecting participants
Participants are usually identified as a part of the site of the study (e.g., a classroom, teachers in a specific department, etc.)
Internal sampling - selecting specific participants, times, and documents within a site

19. Credibility in Qualitative Research
Triangulation
Prolonged and persistent field work
Copious field notes
Mechanically recorded data
Member checking
Verbatim accounts
Abundant use of detail

20. Mixed Method Designs
Mixed methods designs combine quantitative and qualitative approaches to collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data.
Example 1: Use of a questionnaire to provide an overview of students' attitudes toward drug testing programs followed by several in-depth interviews of specific students with positive and negative attitudes (i.e., maximum variation sampling) to understand how those attitudes were shaped.

21. Mixed Methods Designs
Example 2: A few interviews with students and a content analysis of several surveys allowed a researcher to determine the important factors around which an attitudinal scale on drug testing programs was developed. Administration of this survey gave an overall view of students' attitudes to a specific program being used at a local school.

22. Mixed Methods Designs
Example 3: The use of a scale addressing attitudes toward drug testing programs could be administered to the students in a school. Information from focus groups and interviews could be used to confirm the conclusions drawn from the survey.

23. Homework Exercises
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