PART1

Key philosophical and methodological issues in qualitative research

Axiology
- understanding of value system
- freedom of expression

Ontology
- concerned with beliefs about what there is to know about the world.

Realism Idealism

• an external reality exists independent of our beliefs or • no external reality exists independent of our beliefs and
understanding understanding
• a clear distinction exists between beliefs about the world • reality is only knowable through the human mind and
and the way the world is socially constructed meanings

a. Materialism a. Subtle idealism

• an external reality exists independent of our beliefs or • reality is only knowable through socially constructed
understanding meanings
• only the material or physical world is considered 'real' • meanings are shared and there is a collective or objective
• mental phenomena (e.g. beliefs) arise from the material mind
world

b. Subtle realism/critical realism b. Relativism

• an external reality exists independent of our beliefs and • reality is only knowable through socially constructed
understanding meanings
• reality is only knowable through the human mind and • there is no single shared social reality, only a series of
socially constructed meanings alternative social constructions

Epistemology
- concerned with ways of knowing and learning about the social world
Positivism Interpretivism

• the world is independent of and unaffected by the • the researcher and the social world impact on each other
researcher • facts and values are not distinct and findings are inevitably
• facts and values are distinct, thus making it possible to influenced by the researcher's perspective and values, thus
conduct objective, value free inquiry making it impossible to conduct objective, value free
• observations are the final arbiter in theoretical disputes research, although the researcher can declare and be
• the methods of the natural sciences (e.g. hypothesis transparent about his or her assumptions
testing, causal explanations and modelling) are appropriate • the methods of the natural sciences are not appropriate
for the study of social phenomena because human behaviour because the social world is not governed by law-like
is governed by law-like regularities regularities but is mediated through meaning and human
 agency; consequently the social researcher is concerned to
explore and understand the social world using both the
participant's and the researcher's understanding

The functions of different qualitative methods

1. Naturally occurring data
- Investigate phenomena in their natural settings.
- provide data which is an 'enactment' of social behaviour in its own social setting
- are of value where behaviours and interactions (whether acted, spoken or written) need to be
understood in 'real world' contexts.
- Includes: Observation, Participant observation, Documentary analysis, Discourse analysis,
Conversation analysis

2. Generated Data
- involves 'reconstruction' (Bryman, 2001) and require re-processing and re-telling of attitudes,
beliefs, behaviour or other phenomena.
- The experience, thought, event, behaviour or whatever, is mentally re-processed and verbally
recounted by study participants.
- gives insight into people's own perspectives on and interpretation of their beliefs and
behaviours - and, most crucially an understanding of the meaning that they attach to them.
- Includes biographical methods, individual interviews, paired interviews, focus groups

Mixed Methods

Pragmatism research questions can be addressed

does not take account of the underlying epistemologies
may use science, art and social interaction in any combination in order to obtain a richer
account of experience
advocates the combining of methodological ontologies in the pursuit of a more extensive
understanding of the needs of human beings.

Bricolage first outlined by Denzin and Lincoln (2000)

promotes interdisciplinarity by drawing on many methods of inquiry
Is concerned with the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the methods as well as
with the object, topic or phenomenon or other artefact under study.
context is paramount in the bricolage approach
objects of inquiry are regarded as firmly embedded within their social and cultural
construction, historical situatedness and the language used to describe them.

Multiperspectival analysis Kellner (1995)

introduce a variety of ways of ‘seeing and interpreting in the pursuit of knowledge’
Allows the researcher to see the phenomenon in more dimensions
 can be taken by employing flexible use of one particular method or by drawing on many
methods or disciplines to enhance dimensional insight and illuminate the complexity of the
phenomenon under study.

Triangulation
- use more than one method (often a qualitative one with a quantitative one) in order to
‘triangulate’ the outcomes of measurements and observations
- Used to explore how understanding of experiences can be enhanced.
- use different methods to bring different ways of understanding the data, and to highlight
complementary, contradictory or absent findings within it.
- ‘incorporates an epistemological claim about the research’.
- the meaning of triangulation has been extended beyond seeking increased confidence (or
validity) in results
- When using methods of different epistemologies, triangulation can offer a more in-depth,
multidimensional insight to the complexity of the social world.
- generates ‘complementarity’ instead of highlighting flaws in measurements.

World-Views/ Paradigms
"a basic set of beliefs that guide action".
Individuals may also use multiple paradigms in their qualitative research that are compatible, such as
constructionist and participatory worldviews.

1. Postpositivism
- takes a scientific approach to research.
- has the elements of being reductionistic, logical, an emphasis on empirical data collection,
cause-and-effect oriented, and deterministic based on a priori theories.
- used by individuals with prior quantitative research training.
- view inquiry as a series of logically related steps, believe in multiple perspectives from
participants rather than a single reality, and espouse rigorous methods of qualitative data
collection and analysis.
- starting with a theory

2. Social Constructivism
- Individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live and work.
- They develop subjective meanings of their experiences-meanings directed toward certain
objects or things.
- These meanings are varied and multiple, leading the researcher to look for the complexity of
views rather than narrow the meanings into a few categories or ideas.
- The goal of research is to rely as much as possible on the participants' views of the situation.
- Views are formed through interaction with others (hence social constructivism) and through
historical and cultural norms that operate in individuals' lives.
- inquirers generate or inductively develop a theory or pattern of meaning.
 - the questions become broad and general so that the participants can construct the meaning of a
situation, a meaning typically forged in discussions or interactions with other persons.
- Open ended questioning, emphasize context
- Researchers recognize that their own background shapes their interpretation, and they "position
themselves" in the research to acknowledge how their interpretation flows from their own
personal, cultural, and historical experiences.
- The researcher's intent, then, is to make sense (or interpret) the meanings others have about
the world. This is why qualitative research is often called "interpretive" research.

3. Advocacy/Participatory
- research should contain an action agenda for reform that may change the lives of participants,
the institutions in which they live and work, or even the researchers' lives.
- The issues facing these marginalized groups are of paramount importance to study, issues such
as oppression, domination, suppression, alienation, and hegemony.
- the researchers provide a voice for these participants
- It is focused on helping individuals free themselves from constraints found in the media, in
language, in work procedures, and in the relationships of power in educational settings.
- The aim is to create a political debate and discussion so that change will occur.
- authors engage the participants as active collaborators in their inquiries.
- These practices will be seen in the ethnographic approaches to research.

4. Pragmatism
- focus on the outcomes of the research-the actions, situations, and consequences of
inquiry-rather than antecedent conditions.
- There is a concern with applications-"what works" -and solutions to problems.
- The important aspect of research is the problem being studied and the questions asked about
this problem.
- is not committed to any one system of philosophy and reality.
- "free" to choose the methods, techniques, and procedures of research that best meet their
needs and purposes.
- agree that research always occurs in social, historical, political, and other contexts.
- use multiple methods of data collection to best answer the research question, will employ both
quantitative and qualitative sources of data collection, will focus on the practical implications of
the research, and will emphasize the importance of conducting research that best addresses the
research problem.

Postmodern Perspectives
1. knowledge claims must be set within the conditions of the world today and in the multiple
perspectives of class, race, gender, and other group affiliations.
2. These are negative conditions, and they show themselves in the presence of hierarchies, power
and control by individuals in these hierarchies, and the multiple meanings of language.
 3. The conditions include the importance of different discourses, the importance of marginalized
people and groups (the "other"), and the presence of "meta-narratives" or universals that hold
true regardless of the social conditions.
4. Also included are the need to "deconstruct" texts in terms of language, their reading and their
writing, and the examining and bringing to the surface concealed hierarchies as well as
dominations, oppositions, inconsistencies, and contradictions.
5. such a study might "confront the centrality of media-created realities and the influence of
information technologies".

PART2
Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
History
- Combines theoretical ideas from phenomenology, hermeneutics, on an engagement with
subjective experience and personal accounts.
- also influenced by symbolic interactionism
- an avenue to study subjective experiences and the meanings that people attribute to their
experience.
- In common with discursive psychology, IPA accepts that the research process is fundamentally
hermeneutic, with both researcher and participants engaging in interpretative activities that are
constrained by shared social and cultural discourses.
- Much of the early use of IPA was concerned with health and illness. Other key areas for IPA
research are sex and sexuality, psychological distress, and issues of life transitions and identity.
- concerns topics of existential significance as participants will link the specific topic to their sense
of self/identity.

Ontology
- it ‘endorses social constructionism’s claim that socio cultural and historical processes are
central to how we experience and understand our lives, including the stories we tell about these
lives’.
- a centre-ground position between experiential approaches (participants’ experiences and how
they make sense of their experiences) and discursive approaches(language as a social action that
is used to construct and create the social world)
- Subtle idealism

Why IPA?
1. Phenomenology
- detailed examination of the personal lived experience of practical engagement with the world
and in exploring how participants make sense of their experience.
- acknowledges that the understanding of an event or an object is always mediated by the
context of cultural and socio-historical meanings.
- interpretation is necessary because the entity’s mode of appearing may conceal something that
is hidden.
 - Understand point of view of participants whereas analysis can also involve asking critical
questions of participants’ accounts.
2. Interpretive
- Recognises the role of the researcher in making sense of the experience of participants.
- ‘double hermeneutics​: The participant is trying to make sense of their personal and social world;
the researcher is trying to make sense of the participant trying to make sense of their personal
and social world’.
- two strategies for understanding meaning – a hermeneutics of ​meaning recollection​, of
empathic engagement, and a hermeneutics of ​suspicion,​ of critical engagement.
3. Idiographic
- focus on detailed examination of particular instances
- The analytic process begins with the detailed analysis of each case, moving to careful
examination of similarities and differences across cases to produce detailed accounts of patterns
of meaning and reflections on shared experience.
- particularly suitable for research where the ‘focus is on the uniqueness of a person’s
experiences, how experiences are made meaningful and how these meanings manifest
themselves within the context of the person both as an individual and in their many cultural
roles.

Methods: how to do IPA

A. The research question

- likely to involve issues and experiences of considerable significance to the participant.
- concerned with personal and social identity. These could be current, emotive, dilemmatic issues
or issues involving longer-term reflection across the life course.
- are open and exploratory, designed to focus on exploring participants’ accounts of lived
experience, understanding and sense-making within the particular context of their lives.
Examples:
• How do people with chronic back pain describe the impact on their sense of self?
• How do HIV-positive women experience partner relationships?

B. Sampling
- Purposive sampling (3-6), usually try to identify a homogeneous sample.
- Potential participants can be reached by approaching relevant groups, agencies or gatekeepers,
through personal contacts, or through ‘snowballing’.
- Snowballing refers to a method of selecting a sample in which potential participants are asked
whether they know of other people with relevant characteristics and experiences who might be
approached.

C. Data collection
- Semi-structured, one-to-one interviews have been used most often.
- An interview schedule should be prepared in advance (anticipate and prepare)
- questions should be open and expansive, to encourage participants to talk at length.
 - should not make too many assumptions about participants’ experiences and should not lead
towards particular answers.
- Prepare prompts just in case
- Questions about potentially sensitive issues and questions inviting reflection appear later in the
schedule as allows participants time to be comfortable.
- includes ten questions -45 and 60 minutes of conversation, depending on the topic.
- May also use diaries, focus groups, email conversations

Analysis
- requires the researcher’s reflective engagement in a dialogue with a participant’s narrative and
meanings.
- is fluid, iterative and multi-directional, and divided into the following stages:

Initial read the whole transcript multiple times to become familiar with the data.
stage useful to record some observations and reflections about the interview experience, as
well as any other thoughts and comments of potential significance, in a separate
reflexive notebook.
detailed textual analysis that starts with writing notes and comments on the transcript.
focus on content, use of language, context and interpretative comments arising from the
engagement with the material.

Second Return to the transcript to transform the initial notes into emerging themes.
stage The main task involves an attempt to formulate concise phrases that contain enough
particularity to remain grounded in the text and enough abstraction to offer a
conceptual understanding.
the researcher will be influenced by having already analysed the transcript as a whole.

Third stage Examine the emerging themes and cluster them together according to conceptual
similarities.
look for patterns in the emerging themes and produce a structure that will be helpful in
highlighting converging ideas.
The clusters are given a descriptive label that conveys the conceptual nature of the
themes in each cluster.

Final stage a table of themes is produced.

The table shows the structure of major themes and sub-themes.
An illustrative data extract or quote is presented alongside each theme, followed by the
line number, so that it is possible to check the context of the extract in the transcript.
This table is the outcome of an iterative process in which she/ he has moved back and
forth between the various analytic stages ensuring that the integrity of what the
participant said has been preserved as far as possible.
If the researcher has been successful, then it should be possible for someone else to
track the analytic journey from the raw data through to the end table.

Moving on In cases with more than one participant: move to the next case and repeat the process
The analysis of the first case will influence further analysis. But, it is important to
 consider each case on its own terms, trying to ‘bracket’ the ideas and concepts that
emerged from the first case.
keep an open mind to allow new themes to emerge from each case.
Once all transcripts have been analysed and a table of themes has been constructed for
each, a final table of themes is constructed for the study as a whole.
In selecting themes it is important to take into account prevalence of data but also the
richness of the extracts and their capacity to highlight the themes and enrich the
account as a whole.
The table of themes provides the basis for writing up a narrative account of the project.
The narrative account consists of the interplay between the participants’ account and
the interpretative activity of the researcher.
The writing style reflects the IPA approach to analysis, beginning with a close reading
grounded in participants’ accounts before moving towards a more interpretative level.

Discourse Analysis Approach

History
- 57 varieties of discourse analysis.
- encompassed within a number of broad theoretical traditions that foreground language, such as
social semiotics, ethnomethodology and conversation analysis.
- The 1970s is often pinpointed as the time when many psychological researchers were drawn to
the discourse analytic methods.

Ontology
- constructionist ontology.
- make no assumptions about the social world, and instead aim to expose and highlight the
constructedness of these assumptions.
- ‘Post-structuralism’, a term that is often associated with an intellectual approach that rejects, or
challenges, the assumption of ‘pre-existing structures’
- Don’t take for granted alleged ‘truths’ about the world. Question these ‘truths’, and start seeing
them as only one of many possible ‘truths’
- Subtle idealism

Epistemology: why do discourse analysis?

- views language as constitutive of truth.
- it is through language that meanings are negotiated and ‘realities’ are produced. Nothing
pre-exists language.
- Thus, our knowledge about the world is produced through the organisation of language and
particular behaviours (or ‘practices’) into particular discursive formations that comprise
‘discourses’.
- Discourses serve to seemingly provide a coherent and credible ‘truth’. Cognitive discourse
comprises the internal structures on which it is assumed to be based – ‘operation’, ‘perception’
and ‘higher/lower order processing’. It is also practised into being through the performance of
 controlled laboratory experiments, through a lecturer’s PowerPoint slide, which shows a flow
chart with ‘memory’ at the top and the categories of ‘episodic’ and ‘procedural’ underneath,
through the writing and publication of journal articles, and so on.
- two distinct approaches have emerged within psychology –
Foucauldian discourse analysis - foregrounds power
Discursive psychology - foregrounds language

Foucauldian discourse analysis Discursive psychology

- Ian Parker (1992) and Burman and Parker - work of Jonathan Potter and Margaret Wetherell.
(1993). - takes analysis to a micro-level by focusing almost entirely on the
- derived from post-structuralism, from the immediate interactional setting that produces the data.
work of Michel Foucault and his conceptions of - ​‘action orientation’ ​- language is a social practice that has a performative
power. function.
- aims to examine how ‘objects’ (things) and - It takes particular interest in the role of accounts, which they identify as
‘subjects’ (people) are constructed in discourse explanations of behaviours that might be ‘unusual, bizarre or in some way
and to explore what the effects of this might be reprehensible’.
for people who are subjected to them. - verbal and non-verbal rhetorical devices that may enable excuses and
- ​subject positions​: refers to the possible social justifications in a speaker’s explanation of their actions.
locations that either afford or delimit particular - These devices are fashioned from the speaker’s culturally available
ways of being a subject. linguistic resources.
- For example, if you recently experienced a - identifies wider cultural explanatory frameworks that are taken for
burglary, a particular subject position will have granted as ‘truths’. These are known as ​‘interpretive repertoires’ ​and are
been made available to you: that of ‘victim’. similar in flavour to the notion of ‘discourses’ used in FDA.
Once this subject position is taken up, a number - These ‘interpretive repertoires’ are more fluid concepts as they tend to
of ways of being will be opened up to you (such be more specific to the context of their use and are in a continual state of
as access to victim support resources or eliciting flux
sympathy from friends), but other ways of being - For example, in an interview setting where a researcher asks a
will be closed down (such as sleeping soundly participant about her/his experiences, the participant will draw on a
for a few nights). specific set of linguistic resources that are tailored to the researcher, the
- the FDA concepts of a ‘medical discourse’ or a environment, the dialogue, the purpose of the interview, and so on.
‘consumer discourse’ are more singularly - examines how discursive resources (including the use of rhetorical
encompassing and, as such, suggest greater devices and interpretive repertoires) are used to ‘do things’ in a particular
rigidity context and to examine their particular effects.

Commonalities
- foreground the role of language in the construction of social reality by ‘de-centring the subject’.
- emphasise the importance of ​reflexivity ​in the research process – that is, as a researcher you need to be reflexively aware of
how your own cultural, social, political, linguistic and epistemological location shapes your production of research
knowledge.
- the researcher’s interpretation is a privileged one that silences possible others, and consider the implications of this.
- share a similar stance towards issues of reliability and validity.
- discourse analysis produces a reading, rather than an interpretation, as there is no supposition of an ‘outside truth’ against
which the analysis can be assessed.
- judgement of its quality must be in terms of its usefulness, rather than any kind of accuracy.
- aim is not to produce generalisable findings that can establish universal laws of behaviour. Instead, it aims to highlight
particular processes that are anchored to their context – and perhaps to provide a guide for political practice in the light of
such findings.

Differences
- DP focuses on the immediate situational interaction and how subjects adapt their talk according to its needs
- FDA is more focused on the relationship between discursive formations and wider social and institutional practices.
- main concern is the different kinds of research questions that they each address, rather than any profound differences in
the practice of data analysis.

Methods: how to do discourse analysis

Recruitment and sampling

- It has applicability to a wide range of texts.
- Newspaper articles, policy documents, online texts (e.g. blogs, message boards, emails) and
visual data (e.g. photographs, videos) can all be analysed using discourse analysis.
- do not attempt to generalise from a sample to a wider population,
- not considered important to obtain data from a large sample.
- A rough guideline might be something like 20 interview transcripts or ‘cases’ elicited for analysis.
- issue that can arise when using discourse analysis is the ethical question of obtaining informed
consent from participants.
- Outlining the nature of the research to participants becomes problematic once the research
epistemology shifts from the ‘common sense discourse’ of naturalism to a more marginalised
and complex constructionism.

Research Questions
- The research question should always aim to be looking to uncover particular assumptions that
we make about the world and to consider what the effects of it might be.

Eliciting and gathering data

- telephone interviews can also be done because these require the participant to fully articulate
their responses since alternative means of communication (e.g. body language) are not available
(and, in any case, cannot easily be produced within a typed transcript).
- unstructured interviews should be used as more structured interviews are likely to curtail both
the detail that is required for a sophisticated analysis, and the inconsistencies and contradictions
that occur in talk that discourse analysis aims to highlight.
- an interview guide or topic list with a few open-ended questions and/or discussion themes.
- An open approach during interviewing is also necessary to enable participants to conceptualise
and construct experiences in ways most meaningful to the participant (rather than to the
researcher).
- adopting a ‘devil’s advocate’ position in a research interview might facilitate the use of counter
(and counter-counter) claims.
 - It is also useful to make notes immediately following the interview, using a research diary to
include impressions of the interview, points of anxiety and any atypical incidents that occurred.
- provides you with the opportunity to document any immediate analytical ideas that occur, as
well as enabling you to reflect on your own role in the interview process
- ask participants for responses to their experiences of the research process as by this reflexivity
can be made a more democratic process
- Texts such as policy documents, political speeches or extracts from e-media are arguably easier
and less time-consuming to obtain than interview data. However, with secondary data, queries
concerning its quality and credibility need to be addressed.
- difficult to perform a DP analysis on such texts when the interactional context of their
production is more ambiguous; indeed, Potter and Wetherell (1995) stress that DP should not
be used on any texts that do not constitute ‘naturally occurring talk’, and this includes ‘research
interviews’.

Analysis and interpretation

Transcription
- Interviews must be audibly recorded and a very lengthy stage of transcription is likely to follow.
- data starts being shaped by the researcher’s own theoretical decisions about what is important
and what can be omitted.
- A further ‘shape-shifting’ decision concerns how ‘fine-grained’ the analysis should be and,
consequently, how 'fine-grained' the transcription should be to enable this.
- For example, many discourse analysts adopt Jefferson’s (2004) notation technique, but decisions
need to be made on what aspects of the talk should be included: you may decide to include
pauses, laughter and the emphasis of words, but decide to omit intakes of breath and the timed
length of pauses. This, then, is the first phase where participants’ words slowly become yours.

Developing themes
- read each transcript/document a number of times to develop a sense of its context and the
story ‘as a whole’
- make notes on emerging themes.
- compare these notes with your earlier notes in your research diary
- FDA approach: involves identifying words and phrases that, together, constitute wider
‘discourses’. These can then be highlighted and coded together under an appropriate name (e.g.
‘medical discourse’, ‘parent-blame discourse’, ‘lifestyle choice discourse’). A qualitative data
software package (e.g. NVivo) might be useful to help manage this process. Codes may slowly
change in conception or become more or less encompassing, resulting in their deletion or
blending into other codes. Identify patterns based on wider structuring axes such as gender, age
and ethnicity. Be alert to silences and aware of your own reactions. Researchers need to
interrogate themselves as much as the data. Consider the codes as performing a temporary role
in helping to organise the data. They are likely to continually shift and regroup as analysis
continues and as you develop a deeper understanding of similarities and differences, and
continuities and discontinuities – both within and between individual participants/cases.
 - Using a DP approach: analysis is to be at an even more detailed level, identify specific discursive
resources (such as rhetorical devices and interpretive repertoires) and consider their function
within the interview setting.
- analysis should always ‘stay at the level of the text’ and avoid making assumptions about what
the speaker is ‘trying’ to achieve at a psychological level. This is because, in keeping with the
ontological assumptions of the methodology, intentions and motivations should be considered
as ‘constructions’ (rather than as ‘pre-existing entities’) and therefore truth claims should not be
made about them.

Ethnography

Definition and Background

- the unit of analysis is larger than the 20 or so individuals.
- focuses on an entire cultural group and describes and interprets the shared and learned
patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group.
- involves extended observations of the group, most often through participant observation, in
which the researcher is immersed
- had its beginning in the comparative cultural anthropology conducted by early 20th-century
anthropologists, such as Boas, Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, and Mead.

Types of ethnographies
- There are many forms of ethnography, such as a confessional ethnography, life history,
autoethnography, feminist ethnography, ethnographic novels, and the visual ethnography found
in photography and video, and electronic media.

Realist Ethnography Critical Ethnography

- traditional approach used by cultural anthropologists - Is a contemporary approach as it includes an advocacy

- By VanMaanen (1988) perspective
- Is an objective account of the situation, typically written - By Carspecken & Apple, 1992; Madison, 2005; Thomas, 1993
in the third person point of view and reporting objectively - approach is in response to current society, in which the
on the information learned from participants at a site. systems of power, prestige, privilege, and authority serve to
- ethnographer remains in the background as an marginalize individuals who are from different classes, races,
omniscient reporter of the "facts." and genders.
- reports objective data in a measured style - researchers typically are politically minded individuals who
uncontaminated by personal bias, political goals, and seek, through their research, to speak out against inequality and
judgment. domination.
- major components of a critical ethnography include a
value-laden orientation, empowering people by giving them
more authority, challenging the status quo, and addressing
concerns about power and control.
Procedures for Conducting an Ethnography
1. Determine if ethnography is the most appropriate design
- If needed to describe how a cultural group works and to explore the beliefs, language,
behaviors, and issues such as power, resistance, and dominance.
- The literature may be deficient in actually knowing how the group works.
2. Identify and locate a culture-sharing group to study.
- the group has been together for an extended period of time, so that their shared language,
patterns of behavior, and attitudes have merged into a discernable pattern.
- may be a group that has been marginalized by society.
- access may require finding one or more individuals in the group who will allow the researcher
in-a gatekeeper or key informants (or participants).
3. Select cultural themes or issues to study about the group​.
- involves the analysis of the culture-sharing group.
- topics as enculturation, socialization, learning, cognition, domination, inequality, or child and
adult development.
- begins the study by examining people in interaction in ordinary settings and by attempting to
discern pervasive patterns such as life cycles, events, and cultural themes.
- Culture is something researchers attribute to a group when looking for patterns of their social
world. It is inferred from the words and actions of members of the group, and it is assigned to
this group by the researcher. It consists of what people do (behaviors), what they say
(language), the potential tension between what they do and ought to do, and what they make
and use, such as artifacts.
4. Determine which type of ethnography to use
- how the group works needs to be described
5. Fieldwork
- involves going to the research site, respecting the daily lives of individuals at the site, and
collecting a wide variety of materials.
- Field issues of respect, reciprocity, deciding who owns the data, and others are central to
ethnography.
- types of ethnographic data: observations, tests and measures, surveys, iriterviews, content
analysis, interviews, elicitation methods, audiovisual methods, spatial mapping, and network
research.
- The researcher begins by compiling a detailed description of the culture-sharing group, focusing
on a single event, on several activities, or on the group over a prolonged period of time.
6. Analysis
- The final product is a holistic cultural portrait of the group that incorporates the views of the
participants (emic) as well as the views of the researcher (etic).
- It might also advocate for the needs of the group or suggest changes in society to address needs
of the group.
- As a result, the reader learns about the culture-sharing group from both the participants and the
interpretation of the researcher.
Challenges
- The researcher ​grounding in cultural anthropology and the concepts typically explored
- The ​time ​to collect data is extensive, involving prolonged time in the field.
- the narratives should not be written in a ​storytelling approach ​as it limits the audience for the
work
- There is a possibility that the researcher will ​"go native" ​and be unable to complete the study or
be compromised in the study.
- A ​sensitivity ​to the needs of individual studies is especially important, and the researcher needs
to acknowledge his or her impact on the people and the places being studied.

Gaining entry and deciding on your role in the setting

- Make a personal connection to someone either who knows a member of the setting you wish to
study or who can serve as a liaison to some key members of your setting.
- gatekeepers~ whose approval is crucial in order to gain access and acceptance.
- approval support of informal gatekeepers who hold key positions in the setting and whose
influence on others in the setting determines your level of access.
- Informal gatekeepers have the power to give your presence a "heads up" or "heads down."
- Establish relationships with central figures who become informants. Some informants may in
fact be the gatekeepers of the setting.
- Gender role

Issues related to role

1. Complete observer
- requires that the researcher's identity remain hidden;
- makes observations of the setting by using a hidden video camera or by remaining invisible
behind a one-way mirror or a screen to avoid detection.
- allows study without interfering with its day-to-day operations, thereby minimizing the bias
- does not allow the researcher to clarify meanings and answer questions concerning things that
are not readily understood by the researcher.
- If we use a video camera, the very physical placement of the camera creates a particular angle
of vision into the setting and may limit our ability to observe the entire setting.
- We come to the research process with our researcher positionality like race, class, gender, and
so on. Each of these factors can also influence what we observe and our interpretations of these
observations.
- "Remaining on the periphery" may be one way to offset the threat from those in the setting who
entice the researcher into a more participatory role or who engage in interaction with the
researcher other than as fieldworker.
- Another strategy is called finessing, where the researcher uses "diplomacy" and "evasive
responses."
2. Observer as participant
- requires the researcher to reveal their identity in the setting, but the extent to which the
researcher actively engages with the members of the setting is limited.
 - Fishman (1990) was interested in analyzing the power relations in conversations between
couples in the privacy of their homes. She intensively studied the conversations of three couples
who agreed to have Fishman tape-record their conversations in their homes. All six people also
reported that they soon began to ignore the tape recorder. So, while Fishman did have contact
with the couples in her study, her presence in the research setting is invisible. While couples are
aware of her research presence by the intrusion of a tape recorder into their everyday lives, for
the most part, Fishman's role remains very peripheral in the research setting.
3. Participant as observer
- participates fully in the ongoing activities of the research setting and the identity of the
researcher is known to the members of the setting.
- There are degrees of participation in the research setting and degrees to which members of the
setting view the researcher as an insider to that setting.
4. Complete participant
- engages with members of the setting; however, the researcher's identity is not known
- Those who favor deception argue that it is necessary because field research often would be
impossible to do if the researcher's identity were revealed and it allows one to achieve the
higher object of scientific truth.
- A researcher who goes undercover may start to believe that they are in fact "one of the natives"
and this in itself may serve to cloud a researcher's ability to understand the very setting that
they are in.
- researcher is prevented from asking questions that might "blow her cover."
- the increased inability of the researcher to readily jot down their observations "on the fly" in
order to accurately capture their ideas and observations of what is happening in the setting.
Waiting until there is an appropriate time to do so may result in loss of information and
inaccurate accounting of important events.

Exiting the field

- The particular role you take on determines how easy or difficult it is to depart.
- Some researchers may depart abruptly, severing all ties to the setting because the researcher
and/or the researched may feel uncomfortable with their interactions in the setting, or perhaps
personal or economic circumstances
- Others may maintain close ties to their setting, visiting and keeping in contact with the
researched; some may even form friendships that last a lifetime.
- One should let the researched know that your stay is only temporary, and even giving others a
sense of your own research timetable.
- Inherent in the field research process is the forging of reciprocity (rapport) between the
researcher and the researched. Those in the setting, for example, can come to rely on the
researcher for emotional support and advice and, if and when this is withdrawn, it may create a
sense of loss and abandonment for both the researched and the researcher.
- It might be important to check in with others concerning your departure to get a sense of how
they are feeling and perhaps to arrange with those in the setting some ways to mark your
departure in a more public way-such as a party, ceremony, etc., as well as the type of follow-up
you plan-whether that follow-up is a letter or a return visit.
Data Management of Fieldnotes
record the date, time, location, page number of all field notes as it creates different types of field notes
or divide or mark up your notes into different sections.
1. "On-the-fly" notes -
- consist of some key words or phrases to help you remember important events or ideas
- use whatever paper they can find, including the back of a matchbook cover or a paper napkin so
that their ongoing observations in the field are not disrupted.
2. "Thick descriptions”
- of the setting all that you can remember about exactly what took place in the setting.
- Record the exact "in vivo" words or phrases of respondents,
- Be sure not to forget the sensory observations in the setting.
- While you might think some of these details about activities and events are very mundane, it's
important that you not censor your descriptions but be open to the range of events and details
in the setting.
3. "Data Analysis" notes
- linking notes you gathered on-the-fly and your "thick descriptions"
- "what does it mean?" notes to yourself.
- contain your innermost hunches. Allow your "analysis" self to have free reign here
4. "Personal Matters and Reflexivity" notes
- explore your own positionality as the researcher in the research process.
- Write down your emotions vis-a-vis those you are researching.

The Ethnographic Puzzle

- Description is the bedrock of ethnographic analysis and field notes are the record of the in-
depth observations you garnered from the field that provide a window into the research
setting-its people, the physical attributes of the setting, and so on.
- The field notes are pieces of a puzzle. The object is to put these pieces together to create a
puzzle picture (analysis) and then to tell the reader what you see (interpretation).
- Part of your analysis is to arrange these descriptive pieces into a story. Your analysis leads to
interpretation.
- Analysis memos are ideas that you write down to help you think through how you are going
about your work, what something means.
- You might employ a variety of analysis methods for putting the pieces together. For example
you could "code" each piece by its size (assign the code categories large, medium, or small to
each of the pieces) and place (sort) all the pieces into these three categories.
- remove jargon that has cropped up when researchers try to explain how to analyze and
interpret data.
- Once you have grabbed onto what you feel is a potent theme/code, look for several
independent sources that might support this idea- documents/interviews in addition to your
observations. This is called triangulating your data between different sources.
PART3
Key features of different approaches

1. The Status of the Data

2. The primary focus of analysis
3. The way data are reduced
4. The kinds of concepts generated
5. The way concepts are applied to the data - cross sectional/ non cross sectional
6. The extent to which data are retained in context
7. The way ‘analysed’ data are accessed and displayed
8. The explicit level of abstraction
9. The status of categories and the logic of explanation
10. The place of the researcher in the analytical account

Different tools for organising and displaying raw data

1. Scissors and paste
2. Mapping
3. Index cards
4. matrices

CAQDAS Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software ​(Fielding and Lee, 1991)
Types:
1. text retrievers ​- which facilitate the searching of large amounts of data for instances of words or
phrases
2. textbase managers ​- data management packages which provide a structure to the data stored
and are usually searchable in a similar way to text retrieval programs
3. code and retrieve programs ​that allow you to label or 'tag' passages of text that can later be
retrieved according to the codes applied
4. code based theory builders ​which are recent additions to many code and retrieve programs.
These support the conceptualisation of data by the analyst and may also have extended
hyperlinking facilities which allow the analyst to create links between different aspects of the
data set
5. conceptual network builders ​- programs which facilitate the graphic display and investigation of
conceptual, cognitive or semantic networks within a data set.
Benefits:
- Speed
- Handle large amounts of textual data
- improvements in rigour or consistency of approach
- the facilitation of team research
- assist with conceptualisation of data and theory building
- relative ease of navigation and linking (or 'consolidation') of data.
 Disadvantages:
- Should not obviate the researcher’s role
- Hard to find the right package
- No one software has it all

Key requirements of analytical tools

● Remains grounded in the data
● Permits captured synthesis
● Facilitates and displays ordering
● Permits within and between case searches
● Allows systematic and comprehensive coverage of the data set
● Permits flexibility
● Allows transparency to others

The analytic hierarchy

is made up of a series of 'viewing' platforms, each of which involves different analytical tasks, enabling
the researcher to gain an overview and make sense of the data.
The analytic process is not linear, linking the platforms, enabling movement both up and down the
structure. As categories are refined, dimensions clarified, and explanations are developed there is a
constant need to revisit the original or synthesised data to search for new clues, to check assumptions or
to identify underlying factors.

Data management the researcher is faced by a mass of unwieldy, tangled data

sort and reduce the data to make them more manageable.
involves generating a set of themes and concepts according to which the data are labelled, sorted
and synthesised.
Initially, themes and concepts should remain close to participants' own language and
understandings, though later these may be replaced by more abstract analytical constructions.
Data management may be carried out manually or, through CAQDAS packages available.

Descriptive accounts Make use of the synthesised data to prepare descriptive accounts, identifying key dimensions and
mapping the range and diversity of each phenomenon.
language ​- the actual words used by study participants. It is these that portray how a phenomenon is
conceived, how important it is and about the richness or 'colour' it holds.
substantive content ​of people's accounts, in terms of both descriptive coverage and assigned
meaning, forms the nucleus of qualitative evidence. This needs to be sensitively reviewed and
captured so that the fineness of detail in different perspectives or descriptions is understood.
the analyst may go on to develop ​typologies​.
Typologies are specific forms of classification that help to describe and explain the segmentation of
the social world or the way that phenomena can be characterised or differentiated. Two different
forms of typologies, according to Patton are
'indigenous' - ​classification systems devised by participants themselves
'analyst constructed'​ - created during the analytical process, and classify patterns, categories or
 themes emerging from the data.
Lofland distinguishes between typologies based on ​static analysis ​(at a particular time) or ​phase
analysis ​(a process over time).

Explanatory accounts developed at the later stages of analysis

try to find​ patterns of association ​within the data and then attempt to account for why those
patterns occur.
There are different ways in which ​linkages m ​ ay be found.
There will be explicit associations that occur in the text or notes; linkages between sets of
phenomena; and associations between experiences, behaviours and perspectives and certain
characteristics of the study population.
explain ​why ​the data take the forms that have been identified, to account for why patterns,
recurrent linkages, processes or apparent contradictions are found in the data.
Some seek explanations in terms of ​universal deterministic causes​, others increasingly reject the
possibility of identifying these kinds of causes, arguing that the social world is not governed by laws
in the way that the physical world is thought to be.
Hughes and Sharrock argue in favour of ​explanations at the level of meaning r​ ather than
explanations at the level of cause.
Patton suggests that ​causal explanations ​may be developed within qualitative research but use the
term cause in a loose sense to refer to conjectures, rather than narrowly deterministic laws.
Giddens argues that ​causes may be sought for social phenomena​, and that reasons are causes, but
not in a Humean (X always follows Y) sense. He distinguishes between doing things for a reason,
where the actor has an 'understanding of "what is called" for in a given set of circumstances in such a
way as to shape whatever is done in those circumstances', and reasons for things happening which
may include a range of situational factors over which the actor has no control.

Three Analysis Strategies

Madison (2005) presents a perspective taken from critical ethnography.
Huberman and Miles (1994) adopt a systematic approach to analysis.
Wolcott (1994) uses a more traditional approach to research from ethnography and case study analysis.

Analytic Strategy Madison (2005) Huberman and Miles (1994) Wolcott (1994)

Sketching ideas Write margin notes in fieldnotes Highlight certain information in

description

Taking notes Write reflective passages in notes

Summarizing Draft a summary sheet on fieldnotes

fieldnotes

Working with words Make metaphors

Identifying codes Do abstract coding or Write codes, memos

concrete coding
Reducing codes to Identify salient themes or Note patterns and themes Identify patterned regularities
themes patterns

Counting frequency Count frequency of codes

of codes

Relating categories Factor, note relations among

variables, build a logical chain of
evidence

Relating categories Contextualize in framework from

to analytic literature
framework in
literature

Creating a point of For scenes, audience,

view readers

Displaying the data Create a graph or picture of Make contrasts and comparisons Display findings in tables, charts,
the framework diagrams, and figures; compare
cases; compare with a standard

The Data Analysis Spiral

rely on the three "l's"-"insight, intuition, and impression".

the researcher engages in the process of moving in analytic circles rather than using a fixed linear
approach.
1. One enters with ​data collection ​in forms of text or images (e.g., photographs, videotapes)
2. Data management
- organize ​data into file folders, index cards, or computer files.
 - convert ​files to appropriate text units (e.g., a word, a sentence, an entire story)
- Materials must be ​easily located ​in large databases of text (or images).
- Computer programs ​help with this phase of analysis.
3. Reading and memos
- Writing memos in the margins of field notes or transcripts or under photographs helps
in ​exploring the database​.
- These memos are ​short phrases, ideas, or key concepts ​that occur to the reader.
4. describing, classifying, and interpreting loop
- heart ​of qualitative data analysis.
- Detailed description means that authors describe what they see. This detail is provided
in situ​, that is, within the context of the setting of the person, place, or event.
- researchers develop codes or categories and to sort text or visual images into
categories. ​"Winnowing​" of the data takes place; as not all information is used, and
some may be discarded.
- Initially researchers develop ​elaborate lists of codes ​like 100 or 200 categories-and then
struggle to reduce the picture to the five or six themes
- Huberman and Miles suggest that investigators make preliminary ​counts of data codes
and determine how frequently ​codes appear in the database. Some believe however
that frequency is related to quantitative data and may indicate equal importance to all
codes which is contradictory
- Use of ​pre-existing or a priori codes ​also guide the coding process but may interfere with
development of “emergent” categories.
- origin of the code names or labels may come from several sources like in vivo codes
(exact words used by participants) or maybe drawn from the social or health sciences
(e.g., coping strategies), or names the researcher composes that seem to best describe
the information.
- researchers should look for code segments that can be used to ​develop themes​. These
codes can: represent information that researchers expect to find before the study, did
not expect to find, and information that is interesting or unusual to researchers
- Classifying ​pertains to looking for categories, themes, or dimensions of information. It
involves identifying 5-7 general themes. These themes are a "family" of themes with
subthemes, and even sub sub themes.
- Identify themes on the basis of ​type of information
- Can also use a ​deconstructive stance (focused on issues of desire and power). Allows
one to dismantle a dichotomy, examine silences, attend to disruptions, focus on alien
elements, interpret metaphors, analyze couple entendres, separate group and general
themes.
- Interpretation ​involves making sense of the data, the "lessons learned,". Researchers
step back and form larger meanings of what is going on in the situations or sites.
5. Presenting the data
- a packaging of what was found in text, tabular, or figure form or even a hierarchical tree
diagram
 - shows inductive analysis that begins with the raw data consisting of multiple sources of
information and then broadens to several specific themes.
- Hypotheses or propositions that specify the relationship among categories of
information also represent information.
- authors present metaphors to analyze the data, literary devices in which something
borrowed from one domain applies to another.
- The researcher might obtain feedback on the initial summaries by taking information
back to informants.

Data Analysis and Phenomenology Ethnography

Representation

Data managing Create and organize files for data Create and organize files for data

Reading, Read through text, make margin notes, form initial Read through text, make margin notes, form
memoing codes initial codes

Describing Describe personal experiences through epoche, Describe the social setting, actors, events;
Describe the essence of the phenomenon draw picture of setting

Classifying Develop significant statements, Group statements Analyze data for themes and patterned
into meaning units regularities

Interpreting Develop a textural description, "What happened", Interpret and make sense of the findings,
Develop a structural description, "How"the how the culture works
phenomenon was experienced, Develop the
“essence"

Representing, Present narration of the "essence" of the Present narrative presentation augmented
visualizing experience; in tables, figures, or discussion by tables, figures, and sketches

Perspectives on Validation

1. Study by LeCompte and Goetz (1982)

- compared ​issues of validation and reliability to experimental design and survey research and
said that qualitative research is criticised for its failure to adhere to this.
- threats to internal validation ​(e.g.history and maturation, observer effects, selection and
regression, mortality, spurious conclusions).
- threats to external validation ​as "effects that obstruct or reduce a study's comparability or
translatability".
2. Lincoln and Guba 1985
- To establish the ​"trustworthiness" ​of a study, they used unique terms, such as:
- Credibility ​- instead of internal validity, propose techniques such as prolonged engagement in
the field and the triangulation of data of sources, methods, and investigators
- Transferability​ - instead of external validity, thick description is necessary.
- Dependability ​- instead of reliability, results will be subject to change and instability, through
auditing
- Confirmability ​- instead of objectivity, establishing the value of the data, through auditing
3. Eisner 1991
- In ​structural corroboration​, the researcher relates multiple types of data to support or
contradict the interpretation. The researcher compiles bits and pieces of evidence to formulate
a "compelling whole." At this stage, the researcher looks for recurring behaviors or actions and
considers disconfirming evidence and contrary interpretations.
- Consensual validation ​sought the opinion of others, and referred to "an agreement among
competent others that the description, interpretation, and evaluation and thematics of an
educational situation are right".
- Referential adequacy ​suggested the importance of criticism, and Eisner described the goal of
criticism as illuminating the subject matter and bringing about more complex and sensitive
human perception and understanding.
4. Lather 1993
- She identified ​four types of validation​, including ​triangulation (​ multiple data sources, methods,
and theoretical schemes), ​construct validation (​ recognizing the constructs that exist rather than
imposing theories/constructs on informants or the context), ​face validation ​(as "a click of
recognition' and a 'yes, of course/ instead of 'yes, but' experience", and ​catalytic validation
(which energizes participants toward knowing reality to transform it).
- Her terms became related to feminist research in ​"four frames of validation​."
- ironic validation​, is where the researcher presents truth as a problem.
- paralogic validation​, is concerned with un-decidables, limits, paradoxes, and complexities, a
movement away from theorizing things and toward providing direct exposure to other voices in
an almost unmediated way.
- rhizomatic validation​, pertains to questioning proliferations, crossings, and overlaps without
underlying structures or deeply rooted connections. The researcher also questions taxonomies,
constructs, and interconnected networks whereby the reader jumps from one assemblage to
another and consequently moves from judgment to understanding.
- voluptuous validation​, the researcher sets out to understand more than one can know and to
write toward what one does not understand.
5. Wolcott 1994
- His goal was to identify ​"critical elements​" and write "plausible interpretations from them".
- validation distracted from his work of ​understanding ​what was really going on.
- He claimed that the term "validation" did not capture the essence of what he sought, and the
term "understanding" seemed to encapsulate the idea as well as any other as of now.
6. Angen 2000
- Validation is "a judgment of the trustworthiness or goodness of a piece of research". Gave two
types:
- Ethical validation ​means that all research agendas must question their underlying moral
assumptions, their political and ethical implications, and the equitable treatment of diverse
voices. It also requires research to provide some practical answers to questions. It should raise
 new possibilities, open up new questions, and stimulate new dialogue. It must have
transformative value leading to action and change providing nondogmatic answers to the
questions.
- Substantive validation ​means understanding one's own understanding of the topic,
understandings derived from other sources, and the documentation of this process in the
written study. Self-reflection contributes to the validation of the work. The researcher, as a
sociohistorical interpreter, interacts with the subject matter to co-create the interpretations
derived.
7. Whittemore, Chase, and Mandle 2001
- They organized ​validation criteria ​into primary and secondary criteria.
- They found four ​primary criteria​: credibility (Are the results an accurate interpretation of the
participants' meaning?); authenticity (Are different voices heard?); criticality (Is there a critical
appraisal of all aspects of the research?); and integrity (Are the investigators self-critical?).
- Secondary criteria ​related to explicitness, vividness, creativity, thoroughness, congruence, and
sensitivity.
8. Richardson and St. Pierre 2005
- It draws on the metaphorical image of a ​crystal​.
- The crystal combines symmetry and substance with an infinite variety of shapes, substances,
transmutations, multidimensionalities, and angles of approach.
- Crystals grow, change, and are altered, but they are not amorphous. Crystals are prisms that
reflect externalities and refract within themselves, creating different colors, patterns, and arrays
casting off in different directions. What we see depends on our angle of response-not
triangulation but rather crystallization.

Validation Strategies - ​Whittemore, Chase, and Mandle (2001)

1. ​Prolonged engagement and persistent observation

- Build trust with participants, learn the culture, and check for misinformation that stems from
distortions introduced by the researcher or informants.
- Researcher makes decisions about what is salient to the study, relevant to the purpose of the
study, and of interest for focus.

2. ​Triangulation
- use multiple and different sources, methods, investigators, and theories to provide
corroborating evidence. involves evidence from different sources to shed light on a theme or
perspective.

3. ​Peer review ​or ​debriefing

- provides an external check of the research process, like interrater reliability
- peer debriefer acts as a "devil's advocate," an individual who keeps the researcher honest; asks
hard questions about methods, meanings, and interpretations; and provides the researcher with
the opportunity for catharsis by sympathetically listening to the researcher's feelings.
- keep written accounts of the sessions, called "peer debriefing sessions".
4. ​negative case analysis
- refines working hypotheses by inquiring negative or disconfirming evidence.
- revises initial hypotheses until all cases fit, completing this process late in data analysis and
eliminating all outliers and exceptions.

5. ​Clarifying researcher bias

- important so that the reader understands the researcher's position and any biases or
assumptions that impact the inquiry.
- the researcher comments on past experiences, biases, prejudices, and orientations that have
shaped the interpretation and approach to the study.

6. ​member checking
- the researcher solicits participants' views of the credibility of the findings and interpretations.
- "the most critical technique for establishing credibility" - involves taking data, analyses,
interpretations, and conclusions back to the participants so that they can judge the accuracy and
credibility of the account.
- participants should "play a major role directing as well as acting in case study" research. They
should be asked to examine rough drafts of the researcher's work. and to provide alternative
language, "critical observations or interpretations".

7. ​Rich, thick description

- allows readers to make decisions regarding transferability because the writer describes in detail
the participants or setting under study.
- enables readers to transfer information to other settings and to determine whether the findings
can be transferred "because of shared characteristics".

8. ​External audits
- allow an external consultant, the auditor, to examine both the process and the product of the
account, assessing their accuracy.
- This auditor should have no connection to the study, In assessing the product, the auditor
examines whether or not the findings, interpretations, and conclusions are supported by the
data.

Part4

Research design
The five key aspects of research design are:
a. the development of research questions;
b. decisions about research settings and populations and how a study needs to be built around them;
c. the time frame for data collection;
d. the choice of data collection methods;
e. the negotiation of research relationships (including the issues of access and ethics).
research questions
● clear, intelligible and unambiguous
● focused, but not too narrow
● capable of being researched through data collection
● relevant and useful, whether to policy, practice or the development of social theory
● feasible, given the resources available
● at least some interest to the researcher.

research settings and populations

1. Building comparison into qualitative research designs
● inform the selection of research locales and populations, that aids theory building, and that
enhances the solidity of research findings.
● Identifying the absence or presence of particular phenomena in the accounts of different
groups.
● exploring how the manifestations of phenomena vary between groups
● exploring how the reasons for, or explanations of, phenomena, or their different impacts and
consequences, vary between groups
● exploring the interaction between phenomena in different settings
● exploring more broadly differences in the contexts in which phenomena arise or the research
issue is experienced.
2. Building case studies and structural linkage into qualitative research design
● Single class
● Detailed and intensive
● Rooted in context
● Multiple data collection methods
● In Depth understanding

time frame
1. The timing of research
- depend on the focus of the study, clarity about the research objectives and priorities.
2. The number of research episodes and the role of longitudinal research
- Single episodes
involve only one episode of fieldwork, Focus is on current manifestation, stable phenomenon, fairly
detailed retrospective accounts are collected, Retrospective questioning can be supported by using
instruments such as specially designed calendars or diaries.
- Longitudinal episodes
involve more than one episode, takes two broad forms: panel studies in which the same people are
interviewed more than once, and repeat cross-sectional studies in which subsequent samples of new
participants are interviewed, issues with this include: number of episodes and timing, sample selection,
fieldwork methods, selection for follow up interviews and analysis
data collection method
1. Naturally occuring data or generated data
- The researcher will need to consider: importance of context, Whether a recounting of the
research phenomenon is likely to be sufficiently detailed, accurate or complete, whose
interpretation is paramount: subject or interviewers
2. In depth interviews or focus groups
- selection between them will turn key factors: the type of data sought, the subject area, and the
nature of the study group, research population, combining the two
3. Secondary Data Analysis
- providing an opportunity to bring a new perspective to existing data, may be that certain subject
areas were not central to the original objectives, and that this is reflected in the data available.

Negotiating research relationships

1. Negotiating access ​- requires patience and sensitivity, Co-operation is likely to be easier if the
research objectives are seen as valuable and relevant, Approval of research with individuals or
groups may also be required
2. Developing research relationships - Make the research studies accessible to the researched
groups, reciprocity, matching interviewer and participant characteristics
3. Ethical considerations ​- informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, protecting participants
from harm, protecting researcher’s from harm

Project stages
1. Framing the research question
2. Choosing the research method
3. Research relationships
4. Choosing research populations, samples and sites
5. Contacting potential participants
6. Designing research instruments
7. Preparation for fieldwork
8. Conduct of fieldwork
9. Analysis
10. Reporting
11. Project administration

Sampling strategies

Sampling methods
Quantitative research uses probability sampling where elements in the population are chosen at random
and have a known probability of selection. Focuses on statistically representative sample. Types of
probability sampling include: simple random sampling, systematic random sampling, stratified random
sampling, multi-stage sampling
 1. Qualitative research uses non-probability sampling for selecting the population for study. In a
non-probability sample, units are deliberately selected to reflect particular features of or groups
within the sampled population.
2. Criteria based/ Purposive or Judgement sampling: ​The sample units are chosen because they
have particular features or characteristics which will enable detailed exploration and
understanding of the central themes and puzzles which the researcher wishes to study.
Different types: homogenous, heterogenous, extreme, intensity, typical case, stratified, critical
case
3. Theoretical Sampling​: kind of purposive sampling in which the researcher samples incidents,
people or units on the basis of their potential contribution to the development and testing of
theoretical constructs. The process is iterative: the researcher picks an initial sample, analyses
the data, and then selects a further sample in order to refine his or her emerging categories and
theories. The process continues until researcher reaches a point of data saturation
4. Opportunistic sampling​ : involves the researcher taking advantage of unforeseen opportunities
as they arise during the course of fieldwork, adopting a flexible approach to meld the sample
around the fieldwork context as it unfolds.
5. Convenience sampling​: lacks any clear sampling strategy: the researcher chooses the sample
according to ease of access. It is the most common form of qualitative sampling.

Key features of qualitative sampling

1. Use of prescribed selection criteria
- 'symbolic representation' - a unit is chosen to both 'represent' and 'symbolise' features of
relevance to the investigation.
- ensure that the sample is as diverse as possible within the boundaries of the defined population.
2. Sample size
- The heterogeneity of the population
- The number of selection criteria
- The extent to which nesting of criteria is needed
- Groups of special interest that require intensive study
- Multiple samples within one study
- Type of data collection methods
- The budget and resources available
3. Additional and supplementary samples
- possible to supplement a sample by adding members to it, or to draw a second sample within
the scope of the same study.
- Additional qualitative data can be quite reliably incorporated because missing phenomena will
add to the completion of the 'map' and frequency of occurrence is not of concern.

Study populations
The first stage in sample design involves identifying exactly what it is that is to be sampled. In social
research this will usually involve people at some stage.
There are three key aspects that need to be addressed in defining the population for study:
1. This involves deciding which population will, by virtue of their proximity to the research
question, be able to provide the richest and most relevant information
 2. There might be subsets of the central population that should be excluded because their specific
circumstances or experiences set them outside the scope of enquiry, or because it would be
inappropriate or even insensitive to include them.
3. There might be additional groups or subpopulations that should be included because their
views, experiences and so on would bring contrasting or complementary insights to the enquiry.
This involves defining the supplementary parent population.
Sample frames
Requirements of sample frames
● should provide the details required to inform selection
● should provide a comprehensive and inclusive basis from which the research sample can be
selected
● should provide a sufficient number of potential participants to allow for high quality selection
● should provide all the information required to make contact with selected people - full names,
addresses and, if appropriate, telephone numbers.
Options for sample frames
1. Existing sources
- Administrative records
- Published Records
- Survey samples
2. Generated sampling frames
- Household screen - A household screen involves approaching households in the study areas and
conducting a short interview.
- Through an organisation
- Snowballing or chain sampling
- Flow populations - where samples are generated by approaching people in a particular location
or setting
3. Choosing a sample frame
- For general population samples, ​a household screen will usually be the most effective way to
generate the sample frame.
- Groups that have an administrative significance -​such as benefit recipients, property owners,
recent divorcees, people on probation - are generally most usefully identified through relevant
administrative records.
- For groups which are rare​ or otherwise hard to find,​ particularly if eligibility involves sensitive
information, a survey sample will usually be the most effective source if one can be accessed.
- For samples of specific​ minority ethnic groups,​ it is probably most effective to carry out a
household screen or focused enumeration in areas with a relatively high density of the ethnic
community required.
- For samples​ of organisations or professionals,​ published lists are likely to be the best option but
further screening will be required.
4. Seeking consent
- An 'opt in' approach requires positive and active consent from the individual for their details to
be passed on.
- An 'opt out' approach gives individuals an opportunity to indicate that they do not want their
details to be passed on, but treats inaction as consent.
Designing a purposive sample
1. Identifying the population for study
2. The choice of purposive selection criteria
3. Prioritising the selection criteria
4. Deciding on the locations for the study
5. Designing a sample matrix
6. Setting quotas for selection
7. Area allocations
8. Sample size
9. Purposive sampling for group discussions

Implementing the sample design

1. Selection to meet quota requirements
A screening exercise will be needed with a short screening questionnaire. This can be carried out either
over the telephone or face-to-face.
2. Documenting outcomes
- ineligible or out of scope​: where they fall outside the detailed definition of the study sample
- non-contacts: ​where the contact details were wrong or the potential participant could not be
contacted for other reasons
- not meeting quota requirements: ​where they are part of the target study population but fall
within quotas that have already been met
- refusals to participate: ​it is particularly important to try to ascertain (briefly) reasons for
non-participation
- agreement to participate​: where an interview or attendance at a focus group is arranged.

PART5

Structuring data collection

1. Level of structure required
relates to how far the researcher can specify in advance the issues to be explored, how much interest
there is in issues which they have not anticipated, and how far they are concerned with the way in which
issues are raised, approached and conceptualised by people
2. Ordering data collection
The order in which issues and topics should be approached
 Designing topic guides

The purpose and nature provides documentation of subjects to investigate, offers a tool to enhance the consistency of data
of a topic guide collection, May be the only written documentation of the fieldwork process, apart from transcripts.

Establishing subject Review the research specification and relevant literature, 'puzzlements and jottings' stage -
coverage identifies a topic and considers what is problematic or interesting about it, leads to a crystallisation
of the research objectives

structure and length of establish which topics can be grouped together, 'tree and branch' model (the 'branches' being
the guide issues pre-specified for follow up) , 'rivers and channel' model (where the researcher follows
'channels', or themes, wherever they lead), can vary from a single page to several pages in length.
Shorter guides encourage more in-depth data collection

Language and work best when items are not worded as actual questions, can also indicate a useful way of
terminology approaching a subject , easiest to use official or formal language on the guide itself, make sure both
the researcher and the participant are using language and specific terms in the same way, and that
there is no misunderstanding.

Specification of used to generate comprehensive accounts, useful to have a note of the types of issues that could be
follow-up questions and explored within each subtopic,
probes

Making the guide easy Objectives, introduction, summary, layout, instructions, ending
to use

Other research instruments

1. Collecting structured data
- A structured question sheet or proforma has background info, helpful in the beginning of the
interview, acts as a memory jogger.
2. Case illustration and examples
- adds depth and richness, involves specificity
3. Enabling and projective techniques
- refer to a number of techniques which require preparation of printed material, aid expression
and refinement of views, used in group discussions
- Examples: Vignettes, card sorting, mapping emergent issues
4. fieldnotes
- method of data collection in ethnographic research, and particularly in observation

Focus groups
Mostly used in market research, for exploring issues such as brand images, packaging and product
choice.
Key features of the focus group
- interaction between group participants
- Participants ask questions from each other
- lacks the depth and richness of in depth interviews
- Only the group interaction is used to generate data and insights.
- Spontaneous in language they use and their general framework
- participants take over some of the 'interviewing' role
- Situated in a more naturalistic setting
- reflects the social constructions

Types of focus groups

- involve around 6-8 people who meet once, for a period of 30 - 120 mins
- can be used in combination with in-depth interviews
- The group is reconvened after a week or 2 to allow self-reflection.
- may be asked to carry out tasks between the sessions (looking at materials, keeping a diary,
discussing the issues raised with others) to aid this process.
- Nominal groups have also been used for research purposes. Here, views are gathered from
group members individually and collated and circulated for comment - the group may or may
not meet at a later stage.
- The Delphi technique ​- a panel of experts is asked individually to provide forecasts in a technical
field, with their views summarised and circulated for iterative forecasting until consensus is
reached.
- Teleconferencing technology allows ​telephone groups ​to be conducted, particularly with less
mobile or particularly time-pressed populations.
- Online focus groups ​are also being used to involve synchronous discussion, in which participants
can log on at the same time and exchange views in real time, using online chat software.

The group process

Tuckman and Jenson identified this in 1965
1​. Forming phase:
Individuals are guarded, tense and anxious, and concerned about inclusion and acceptance. They tend to
address comments solely to the moderator. Background information is collected so that participants are
on familiar ground
2. Storming phase​:
A period of tension or criticism may be typified by dominance or one-upmanship, by silent aloofness, or
by the adoption of particular roles - the 'expert'. Strong differences may emerge.
3. ​Norming phase​:
It involves the group settling down to a calmer phase of sharing, similarity and agreement, in which the
norms of the group are established. The group begins to work cooperatively and may be particularly
keen to find common ground, to agree with each other and to reinforce what others say.
4. ​Performing phase​:
This allows the group to work interactively in open discussion. This is likely to be with energy,
concentration, enjoyment and a less guarded stance, allowing both agreement and disagreement
between participants. It is the most productive phase.
5. ​Adjourning phase:
Participants may take the opportunity to reinforce something they have said earlier or to give their final
thoughts. The researcher will thank them for what has been achieved. The group, or at least some
members, may feel reluctant to leave - the stage is sometimes called ​'mourning'​.

The stages of a focus group

Stage 1: Scene Setting and Ground Rules
Stage 2: Individual Introductions
Stage 3: The Opening Topic
Stage 4: Discussion
Stage 5: Ending the Discussion

Conducting the discussion

1. Researcher’s role ​- Encourage open discussion, be a moderator and a facilitator, researcher
interventions vary
2. Flexibility or structure: controlling the discussion - ​important to have some structure, but be
able to allow spontaneity, should have probes, and ways to steer discussion
3. Probing for fuller response ​- aim is to clarify, to delve deeper and to cover all angles, rather than
accepting an answer at its face value
4. Noting non verbal language - verbalise important body movements, used to agree or disagree
with issues, provides an indicator of participants' feelings relating to the group process
5. Controlling the balance between individual contribution ​- Creating space for everyone to
contribute, controlling dominant participants, drawing out reticent participants, avoiding
simultaneous dialogue
6. Focusing on participants’ personal views - avoidance of expressing personal views can be a type
of resistance or 'storming' behaviour.
7. Encouraging indepth exploration of emergent issues - create a reflective environment, probe for
depth
8. Exploring diversity of views ​- delve into diversity - to get the group to engage with it, explore the
dimensions of difference, explain it, look at its causes and consequences.
9. Challenging social norms and apparent consensus - participants may focus on their similarities or
present just one side of the issue, or their contributions may reflect prevailing social norms. This
can be linked to the 'norming' phase.
10. Enabling and projective techniques​ - discussed before
 Group composition and size
1. Heterogeneity vs homogeneity
diversity aids discussion, but too much can inhibit it, tend to feel safer with those who are same
very heterogeneous group can feel threatening
In studies researching sensitive subjects, the shared experience of 'everyone in the same boat' is
important to facilitate disclosure and discussion.
The socio-demographic makeup of the group can influence how frank and fulsome discussion will be
Avoid token representation
2. Strangers, acquaintances and pre-existing groups
People speak more freely in front of strangers
In situations where people might know each other, it is beneficial to work with a pre-existing group
Pre-existing groups can trigger memories of shared situations and are valuable for exploring shared
meanings and contexts such as how an organisation understands a policy objective and how this
translates into practice.
3. Group size
typically involve around 6-8 participants, but size depends upon: amount of info, sensitivity/complexity
of issue, breadth and depth of data, population involved.

Practicalities in organising the group

Timing Time of day, Day of the week, Time of year, Number of groups per day

venue Type of establishment (ethos) , Building (access), Location (proximity, safety), Room (size, comfort,
privacy, quiet, ambience), Availability of second room if needed, Physical arrangement (seating, table)

Hosting the group Management of: Transport/childcare, Refreshments, Incentives (cash, vouchers), Other people who
come with participants

Observers and Role and Seating

co-moderators

Recording Quality of equipment, Familiarisation, Checking before and after group

In-depth interviews

Perspectives on the interview

1. 'Miner metaphor' ​- sees knowledge as 'given': knowledge is understood as buried metal and the
interviewer is a miner who unearths the valuable metal.
2. 'Traveler metaphor' ​- knowledge is not given but is created and negotiated. The interviewer is
seen as a traveller who journeys with the interviewee. The meanings of the interviewee's
'stories' are developed as the traveller interprets them.
3. provide access to the meanings people attribute to their experiences and social worlds.
4. Postmodern approaches ​emphasise the way in which a reality is constructed in the interview,
and the relationship that develops between researcher and interviewee.
 5. In ​creative interviewing ​the researcher engages in lengthy or repeated interviews taking place in
people's everyday world situations, and an emphasis on free expression.
6. In ​dialectical interviewing​, focuses on contradictions in the social and material world and on the
potential for action and for change.
7. Heuristic approaches ​emphasise the personal experience of the interviewer, and see the process
of interviewing as a collaboration
8. Feminist research approaches ​attempt to be more reflexive and interactive, aiming to take a
nonhierarchical approach which avoids objectifying the participant.
9. Biographical, narrative, life history and oral history approaches ​are concerned with
understanding cultural milieux and social worlds through personal accounts and narratives, with
life history or biographical interviews covering an individual's whole life and oral history
approaches concentrating on specific events or periods.

Key features of the in-depth interview

● structure with flexibility
● interactive in nature
● achieve depth of answer in terms of penetration, exploration and explanation
● Generative or productive
● Always conducted face to face

Requirements of a qualitative interviewer

● to listen
● a clear, logical mind
● A good memory
● Curiosity
● Establishing a good rapport
● Adaptability
● Sense of tranquility (comfort)
● Humour
● Credibility
● Degree of humility
● Efficiency and careful preparation
● Concentration and stamina

Staging of Interview
Stage 1: Arrival
Stage 2: Introducing the Research
Stage 3: Beginning the Interview
Stage 4: During the Interview
Stage 5: Ending the Interview
Stage 6: After the Interview
 The interview 'contract'
- Researchers need to feel confident that the participant has freely given their consent to be
interviewed.
- The participant has entered into a type of 'contract' by agreeing to take part in an interview.
- The participant has agreed to be interviewed for a predetermined length of time, at a particular
venue, on a particular topic, and under clear conditions of confidentiality.
- The researcher should also be aware that participants have the right to change their mind at any
time.

Researcher and participant roles

Researcher: facilitator,manage the interview process, ensure subjects are covered according to the
required depth, decide framing of questions, how to follow up
Interviewee: give fulsome answers, provide more depth when probing questions are asked, to reflect
and to think, and to raise issues they see as relevant but which are not directly asked about.

Asking questions to achieve breadth and depth

Content mapping Content mining

Content mapping questions are designed to open up the Content mining questions are designed to explore the detail
research territory and to identify the dimensions or issues which lies within each dimension, to access the meaning it
that are relevant to the participant. holds for the interviewee, and to generate an in-depth
understanding from the interviewee's point of view.

A content mapping question is asked to raise issues content mining questions are used to explore them in detail

In content mapping questions, probes are used to help in They involve probes to achieve the required depth. Probes
mapping out the territory are responsive, follow-up questions designed to elicit more
information, description, explanation and so on. They are
usually verbal, but nonverbal probes - such as a pause, a
gesture, a raised eyebrow - are also highly effective.

Types: Types:
1. Ground mapping questions - asked to 'open up' a subject, 1. Amplificatory probes - Each of these probes would be
encourage spontaneity followed up with further probes until the researcher is
2. Dimension Mapping Questions - used to signpost, structure satisfied there is nothing else to add -
and direct the interview 2. Exploratory probes - Allows one to explore the views and
3. Perspective Widening Questions - understand the feelings that underlie descriptions of behaviour, events or
interviewee's perspective fully, also called prompts experience
3. Explanatory probes - asking 'why?'
4. Clarificatory probes - clarify terms and explore language,
clarify details, sequences, challenging inconsistency
In-depth, iterative probing
involves asking for a level of clarification and detail that can sometimes feel unnatural or artificial. The
researcher is putting aside their own knowledge and their own intuitive understanding, and asking for
explanations of things they might think they comprehend. This is essential to achieve the depth of
understanding

Question formulation
1. Using broad and narrow questions
2. Avoiding leading questions
3. Asking clear questions

techniques for achieving depth

1. Listening and remembering
2. Facilitating the relationship with the participant - Expressing Interest and Attention, Establishing
that there are no right or wrong answers, Being sensitive to tone of voice and body and
language, Allowing the participant time to reply, Pacing the interview, Handling extraneous
information
3. Turning assumptions and interventions into questions - never assume, refrain from commenting,
summarizing and finishing off an answer, avoid remarks
4. Neutrality and avoidance of self-disclosure
5. Responding to different interviewing situations
6. Conducting sensitive interviews - respond to emotions, anxiety, reticence, dominate interview
agenda, rambling responses

Practical considerations
Scheduling appointments - breaks, length of discussion
Venues - participants choice
Recording - audio video, documentation
Other people attending the interview