Research Methods Inclass test 4

When was QR established?

Not new - common in 1900s-1930s

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When did the behaviourism and cognitive revolution come about? Quant. approach take over

1970s there was a dominance in quant methods. Emphasis on controlled experiments meant that QR = devalued and viewed with deep suspicion by the scientific community

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Since when has QR been accepted as a valuable part of modern society

Since the 1980s = explosion of interest in QR.

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What are the main concerns of QR?

Artificiality in research data, ecological validity and 'real world' research

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Why has quant methods been critiqued

since 1950's = neglect of common sense reasoning by p's and researchers.

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What is QR?

Covers research methodologies which vary in terms of their underlying epistemological assumptions assumptions but share various assumptions.

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What concerns does QR share?

Focus on meaning rather than discovering cause-effect; Studying processes rather than predicting outcomes; Studying processes in naturalistic contexts; Understanding p's experiences rather than working w/researchers pre-defined variables

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What concerns does QR share?

Verbal/non-verbal data instead of numeric data; Concerned w/construction of categories than than enumeration

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What is epistemology?

Historical study of efforts to gain philosophical understanding or knowledge of the nature, origin, methods, limits and scope of human knowledge.

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The scientific methods - positivism

Straightforward relationship between the world and our perception and understanding of it. Goal of research = produce objective knowledge

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The scientific methods - Empiricism

Knowledge acquisition depends on the collection and analysis of data. Knowledge claims must be grounded in data.

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The scientific methods - Hypothetico-deductivism

Karl Popper - no scientific theory could be conclusively verified. Scientific research should rely on dedication + falsification. Putting hypothesis to the test - falsification.

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Critique of the 'scientific' method (Willig, 2013)

No space for theory development - reliance on hypotheses generated by existing theories closes off possibility of generating new theories; H-D: Elitist - excludes communities not versed in scientific language/without knowledge of existing theories;

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Critique of the 'scientific' method (Willig, 2013)

H-D = myth- when experiment fails, it is the fault of the the researcher not the theory. Knowledge generation = not a piece meal process but develops in leaps of paradigms (Kuhn); feminist critiques e.g. 'The gods eye'

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3 Approaches to knowledge production in QR (Willig, 2013)

Realist; Phenomenological and Social constructionist

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Realist approach to knowledge production in QR

Wants to generate knowledge which captures and reflects as truthfully as possible what is happening. Assumptions = process of a social/psychological nature which exist and can be identified. Researcher = detective

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Phenomenological approach to knowledge production in QR

Aim = produce knowledge about subjective experiences of p's. Interested in qual and texture of experience rather than whether it is an accurate reflection. Researcher = Person-centred counsellor

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Social constructionist approach to knowledge production in QR

No direct relationship between perception/experience and objective world. Perception/experiences = historic. cultr. and linguistically specific. Focus on discourses. 'knowledges' rather than knowledge. Researcher = Architect.

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Advantages of QR

Flexible approach - suitable for many naturally occurring settings; Useful in clinical work + researching settings; collect rich + descriptive data from ppl own accounts; explore accounts of both individuals + groups; focus on meanings;

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Advantages of QR

can research sensitive/unusual areas; can be used alone to interpret, quantify/illuminate statistical analysis

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Disadvantages of QR

Very time consuming and labour intensive - expensive; open to subjective interpretation; results in huge amounts of data - needing skilled analysis by experienced researchers; Q's abt reliability of data - generalisable?

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What methods do Q researchers use?

Interviews; Observations; Focus groups; Diaries; Online data

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Interviews

Popular - often semi-structured, can be structured/open; Individual/pair/triads; Useful for sensitive topics

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Observation

Observational data in naturally occurring settings; Opportunity to record/analyse behaviour and interactions as they occur; useful in research involving several players; work on non-verbal communication and consequences of events.

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Focus groups

Recent method of data collection - gaining popularity; Group int. - using interaction amongst p's as a source of data; Explore+show people think/talk about a topic.

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Diaries

p's maintain a record over extended time; written/tape recorded; relatively unstructured; researcher may offer some advice

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Online data

Material from discussion boards; social media; poss to conduct int + focus groups online e.g. via IM/email

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Realism/Positivism

Objective reality =measurable; experiences + perceptions map out onto what is 'out there'; Researcher = detective; Knowledge = value free (objective)

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Social constructionism

No direct relationship between perception/experience and 'objective' world; mediated by history, culture, language etc; multiple interpretation = 'knowledges'; researcher = architect - focus on discourses (study of sociallife thru analysis of lang)

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Within QR, diff methods of analysing Q data, and they incl:

Subscribe to diff epistemological positions; Occupy diff positions on realism --> social constructionism continuum.

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What does the method of QR used depend on?

the assumptions and values of the researcher as well as the research question

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IPA

Explore in detail individual, personal and lived experiences and to examine how p's are making sense of their personal and social world

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IPA focus

Lived experience and people's making sense of these experiences; issues of interest = identity, self, bodily experiences; small, homogenous sample.

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Role of researcher in IPA

Dynamic research process + active role of the researcher --> Double, empathetic and critical hermeneutics. Idiographic = case study the unit of analysis.

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Process of IPA

1) Identify themes in the first case 2) Identify theme clusters 3) Create a table of master themes 4) Continue w/other cases, looking for ev. of thematic structure but also ready for new themes 5) Cyclical process 6) Write up - themes --> narrative

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GT - Glaser and Strauss (1967)

'Discovering' theory from examination of data; talk represents the content of ppl's minds and provides direct access to thoughts/emotions. Most positivist of methods of q analysis.

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When is GT used?

Relatively little known about topic/no grand explanatory theory; develop new theories/challenge existing ones; to see p's understandings, perceptions + experiences of the world

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Process of GT

1) Coding + generation of categories (progressively more analytic, In-vivo labels) 2) constant comparative analysis 3) negative case analysis 4) theoretical sensitivity 5) theoretical saturation 6) memoing

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TA

Method for identifying, analysing and reporting themes within data. It minimally organises and describes your data set in rich detail.

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Characteristics of TA

Increasingly popular; appropriate for analysing any sort of Q data; not as prescriptive as other methods; flexible - can be combined w/diff epistemological positions; Involves searching across data set to find themes;

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Characteristics of TA part 2

Analysis can be Inductive/deductive; themes can be analysed at semantic/latent level

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TA - Braun & Clarke - 6 steps

1) Familiarising yourself w/data 2) Generalising initial codes 3) Searching for themes 4) Reviewing themes 5) Defining and naming themes 6) Producing the report

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Discourse Analysis - Social constructionist position

No objective reality out there which we can measure; language doesn't provide access to ppls psychological and social worlds; 2 diff. approaches to discourse analysis.

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2 different approaches to discourse analysis

Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis ('top-down') and Discursive psychology ('bottom-up')

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More than a methodology

Identification of discourses/linguistic repertoires - 'discourse' a systematic, coherent set of images, metaphors etc. that construct an object in a particular way; Language = constructive + functional = action orientated

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Data collection

Naturally occurring talk and text where poss; ethical considerations - often semi-structured int/focus groups; transcription often very laborious in discourse analyses.

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How to evaluate Q research?

Validity and reliability = irrelevant/imposs concepts to apply to QR --> rest on the assumption of the researchers objectivity; Quant R aims to remove bias,BUT QR = researcher actively involv. in process thus remove bias = inappropriate + misguided

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General Guidelines for evaluating QR

Rigour + Transparency; Providing context (situating the research + reflexivity (researchers awareness of analytic focus on their relationship to the field of study)); Importance/relevance

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Yardley (2000)

Sensitivity to context; Commitment + Rigour; Transparency + Coherence; Impact+Importance

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Henwood & Pidgeon (1992) - Informed by GT

Importance of fit; Integration of theory; Reflexivity; Documentation; Theoretical sampling & negative case analysis; sensitivity to negotiated realities; transferability

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Elliott et al. (1999) - Informed by phenomenological perspective

Owning one's perspective; situating the sample; grounding in examples; providing credibility checks; coherence; accomplishing general vs. specific research tasks; resonating w/readers

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Problems w/general evaluative criteria for QR - Methods have diff assumptions in terms of:

1) Nature of the world 2) The meaning of knowledge 3) The role of the researcher in the research process (Willig, 2008)

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Madill et al. (2000) - approaches to QR

1) Naive realist - characterised by a 'discovery' orientation --> objectivity + reality 2) Contextual constructionist - knowledge = contextual --> reflexivity 3) Radical constructionist = knowledge = social construction

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Criteria for specific methods in QR - GR

Aim = develop theory inductively from the data; need to demonstrate that methods of data collection + the analytic processes captured the 'real' experiences + meanings of the p's - transparency, going back to p's to check val., using triangulation

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Criteria for specific methods in QR - Phenomenological (e.g. IPA)

Concerned w/detailed description rather than explanation. Evaluated by demonstrating Rigour + Reflexivity rather than explanation adequacy of the research to access the real experiences of the p's.

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Criteria for specific methods in QR - Discourse Analysis

Concerned w/how lang. constructs particular objects + phenomena; often aims to challenge the 'taken-for-granted'; so need to ensure Quality + Rigour of analysis - not whether analysis reflects anything 'real/out there'

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Research Methods Inclass test 4

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