Chapter 10 data collection strategies in Pr1

data collection

1. Points to Ponder
Providea‘working’definitionforqualitativefieldresearch
Giveanexampleofaresearchtopicappropriateforfieldresearch
Howmightthosebeingstudiedmodifytheirbehavioriftheyknewthey
werebeingstudied?
Addressthestrengthsandweaknessesofqualitativefieldresearch.
Identifytheethicalissuesthatemergeinqualitativefieldresearch.

2. Qualitative Research

3. Thedistinctionbetweenqualitative
andquantitativeresearchisnot
precise.Mostqualitativeworkhas
someformofquantitativeanalysis
involved,andvisa-versa.

4. Goals of Social Research that are primarily
answered using qualitative strategies
Givingvoice
Interpretingculturalandhistoricalphenomena
–Duetothefactthatthereareoftenmanyaspects
involvedinhistoricalresearch,andbecausemanyofthe
materialsarenotspecificallyquantitativeinnature
Advancingnewtheories
–“Inductivelogic”;itgoesfromaspecificcasetoageneral
case
–qualitativecasesareoftenmorein-depth,andgivea
fullerpictureofphenomenathanquantitativecases

5. Qualitative Field Research
Producesobservationsnoteasilyreducedto
numbers
Includesarangeofdatacollectionmethods
includingfieldnotes,one-to-oneandfocusgroup
interviews,aswellassomeformsofcontent
analysisandhistoricalanalysis
Wellsuitedforstudyingsocialprocess;Howdoes
thiscomeabout?

6. Categories
Naturalistic Observation (Ethnography)
Ethnomethodology
Surveys
Case Study
Focus Groups
Field Experiments
Participatory Action Research

7. Challenge of Low-Constraint Research
Usuallyinvolvescarefulobservationofparticipantsin
theirnaturalsurroundings
–Canbeverydifficulttoobservebehaviorinnatural
surroundings
–Oftenwearenotsurewhatbehaviorsareimportantuntil
afterwehaveobservedforawhile
–Withoutthecontrolsofthelaboratory,participantsarefree
todowhattheywanttodo,andnotwhatwearehopingto
observe

8. Qualitative Research Paradigms
Naturalists Studies or Ethnography
Ethnomethodology
Grounded Theory

9. Ethnography
Aresearchmethodwherebytheresearcher
emergesher/himselfinasettingofinterestforthe
purposeofgatheringdetaileddataaboutthegroup
(culture,symbols,processes,membership
boundaries,etc.)
Studyingsociallifeinitsnaturalsetting

10. Ethnography
Primarydatagatheringtools:fieldnotesanddepthinterviews
MembershipRoles:
–CompleteMembership(CompleteParticipant)–assumefunctional
rolesandarenotnecessarilyknownasresearcher;mostclosely
alignedemotionallywithothersingroup;alignedideologicallywith
group;closestto“goingnative”
–ActiveMembership–assumefunctionalrolesbutmaintainescapes
formaintainingperspectiveonsetting(debriefwithcolleagues)
–PeripheralMembership–doesnotassumefunctionalrolesbutknown
togroupmembers
CompleteObserver(non-membershiprole)

11. Ethnography
Distancefromideologyofgroup
(perhaps)allowsyoutobetterframeand
explainideas
KnownandUnknownobservers
–Ethics
–Datacollectionconsiderations

12. Ethnomethodology
Reliesontechniquesforbreaking‘takenforgranted
rules’tobetterunderstandtheinvisiblesetofnorms
andvaluesthatsurroundandguideourdaily
interactions
Babbie’spublictrashexample
Researchsubjectsthemselvesarenotsomuchthe
focalpointofinvestigationasarethepracticesand
processesthatenableandconstraintheirdailylives

13. Focus Groups
EstablishingtheGroup
–Smallgroup
–CoordinationIssues
–Payingyoursubjects
–Findingaplace
–Needatleasttworesearchteammembers;
facilitationandnote-taking
–Purpose:RICHDATAnotgeneralizability

14. Focus Groups
Advantages
–Real-lifedatainasocialsetting
–Flexibility
–Speedyresults
–Lowincost
–GroupFormatgeneratesdiscussion

15. Focus Group
Disadvantages
–Groupthink
–Lesscontrolthanone-to-oneinterview
–Datamoredifficulttoanalyze
–Moderatorsneedtobeskilled
–Differencesbetweengroupscanbetroublesome
–Difficulttocoordinate
–Reliabilityissues
–Recordingprocess
–ProbingandFollow-UpQuestions
–INTERVIEWERTRAININGISCRITICAL

16. Participation Action Research (PAR)
Explicitlyandimplicitly,PARhasagoalofmeetingcommunity
needsand/orgivingbacktothecommunitiesofresearch
WithPAR,thecommunitiesofresearchareincludedas“experts”
indecidingthefocalpointofresearch(problemconceptualization);
andinvestigationstrategy(researchdesign)tohelpthecommunity.
Researchisconceivedasatoolofcommunityempowerment.
–Youasresearcherareguide.
–Thisisasubstantialdeparturefromtraditionalmodelswhereresearch
expertobjectifiessubjectsofresearch,extractsdata,andleaves
withoutfurthercontact.

17. Qualitative Interviewing
Goodtechniqueforresearchersless
interestedin“variables”andmoreinterested
inhowindividualssubjectivelyseethe
worldandmakesenseoftheirlives

18. Who are you going to talk to?
TheoreticalSampling
–BarneyGlaserandAnselmStrauss;1967;The
DiscoveryofGroundedTheory
Thedatacollection,codingandanalysisprocesses
occurongoingprovidingusdirectionforwho
needstobetalkedtonext…andperhapsnew
typesofquestionsthatneedtobeasked

19. When do you quit interviewing?
TheoreticalSaturation
Youquitinterviewingwhenyouhavereached“theoreticalsaturation”
–exhaustedthevariationindatapatternsemerging;nonewthemes
arebeingofferedbyaddedinterviews
Example:MidwiferyResearch;Rationaleforchoosinghomebirth
–Naturallifeevent,ControlandEmpowerment,Safety,Care
availability,QualityofCare
–Youarepresentingthesetofofideas,patterns,practiceswhich
werecommunicatedininterviews(#thattalkedabouteachdoes
notmatter).However,ifonly1personoutof30mentions
something,itwouldnoteincludedinthesetof“themes”inthe
analysis.

20. Doing the Interview
IntroductionandBuildingRapport
–explainpurposeagain
–verbalconfidentialityassurance(andgooverform)
–norightorwronganswers…
–o.k.toaskquestionsandclarify
–askpermissiontorecord
YourQuestions
–Ifflexibleformat…listofthingstobesuretotalkabout
–Togetrichdata:PROBEANDFOLLOW
YouandtheInterview:attending,listening,thinking,taking
notes,taping
–notetaking–clarifysomething;tokeepyoufocused
–silenceandpatience–balancedwithkeepingtheinterviewgoing
–redirectlong-windedtangentsbacktoyourlineoffocus

21. After the Interview: Writing up the
Interview and…
Summaryandnotesofmainpoints
Verbatimtranscripts(don’tletthempileup)
Ideas–tentativepiecesofanalysis
Methodologicaldifficulties
Personalemotionalexperience
–Respondingtointervieweerequests;emotionalissues?

22. Ethical Issues
Useofunobtrusivemeasures(includingarchivalrecords)raises
ethicalissues
–Participantsarenotgiventherighttoconsent
–Someofthearchivalrecordscontainsensitivedata
Researchersneedtoshowthenecessityforunobtrusivemeasures
andsafeguardstoprotecttherightsoftheparticipants
–MusthaveIRBapproval

23. Evaluating the Data
Thedatafromlow-constraintresearchisarichsetof
information
–Datausuallyneedstobecodedtoprovidesimplification
andorganization
–Theanalyseswilldependonthequestionsandthelevel
ofdataproducedaftercoding
Mustbecautiousininterpretingdatafromlow-constraint
research

24. Limitations
Poor representativeness
Poor replicability
Limitations of the observer
Going Beyond the Data