1.4 NON-EXPERIMENTAL
METHODS: QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe non-experimental methods
 Outline important differences between
experimental and non-experimental methods
 Explain ethical issues related to interview,
observations and case studies.
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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

Qualitative Researchers are interested in
How people explain everyday experiences
 Occurs in a natural setting:

How do people work in teams in the workplace?
 How do women experience the transition to motherhood
 How do college students adjust to independent living?
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Qualitative research is guided by one or more
research questions.
Inductive reasoning: This is an open approach.
 Where as hypothesizing is deductive reasoning. A
claim that can be rejected or accepted.

INDUCTIVE APPROACH
No defined variables
 Researchers gather information and assess what
they have.
 Goal: to describe the meanings attributed to
events by the research participants.

(Not to find a cause and effect)
 Findings are more subjective

WAYS OF KNOWING
EXPERIMENTAL VS. NON-EXPERIMENTAL
Non-experimental
Experimental
Hypothesis
 Variables
 Deductive approach
 Objective
 Quantitative data
 Cause & effect
 Statistical analysis

Open research
question
 No defined variables
 Inductive approach
 Subjective
 Qualitative Data
 Identify
meanings/experience
 Interpretive analysis

TYPES OF NON-EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Interviews
 Observations
 Case Studies

INTERVIEW
Most common way of gathering qualitative data
 Interviewing requires training and skill:

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Verbal skills
Establish a positive relationship
Interpret non-verbal cues
React to unconscious signs.
participant bias: participants respond the way they
think is appropriate for the interview
Social desirable bias: most people put their best
face on – many won’t reveal the truth.
Interviewer effects: age, sex ethnicity, of the
interviewer that could interfere with the study
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
Structured Interview
 Unstructured Interview
 Semi-structured interview

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ETHICS INVOLVED
Informed consent
 Confidentiality
 Right to withdraw

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW

The schedule and topic of the interview is the
only established guideline
Pros: Open ended questions, leads to interests
and motivation of the interviewee.
 Cons: difficult to analyze.

SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW

Preferred method: combines a set of questions,
that permits for open response.
Pros: there will be a number of closed questions
that can be easily analyzed.
 Cons:

STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
Questions are clearly established
 Order of questions are established
 Setting is highly controlled

Pros – easy to analyze and compare
 Cons – may appear to be artificial

BE A RESEARCHER

You have been commissioned to carry out
research using interviews on one of the following
issues:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Positive and negative experiences in CAS projects
What is it like to live in a foreign country
Teenagers and drug use and abuse
Prejudice in the classroom
Choose one from the list and consider the
following questions.
1.
2.
3.
How would you carry out the research?
How would you obtain your sample?
What potential difficulties do you anticipate in
carrying out your interview?
OBSERVATION
Observations – describes behavior without trying
to establish cause-and-effect relationship.
 Naturalistic Observations take place in a
natural setting.

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Data collected: visual, auditory or written
Types of Observations
 Non-participant observations
 Participant observations
CHALLENGES INVOLVING OBSERVATIONS
Impossible to record everything observed.
 Researcher Bias: observer sees what they
expect to see.
 Inter-observer reliability: several observers
work in tandem. This helps to overcome
researcher bias.
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TYPES OF OBSERVATIONS

Participant observation

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Nonparticipant observation

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The researcher is part of the group being observed
The researcher is not part of the group being observed
Covert observation: participants do not know they
are being observed
Rosenhan 1973, On Being Sane in an Insane Place.
(Pg.34)
 Festinger et al.’s When Prophecy Fails (pg 103)

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Overt observations participants know that the
observer is a researcher
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
The researcher becomes part of the group.
 The researcher experiences the situation with the
group
 What are some issues “covert participant
observers” must deal with?

Recording information accurately
 Maintaining objectivity

NON-PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

The researcher is not part of the group being observed
 Participants
 This
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are expected to act in a natural/normal manner.
may trigger reactivity, a change of behavior
Can you think of any issues that might occur in
data gathering as a result of non-participant
observation?
Demand characteristics?
 The Hawthorne Effect?
 Researcher bias?

How could you overcome these bias effects?
POINTS TO CONSIDER IN OBSERVATIONAL
RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
Is the observation structures or unstructured?
Is the observation covert or overt?
Does the observation take place in a natural or
artificial setting?
ETHICS OF OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
Must have informed consent.
Debriefs the participants after the event
To carry out covert observations, proposal must
be approved by ethics committee
1.
Will the research provide information that will
benefit others?
COVERT PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
ROSENHAN 1973 (PG 34-35)
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1.
2.
After reading and viewing the experiment:
What are the ethical issues involved in
Rosenhan’s study?
Was the use of covert observations justified?
CASE STUDIES

Case studies rely on real life data
Behavior
 Feelings
 Experiences
 Thoughts
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Measurements may include:
IQ
 Blood testing
 Survey data
 memory
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ADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY

Allows for detail study/in-depth investigation with large
group participants with the aim of averaging the findings.
Example: brain damage and memory loss
 Twin separation and cognitive development
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Data Collection:
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Interviews
Observations
Surveys
Questionnaires
Physical exams
Can you replicate a case study?
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No – therefore the reliability of your findings are said to be low.
ETHICAL ASPECTS OF CASE STUDIES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Protecting the identities of the participants is
vital.
Informed consent
No deception
Right to withdraw
Debriefing
Confidentiality
RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY PG. 37

1.
2.
3.
Read the case (Prezi): Documentary
Complete a key study sheet on the study
Outline 2 ethical problems in this case
What could be the reason that Money continues
to use this case as evidence of his theory of
gender neutrality?

About a Girl: Coy Mathis' Fight to Change
Gender

Read more:
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/abouta-girl-coy-mathis-fight-to-change-change-gender20131028#ixzz3BEDBgyOa