Qualitative Research 1
Dr Shona Bettany
Lecture Objectives
• To introduce qualitative research and understand the sort
of questions that can be answered using qualitative
methods
• To examine a broad range of research approaches
(methodologies) giving an overview of the different
approaches that might be used (including, but not limited
to: grounded theory, phenomenology, discourse
research, ethnography)
Importance of lectures Qual 1 and 2
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Can you identify research questions that might
be more appropriately answered using
qualitative research?
Can you match your own research questions
to a specific qualitative method?
Do you understand the scope of qualitative
research and can you identify different
qualitative methodological approaches?
Key Issues
• Qualitative research and research
questions
• 4 Qualitative research approaches or
methodologies
Description of qualitative research
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Inductive/abductive
Iterative
Subjective
Closeness between researcher and researched
Thick description
Can deal with ambiguity, multiplicity, contradictions
Multi methods
Researcher as involved bricoleur
Key Issue 1:
Qualitative research questions
Why and how
• Interpreting and understanding meanings and behaviour
• Depth not (usually) breadth
• Generates data that are “rich” and time-consuming to analyze
• When the topic is
– Sensitive
– Complex
– Non measurable
– Concerned with interaction and process
• Examples of methodologically relevant questions in next section
Methodology
• Why have a specific methodology?
– What is a methodology?
– The sort of questions you wish to answer
– Personal choice/preference
– Methodology in qualitative research is VERY
IMPORTANT
Key Issue 2:
Qualitative research approaches
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Grounded theory
Phenomenology
Discourse theory
Ethnography
Grounded theory
• The phrase "grounded theory" refers to theory that is
developed inductively from a corpus of data
• An emergent research process
• Begins with a research “situation”
• Sampling is defined by the choice of the research
situation, aiming for diversity of respondents and is also
an emergent process
• Literature is also seen as part of the data collection
process
• The aim is to develop an understanding of, and to
theorise this research situation
• Methods that fit:
– Unstructured/semi structured interviews, focus groups,
observation, group feedback
The grounded theory process
Assumptive research
question
Underlying form of question is
“What (theory or explanation) emerges
from an analysis of (the data collected
about this phenomenon)?”
Sample defined
by question
Who might you
ask to take part?
Choose Method
And data collection
Any ideas?
Assumptive question should
be generated through
literature, media
reports, personal experience
anecdotal evidence etc.
E.G. What are the consumption
processes involved in ‘re-imaging’
after a significant loss of body
weight?
Think about the who, what, where,
when, how
The grounded theory process
Data collection
Coding
Dependent on method
recording, field notes
video…
Theory
generation
and contribution
To literature
Feedback loop until “saturation”
Feedback/iterations important in grounded
theory, adapting sample, methods, codes
and so on until saturation point is reached
Phenomenology
• “Lived experience”
• Focuses on the meaning of human experience
• The aim of the research is to collect accounts of the experience of
something (a phenomenon) and to identify the structures across
different experiences
• Your phenomenological research would produce rich descriptive
accounts of experiences and then produce a framework to explain
“the experience of…” that can be generalised
• Sampling is defined through the phenomenon under study
• Methods: the phenomenological interview, focus groups,
observation and discussion with participants
• Can be useful for researching sensitive subjects e.g. workplace
bullying, addictive consumption, and generating a generalised
experiential framework by which to understand that phenomenon
The phenomenological process
Question generation
Underlying form of question is “What is the meaning, structure, and essence of the
lived experience of (a phenomenon) by (an individual or by many individuals)?”
This is the basic phenomenological question.
E.G. What is the lived experience of consumers in debt?
Questions generated from literature, media reports, personal experience, anecdotal evidence
In phenomenology frameworks, theories and concepts about the phenomenon are collected
From these sources and used to inform the data collection
Method
The phenomenological interview
Participation/observation
Focus groups (?)
The phenomenological process
Coding and thematic sorting
Theory generation
Locating contribution to existing frameworks
Discourse theory
• Constructivist questions
• Discourse: a shared way of talking or writing about a topic or
phenomenon that constructs our ideas about what it is/how it works
• Discourses construct our views and possible discussions about a
phenomenon, they construct that phenomenon in language
• Can reveal conceptual underpinnings shared by a discourse
community
• Sampling is defined by the discourse community under study
• Discourse analysis is like riding a bicycle, the more you do it the
better you get but there is no definitive guide to how to do it, you just
need to get on and have a go…(adapted from Potter and Wetherall
1998)
• Reading between the lines, the story behind the story, the hidden
rules and laws that shape the way phenomena are constructed in
talk and text
• Methods: anything (qualitative) goes
Discourse theory process
Question generation
Questions generated from literature, media reports, personal experience,
anecdotal evidence
Underlying form of question is “What activities constitute (this experience/
concept or phenomenon) by (these actors)?” or “What discursive resources
are used to construct (these individuals, organization or group) as (individuals, an organization
or a group)?”
E.G. How are new university employees at Bradford
University socialized into workplace rituals?
What is being constructed?
Discourse theory process
Methods
Written word – literature for new staff, diaries, transcripts, minutes of meetings
Spoken word – interviews, observation, focus groups
With DA many different methods may have to be used to see commonalities in
constructions across data
Analysis
Identifying relevant constructions across talk and text
Theory generation
Generating a model or framework explaining the phenomenon
Ethnography
• Is not just participant observation!!
• Ethnography is about understanding the everyday activities of
people within local settings
• The cultural characteristics of a group
• Very good for identifying and theorising cultural behaviours not
easily explained (hence observation is a good method to use)
• Native habitats (16/17/18/19/20th C) a remote tribal village
• Native habitats (21st C) a call centre, a restaurant kitchen, a large
supermarket, a home, a hospital, an office…
• Captures the complexity, richness, interactions, processes,
behaviours and ambiguities of the chosen research setting
• Sampling: defined by the target group
• Methods: anything goes, but observation should be a significant part
of the design
The ethnographic process
Question generation
Questions generated from literature, media reports, personal experience, anecdotal evidence
Underlying form of question is “What are the defining cultural characteristics
of (group x)?”
E.G. What are the cultural characteristics of a highly innovative
organization?
Method
The ethnographic process
Analysis
Generation of codes and themes relating to processes as
well as categories
Theory generation
Contribution to literature
Fit within overall topic
• Methodologies are a crucial part of a
qualitative research project - methods
alone will not suffice!!
• Overview of some relevant methodologies