Collecting Qualitative Data

COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

By: Nawal Salim ALKathiri

WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF QUALTATIVE DATA CLLECTION?

1 -Identify your participants and sites.

2 -Gain access.

3 -Determine the type of data to collect.

4 -Develop data collection forms.

5 -Administer the process in an ethical manner.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS AND SITES WILL YOU STUDY?

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RANDOM SAMPLING AND PURPOSEFUL SAMPLING

To develop a detailed understanding

Select people or sites who can best help us understand our

phenomenon

Select representative individuals

To generalize from sample to the population

Purposeful “Qualitative” sampling

Random “Quantitative” sampling

To make “claims” about the population

To build/test “theories” that explain the population.

That might provide useful information.That might help people learn about the phenomenon.That might give voice to silenced people .

PURPOSEFUL SAMPLING

Researchers intentionally select individuals and sites to learn and understand the central phenomenon.

TYPES OF PURPOSEFUL SAMPLING

Maximal Variation SamplingExtreme Case SamplingTypical SamplingTheory or Concept SamplingHomogeneous SamplingCritical SamplingOpportunistic SamplingSnowball SamplingConfirming and Disconfirming Sampling

Maximal Variation Sampling:

A purposeful sampling strategy in which the researcher samples cases or individuals that differ on some characteristic or trait.

e.g. different age groups.

EXTREME CASE SAMPLING

Is a form of purposeful sampling in which you study an outlier case or one that displays extreme characteristics.

-Choose extreme cases after knowing the typical or average case-e.g., outstanding successes, crisis events

Typical Sampling

A form of a purposeful sampling in which the researcher studies a person or site that is “typical” to those unfamiliar with the situation.

Theory or Concept Sampling

A purposeful sampling strategy in which the researcher samples individuals or sites because they can help the researcher generate or discover a theory or specific concepts within the theory.

Homogeneous Sampling

The researcher purposefully samples individuals or sites based on membership in a subgroup that has defining characteristics.

Critical Sampling

Identify the case that can illustrate some phenomenon dramatically.

Opportunistic Sampling

Purposeful sampling undertaken after the research begins, to take advantage of unfolding events that will help answer research questions.

Snowball Sampling

A form of purposeful sampling that typically proceeds after a study begins and occurs when the researcher asks participants to recommend other individuals to study.

Confirming and Disconfirming Sampling

A purposeful strategy used during a study to follow up on specific cases to test or explore further specific findings.

WHEN DOES SAMPLING OCCUR

Before data collection? After data collection has started?

What is the intent? What is the intent?

To developMany

perspectives

SAMPLE SIZE OR NUMBER OF RESEARCH SITES

HOW WILL YOU GAIN ACCESS TO THE PEOPLE AND SITES?

Gaining access to the site or individual(s) in qualitative inquiry involves obtaining permission at different levels, such as:

The organization

The site

The individuals

The campus institutional review boards

SEEK INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL

Institutional Review Board (IRB) :

Insures that data reported is credible and accurate and that the participant’s right and confidentiality are protected.

Several strategies might prove useful when negotiating qualitative research through the (IRB) process:

1 -Determine if individuals reviewing proposals on the review board are familiar with qualitative research.

2 -Develop detailed descriptions of the procedures so that reviewers have a full disclosure of the potential risks to people and sites in the study.

3 -Detail ways you will protect the anonymity participants.

4 -Discuss the need to respect the research site and to disturb or disrupt it as little as possible.

5 -Detail how the study will provide opportunities to “give back” and reciprocate in some way to those individuals you study.

6 -Acknowledge that during your prolonged interaction with participants, you may adopt their beliefs and even become an advocate for their ideas .

7 -specify potential power imbalances that may occur between yourself and participants, and how your study will address these imbalances .

8 -Detail how much time you will spend at the research site.

9 -Include in the project description a list of the interview questions so reviewers on the institutional board can determine how sensitive the questions may be.

GATEKEEPER

A gatekeeper is an individual has an official or unofficial role at the site, provides entrance to a site, helps researchers locate people, and assists in the identification of places to study.

WHT INFORMATION WILL YOU COLLECT?

A COMPENDIUM OF DATA COLLECTION APPROACHES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Observations

Interviews and questionnaires

Documents

Audiovisual materials

OBSERVATIONS

The process of gathering open-ended, firsthand information by observing people and places at a research site.

Advantages:

opportunity to record information as it occurs in a setting,

1 -To study actual behavior.

2 -To study individuals who have difficulty verbalizing their ideas .

e.g. preschool children

Disadvantages:

You will be limited to those sites and situations where you can gain access.

You may have difficulty develop rapport with individuals there.

A participant observer: is an observational role adopted by researchers when they take part in activities in the setting they observe .

Observational roles

A nonparticipant observer: is an observer who visit a site and records notes without becoming involved in the activities of the participants.

A changing observational role: is one where researchers adapt their role to the situation.

e,g, page 223

The process of observing:

1 -Select a site to be observed that can help you best understand the central phenomenon .

2 -Ease into the site slowly by looking around; getting a general sense of the site; and taking limited notes, at least initially.

3 -At the site, identify who or what to observe, when to observe, and how long to observe.

4 -Determine, initially, your role as an observer.

5 -Conduct multiple observations over time to obtain the best understanding of the site and the individuals.

6 -design some means for recording notes during an observation.Fieldnotes: are text recorded by the researcher during an observation in a qualitative study.

7 -Consider what information you will record during an observation.

8 -Record descriptive and reflective fieldnotes.

Descriptive fieldnotes: record a description of the events, activities, and people.

Reflective fieldnotes: record personal thoughts that researchers have that relate to their insights, hunches, or board ideas or themes that emerge during the observation.

9 -Make yourself known, but remain unobtrusive.

10 -After observing, slowly withdraw from the site.

INTERVIEWS AND QUESTIONNAIRES

INTERVIEWS

Occur when researchers ask one or more participants general, open-ended questions and record their answers.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE INTERVIEW:

Advantages:

1 -provide useful information when you cannot directly observe participants.

2 -they permit participants to describe detailed information

Disadvantages: 1 -it provides only information “filtered” through the views of the

interviewers.2 -interview data may be deceptive and provide the perspective

the interviewee wants the researcher to hear.3 -the presence of the researcher may affect how the

interviewee responds.4 -interviewee responses also may not be articulate,

perceptive, or clear.

Types of interviews and open-ended questions on questionnaires:

2 -focus group interviews: the process of collecting data through interviews with a group of people, typically four to six .

3 -telephone interviews: is the process of gathering data using the telephone and asking a small number of general questions.

4 -electronic e-mail interviews: consist of collecting open-ended data through interviews with individuals using computer and the internet to do so.

1 -one-on-one interviews: is a data-collection process in which the researcher asks questions to and records answers from only one participant in the study at a time.

CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS:

1 -Identify the interviewees.

2 -Determine the type of interview you will use.

3 -During the interview, audiotape the questions and responses.

4 -Take brief notes during the interview.

5 -Locate a quiet, suitable place for conducting the interview.

6 -Obtain the consent from the interviewee to participate in the study.

7 -Have a plan, but be flexible.

8 -Use probes to obtain additional information.

9 -Be courteous and professional when the interview is over.

DOCUMENTS

Consist of public and private records that qualitative researchers obtain about a site or participants in a study and they can include newspapers, minutes of meeting, personal journals, and letters.

DOCUMENTS

Advantages:1 -Being in the language and words of the participants.

2 -Ready for analysis without the necessary transcription that is required observational or interview data.

Disadvantages:1 -Documents are some times difficult to locate and obtain.

2 -Information may not be available to the public.3 -Information may be located in distant archives, requiring the

researcher to travel, which take time and can be expensive.4 -The documents may be incomplete, inauthentic, or inaccurate.

5 -In personal documents such as diaries or letters, the handwriting may be hard to read.

COLLECTING DOCUMENTS:

1 -Identify the type of documents that can provide useful information to answer your qualitative research questions.

2 -consider both public and private documents as sources of information of your research .

3 -once the documents are located, seek permission to use them from the appropriate individuals in charge of the materials.

4 -if you ask participants to keep a journal, provide specific instructions about the procedure.

5 -once you have permission to use documents, examine them for accuracy, completeness, and usefulness in answering the research questions in your study.

6 -record information from the documents.

AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

Consist of images or sounds that researchers collect to help them understand the central phenomenon under study.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING VISUAL MATERIALS?

Advantages:

1 -people easily relate to images because they are so pervasive in our society.

2 -Images provide an opportunity for the participant to share directly their perceptions of reality.

3 -images such as videotapes and films, for example, provide extensive data about real life as people visualize it.

Disadvantages:

1 -they are difficult to analyze because of the rich information.

2 -you as a researcher may influence the data collected.

3 -in selecting the photo album to examine or requesting that a certain type of drawing be sketched, you may impose your meaning of the phenomenon on participants, rather than obtain the participants’ views.

STEPS OF COLLECTING AUDIOVISUAL :MATERIALS

1 -determine what visual material can provide information to answer research questions and how that material might augment existing forms of data, such as interviews and observations.

2 -identify the visual materials available and obtain permission to use it.

3 -check the accuracy and authenticity of the visual materials if you do not record it yourself.

4 -collect the data and organize it.

HOW DO YOU RECORD DATA?

Data recording protocols :

Are forms designed and used by qualitative research to record information during observations and interviews.

For observations and interviews, qualitative researchers use specially designed protocols.

Interview protocol Is a form designed by the researcher that contains instructions for the process of the interview, the questions to be asked, and space to take notes of responses from the interviewee.

DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN OF AN INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

1 -It contains a header to record essential information about the interview, statements about the purpose of the study a reminder that participants need to sign the consent form, and suggestion to make preliminary test of the recording equipment.

2 -following this header are five brief open-ended questions that allow participants maximum flexibility for responding to the questions .

3 -the core questions, 2 through 4, address major research in the study.

Observational protocol

Is a form designed by the researcher before data collection that is used for taking fieldnotes during an observation

THANK YOU