Qualitative and Content Analyasis Final

QUALITATIVE Research & ANALYSIS Methods

Qualitative Research Methods6-*

METHODSTUDY FOCUSOBJECTIVEDISCIPLINESEthnography Ethnology(Copm) Ethnohistoryculture/cultural groupdescribe a culture/cultural groupCultural AnthropologyNetography online groupsExplaining/understanding cyber societySociology/PsychologyPhenomenologyindividual experiencediscern the essence of the lived experiencePhilosophyCase StudyIndividual casesUnderstanding Psychology/Management Historical Research Past events/ artifact Explanation/understanding/hypothesizing Anthropology/history/ sociology

1. EthnographyFocus: study human behaviour in the cultural context in which it is embeddedEthnography is the work of describing a culture the way of life of a cultural groupAssociated with Cultural Anthropology

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Some Concepts In EthnographyEthnocentrism (i.e., judging others based on your cultural standards). Emic perspective (i.e., the insider's perspective) and emic terms (i.e., specialized words used by people in a group). Etic perspective (i.e., the external, social scientific view) and etic terms (i.e., outsider's words or specialized words used by social scientists). Going native (i.e., identifying completely with the group being studied). Holism (i.e., the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; it involves describing the group as a whole unit, in addition to its parts and their interrelationships).

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2. Netography

Relatively a new disciplineFocuses on Exploring and understanding online groups and societies*

3. PhenomenologyFocus: reveal the meaning of the lived experience from the perspective of participantsDescribe the essences of lived experienceEssences: elements related to the true meaning of something that gives common understanding to the phenomenon under studyDrawn, mainly from Philosophy*

4. Case Study In depth understanding & exploring the case: individual, organization, process etc..1. Intrinsic case study :interest is only in understanding the particulars of the case. 2. Instrumental case study : interest is in understanding something more general than the case. 3. Collective case study : is in studying and comparing multiple cases in a single research study. *

5. Historical Research Exploring the past events in order to understand the phenomenaSources of DataTypes of Data External Criticism validity, trustworthiness, or authenticity of the source. Internal Criticism reliability or accuracy of the information contained in the sources*

Qualitative Data Collection Methods 6-*

6-*Qualitative Sampling Techniques

Selection of SampleMethod is called purposive samplingParticipants must have first-hand experience with the research topic (e.g., homelessness, gang involvement, attending medical school) and be able to talk about itResearcher establishes clear criteria and rationale for sample selectionGoal is a rich descriptions*

Types of Sample Maximum variation sampling (i.e., you select a wide range of cases). Homogeneous sample selection (i.e., you select a small and homogeneous case or set of cases for intensive study). Extreme case sampling (i.e., you select cases that represent the extremes on some dimension). Typical-case sampling (i.e., you select typical or prototype cases). Critical-case sampling (i.e., you select cases that are known to be very important). Opportunistic sampling (i.e., you select useful cases as the opportunity arises). Mixed purposeful sampling (i.e., you can mix the sampling strategies tailored to your specific needs).

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SaturationRefers to a situation in data analysis where participants descriptions become repetitive and confirm previously collected dataAn indication that data analysis is completeWhen data analysis is complete, data collection is terminated*

Tools of Data CollectionInterviewsObservationsOpen Ended questionnairesArtifactsMediaOthers *

Authentication of DataCorroboration: comparing documents to each other to determine if they provide the same information.Sourcing: identifying the author, date of creation of a document, and the place it was created.Contextualization: identifying when and where an event took place, is another technique used to establish authenticity and accuracy of information. *

Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques/Methods*

Grounded Theory/Constant Comparison/Grounded Grounded theory uses a systematic hierarchical set of procedures to develop inductively derived theory grounded in data. Glaser and Strauss invented Grounded Theory in the 1960s to analyze data on caring for dying patients. *

Quasi-statistics Count the # of times something is mentioned in field notes/content as very rough estimate of frequencyOften enumeration is used to provide evidence for categories created or to determine *

Discourse analysis Finding patterns of interaction and meanings etc.. *

Content AnalysisStandard rules of content analysis include:How big a chunk of data is analyzed at a time (a line, a sentence, a phrase, aparagraph?) Must state and stay with it.What are units of meaning?, the categories used. Categories must be:1. Inclusive (all examples fit a category)2. Mutually exclusiveAlso note context. Start by reading all way through, then specify rules. Could have emergent theory, but usually theory-driven. After determine categories, do the counting -how often do categories occur. Most of literature emphasizes the quantitative aspects.Originated with analyzing newspaper articles for bias - counting things in print. Veryprint oriented - can be adapted for visual and verbal as well*

LEVELS & UNITS OF ANALYSIS words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, sections, chapters, print media, ideological stance, subject topic, elements relevant to the context etc.*

Manifest vs. Latent content analysis- manifest content (surface structure): perceptible, clear, comprehensible message- latent content (deep structure): implied, unstated message *

3 Broad Levels Of AnalysisSimply count the number of times a particular word or concept occurs (e.g., communication) in a narrative: The qualitative data can then be categorised quantitatively and subjected to statistical analysis. For a thematic analysis want to go deeper than this. All units of data (eg sentences or paragraphs) referring to loneliness could be given a particular code, extracted and examined in more detail. Do participants talk of being lonely even when others are present? Are there particular times of day or week when they experience loneliness? In what terms do they express loneliness? Do men and women talk of loneliness in different ways? Are those who speak of loneliness also those who experience depression? Themes could eventually be developed such as lonely but never alone or these four walls. For a theoretical analysis such as grounded theory you would want to go further still. *

Nature & Process of Analysis *

Common Steps of AnalysisFamiliarization with the data through review, reading, listening etc Memoing/Transcription of materialStoring of data for easy retrieval and identification Coding (or indexing) Giving codes; and Anonymising of sensitive data5. Identification of themes.

6. Re-coding7. Development of provisional categories/concept development8. Exploration of relationships between categories9. Refinement of themes and categories/concept modification10. Development of theory11. Testing of theory against the data. *

Approaches to Coding in Content Analysis:Coding Frames Structured Coding/ A priori codesOpen Coding/inductive codesAxial Coding*

Coding Frames

Data MT 1 MT 2 MT 3Open coding

Axial Coding MT1 MT 3

Axial*MT=Major Theme *

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