Using theory in qualitative research

1. Using theory in qualitative research Qualitative Health Research Collaboration (QHeRC) 12 May 2009 Julie Leask Senior Research Fellow, NCIRS Conjoint Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, USYD

2. Summary • 9.30 Presentation and discussion of two articles on theory • 10.20 Researchers using theory • Stacy Carter • Charlotte Rees • 11.15 morning tea

3. Aims of session • To review what some qualitative researchers are saying; • to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using theory; • to better understand how theory is used in • grounding the assumptions of a study • enriching findings; • making recommendations useful • to share ways of sourcing appropriate theories/frameworks.

4. Case project Impact of quarantine for suspected swine flu • psychological • emotional • social/occupational • infection control behaviours • usefulness of information/support Pictures from http://www.bjtonline.com/more-inside-bjt/tips-for-travelers/s/article/catch-a-bug-abroad-quarantineas-a-possibility-376.html http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/isolation-michael-endo-g3494.jpg

5. Article 1

6. Why theory is useful • Theories provide complex and comprehensive conceptual understandings of things that cannot be pinned down: how societies work, how organisations operate, why people interact in certain ways. • Theories give researchers different lenses • to look at problems • focus attention • provide framework for analysis

8. Macro level theories • non specific, abstract • hard to operationalise • verify on empirical basis • Mid-range theories • more specific • fewer concepts • reduced range of contexts • Micro-level theory • narrowest range of interest • specific phenomena/context

9. Critical thoery Roots in work of Karl Marx, more recently Foucault etc Critiquing and changing society Organisation of power and knowledge Equality in relation to age, race, SES, religion, sexuality etc. Interactionism Collective behaviours and perceptions Examines symbols used in daily encounters, esp language Herbert Blumer Act towards things on basis of meanings things have for them Meaning derived from social interaction Meanings handled/modified via interpretive process used by the person Phenomenology Edmund Husserl; how individuals give meaning to social phenomena in their everyday lives; subjective “lived” experience. macro micro

10. How are theories and methodologies related? • Some historically related eg, same discipline, often taught together eg, interactionism and ethnography. • Other theories linked to multiple methodologies eg, critical theory

11. Article 2 Aust N Z J Public Health 2007; 31:438-43.

12. The social context of human actions; Relatively recent – post revolutionary France and Europe “the state”, “the people”, “society”. What is social theory?

13. Why social theory? • Qualitative methods – developed by social sciences • used increasingly in nursing, medicine, etc; • researchers feeling constrained by quantitative methods can see qualitative research as “attractive option” • common approach • identifying a setting • conducting personal interviews • reporting with extensive and evocative quotations

14. Why theory? • Above approach • can deliver interesting insights • does not demand extensive training in social sciences • Issue of generalisability • to other groups / settings • to aid decision making • Theory essential to rigour in design, implementation and analysis of research

15. Why theory? • “Knowledge of social theory is as important to high-quality qualitative research as knowledge of statistics is to the conduct of good epidemiological studies”

16. Some theories • Conflict theory • Structural functionalism • Symbolic interactionism • Sociology of knowledge theories • Feminist theories

17. Symbolic interactionism • Blumer – social interaction underpins the process of learning who we are and the symbolic meaning of things; • Eg, women and physicians negotiate touch during vaginal examination

18. Symbolic interactionism • Erving Goffman applied SI to stigma • Abnormal in body, character or social group made to feel ashamed, disrupted, spoiled social identity; • Adapt by hiding/covering stigma to pass as normal or… • Join a social group of like individuals.

19. Example of using theory in research design Obese patients as “non-compliant” • Symbolic interactionism: Those who hide ‘spoiled; identities v attending ‘fat friendly’ venues

20. MACRO THEORIES • Constructionism: debates in different settings • Conflict theory: Working class/middle class • Structural functionalism: Access to healthy food • Feminism: Men/women – gender roles not simply a demographically varied

21. Case How might we use symbolic interactionism to better understand the impact of quarantine? http://sphtc.org/timeline/1900-2.jpg

22. Analysis • Categorising first data according to theoretical concepts; • assessed for relevance; • Review theory/sample as required

23. How social theory structures a research problem

24. Drawing research conclusions • No easy way of summarising findings • “Boxed sets of interview quotes appear to be an attractive way of avoiding word length restrictions but seldom amount to analysis, let alone a theoretically informed analysis”

25. Recommendations • High quality qualitative research depends on flexible use of theory for its rigour; • this requires considerable skill; • not easily acquired; • researchers should have basic understanding; • better alternative is team research including a social theorist

26. Questions • Does close adherence to theory in analysis • become merely a theory confirming exercise? • conscribe the mind of the researcher? • stifle analytic creativity? • limit potential for new insights to emerge? • Must we use only one theory? • If multiple, how can we avoid being superficial given publishing word limits? • How do we take theoretically informed conclusions to help inform policy and practice? • Is there a difference in the final product? • If Willis et al are right, how do we find good theories/social theorists?

27. Case • To study the impact of quarantine on the individual • Phenomenology • Symbolic interactionism

28. Case – pertinent questions for the applied researcher.

29. Further reading • Carter SM, Little M. Justifying knowledge, justifying method, taking action: epistemologies, methodologies and methods in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research 2007; 17(10): 1316-1328.