QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS Professor Lisa High University of Windsor

QUALITATIVE PARADIGM • Naturalistic paradigm • Soft science • Focus: usually broad • Holistic • Subjective • Reasoning: dialectic, inductive • Basis of knowing: meaning, discovery • Shared interpretation • Communication and observation • Basic element of analysis: words • Individual interpretations • Uniqueness

The “Logic” of Qualitative Research • Based on holistic view & following beliefs: • There is no single reality – reality is based on perceptions – it is different for each person – changes over time • What we know has meaning only within a given situation or context The reasoning process in qualitative research involves: - perceptually putting pieces together to make wholes

What is the concept of “Gestalt”? • This concept is closely related to “wholism” and proposes that a particular phenomenon is organized into a cluster of linked ideas, “a gestalt”. • Disadvantage: • understand a phenomenon through the interpretation of a particular theory

Experiencing “Gestalt Change” • First to deconstruct your original sedimented views • Reconstruct another view • Focus on a different view point or looking at something differently (a different lens) • To increase openness

Philosophy and Qualitative Research • Frameworks are not used the same as in quantitative • The goal is not theory testing • Each study should be guided by a particular philosophical stance • Philosophical Stance assists to: • directs the question(s) that are asked • the observations which are made • the interpretation of data

DESIGN OF QUALITATIVE STUDIES • Specify design before data collection • Adhere to the design after study started • Study design evolves over time • Researcher Decisions include: • How to obtain • From whom to collect • How to schedule • How long

Design of Qualitative Research • EMERGENT DESIGN • A design that emerges as the researcher makes ongoing decisions reflecting what has already been learned • Lincoln & Cuba (1985) – not researcher laziness or sloppiness – but rather desire to base inquiry on realities and viewpoints of those under study • Key: realities and viewpoints that are NOT KNOWN or UNDERSTOOD AT THE OUTSET

Characteristics of Qualitative Research Design • Flexible, elastic, capable of adjusting • Merging together of various data collection strategies • Holistic, understand the whole • Research intensely involved • Research to become the research instrument • Requires ongoing analysis of data to formulate subsequent strategies and to determine when field work is done What is “Bricolage?”

Qualitative Designs • PHASES of a Qualitative Study: • Orientation an overview • Focused exploration • Confirmation and closure (Lincoln & Cuba, 1985)

Qualitative Design Features • Control over the independent variable • Type of group comparisons • Number of data collection points • Occurrence of the independent & dependent variables

Qualitative Research Traditions • Four traditions described by nurse researcher: • Ethnography • Phenomenology • Grounded Theory • Historical Research

ETHNOGRAPHY • Research tradition in anthropology • Provides a framework for studying meanings, patterns, and experiences defined by a cultural group in a holistic fashion • Ethnoscience (Cognitive Anthropology): focuses on the cognitive world of a culture – semantic rules and shared meanings that shape behavoir

ETHNOGRAPHY • Focus: the culture of a group of people • Assumption: every human group evolves a culture that guides members view of the world and the way they structure their experiences • At times referred to as “macroethnography: - able to study broadly defined cultures • At times referred to as “microethnography”– able to study cultures using a very narrow focus

Ethnography Cont’d • Aim: to learn from rather than study members of a cultural group • Two perspectives: • Emic– insider’s view, the way the members of a culture envision their world • Etic - outsiders’ interpretation of the experiences of that culture – strive to get at cultural experiences that members do not talk about or may not even be consciously aware

Ethnography Cont’d • Extensive field work • Typically labor intensive • Time consuming • Researcher as instrument - to study a culture it requires a certain level of intimacy – needs to be developed – become one within the culture

Ethnography Cont’d • Three types of information: • Cultural behavoir • Cultural artifacts • Cultural speech Sources of information– in-depth interviews, records, charts, observations and other types of physical evidence are used

Ethnography Cont’d • Products of this research includes: • rich and holistic descriptions • describe normative behavoir and social patterns • Information about health beliefs and health practices • Facilitates an understanding of behavoirs affecting health and illness • Leininger coined the phrase: “ethnonursing research”–the study and analysis of local or indigneous people’s viewpoints, beliefs and practices about nursing care behavoir and processes of designated cultures

Phenomenology • Phenomenology is both philosophy and a research method • Purpose of this research method is to describe experiences as they are lived – to capture the “lived experience” • Developed by Husserl & Heidegger – an approach to thinking about people’s life experiences.

Phenomenology Cont’d Philosophical Orientation • view the person as integral with the environment • World is shaped by the self and also shapes the self • The person is a self within a body • Person is referred to as “embodied”– our bodies provide the possibility for the concrete actions of self in the world • The body, the world and the concerns, unique to each person, are the “context” within which that person can be understood • “being in time”

Phenomenology Cont’d • A phenomenological researcher asks the question: “What is the essence of this phenomena as experienced by these people and what does it mean?” Assumption: there is an “essence” an essential variant structure • Investigates subjective phenomena • Belief that truths about reality are grounded in peoples’ lived experiences

Phenomenology Cont’d • Two Schools of Thought: • Descriptive phenomenology • Interpretive phenomenology (hermeneutics)

Phenomenology Cont’d • Four aspects of the lived experience: • SPATIALITY • CORPOREALITY • TEMPORALITY • RELATIONALITY

Phenomenology Cont’d • Phenomenologists believe– human existence is “meaningful” and “interesting” • “Being in the world” or “Embodiment” is a concept that acknowledges people’s physical ties to their world • People: • THINK • SEE • HEAR • FEEL • CONCIOUS OF THEIR BODIES INTERACTION WITH THE WORLD

Phenomenology Cont’d • Data sources: • In-depth conversations • Researcher helps the participant to describe lived experiences without leading the discussion • Two or more interviews/conversations are needed • Usually small number of participants (ie. 10 or less) • May use participation, observation and introspective reflection

Phenomenology Cont’d • Methodological Interpretations Used: • BRACKETING • INTUITING

Grounded Theory • Is an inductive research technique developed for health-related topics by Glaser & Strauss (1967) • Emerged from the discipline of sociology • “Grounded”– means the theory developed from the research is grounded or has it roots in the data from which is was derived

Grounded Theory Cont’d • Philosophical Orientation: • Based on symbolic interaction theory • Explores how people define reality and how their beliefs are related to their actions • Meaning is expressed through – symbols – such as words, religious objects, and clothing • Symbolic meanings are different for each of us • In social life - meanings are shared by groups – socialization process • Group life is based on consensus and shared meanings

Grounded Theory Cont’d • Is an approach to study the social processes and social structures • Focus: is the evolution of a social experience – the social and psychological stages that characterize a particular event of process

Grounded Theory Cont’d • Methodology: • does not begin with a focused research question • the question emerges from the data • fundamental structure feature– • is the “data collection” • is the “data analysis” • Is the sampling of participants occurs simultaneously • This procedure is referred to as “constant comparison”

Grounded Theory Cont’d • Constant Comparison: is used to develop and refine theoretically relevant categories and to identify the basic problem • Categories that are elicited from the data are constantly compared with data obtained earlier so that “commonalities” and “variations” can be determined • Categories can be “condensed” and “collapsed”

Grounded Theory Cont’d • Data Sources: • in-depth interviews are most common • Observational methods • Existing documents • Usually a sample of 25 to 50 informants • Has contributed to the development of middle range nursing theories

Historical Research • Historiography examines events of the past • Historians believe the greatest value of historical knowledge is an increased self-understanding • Philosophical Orientation: • A very old science • Primary question “Where have we come from, who are we, and where are we going?” • Myths, past, present and future are not distinguishable • Myths are a form of story telling

Historical Research Cont’d • History moves beyond the myth • Chronicling events, deeds, victories and stories about people and civilizations • Comparing histories, identifying patterns • Aim: • to discovery new knowledge • Seeking to answer questions concerning causes, effects and trends relating to past events • To shed light on present behaviors and practices

Historical Research Cont’d • Assumptions: • There is nothing new under the sun • One can learn from the past

Sampling in Qualitative Research • Usually small, non-random samples • Concern: measure attributes and relationships in a pop’n • Need a representative sample • Aim: to discover meaning, uncover multiple realities, therefore generalization is not a guiding criteria

Sampling in Qualitative Research • Types of sampling: • Convenience sampling • Snowball sampling • Theoretical sampling • Purposeful sampling – several strategies – maximum variation sampling, extreme/deviant case sampling, and typical case sampling • Simple random

Sample Size • No firm establishment of criteria or rules • Should be determined on the basis of informational needs • Is largely a function of: • the purpose of the inquiry • the quality of the informants • The type of sampling strategy used

Sample Size • Guiding Principle is that of, • DATA SATURATION: sampling to the point at which no new information is obtained and redundancy is achieved

Critiquing the Sampling Plan • Evaluate the sample plan based on the following: • Terms of its adequacy • Terms of its appropriateness Adequacy means – Appropriateness means -

Assessment of Qualitative Data • Need to address validity and reliability • Do the measures used by the researcher yield data reflecting the truth? • Lincolon & Cuba (1985) – four criteria: • Credibility • Dependability • Confirmability • Transferability (criteria for establishing “trustworthiness”)

Assessment of Qualitative Data • Credibility – refers to confidence in the truth of the data • Prolonged engagement • Persistent observation • Triangulation • External checks – peer debriefing & member checks • Researcher credibility

Assessment of Qualitative Data • Dependability– refers to data stability over time and over conditions • Steps to approach: • Stepwise replication • Inquiry audit

Assessment of Qualitative Data • Confirmability–refers to the objectivity or neutrality of the data – what does that mean? • AUDIT TRAIL: • Transferability– refers to the extent to which the findings from the data can be transferred to other settings or groups = similar to the concept of generalizability • THICK DESCRIPTION:

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS