Qualitative research Approaches

1. Qualitative research Approaches

3. Social constructivist perspective • A theory of knowledge • Social constructs are a product of social interaction • Language is an important aspect of social construction, but not all reality is constructed through propositions • Social constructivism takes the form: • (0) In the present state of affairs, X is taken for granted; X appears to be inevitable. • (1) X need not have existed, or need not be at all as it is. X, or X as it is at present, is not determined by the nature of things; it is not inevitable. • And when the research takes a critical perspective, add these: • (2) X is quite bad as it is. • (3) We would be much better off if X were done away with, or at least radically transformed.

4. An Illustration: The Social construction of ‘women refugees’ • Canadian citizens' idea of "the woman refugee" is not inevitable, but historically contingent. • Women coming to Canada to seek asylum must relate to the category of "the woman refugee". If a woman does not "count" as a "woman refugee" according to the law, she may be deported, and forced to return to very difficult conditions in her homeland. • Such women ‘learn’ the behaviorand attitudes towards themselves in order to be a "woman refugee". • If a woman does not modify her behavior and attitudes, she would be considered un-Canadian and as such should not be admitted to citizenship. • Category “the woman refugee” is socially constructed • In the interaction between individuals, groups and social constructs all three are ‘reconstructed’ • Woman become a “woman refugee,” with varying degrees of individual awareness Hacking, I. (1999). The Social Construction of What? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

5. Interpretivism • Describing the social world, relationships, constructs • From the perspective of social actors • Non-interventionist • Inductive and may lead to theory development • Interpretivist methodologies: • Ethnography • Grounded Theory

6. Critical Research • Includes description, but focuses on social, political, and economic inequity and injustice • Emphasis may be describing to understand AND/OR remedial action • Critical methodologies • Action Research • PhotoVoice

7. Mixed Methods Research • At the level of methods and data mixing is relatively trivial, and more accurately could be called a multi-method study • Multi-method quantitative studies stay within a quantitative paradigm but use more than one method of data collection. Example: use of a survey mailed to students used in conjunction with other data collected from the same students from other sources, perhaps student records. This kind of research design might allow you to cross-check between (for example) students’ opinions of the assessment process and their actual assessments. • Multi-method qualitative methods might combine student interviews, observations made of email discussions and staff interviews. Again the key design idea is to cross-check between sources and to supplement one kind of data with another. • Mixed methods operate at the level of complementary paradigms

9. Time order decision Concurrent Sequential Paradigm emphasis Dominant Equal

10. sampling

11. validity • Procedures • Context and participants are justified • Data collection and analysis are described • Prolonged engagement • Member checking • Triangulation • Researcher self-reflexivity • Representation • Thick description • Verisimilitude • Coherence • Connections between data and conclusions

12. Visualizing Triangulation truth interview Holistic knowledge of context Data TRUTH observation documents Theoretical knowledge of the social world

13. generalizability • Does the study have validity? • How and to what can findings be extrapolated? • Transferability is the term often used… based on the degree to which findings are relevant in other contexts • A similar term is naturalistic generalizability… based on the sense we as readers/users of qualitative research make of the findings • Also analytic generalizability… based on the fit between findings and theoretical frameworks

14. Qualitative Data analysis • Thematic • Looks for rules, norms, relationships • Uses common conventions for coding and generating understanding • Significantly enhanced by using qualitative data analysis software