Variations in Qualitative Inquiry II

1. Variations in Qualitative Inquiry II Instructor: Julian Hasford Teaching Assistant: Keith Adamson Guest Lecturer: Robb Travers, Ph.D. PS398 Qualitative Methods in Psychology January 20, 2009

2. Agenda • Review • Lecture: Variations in Qual Inquiry II • Glossary: Hermeneutics and Feminist Inquiry • Guest Lecture: Participatory Research • Group Exercise • Course Check-in

3. Review • Questions… • Theoretical traditions covered thus far… • Ethnography • Autoethnography • Phenomenology • Heuristic Inquiry • Ethnomethodology

4. Review

5. Learning Objectives • By the end of this session, students should be able to • Identify the disciplinary origins, foundational questions, and methodological approaches of various qualitative theoretical traditions • Analyze the paradigmatic and philosophical assumptions of various qualitative theoretical orientations

6. Variation in Qualitative • Theoretical traditions vary in terms of • Foundational questions (Goals) • Disciplinary origins • Paradigmatic and philosophical assumptions • Methodological approaches • Design, Data Collection, Analysis

7. Variation in Qualitative • Qualitative traditions • Symbolic Interaction • Narratology • Hermeneutics • Feminist • Participatory (Orientational)

8. Disciplinary Variation • Social Psychology  Symbolic Interaction • Social Sciences, Literary ArtsNarratology • Linguistics, Philosophy, Theology Hermeneutics • Social movements Feminist • Social movementsParticipatory (Orientational)

9. Symbolic Interaction • Foundational Question • What common set of symbols and understandings gives meaning to people’s interactions? • Philosophical Assumptions • 3 theoretical premises (Blumer) • Humans act toward things based on the meanings the things have for them • The meaning of things arises out of social interaction • The meanings of things can change through an interpretive process of the person dealing with them

10. Symbolic Interaction • Disciplinary Origins • Developed in 1930’s by George H. Mead (social psychologist) • Emerged as response to mechanistic views of behaviourism • Further developed in 1960’s by Herbert Blumer (sociologist) • Methodological approaches • Close interaction • Inductive analysis • “Panel of experts” • Influenced development of Semiotics • Also influenced development of Grounded Theory

11. Narratology • Foundational question • What does this story reveal about this person or community? • Philosophical assumptions • Reality is constructed through stories • Disciplinary origin • Humanities • Philosophy, Literary criticism, Hermeneutics • Social sciences • Psychology (Jerome Bruner, Dan McAdams, Theodore Sarbin)

12. Narratology • Methodological approaches • Narrative or life story interviews • Document analysis • Fieldwork • Narrative Analysis • (Re-)Construction of stories • Deconstruction of stories • Mixed methods

13. Narratology • Example (Hasford, Rathwell, & Pratt, 2008) • Background • Study explored the predictors of community identity among emerging adults. • Community involvement, Generativity, Values, Socio-Demographics • Narrative identity theory – presumed that a highly developed community identity is reflected by a prototypical community story • Five dimensions: story presence, prosocial content, positive emotional tone, specificity, and personal impact • Methodology • 85 emerging adults (age 26, 60 females) • Narrative interviews (community involvement story) • Stories rated using quantitative scale • Quantitative measures of predictor variables at ages 17, 19, 23, 26 • Statistical analysis (correlation, regression) of predictor and story variables

14. Narratology Example (Hasford, Rathwell, & Pratt, 2008) Findings Participants with greater generativity and prosocial values tended to tell more prototypical community stories More highly developed community identity Participants who were more involved in the community during teen years told more prototypical community stories Community involvement at age 23 was not a significant predictor of community stories However, current community involvement (age 26) was a strong predictor

15. Hermeneutics Jenna Reiner

16. Hermeneutics Definition: • The science of interpretation and explanation • What something means depends on the cultural context in which the text was originally created as well as the cultural context within which it is subsequently interpreted (Patton, 2002). • Focuses on the relationship between the author, reader, and text. • Challenged the assertion that an interpretation can never be absolutely correct or true. It must remain only and always an interpretation (Patton, 2002). • A hermeneutic interpretation requires the individual to understand and sympathize with another's point of view.

17. Hermeneutics Methodological/Theoretical Significance:

18. Hermeneutics Example 1: • Used a hermeneutic approach to explore the perspectives of hospitalized patients with cancer on the quality of the nursing care • The analysis of this study’s narratives focused on the meaning of lived experiences when they wrote about being treated for cancer • The special emphasis on perspective and context is especially important in this case as one with cancer would obviously have a very different perspective on things than someone else • The hospital and nursing staff could then use this information to provide improved care to the cancer patients.

19. Hermeneutics Example 2: Design: Fifteen Norwegian relatives narrated their experiences of being met by mental health care personnel regarding the care of their adult family member who had seriously thought about or attempted suicide. The narrative interviews were audiotaped, transcribed into text, and then interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic method.

20. Hermeneutics Findings: • “The five themes that were constructed describing being met were: Being-seen as a human being; trusting personnel, treatment, and care; feeling trusted by personnel; being consoled; and entering into hope.” (Talseth et al., 2001) • The experience of being met in the midst of the care of a relative in crisis created possibilities for hope and greater optimism overall. • This study also provided the participants with appropriate and productive approaches to dealing with their suicidal relatives.

21. Hermeneutics References: Charalambous, A., Papdapolous, R., & Beadsmoore, A. (2008). Ricoeur’s hermeneutic phenomenology: an implication for nursing research. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 22(4), 637-642. Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Talseth, A., Gilie, F., & Norberg, A. (2001). Being met – a passageway to hope for relatives of patients at risk of committing suicide: a phenomenological hermeneutic study. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 15(6), 249-256.

22. Feminist Inquiry Definition • It is a type of Orientational Qualitative Inquiry, which is built upon phenomenology and hermeneutics. The researcher captures the perspectives of the people being studied and their own selves. Research is conducted and analyzed based on an ideological or theoretical perspective (Patton, 2002, pg 129). • “A feminist perspective presumes the importance of gender in human relationships and societal processes and orients the study in that direction,” (Patton, 2002, pg 129).

23. Principles of Feminist Inquiry These can include:

24. Frameworks

25. Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities • An Article by Michael Messner (1990) • He explores and interprets the meanings that males associate to their experiences with organized sport, the mediating factors of class and race, and the problems that arise from constructions of masculinity (Messner, 1990). • He conducted interviews with 30 athletes retired from organized sports between the ages of 21 and 48 (Messner, 1990).

26. Boyhood (continued) • Messner found that the men were rarely asked to talk about their feelings, particularly in order to validate an experience • He found that men perceived the seperation of genders ‘natural’ and that they were introduced to sports by male figures; masculinity was equated with “competition, physical strength, and skills” (Messner, 1990). • The men’s need for unity and acceptance leads to a conditional self worth determined by success (Messner, 1990).

27. Boyhood (continued) • Messner concludes that the institution of organized sport is both gendered and gendering and that boys bring ambivalence to any intimate interactions (Messner, 1990).

28. References Messner, M. (1990). Boyhood, organized sports, and the construction of masculinities. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 18, 416-444. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

29. Participatory Research:Form and Function Robb Travers, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Wilfrid Laurier University rtravers@wlu.ca Assistant Professor Department of Public Health Sciences University of Toronto

30. what I’d like to talk about today.... to explore and discuss participatory research to explore its principles and action orientation to review a case study - the Toronto Teen Survey

31. epistemological standpoint… typically, research is characterized by... researcher initiation/academic freedom objectivity (unbiased) positivist ideals about ‘methodological rigour’ people with credentials ‘knowledge production’ aims (vs. social action)

32. ethics and traditional research wasted resources/irrelevance of questions insensitive methods outsider comes in as expert (cultural invasion) problem of ‘sudden entry’ and ‘irresponsible disappearance’ (helicopter research) exploitation - little or no return for communities little attention to vulnerability of communities

33. what’s in a name? what they are called… participatory action research participatory inquiry action research participatory research community-based participatory research feminist methods community-based research what they share in common axiological commonalities ‘do no harm’ to ‘do good’ concern for social justice a desire to uncover oppressive conditions community involvement privileging ‘voice’ partnerships an action orientation

34. Community-Based Research... a form of collaborative inquiry where diverse partners join efforts and commit to identifying, researching and providing solutions to complex health inequalities. partners – community members, academic researchers, policy-makers, service providers

35. Community-Based Research... CBR is a collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings. CBR begins with a research topic of importance to the community with the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities. Minkler & Wallerstein (2003) Community-Based Participatory Research for Health Jossey-Bass (2004)

36. a transformative stance on research…

37. Community-Based Research... CBR differs from more traditional forms of research in terms of community involvement in: input (research is driven by community needs) process (community plays a role in gathering, analyzing and disseminating information) outcome (research is intended to be used by the community to enhance health and build on community assets)

38. Community-Based Research...

39. The assumptions that I bring to my work..... HIV research should: be community-driven and relevant emphasize health promotion and the social determinants of health; help build the capacities of communities to address the social determinants of health; draw on the lived experience of people – to influence policy analysis and policy change

40. Knowledge as power…. Engaging in CBR means asking ourselves..... Who has the ‘right and the ‘credibility’ to produce knowledge? Sharing power and conceptualizing community as: initiators of research collaborators in research principal investigators in research

41. Investigators:, Sarah Flicker, Robb Travers, Jason D. Pole, June LarkinHazelle Palmer. Research Manager: Susan Flynn. Research Coordinator: Crystal Layne. Collaborators: Karen Chan & Adinne Schwartz, Toronto Public Health Students & Interns: Ana Bobesiu, Chavisa Brett, Emily Dauria, Chase Lo, Melisa Dickie, Alycia Fridkin, Adrian Guta, Peggy Harowitz, Ali Lakhini, Sarah E McCardell , Kristin Mcilroy, Safiya Pindare, Roxana Saheli, Helena Shimeless, Dan Stadnick.YAC Members: Alice, Andrea, Ayesha, Brette, Claudia, David, Gemini, Feven, Melani, Nikole, Nyla, Pamela, Janice, Rosimay, Sam, Stanley, Sunshine.  The TTS has been funded largely by The Ontario HIV Treatment Network and CIHR, with support from the Centre for Urban Health Initiatives, York University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University and the Wellesley Institute.

42. Context Increase in HIV and STI rates Misinformation, myths & decrease in knowledge among youth Failure or lack of sexual health education and services Multiple and ever-changing needs of Toronto‘s diverse youth communities

43. Objectives Identify what sexual health, including HIV/AIDS, services and information are being used by diverse youth across Toronto. Identify the barriers and faciliators to youth accessing sexual health services and resources. Discover how diverse youth would like to see these gaps and barriers addressed.

44. Methods Peer-to-peer model; Youth Advisory Committee (15 youth aged 13-17) YAC facilitated 90 workshops in a variety of youth settings In workshop, participants completed anonymous survey that was designed by YAC.

45. 1,216 Toronto Youth Surveyed

46. Focus Groups 13 focus groups with 90 service providers from 55 agencies. (in process) 16 focus groups with youth who experience heightened barriers to access e.g LGBTQ, Black young men and women, young parents, newcomers,

47. By Race/Ethnicity

48. Other Facts About Our Sample

49. Contact Dr. Robb Travers rtravers@wlu.ca www.ppt.on.ca

50. Group Exercise • 4 groups • Each group assigned one theoretical tradition • Discuss the following • Develop a qualitative research study of money based on a theoretical tradition • Identify your underlying paradigm and philosophical assumptions (Ontological, Epistemological, Axiological) • Research question(s)? Methodology? • Report back