Qualitative Research And Evaluation Dr. Jeffrey K. Edwards, Ed.D., LMFT

1. Qualitative ResearchAnd Evaluation Dr. Jeffrey K. Edwards, Ed.D., LMFT Introduction to Qualitative Studies

2. BeginningSession # 1 • Introduction to Syllabus (on web page) • Introduction to each other • Power Point – what is Qualitative Inquiry? • Introduction to first Field Assignment • Practice and discussion • Go home

3. A Look at the Syllabus and the web page

4. In pairs, interview each other according to the slip of paper I give you, with the end being your brief presentation of your partner to the rest of the class.

5. Our Beginning to Understand Qualitative Inquiry and Research (Together)

6. Qualitative Research Today we will discuss • Uses • Philosophical assumptions • Common terms and ideas • Examples • First Field Assignment • Practice

7. Users of Qualitative Research – • Anthropology • Hermeneutics (Religion and the Word of God) • Sociology • History • Business • Education • Family Therapy • Counseling • Psychology

8. Quantitative vs Qualitative • Quantitative research requires large # samples reduced to numeric properties, in controlled situations, on some variable or variables, and statistic analysis to interpret. Prove hypotheses. • Qualitative research uses smaller sample sets, in naturalistic settings using rich textual data for (thick) descriptions of personal experiences, or events.

9. Albert Einstein • "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

10. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Modernity - (truth) Functionalism - Structuralism - Logical positivism – Postmodernism –(unsure of “truth”) Second Order Cybernetics - Constructivism (radical and social) Epistemology -

11. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Modernity – Modernity, which began intellectually with the Enlightenment, attempted to describe the world in rational, empirical and objective terms. Sees the world and universe as a large machine with parts that can be understood. It assumed that there was a truth to be uncovered, a way of obtaining answers to the question posed by the human condition.

12. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Modernity - Functionalism - Functionalism says that mental states are constituted by their causal relations to one another and to sensory inputs and behavioral outputs. Functionalism is one of the major theoretical developments of Twentieth Century analytic philosophy, and provides the conceptual underpinnings of much work in cognitive science. In architecture, functionalists believed that all that was required of buildings was that they do their job. Mies Van Der Rohe Function of the symptom -

13. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Modernity - Structuralism – In the 1960's, the structuralist movement, based in France, attempted to synthesize the ideas of Marx, Freud and Saussure. They disagreed with the existentialists' claim that each man is what he makes himself. For the structuralist the individual is shaped by sociological, psychological and linguistic structures over which he/she has no control, but which could be uncovered by using their methods of investigation. “Why” Questions

14. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Modernity - Logical positivism – Twentieth-century philosophical movement that used a strict principle of verifiability to reject as meaningless the non-empirical statements of metaphysics, theology and ethics. Under the influence of Hume, Russell, and the early Wittgenstein, the logical positivists regarded as meaningful only statements reporting empirical observations, logic and mathematics.

15. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism –Post Positive, structural and functional Second Order Cybernetics Constructivism (radical and social) Epistemology – Narrative -

16. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism – Post-structuralism and deconstruction can be seen as the theoretical formulations of the post-modern condition. Modernity, which began intellectually with the Enlightenment, attempted to describe the world in rational, empirical and objective terms. It assumed that there was a truth to be uncovered, a way of obtaining answers to the question posed by the human condition. Post-modernism does not exhibit this confidence. The underlying certainties that reason promised are considered with skepticism, and reason is seen as a particular historical form, and truth is subject to scrutiny. Gone are “truth” and the need for hierarchical positioning. Life and meaning can be deconstructed, and new meanings provided with equal validity. Wicked -- Narrative Therapy -- Changing views of reality through language

17. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism – Second Order Cybernetics All knowledge is based on what we have learned, not on truths. Subjective vs objective To be involved or research is to change what you are researching

18. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism – Constructivism (radical and social)

19. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism – Constructivism (radical and social) -

20. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism – Epistemology – The study of knowledge, or how we know what we know.

21. Philosophical frameworks to ponder Postmodernism – Narrative – All of history as well as knowledge are made “true” by those who are in power, (not by all who are stakeholders) who put forth the knowledge. Concepts and knowledge are “colonized” by those in power who are doing the reporting and recording those who are researched are “marginalized.” Our stories all have meaning, and through the telling and retelling (deconstructing) they change and create new meanings, The stories that have been told about us by others (family and other groups) maintain and constrain us in our positions and behaviors.

22. Getting the larger perspective • Imagine the Pacific Ocean, and Seal Island point off shore of San Diego. It is a habitat for all sorts of marine life, and harbor seals and walrus actually come here to play. It is fully ocean, and those who live there believe it to be ocean. Now back away from this and see the ocean, of which Seal Island is only a piece of the magnificent and larger piece of ocean. Your understanding of life is like that! A piece of a larger, more magnificent and unknowable whole.

23. Common Terms and Ideas in Qualitative Inquiry • Empiricism • Truth • Post Positivism • Subjects vs. Informants • Action Research • Ethnography • Hermeneutics

24. Common Terms and Ideas in Qualitative Inquiry • Content Analysis • Event Structure Analysis • Grounded theory • Narrative Inquiry • Phenomenology • Q Methodology

25. Common Terms and Ideas in Qualitative Inquiry – But what about?? • Random Sampling • Objectivity (is there such a thing/think?) • Representative sample • Validity • Reliability • Generalize • Triangulation

26. Empiricism (Empirical Studies) • Left over from the Newtonian, and the Enlightenment Eras. • a theory which holds that the origin of all knowledge is sense experience. The term also refers to the method of observation and experiment used in the natural sciences. Often, empiricism is contrasted with rationalism, a theory which holds that the mind may apprehend some truths directly, without requiring the medium of the senses.

27. Truth – the heart of it all • T1 are metaphysical truths, that cannot be tested against some external norm, logical deduction, or professional standards of conduct, but are basic beliefs that are accepted at face value. • T2are ethical truths. Those who assert these are in conformity with moral or professional truths. • T3 are logical truths, claims or hypotheses of such are mathematically or logically consistent with other claims known to be true. • T4 are empirical truths in the form of a hypothesis that are consistent with nature or preserve the appearance.

28.  The basic idea behind empiricism is that knowledge can be derived through careful observation and cataloging of phenomena and extrapolating laws or principles from these observations. • Empiricism came mostly from Aristotle, who reacted against the abstractions of Plato and the Pre-Socratic philosophers by developing a more or less universal system of intellectual inquiry: when investigating a subject, he would first consult all the experts and written texts and catalog their ideas, he would next observe as much phenomena related to the inquiry that he could and then derive laws from his observations, and then use those laws against the previous authorities. • Empiricism. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/EMPIRIC.HTM

29. Italian Renaissance • That word, experiment, is derived from the same world that gives us "experience."An experiment simply described is a "controlled experience"; this control allows the experience to be repeated in exactly the same way. In this way, experience can be shared, that is, others can verify the truth of the experience by repeating it. • Empiricism. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/EMPIRIC.HTM

30. Enlightenment Glossary • Western empiricism was built on the idea of a mechanistic universe; the universe both physically and socially was eventually conceived of as a vast machine whose principles of operation could be grasped by the human intellect without recourse to divine or superstitious explanations. • Each aspect of the universe was seen to operate in a different manner: the machine of physical phenomena operated differently from the machine of social phenomena. Empirical science in the West, then, also involved the separation of bodies of knowledge one from the other. Physics could not explain politics, ethics could not explain chemistry, and so forth. This separation of areas of knowledge one from the other is perhaps the single most important aspect of Enlightenment empiricism for it allowed knowledge in each area to develop very rapidly.

31. Pre-positivist, Positivist and Post Positivist • Positivism - A trend in bourgeois philosophy which declares natural (empirical) sciences to be the sole source of true knowledge and rejects the cognitive value of philosophical study. Positivism claims to be a fundamentally new, non-metaphysical ("positive") philosophy, modeled on empirical sciences and providing them with a methodology. • The Dictionary of Philosophy, Progress Publishers. Positivism. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/help/mach1.htm

32. Comparing • Quantitative research sets Hypotheses and tests them for truth (T4) by investing in large samples, converting variables to numeric, using a control, and statistic analysis to prove or disprove them. • Qualitative research starts with Intellectual puzzles and uses rich textual data from individual cases, small sample sizes, and uses intuition, and the person of the researcher to develop theories that may or may not be tested qualitatively later.

33. Qualitative analysis: Richness and Precision. • The aim of qualitative analysis is a complete, detailed description. No attempt is made to assign frequencies to the linguistic features which are identified in the data, and rare phenomena receives (or should receive) the same amount of attention as more frequent phenomena. Qualitative analysis allows for fine distinctions to be drawn because it is not necessary to "shoehorn" the data into a finite number of classifications. Ambiguities, which are inherent in human language, can be recognized in the analysis. For example, the word "red" could be used in a corpus to signify the colour red, or as a political categorization (e.g. socialism or communism). In a qualitative analysis both senses of red in the phrase "the red flag" could be recognized. • The main disadvantage of qualitative approaches to analysis is that their findings can not be extended to wider populations with the same degree of certainty that quantitative analyses can. This is because the findings of the research are not tested to discover whether they are statistically significant or due to chance. • But they are useful for Theory building and understanding locality.

34. Quantitative analysis: Statistically reliable and generalizeable results. • In quantitative research we classify features, count them, and even construct more complex statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed. Findings can be generalized to a larger population, and direct comparisons can be made between two corpora, so long as valid sampling and significance techniques have been used. Thus, quantitative analysis allows us to discover which phenomena are likely to be genuine reflections of the behavior of a language or variety, and which are merely chance occurrences. The more basic task of just looking at a single language variety allows one to get a precise picture of the frequency and rarity of particular phenomena, and thus their relative normality or abnormality. • However, the picture of the data which emerges from quantitative analysis is less rich than that obtained from qualitative analysis. For statistical purposes, classifications have to be of the hard-and-fast (so-called "Aristotelian" type). An item either belongs to class x or it doesn't. So in the above example about the phrase "the red flag" we would have to decide whether to classify "red" as "politics" or "color". As can be seen, many linguistic terms and phenomena do not therefore belong to simple, single categories: rather they are more consistent with the recent notion of "fuzzy sets" as in the red example. (discrete variables) (DSM IV-R)

35. Quantitative analysis is therefore an idealization of the data in some cases. Also, quantitative analysis tends to sideline rare occurrences. To ensure that certain statistical tests (such as chi-squared) provide reliable results, it is essential that minimum frequencies are obtained - meaning that categories may have to be collapsed into one another resulting in a loss of data richness. • Qualitativevs Quantitative Analysis. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.tele.sunyit.edu/QualitativevsQuantitative.htm

36. Quote • One of the opportunities --- and challenges -- posed by qualitative approaches is to regard our fellow human beings as people instead of subjects, and to regard ourselves as humans who conduct our research among rather than on them. • Wolcott, H.F. (1990). Writing up qualitative research. Qualitative Research Methods Series, Vol. 20. Newberry Park: Sage.

37. Subjects vs. Informants vs. Stakeholders • Usually, Subjects are the object of quantitative study. We manipulate, experiment and assign variables to evaluate during quantitative study. • Informants can be used in either quantitative or qualitative studies. Informants are the people you go to for informed information and access to others for more informatin (Doc – Whyte).

38. Subjects vs. Informants vs. Stakeholders • Informants • Stakeholder is a qualitative word we use to show respect and deference for the people we interview. Stakeholder denotes that both of us – the person we are receiving information from as well as ourselves – both have a stake in what is happening during the process of study. It also shows the premise of qualitative studies that denies the quantitative position of neutrality, lack of bias and objectivity.

39. Stakeholder Definitions • Stakeholder (person holding the bet of someone) People who will be affected by the project or can influence it but who are not directly involved with doing the project work. Examples are Managers affected by the project, Process Owners, People who work with the process under study, Internal departments that support the process, customers, suppliers, and financial department.Alternative definition:People who are (or might be) affected by any action taken by an organization. Examples are: Customers, owners, employees, associates, partners, contractors, suppliers, related people or located near by.Alternative definition:Any group or individual who can affect or who is affected by achievement of a firm's objectives.

40. Theory • A theory is just a model of the universe, or a restricted part of it, and a set of rules that relate quantities in the model to observations that we make. It exists only in our minds and does not have any other reality (whatever that might mean). • Steven Hawkins, A Brief History of Time, 1996.

41. According to Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time, "a theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations." He goes on to state, "any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis; you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the result will not contradict the theory. On the other hand, you can disprove a theory by finding even a single repeatable observation that disagrees with the predictions of the theory."

42. Theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on the context and their methodologies. In common usage, people use the word "theory" to signify "conjecture", "speculation", or "opinion." In this sense, "theories" are opposed to "facts" — parts of the world, or claims about the world, that are real or true regardless of what people think. (consensus – DSM??) • In science, a theory is a proposed description, explanation, or model of the manner of interaction of a set of naturalphenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theory which explains why the apple behaves so is the current theory of gravitation.

43. Theories, hypotheses, and intellectual puzzles • Qualitative research is engaged in the search for ideas and answers to an intellectual puzzle, rather than to prove hypotheses. • As our answers are placed into categories, and comparisons we can begin the process of theory building.

44. Qualitative researchers attempt to understand meanings that people give to their deeds or to social phenomena. Qualitative researchers try to see people from the inside. For example, when conducting interviews with users of a residential treatment facility (RTF) for children with emotional problems, one would be obtaining personal views of how the children feel about their ordinary lives in the house, i.e., how do they think of staying, what sort of limitations do they have while in this residence, how do they deal with conflicts with workers and other children, or what rules cover their human relations? Such questions would be very interesting for counselors who want to improve care from the viewpoints of the users (Stakeholders).

45. Hypothesis • A hypothesis is a suggested explanation of a phenomenon or reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between multiple phenomena. The term is derived from the ancient Greek, hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose." A scientific hypothesis must be testable and generally will be based upon previous observations or extensions of scientific theories.

46. a hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose merit needs evaluation • Propositions may come in the form of an assertion of a correlation between, or among, two or more things, but without asserting that there is necessarily a cause and effect relationship, e.g.: "When A changes, so does B." Or, a proposition may take the form of asserting a causal relationship (e.g., "A causes B"). An example of a proposition that often but not necessarily involves an assertion of causation is: If a particular independent variable is changed there also a change in a certain dependent variable. This is also known as an "If and Then" statement, whether or not it asserts a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

47. OK, now that you are all asleep after going through all that boring old philosophical stuff that doctoral programs are made of, let’s move on to the real stuff….enough of this “smart doctoral stuff!!” • Let’s talk about…..ME!!

48. My first experiences – data from surveys – “other” category. • First surveys – crude use of categorizing data – Data are textual not numericMentor’s interest and a course in qualitative research

49. Cheri Erdman’s work – Nothing to Lose • Ethnographic work of large women who have made a place for themselves, and are healthy. • Debunks the traditional methods • Starts with a personal statement • Interviews several women • Looks for common themes

50. My qualitative resume • Edwards, J.K. (1987). Continuity and orchestration of after care services to disturbed children: From residential treatment to adoptive home. Journal of Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 4,4,53-67. (Single Case Studies) • Edwards, J.K. (1991). The use and administration of family therapy in residential treatment for older adolescents: Demographics, family contacts and therapy parameters, and ideographic responses- A national survey. Journal of Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 9, 55-73. • Edwards, J.K. (1991). The Relationship Between the Use of Family Therapy in Children’s Residential Treatment Facilities and Length of Treatment. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Northern Illinois University. • Edwards, J.K., & Nejedlo, R.J. (1993). Family Counseling in Children’s Residential Treatment. Illinois Association for Counseling and Development, Quarterly, 131, 2-20. • Edwards, J.K. (1994). Children in residential treatment: How many, what kind ? Do we really know ? In G. Northrup (Ed.), Applied Research in Residential Treatment, New York: Haworth Press.