Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research

1. 13 Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research

2. Qualitative and Mixed Method Research • Qualitative research • the approach to empirical research that relies primarily on the collection of qualitative data (i.e., nonnumeric data such as words, pictures, images) • Mixed method research • type of research in which quantitative and qualitative data or approaches are combined in a single study

4. Characteristics of Qualitative Research (Patton, 2002)

5. Characteristics of Qualitative Research (Patton, 2002)

6. Characteristics of Qualitative Research (Patton, 2002)

7. Table 13.2 (continued) Twelve Major Characteristics of Qualitative Research

8. Research Validity in Qualitative Research • Validity of qualitative research is often questioned because • of lack of rigor • findings are largely dependent on the researcher (researcher bias) • Two strategies for reducing researcher bias • reflexivity • thinking critically about one’s interpretations and biases • negative case sampling • searching for cases that challenge one’s expectations or one’s current findings

11. Research Validity in Qualitative Research • Descriptive validity • the factual accuracy of the researcher’s account • strategies for achieving • investigator triangulation • use of multiple investigators to collect and interpret the data • helps to insure descriptive validity • Interpretive validity • accurately portraying the participants’ subjective viewpoints and meanings • strategies for achieving • participant feedback • member checking to see if participants agree with the researcher’s statements, interpretations, and conclusions • low-inference descriptors • descriptions that are very close to participants’ words or are direct verbatim quotes

12. Research Validity in Qualitative Research • Theoretical validity • degree to which theory or explanation fits data • strategies for achieving • extended fieldwork • spending enough time in the field to fully understand what is being studied • theory triangulation • the use of multiple theories or perspectives to aid in interpreting the data • pattern matching • construction and testing of a complex hypothesis • peer review • discussing your interpretations with one’s peers and colleagues

13. Research Validity in Qualitative Research • Internal validity • is observed relationship causal? • idiographic causation • an action for a particular person in a local situation with an observable result • nomological causation • the standard view of causation in science; refers to causal relationships among variables • strategies to achieve • researcher-as-detective • metaphor applied to researcher looking for the local cause of a single event • methods triangulation • use of multiple research methods or methods of data collection • data triangulation • use of multiple sources of data

14. Research Validity in Qualitative Research • External validity • the ability to generalize the findings to other people, settings, and times • naturalistic generalization • generalization, based on similarity, made by the reader of a research report • theoretical generalization • generalization of a theoretical explanation beyond the particular research study

15. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Phenomenology • researcher attempts to understand and describe how one or more participants experience a phenomenon • e.g., death of a loved one, a counseling session, an illness, winning a championship football game, or experiencing a specific emotion such as guilt, anger, or jealousy • key question • what is the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived experience of this phenomenon for a particular individual or for many individuals? • accessing participants’ life world • the research participant’s inner world of subjective experience • where you have your “lived experiences”; where your immediate consciousness exists

16. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Examples of phenomenological experiences that have been studied • obsessive-compulsive disorder (Garcia et al., 2009; Wahl, Salkovskis, & Cotter, 2008) • addiction (Gray, 2004) • racism (Beharry & Crozier, 2008) • sexual abuse (Alaggia & Millington, 2008) • psychotic symptoms in narcolepsy (Fortuyn et al., 2009) • life satisfaction (Thomas & Chambers, 1989) • the meaning of aging (Adams-Price, Henley, & Hale, 1998)

17. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Phenomenology • primary method of data collection • in-depth interviews • extract phrases and statement that pertain to phenomenon • interpret and give meaning to phrases and statements • write narrative describing the phenomenon

18. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Ethnography • focuses on the discovery and description of the culture of a group of people • culture • the shared beliefs, values, practices, language, norms, rituals, and material things that the members of a group use to interpret and understand their world • shared values • culturally defined standards about what is good or bad or desirable or undesirable • holism • idea that a whole, such as a culture, is more than the sum of its individual parts • shared beliefs • statements or conventions that people sharing a culture hold to be true or false • norms • written and unwritten rules specifying how people in a group are supposed to think and act • the focus of ethnography • emic perspective • the insider’s perspective • etic perspective • the researcher’s external or “objective outsider” perspective

19. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Ethnography • primary data collection method • participant observation • researcher becomes an active participant in the group being investigated • requires entry and acceptance by group • must guard against reactive effect • non-typical behavior of participants because of the presence of the researcher • collect information by observing and listening • data analysis • identify themes and patterns of behavior • write narrative report

20. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Ethnography • other terminology • gatekeepers • group members who control a researcher’s access to the group • ethnocentric • judgment of people in other cultures based on the standards of your culture • going native • over-identification with the group being studied, so that one loses any possibility of objectivity • fieldwork • a general term for data collection in ethnographic research • fieldnotes • notes taken by the researcher during (or immediately after) one’s observations in the field

21. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Case study research • method in which the researcher provides a detailed description and account of one or more cases • case • a bounded system • primary data collection method • multiple sources and methods of data collection are used • examples • in-depth interviews, documents, questionnaires, test results, and archival records • contextual and life history data are also collected to contextualize the case and to aid in understanding the causal trajectories that might have influenced the case

22. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Case study research • types of case studies • intrinsic case study • case study in which the researcher is only interested in understanding the individual case, organization, or event • example – Exhibit 13.1 • instrumental case study • case study in which the researcher studies a case in order to understand something more general than the particular case • conducted to provide insight into an issue or to develop, refine, or alter some theoretical explanation • example – case studies of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold after Columbine • collective case study • study of multiple cases for the purpose of comparison • examples • case study of three individuals with intellectual disabilities who are placed in a general education class • examining several astronauts’ descriptions and experiences of being in space • data analysis • cross-case analysis – analysis in which cases are compared and contrasted

23. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Grounded theory • methodology for generating and developing a theory that is grounded in the particular data • originally formulated Glaser and Strauss (1967) • foundational question • what theory or explanation emerges from an analysis of the data collected about this phenomenon? • four key characteristics of good grounded theory • the newly constructed grounded theory should fit the data • does the theory correspond to real-world data? • the theory must provide understanding of the phenomenon • is the theory clear and understandable to researchers and practitioners? • the theory should have some generality • is the theory abstract enough to move beyond the specifics in the original research study? • the theory should contribute to some control of the phenomenon • can the theory be applied to produce real-world results?

24. Grounded Theory Example Van Vilet (2008)

25. Four Major Qualitative Research Methods • Grounded theory • data collection • most common methods of data collection are interviews and observations • data analysis included • open coding • first stage of data analysis in GT; it’s the most exploratory stage • axial coding • second stage of data analysis in GT; focus is on making concepts more abstract and ordering them into the theory • selective coding • third and final stage of data analysis in GT in which the theory is finalized • theoretical saturation • occurs when no new information relevant to the GT is emerging from the data and the GT has been sufficiently validated

26. Mixed Methods Research • The research approach in which both quantitative and qualitative methods are used • Compatibility thesis • position that quantitative and qualitative research methods and philosophies can be combined • Pragmatism • philosophy focusing on what works as the criterion of what should be viewed as tentatively true and useful in research and practice • Questions to be answered when using a mixed design • should you primarily use one methodology or treat them equally? • should phases of study be conducted concurrently or sequentially?

28. Research Validity In Mixed Methods Research • Inside – outside validity • present when the researcher provides both the insider and objective outsider perspectives • Weakness minimization validity • present when the researcher compensates for the weakness of one approach through the use of an additional approach • Sequential validity • making sure that the ordering of quantitative and qualitative components in a sequential design does not bias the results

29. Research Validity In Mixed Methods Research • Sample integration validity • researchers must not treat the quantitative and qualitative samples as equal, but, instead, draw appropriate conclusions from each sample • Multiple validities • making sure your mixed methods study meets appropriate quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods validity types

30. Mixed Methods Designs • Design scheme based on two dimensions • time order • one of the two dimensions used in MM design matrix; its levels are concurrent and sequential • paradigm emphasis • one of the two dimensions used in MM design matrix; its levels are equal status and dominant status

31. Mixed Method Design • QUAN and quan both stand for quantitative research • QUAL and qual both stand for qualitative research • Capital letters denote priority or increased weight or emphasis • Lowercase letters denote lower priority or weight or emphasis • A plus sign (+) indicates the concurrent conduct of the quantitative and • Qualitative parts (e.g., collection of data) • An arrow (→) represents a sequential conduct of the quantitative and qualitative parts (e.g., collection of data)