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INFO 272. Qualitative Research Methods. Components of the Research Process. Administrative. My Office Hours Tuesdays 1:30 to 2:30. Outline. The relationship between qualitative and quantitative research Research processes (differences in sequencing that derive from the inductive approach)
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INFO 272. Qualitative Research Methods Components of the Research Process
Administrative • My Office Hours • Tuesdays 1:30 to 2:30
Outline • The relationship between qualitative and quantitative research • Research processes (differences in sequencing that derive from the inductive approach) • Discussion of Becker’s ‘Epistemology of Qualitative Research’
Myths of the Qual/Quant Divide • Renewed relevance for qualitative (inductive) approaches?
Myths of the Qual/Quant Divide • No quantification without qualification
Myths of the Qual/Quant Divide • No statistical analysis without interpretation
Myths of the Qual/Quant Divide • Methodological pluralism? • The timeline approach as a solution? • Another process of refinement, through iteration…
The Linear Model 1) theory/model 2) hypothesis 3) operationalization 4) sampling 5) data collection 6) interpretation 7) validation [Flick]
The Iterative Model 1) research topic/questions movement back and forth between these phases 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering 4) analysis 5) write-up
The Iterative Model 1) research topic/questions movement back and forth between these phases 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering Field work 4) analysis 4) more analysis Desk work 5) write-up
A Double Iteration 1) research topic/questions 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering Field work 4) analysis 4) more analysis Desk work 5) write-up
1) research topic/questions • academic setting: contextualized within the major debates in your discipline • ‘the boy with the hammer’ (law of instrument) = there should be a match between research questions and methods used to answer those questions • (does not mean that questions always precede choice of method, nor does it mean that you will not tend to favor certain methods)
2) ‘corpus construction’ • recruiting people for interviews • selecting texts or images • fieldsite selection • Why not ‘sampling?’ • how to start, where to look, when to stop – meaning saturation • but more generally, the search for data richness and visibility of certain cultural processes
3) data gathering • interviews (transcripts) • participant-observation (field notes) • collecting texts/images (from the field) • expediency • technique - how the communicative process between researcher and researched influences the data produced
3) Analysis • Comments in your field notes, emerging themes • Established forms: • Discourse analysis • Rhetorical analysis • Content analysis • Semiotics • Grounded theory
3) Final Report • Writing is committing (an extension of analysis) • Coping with heterogeneous data (tip: start with the most interesting bit) • Closeness to the data
A Double Iteration 1) research topic/questions 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering Field work 4) analysis 4) more analysis Desk work 5) write-up
Conclusions (from the map) • Rigor and Refinement through Iteration • Timeline Approach from Qual to Quant (broad to narrow) is not a simple fix • Genuine and generalized curiosity (open-minded approach) means distributing attention evenly, logging data on everything concievable (see Becker)