SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY

1. SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY • Qualitative approaches are characterised by three main schools of thought: • 1.Symbolic interactionism • 2. Phenomenology • 3. Ethnomethodology. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM (S. I.) • The three basic postulates of S. I. that also apply to phenomenology and ethnomethology are: • 1. human beings act towards things on the basis of the meanings that things have for them. • 2. the attribution of meaning to objects through symbols is a continuous process. • 3. the process takes place in a social context.

2. FEATURES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH • Focus on natural settings: no artificial experiments: researchers make few assumptions in advance of the study: openness of mind: do not take things for granted: situations are deemed to be important because they influence behaviour: there are many layers of meanings: researchers build certain rapport with the subjects • An interest in meanings, perspectives and understandings: seek to discover meanings that participants attach to their behaviour, how they interpret situations and what their perspective are on particular issues. Research methods employed are sensitive to the perspectives of all participants. Researchers obtain inside knowledge of the social life under study. Appreciate the culture of groups

3. 3. An emphasis on process: not just interaction between input factors (like parents’ social class) and output factors (like academic achievement). But the complex processes that go on within situations. How are group cultures formed; how a student becomes deviant, etc. Qualitative methods can show how change occurred and why it occurred. 4. A concern with inductive analysis and grounded theory. Qualitative researchers do not start with a theory which they aim to test. Most times, they work the other way around: seeking to generate theory from the data. Theory is then said to be ‘grounded’ in the data. The aim is to understand the quality of social life. They produce richly detailed material: ‘thick descriptions’

4. There are two different worlds: the natural world of drives and instincts, and the social world where symbols, language and gesture give meaning. • Action is not just a consequence of psychological attributes or social structure – individuals construct, modify and negotiate meaning. • In symbolic interactionism it is the process of negotiation which is important. • Individuals align their role to that of others by ‘tasking the role of the other’ and considering their likely responses.

5. Phenomenology • Phenomenologists try to use human thinking, intelligence and perceiving to describe and understand human experiences. To understand the nature of human experience, we must study that experience and not an external world. • Human experiences can be catalogued and described in order to create meaning. These appearances in the conscious mind are known as phenomena. Researchers try to identify the essential features of phenomena and compare them with those described by other phenomenlogists to identify features common to a population. • Phenomenology suggests that people operate by assuming that others make the same kind of assumptions as they do about situations. ideal types like ‘middle class kids’, ‘working parents’.

6. Ethnography • Grew from traditions of anthropology and uses some of the language associated with it. • The goal of ethnography is “to grasp the native point of view, his relation to his life, to realise his vision of his world. (Hitchcock & Hughes, p. 52) • Ethnography is centrally concerned with social order and how it is constructed. • Ethnomethodology is concerned with how people make sense of their everyday world, the mechanisms by which they achieve and sustain social interaction – assumptions and conventions * linguistic ethnographers focus on use of language & meanings. • * situational ethnographers try to understand the ways people negotiate social contexts in which they find themselves.

7. What do ethnographers do when they do ethnography? It involves the prolonged, intensive and direct involvement of the researcher in the lives and activities of the group in question. It is often used in conjunction with other terms such participant observation, qualitative methodology, case study and to some extent action research. It includes the use of documents, observation and interviewing from a wide range of situations and contexts. They focus on the micro and macro aspects of society. Colin Lacey (1970) Hightown Grammar. London. Manchester University Press Stephen Ball (1981) Beachside Comprehensive: A case-study of Secondary Schooling. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Peter Woods (1990) The Happiest Days?How pupils cope with school. London. Falmer Press.

8. Ethnography involves: • 1. the production of a cultural knowledge of a group. • 2. the description of activities from the point of view of members of the group. • 3. A description of the characteristic features of group culture. • 4. description and analysis of patterns of social interaction. • 5. the provision of insider accounts. • 6. the development of theory.

9. In order to conduct ethnographic research: • The researcher must be both a member of the group and at the same time a stranger. • A level of cultural strangeness must be established and maintained. • The research must know when to stop – most researchers begin as participant observers and end as non-observing participants. • Planning a Qualitative research: • 1. research design and preparation • 2. data collection • 3. data analysis and evaluation • 4. development of theory (Grounded Theory?) • 5. writing up research

10. Triangulation: • The reliability of the data collected should be checked, through the process of triangulation. Try to find as many different informants on a social situation as you can: eg: teacher, other teachers, pupils, parents, school administrators, board of governors, ministry of education officials, community leaders, politicians etc. (the different stakeholders in the system)

11. Is qualitative research really scientific? • Although different, it can be systematic, rigorous and analytical. • Although it does not result in general laws, it can explain in a way which quantitative research cannot. • Qualitative research: • * allows access to meanings • * explains or illuminates • * allows you to remain flexible right to the end • * helps generate hypotheses • Possibly contaminated by observer bias?? • * does not test hypotheses • * not objective • * often done by teachers to improve practice.

12. Observation of a lesson: • Personal traits: of either pupils or teachers e.g.: warm or aloof, collaborative or disruptive • Verbal interaction: what teachers and pupils say, who talks, about what? • Non-verbal activity: movement, gesture, facial expression, smiles, frowns etc • Management: management of behaviour, use of resources, groups, individuals etc • Teaching aids: television, slides, computers • Affective: feelings, emotions, relationships • Cognitive: level of thinking required • Sociological: roles, norms, codes, status, power.

13. Interview techniques: • Why do researchers choose to conduct interviews? • Different types of interviews • Tensions that can be experienced in interviews • Working with the information gathered during the interviews. • Read: Chapters 2 &b 3 of Hitchcock & Hughes • Relevant chapters of Silverman.