Social Science Qualitative Research Chapter 15 Qualitative Research How Your Objective, Research Question, and/or Hypothesis Relates to Your Methodology
If your RQ or H is: Then your chosen method should be:
To describe or understand Qualitative communication. If your RQ or H is: Then your chosen method should be: To understand, describe, explain communication Ethnography (Chapters 14 and 15) in a culture or cultural group To describe and understand group Focus groups (Chapters 14 and 15) discourse/conversation in action To describe or understand communication as it Grounded theory (Chapters 14 and 15) relates to behavior within social situations and multiple realities To understand, describe, explain meaning within Phenomenology (Chapters 14 and 15) lived experience To describe or understand communication as it Case study (Chapters 14 and 15) relates to illustrative case(s) If your RQ or H is: Then your chosen method should be: To study spoken or written discourse—speech Discourse analysis (Chapters 14 and 15) acts—from the content of the discourse, to its delivery (paralanguage, speech, grammar), to its context, and the meaning deriving from each of these, to understand how people use language to construct ideas, meanings, and identities To describe and understand interpersonal social Conversation analysis (Chapters 14 and 15) action in sequences of utterances and interaction as agents of action and activity To analyze (in a descriptive way) the content of Qualitative content analysis (Chapters 14 messages such as media messages and 15) Characteristics of Social Science Qualitative Research
• See research as a systematic investigation • Reality is discoverable, observable, and understandable • But research is a reflexive process • Focus is on standpoint of research participants Types of Social Science Qualitative Methods
• (Some) ethnography • Focus groups • Grounded Theory • Phenomenology • Case Study • Discourse Analysis • Conversation Analysis • Qualitative Content Analysis Ethnography
Anthropology Immerse yourself in the culture Study patterns, symbols, norms, rules, assumptions What people do and why Often based on Social Constructionism
Ideas/meanings about reality is socially constructed. HOW do we construct these ideas/meanings through communication? What ideas/meanings are being socially constructed? Also often…
Artistic and evocative Critical (social critique)
But these are not social science methods Types of Ethnography
Ethno-methodology Critical ethnography Autoethnography Narrative ethnography Performance Ethnography In Ethnography
Study phenomena in context Data collection instrument is ME Rely on intuition, language, interpretation Non random sampling Select INFORMANTS Use emergent design Get feedback from participants during process Report as a case study (DON’T GENERALIZE TO POPULATION) Ethnography Uses…
Fieldwork Informants Grounded Theory Uses…
Theoretical saturation Emergent design Discourse Analysis…
Studies speech acts And how they construct meaning Ethical Considerations
• Informed consent considerations • How you identify participants • Security of audio or videotapes • Confidentiality (focus groups) • Creating a safe environment to share (focus groups) Sampling Sampling Units
• Sites • Settings • People • Activities • Events • Times • Artifacts: Texts/ Documents/Diaries Sampling
• Purposeful Sampling • Maximum variation sampling • Snowball sampling • Theoretical construct sampling • Typical instance sampling • Extreme instance sampling Concept of Requisite Variety
• Your study should possess elements that are at least as diverse as the elements in the environment you are studying. • You must sufficiently engage the complexity of your environment under study. Sample Size
• Data saturation • “Critical threshold of interpretive competence” Focus Groups Focus Group Video http://www.bing.com/videos/search ?q=focus+group+video&qpvt=focus+g roup+video&view=detail&mid=1B2B2 C7B24C35109F90D1B2B2C7B24C3510 9F90D&FORM=VRDGAR Coding and Analysis Analysis
Transcribe tapes Look for meanings, themes, building conclusions, inferences First order explanation Second order explanation Compare with theories Look for patterns, categories Building a theory Data Coding
Read through your data - Noting meaning, findings Open coding Create sensitizing concepts Categorizing the Responses - “Build” a code list/code book (create categories) Each category should cover one single thought Create sub-themes Axial coding (meta codes) Negative case analysis “Code” each response: Connect the data to your codes Connect to theory Writing What are the characteristics of social science writing
• Linear • Organized/ordered • Well-defined • Focus on analysis/A type of thematic analysis • Moving beyond the personal to more general