What Qualitative Research is NOT (Strauss and Corbin, 1998):
- “Not arrived at by statistical procedures or other means of quantification”
This suggests that it is the research that does not involve counting or quantifying empirical material.
Describe the aim, data collection, and data analysis aspects of Qualitative research:
- Aim: Providing an in-depth and interpreted understanding of the social world of research participants.
○ This is through learning of their social and material circumstances, experiences, perspectives, and histories. - Data collection:
- Small in scale and purposively selected (based on the important aspects of the criteria).
○ Although the cases are small in scale, they are rich in information and very extensive.
- Involves the researcher in close contact with the research participants. - Data analysis: analysis of the data is open to emerging theories or concepts.
○ This may identify patterns of association, develop typologies and explanations, or produce detailed descriptions.
Positivism vs Interpretivism:
- Positivism: Focuses on objective facts and scientific methods.
○ Objective facts–> Reliant on quantitative data - Interpretivism: Focuses on subjective understanding and social context.
○ Subjective understanding–> Uses qualitative data.
Beliefs and practices associated with positivism: (6)
- Methods of the natural sciences are appropriate for studying social phenomenon.
- Only observable phenomena can be counted as knowledge.
- Knowledge is developed through accumulating verified facts
- Those verified facts are used to produce scientific theories and therefore create hypotheses - these are to be tested empirically.
- Observations are the final arbiter in theoretical disputes.
- Facts and values are distinct meaning it is possible to investigate objective outcomes.
Beliefs and practices associated with interpretivism: (4)
- Not only does perception relate to senses, but to human interpretations of what our senses tell us.
- Our knowledge of the world is based on ‘understanding’ –> Specifically thinking about what happens to us, not just simply from having bad experiences.
- Knowing and knowledge transcend basic empirical findings.
- There is a distinction between:
a. Scientific reason- Based on casual determinism
b. Practical reason - Based on moral freedom and decision making.
Wilhelm Dilthey’s contribution to interpretivism:
- He suggested that we turn to “lived experiences” to reveal connections between the social, cultural, and historical aspects of people’s lives.
○ This provides context in which particular actions take place.- Self-determination and human creativity play important roles in guiding our actions.
Max Weber’s role in interpretivist and positivist approaches:
- Weber built a bridge between interpretivist and positivist approaches.
○ Direct observational understanding
§ Natural sciences- the purpose of producing law-like propositions
○ Explanatory (or motivational) understanding
§ Social sciences- purpose of understanding the subjective reasoning behind meaningful experiences.- He states that the researcher should understand the meaning of social actions (interpretivism) within the context of the material conditions (positivism) in which people live.
Interpretivism definition:
- Where the interpretation as well as observation is combined in understanding the social world.
Define Ontology
Put simply it is the study of existance. It is used to determine what exists or not.
There are 3 distinct positions which determine whether there is a captive social reality and how it should be constructed:
- Realism:
○ There is an external reality which exists independently of people’s beliefs or understanding about it.
There is a distinction between:
§ What the world is
§ How people perceive the world to be - Materialism:
○ There is a real world but only material features.
§ These material features hold reality (economic relations, physical features, etc…).
○ Values, beliefs or experiences are “epiphenomena”.
§ Meaning they are features which arise from the material world, but do not shape it. - Idealism:
○ Reality is only captured from the human mind and through socially constructed meanings.
These positions have been debated and modified overtime- commonly to reduce the extremity of these theories.
i.e. Subtle Realism- this states that there is independence between reality and a person’s perception of reality, however it can only be accessed through these representations.
Define Value-free:
This means within a scientific experiment, the outcome is objective, nothing else may influence the outcome.
Define Epistemology:
Studies how we can know about the existance of something.
What are the 3 issues with epistemology:
- Can a researcher be objective in his approach to obtain value-free research?
- When is something the truth?
a. When there is a match between observation of the natural world and an independent reality?
b. When different accounts confirm an explanation?
c. When an interpretation leads to actions that produce the desired result? - In what way should knowledge be obtained?
a. Inductively
b. Deductively
Define Inductive reasoning: (3)
- Conducting an observation
- Recognizing a pattern(/hypothesis)
- Coming to a conclusion
Define Deductive reasoning: (5)
- Taking current and existing knowledge
- Formulating a hypothesis
- Collecting data towards the hypothesis
- Testing the hypothesis
- Reject/Do NOT Reject hypothesis (Never accept a hypothesis)
Inductive vs Deductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning is where a conclusion is formed after observing an experiment and locating patterns within that experiment. Whereas, Deductive reasoning is where the existing knowledge is taken into account to form a hypothesis BEFORE the observation, then the data is further analyzed which ultimately results in the hypothesis getting rejected or not rejected.
Define pragmatism
This is choosing the most appropriate research method.
Quantitative and qualitative methods do not need to always be opposite approaches. They can be combined which could be seen as complementary.
