Qualitative methods

Question 1

What is qualitative research?

Answer 1

Broad + diverse concept (multiple definitions). One conceptualization emphasises qualities of entities on processes and meanings that aren’t experimentally examined or measured

Question 2

Whats an example of why people move beyond quantitative approaches?

Answer 2

The diversity of phenomena being researched which cant just “fit” into categories. E.g. psychotherapy - finding complexities in someones story which may seem straight forward at first but then become more complex as they progress

Question 3

What is the difference in design and data between qualitative (QL) and quantitative (QN)?

Answer 3

QL: flexible and responds to its context + unstructured interviews/observations for data collection e.g. pictures
QN: fixed to control for extraneous variables + experimental design with structured interviews/surveys/observations

Question 4

What is the difference in analysis between qualitative (QL) and quantitative (QN)?

Answer 4

QL: non-numerical analysis of test and talking, focuses on underlying meanings and patterns of relationships
QN: uses freqs and stats

Question 5

What is the difference in sampling between qualitative (QL) and quantitative (QN)?

Answer 5

QL: depth of understanding rather than generalisability
QN: seeks to generalise

Question 6

What is a paradigm and its three types in research?

Answer 6

A system of beliefs + values shared by researchers which influence what should be studied, how research should be done and how results should be interpreted. Includes ontology, epistemology and methodology

Question 7

What is ontology?

Answer 7

The study of what is real and existing

Question 8

What is epistemology?

Answer 8

The study of knowledge - what constitutes it, how is it acquired?

Question 9

What is methodology?

Answer 9

The study of data - what constitutes it, how should it be generated/analysed?

Question 10

What are paradigms in social research and how are they helpful?

Answer 10

Helps to understand how we have come to two very different approaches in psych, in the social sciences there are many debates on what/how should be studied compared to sciences like chemistry.

Question 11

What are the two dominant paradigms in social sciences?

Answer 11

1. Realism
2. Constructionism

Question 12

What is the paradigm of realism?

Answer 12

Used to discover universal laws to predict and control events (quantitive).
Ontology = laws of nature constitute reality
Epistemology = measurable and observable ‘proof’
Methodology = analysis of experiments and structured observations

Question 13

What is the paradigm of constructionism?

Answer 13

Used to understand social life and how people construct meanings (qualitative)
Ontology = ‘reality’ is co constructed and is something we actively evolving and generating
Epistemology = knowledge is a social product
Methodology = analysis of unstructured observation, unstructured interviews and artefacts

Question 14

What is inductive reasoning?

Answer 14

Bottom up approach (theory from qualitative) that starts with something concrete and moves to something abstract: research question, generate data to address question, look at data/make observations and use data to generate theory = explain phenomena

Question 15

What is deductive reasoning?

Answer 15

Top down approach that starts with broad concept to find something concrete (theory for quantitive design and qualitative e.g. research hyp): theory, theory creates hyp, generate data to test hyp, through testing does data support/not support theory