Qualitative Research –Data collectionPIIA NÄYKKI, PHD.,

14.4.2016

GOALS

After the 1st lecture, you were able to:

1. Understand the meaning of philosophical thinking in research.

2. Understand the meaning of research design.

3. Formulate own research interest in accordance to qualitative researchparadigm.

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After the 2nd lecture:

1. Understand how to collect qualitative research data.

2. Know different types of data collection methods.

3. Formulate own research in accordance to qualitative data collection.

SUMMARY OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Qualitative research is concerned with '...developing explanations’: • The world in which we live

• Why things are the way they are

• Seeks to answer questions about:• Why people behave the way they do

• How opinions and attitudes are formed

• How people are affected by the events that go on around them

• The differences between social groups

•Qualitative questions:• How… Why… What?

THE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Flexibility. • Quantitative methods are fairly inflexible.

• With quantitative methods such as surveys and questionnaires researchers ask all participants identical questions in the same order.

• The response categories from which participants may choose are “closed-ended” or fixed.

• The advantage of this inflexibility is that it allows for meaningful comparison of responses across participants and study sites.

• However, it requires a thorough understanding of the important questions to ask, the best way to ask them, and the range of possible responses.

THE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Qualitative methods are typically more flexible • asks mostly “open-ended” questions that are not necessarily worded in

exactly the same way with each participant.

• participants are free to respond in their own words, and these responses tend to be more complex than simply “yes” or “no.”

• researchers have the opportunity to respond immediately to what participants say by tailoring subsequent questions to information the participant has provided.

• the relationship between the researcher and the participant is often less formal.

WHEN TO USE QUALITATIVE METHODS?

Do you want to generate new theories or hypotheses?

Do you need to achieve a deep understanding of the issues?

And

Are you willing to trade generalizability

For detail?

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Open-ended questions and probing - to ask why or how.

• Open-ended questions have the ability to evoke responses that are:• meaningful and culturally salient to the participant

• unanticipated by the researcher

• rich and explanatory in nature

EXAMPLES OF QUALITATIVE APPROACHES

EXAMPLES OF QUALITATIVE APPROACHES

A qualitative "approach" is a general way of thinking about conducting qualitative research. It describes, either explicitly or implicitly, the purpose of the qualitative research, the role of the researcher(s), the stages of research, and the method of data analysis.

Etnography

Phenomenology

Design-based research

ETNOGRAPHYThe ethnographic approach to qualitative research comes largely from the field of anthropology.

◦ The emphasis in ethnography is on studying an entire culture.

Originally, the idea of a culture was tied to the notion of ethnicity and geographic location

◦ but it has been broadened to include virtually any group or organization. ◦ We can study the "culture" of a business or defined group (e.g., a Rotary club).

Ethnography is an extremely broad area with a great variety of practitioners and methods.

◦ The most common ethnographic approach is participant observation as a part of field research.

◦ The ethnographer becomes immersed in the culture as an active participant and records extensive field notes.

◦ There is no preset limiting of what will be observed and no real ending point in an ethnographic study.

PHENOMENOLOGY

• Phenomenology is sometimes considered a philosophical perspective as well as an approach to qualitative methodology.

• It has a long history in several social research disciplines including psychology, sociology and social work.

• Phenomenology is a school of thought that emphasizes a focus on people's subjective experiences and interpretations of the world. • The phenomenologist wants to understand how the world appears to

others.

DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH (DBR)

• DBR has been used for combining the design of learning environments with the empirical exploration of these environments.• To understand how, when, and why a pedagogical and/or technological

innovation works in a learning context.

• To deepen theoretical understanding of learning, but also, and more importantly, developed learning practices

The DBR Collective, 2003; Barab & Squire, 2004; Brown, 1992; Brown & Campione, 1996; Confrey, 2006; Hoadley, 2004; Schwartz, et al., 2006

EXAMPLE: RE-DESIGNING CLASSROOMS

• The goal of learning sciences is to better understand the cognitive and social processes that result in the most effective learning and how to use this knowledge to REDESIGN classrooms and other learningenvironment (Sawyer, 2006).

• Design are actions that people take to change situations into preferredones (Simon, 1996).

METHODS FOR COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

METHODS FOR COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

• Data collection in qualitative research usually involves:• Direct interaction with individuals

• Or direct interaction with individuals in a group setting

• The benefits of the qualitative approach is that the information is richer and has a deeper insight into the phenomenon under study.

METHODS FOR COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

• Qualitative research data collection methods are time consuming• Data is usually collected from a smaller sample than would be

the case for quantitative approaches.

• This makes qualitative research more “expensive”.

METHODS FOR COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

•The main methods for collecting qualitative data are:• Individual/Focus group interviews

• Observations

• Written/other materials

INTERVIEWS

• Unstructured

• Semi-structured

• Structured

INTERVIEWS - Unstructured = 'depth' or 'in depth' interviews• Researcher may want to know or find out more about a specific topic

without there being a structure or a plan or expectation as to how they will deal with the topic.

• Researcher may frame the interview questions based on the interviewee and his/her previous response.

• Researcher may just go with the aim of discussing topics.

• Very little structure at all.

• Allows the discussion to cover areas in great detail.

INTERVIEWS - Semi structured = focused interviews

• A series of open ended and broad questions based on the topic areas the researcher wants to cover.

• Researcher may have some prompts to help the interviewee.

• This method gives the researcher the freedom to probe the interviewee to elaborate or to follow a new line of inquiry introduced by what the interviewee is saying

• The open ended nature of the question defines the topic under investigation but provides opportunities for both researcher and interviewee to discuss some topics in more detail.

INTERVIEWS - Structured• Researcher asks all the respondent the same questions in the same way.

• A tightly structured schedule is used.

• The questions may be phrased in order that a limited range of responses may be given - i.e. 'Do you rate our services as very good, good or poor‘.

• A researcher needs to consider whether a questionnaire or structured interview is more appropriate.

FOCUS GROUP

• The focus groups are used when it is better to obtain information from a group rather than individuals.• Limited resources (time, manpower, finances)

• The phenomena being researched requires a collective discussion to understand the circumstances, behaviour or opinions

• Greater insights may be developed in the group

• Requires a range of skills from researcher:• Group skills

• Facilitating, Moderating

• Listening, observing

FOCUS GROUP CHARACTERISTICS

• Recommended size is 6 - 10 people • as smaller groups may limit the potential on the amount of information

collected, and

• more may make it difficult for all participants to participate and for the interviewer to be able to make sense of the information given.

• Several focus groups should be used in order to get a more objective and macro view of the investigation. • Members of the focus group should have something in common which is

important to the investigations.

• The aim of the focus group is to make use of participants' feelings, perceptions and opinions

INTERVIEWS

• Qualitative interviews (individual and focus group) should be fairly informal and participants feel they are taking part in a conversation or discussion rather than in a formal question and answer situation.

• Good quality interviews involves:• Thought

• Preparation & practice

• The development of the interview schedule

• Conducting and analyzing the interview data with care and consideration

OBSERVATIONS

• Observation may take place in natural settings and involve the researcher taking lengthy and descriptive notes of what is happening.

• It is argued that there are limits to the situations that can be observed in their 'natural' settings and that the presence of the research may lead to problems with validity.

OBSERVATIONS

•Limitations with observation include:• Change in people's behaviour when they know they are being observed

• A 'snap shot' view of a whole situation

• The researcher may miss something while they are taking notes

• The researcher may misunderstand what has been observed: There is room for subjective interpretation of what is happening

• Strengths of observation• Can give an insight into the bigger picture

• Can target i.e. what participants are doing vs. what they say they are doing.

VIDEO-OBSERVATIONS

• Video recordings limitations• may include people acting unnaturally towards the camera or avoiding the camera.

• The camera may not always see everything.

• HOX! 360 pherical camerasystems.

360 pherical camera

Headset microphones

WRITTEN/OTHER MATERIALS

Existing documents (as opposed transcripts of interviews conducted for the research).

It can include learning diaries of students, newspapers, magazines, books, websites, memos, transcripts of conversations, annual reports, and so on.

Usually written documents are analyzed with some form of content analysis.

QUALITATIVE VALIDITY

Guba and Lincoln proposed four criteria for judging the soundness of qualitative research and explicitly offered these as an alternative to more traditional quantitatively-oriented criteria.

Traditional Criteria for JudgingQuantitative Research

Alternative Criteria for JudgingQualitative Research

Internal validity Credibility

External validity Transferability

Reliability Dependability

Objectivity Confirmability

SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

• Even if it were possible, it is not necessary to collect data from everyone in a community in order to get valid findings.

• In qualitative research, only a sample (that is, a subset) of a population is selected for any given study.

• The study’s research objectives and the characteristics of the study population (such as size and diversity) determine which and how many people to select.

• Three of the most common sampling methods used in qualitative research: • purposive sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling.

PURPOSIVE SAMPLING

• Groups participants according to preselected criteria relevant to a particular research question (for example, HIV-positive women in Capital City).

• Sample sizes, which may or may not be fixed prior to data collection, depend on the resources and time available, as well as the study’s objectives.

• Are often determined on the basis of theoretical saturation (the point in data collection when new data no longer bring additional insights to the research questions).

• Purposive sampling is therefore most successful when data review and analysis are done in conjunction with data collection.

QUOTA SAMPLING

• In quota sampling, it is decided while designing the study how many people with which characteristics to include as participants.

• Characteristics might include age, place of residence, gender, class, profession, marital status, use of a particular contraceptive method, HIV status, etc.

•The criteria we choose allow us to focus on people we think would be most likely to experience, know about, or have insights into the research topic.

• Then we go into the community and – using recruitment strategies appropriate to the location, culture, and study population – find people who fit these criteria, until we meet the prescribed quotas.

SNOWBALL SAMPLING

• A third type of sampling, snowballing – also known as chain referral sampling – is considered a type of purposive sampling.

• In this method, participants or informants with whom contact has already been made use their social networks to refer the researcher to other people who could potentially participate in or contribute to the study.

• Snowball sampling is often used to find and recruit “hidden populations,” that is, groups not easily accessible to researchers through other sampling strategies.

SUMMARY OF THE MAIN PHASES IN (QUALITATIVE RESEARCH)

1. General topic of interest.• What is the topic of my interest?

• Why it is interesting?

• How has it been studied before?

• What are the main findings of the topic?

2. More specific research question/questions (1-3)

3. Who are my respondents?• Whose thinking/experiences (etc.) am I interested? (i.e. pupils, students,

teachers, professionals/experts).

4. What type of methods I need to have a data from participants?• How much resources do I have?

5. Data collection…analysis.. Reporting of the findings.

YOUR THESISHOW TO IMPLEMENT KNOWLEDGE YOU GAINED FROMTHIS LECTURE IN YOUR MASTER THESIS?

…COMMENTS, QUESTIONS?

Tasks1 5 M I N U T ES WO R K I N GS :

• F I RST: I N D I V I D UA L LY, ( W R I T E T H E A N SW E RS , 9 Q U EST I ON S )

• T H E N : S M A L L G R O UP S , ( C H A N G E T H E PA P E RS + CO M M E N T )

• T H E N : T H E W H O L E C L A S S R O O M ( D I S C U S S W I T H T H E C L A S S )

TASK – THE RESEARCH PURPOSE STATEMENT & RQ

individually (5 min)

The purpose of my thesis is to:

This is interesting, because:

The research question/questions in my thesis is/are:

TASK – THE RESEARCH PURPOSE STATEMENT & RQ & DATA COLLECTION

individually (5 min)

The data collection methods (to answer the questions) will be:

I have chosen these methods, because:

The participants in the data collection will be:

TASK – THE RESEARCH PURPOSE STATEMENT & RQ & DATA COLLECTION

individually (5 min)

The data collection instrument is ready/ I need to modify it/ I need to create it:

The data collection instrument will be ready (set the date):

I will practice the data collection this way:

Barron, B., Pea, R. D., & Engle, R. (2013). Advancing understanding of collaborative learning with data derived from video records. In C. E. Hmelo-Silver, C. A. Chinn, C. Chan, & A. M. O’Donnell (Eds.), The international handbook of collaborative learning (pp. 203–219). New York, NY: Routledge.

Whitebread, D., & Pino Pasternak, D. (2013). Video analysis of self-regulated learning in social and naturalistic contexts: The case of preschool and primary school children. In S. Volet & M. Vaurus (Eds.), Interpersonal regulation of learning and motivation: methodological advances (pp. 14–44). New York, NY: Springer.

Ethnographic interview: Spradley, J.P. (1979) The EthnographicInterview. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

In-depth Interview: Kvale, Steinar (1996). An Introduction to QualitativeResearch Interviewing.Thousand Oak, CA: Sage. / Lamnek, Siegfried (2005, 4. ed).

Group Interviews: Flick, Uwe (2006, 3rd ed / 2007). An Introduction to Qualitative Research.London: Sage. Chapter 15.

Focus groups: Morgan, David L. (1988). Focus Groups as QualitativeResearch. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. / Morgan, David L. and Krueger, R.A. (1998). The Focus Group Kit.TousandOask, CA: Sage.

THANK YOU!• Questions and comments?

• You have a new task in the blog.

• Next lecture with Jonna Malmberg: Data analysis