Qualitative and Unobtrusive Measures

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Chapter 6

• Qualitative and Unobtrusive Measures

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Qualitative Measures

• Qualitative research is any research that relies
  primarily or exclusively on qualitative measures
• Qualitative research (i.e., measures) used to
• Generate new theories or hypotheses
• Achieve a deep understanding of an issue
• Develop detailed stories to describe a phenomenon

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Qualitative and Quantitative Data

• Qualitative data consists of words
• Quantitative data consists of numbers
• All qualitative data can be coded quantitatively
• All quantitative data is based on qualitative
  judgment

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Qualitative Data

• Includes any information that can be captured
  that is not numerical in nature (Miles
  Huberman, 1994)
• In-depth interviews (individual and group)
• Direct observation (respondent is not queried)
• Written documents (existing documents)

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Qualitative Traditions

• Ethnography
• studying a phenomenon in the context of its
  culture
• Phenomenology
• studying how a phenomenon is experienced by
  participants
• Field Research
• researcher observes a phenomenon in its natural
  state (in situ)
• Grounded Theory (Glaser Strauss, 1967)
• to develop a theory (grounded in observation)
  about a phenomenon of interest

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Qualitative Methods

• Participant observation
• researcher becomes a participant (i.e., member)
  in the culture being observed
• Direct observation
• researcher not a member of the culture being
  studied but remains unobtrusive
• Unstructured interviewing
• direct interaction between the researcher and
  respondent no structured interview or set
  direction
• Case studies
• intensive study of a specific individual or
  specific context

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Table 6-3 Criteria for Judging Research Quality
from a More Qualitative Perspective
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Quality of Qualitative Research

• Credibility
• establishing that the results are credible from
  the perspective of the participant
• Transferability
• degree to which results can be generalized to
  other contexts
• Dependability
• description by the researcher of changes within
  the context that the research occurs and how
  these might affect conclusions
• Confirmability
• degree to which others can confirm or corroborate
  the results

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Unobtrusive Measures

• Indirect Measures
• The researcher collects data without the
  participant being aware of it
• Attention must be paid to ethical considerations
• Possibility of deception
• Invasion of privacy
• No informed consent

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Unobtrusive Measures (contd)

• Content Analysis
• Systematic analysis of text in order to identify
  patterns
• Thematic analysis of text
• Indexing
• Quantitative descriptive analysis

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Unobtrusive Measures (contd)

• Content Analysis (contd)
• May involve sampling from the population of
  potential texts
• Identification of units of analysis
• Coding of units of analysis
• Limitations

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Unobtrusive Measures (contd)

• Secondary Analysis of Data
• Re-analysis of quantitative data
• May involve combining information from multiple
  data sets
• Can be used for replication or to subject data to
  other, more sophisticated analyses
• Limitations

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Qualitative Research some issues

• Not everything that can be counted counts, and
  not everything that counts can be counted
• Albert Einstein

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What do you know about Qualitative Research?

• What have you heard or read about qualitative
  research?
• Easy to do
• Not scientific
• Subjective

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What do you know about Qualitative Research?

• What have you heard or read about qualitative
  research?
• Inductive Finding a theory to explain ones
  findings
• Interactive research compared to quantitative
  spending time with respondents versus drive
  byes.
• Data collection methods can be somewhat involved

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Credibility of Qualitative Inquiry

• Dependent on three distinct but related inquiry
  elements
• Rigorous methods
• fieldwork yields high quality data which are
  systematically analyzed with attention to issues
  of credibility
• Credibility of the researcher
• Dependent on training, experience, track record
• Philosophical belief in the value of qualitative
  inquiry
• naturalistic inquiry, qualitative methods ,
  inductive analysis, purposeful sampling, holistic
  thinking

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Comparing Quantitative Qualitative
Methodologies

• Which research methodology is represented by
  these characteristics (Qual. or quant.)?
• Purpose of the study
• Pose problem/ raise Questions
• Define research population
• Develop time frame
• Collect analyze data
• Present outcomes

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Data Collection

• Once you have identified that a qualitative
  methodology best fits your research question,
  there are numerous data collection strategies to
  select from.
• Some considerations
• Full unqualified consent
• Site selection Can be difficult. Knowing someone
  can help get you in
• Should have more than one way of collecting data
  triangulation
• Establishing trust

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Data Collection

• Some considerations
• Access
• Unqualified access total access to the research
  site
• Qualified access might need to select another
  research site/participants
• Informants insider who knows environment/politics
  
• Gate keepers (e.g. principal dept chair, Ad)
• Negotiating Notes/data belong to you/respondent
  confidentiality
• What will you deliver??? Drafts of research
  writing, final paper,
• Entering with a problem statement does not mean
  that it will remain the same throughout the data
  collection
• Emergent possibilities

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Fieldwork

• Possibilities Pitfalls
• Anxiety producing
• Safe places
• Being unobtrusive
• Researcher wants to be sure not to call attention
  to selfblending in is importantthose observed
  should not even know your are there after a while
• Did you come in with preconceived opinions?

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Fieldwork

• Possibilities Pitfalls
• Establishing Maintaining rapport
• Rapport Appearance, speech, behavior, must be
  acceptable to research participants
• Know the others language
• Nonjudgmental
• Inoffensive
• Patient
• Sense of humor
• CONFIDENTIALITY
• Subjectivity

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Fieldwork

• Observations
• How long are you going to be in the field?
• Field notes?
• Videotape?
• Can be highly problematic in schools

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Data Collection Types/Aspects

• Participant-Observation (wide range of
  possibilities)
• Helps researcher develop trusted person status
• Allows researcher to observe how observed
  persons actions correspond to observed person
  words
• Allows researcher to see the unexpected
• Assists in the development of interview questions
  connecting to known behaviors you have observed

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Data Collection Types/Aspects

• Continuum of Participant-Observation
• Mostly observation to mostly participation
• Where on the continuum you place yourself is
  directly related to the questions you are asking,
  context of study, and your theoretical framework
• Main Goal of Participant-Observation To
  understand the research setting, participants and
  their behaviors

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Data Collection Types/Aspects

• Participant-Observation Process
• Systematic observation detailed recordings of
  environment
• Constant analysis of observations Whats
  happening here?
• Evidence of personal bias Am I being judgmental?
  

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Data Collection Types/Aspects

• Observation
• General methods
• Studying the setting
• Describing it in detail
• Making the familiar strange.
• What do you notice about the participants in
  their natural settings?
• interactions? Comparing their words/beliefs to
  their actions
• Non verbal feedback? Gestures?

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Field notes

• Notebook form
• Needs to be detailed thorough
• Time consuming when done correctly
• Descriptive and analytic

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Field notes

• Field notebook primary recording tool
  (confidential)
• Describes environment, people, events,
  activities, interactions, researcher ideas,
  reflections, questions, exploring researcher bias
• After observation, researcher returns to notes to
  complete detailed summaries and expand upon
  observations
• Descriptive and analytic
• Accuracy without being judgmental
• Such detail that you can visualize the moment a
  year later

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Field Notes

• Poor example of Field Notes
• The class was disorderly and noisy
• Good example of Field Notes
• The 5th grade class contained 15 girls and 12
  boys. When I entered they were in groups of 6.
  One group of 4 girls were trying to see who could
  blow the biggest bubble with their gum. A group
  of 5 boys began imitating a martial arts movie
  they had seen on TV

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Field Notes

• Analytic Notes
• Observer comments
• Observer Comments to researcher informal
  statements the respondent makes
• Daily reflection
• Thoughts, concerns the researcher has with the
  setting, study, emerging themes, etc.
• Researcher acknowledges feelings, problems,
  ideas, etc.

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Interviewing

• Questions
• Should be reflective of observations
• What did you learn as a participant-observer?
• Developing questions - Where should your
  questions come from?
• Format?
• RAPPORT
• Structured?
• Open Ended?
• Probing?
• Non- Verbal Messages from respondent

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Interviewing

• Requires skill and practice
• Types of questions asked (Patton, 2002)
• Experience and behavior interview questions What
  respondents do or have done
• Opinion and value questions How respondents
  think about their behaviors and experiences
• Feeling questions Questions that elicit how
  respondents react emotionally to or feel about
  their experiences and opinions
• Continued

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Interviewing

• Types of questions asked (Patton, 2002)
• Knowledge questions What respondents know about
  their worlds
• Sensory questions elicit descriptions of what
  and how they see, hear, touch, taste, smell the
  world around them
• Background and demographic questions Quest. That
  elicit respondents descriptions of themselves

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Interviewing

• Other aspects of interviews
• Key informants possess special knowledge
• May add information that researcher would
  otherwise not have access too.
• Can sensitize the researcher to aspects of the
  particular culture being investigated
• Possibilities of interviews rich data, etc.
• Possible pitfalls
• Interruptions
• redirecting
• poor questions
• researchers inability to follow up/probe

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Interviewing

• Sequencing of Questions
• facilitates completeness/comprehensiveness
• Interviewing is not for everyone
• Nature of interactions will change
• Strengths/weaknesses
• Need to be a good listener
• Documents

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Interviewing

• Where will interview occur?
• A convenient location for respondent?
• When will you meet? Time of day is important-
  tired /rushed
• How long do you anticipate it will last?
• How often will you meet?
• Audiotaped?
• Interruptions?
• Transcribing interviews-long , but meaningful
  process
• Documents
• Curricular guides, newsletters, transcripts
  corroborate observations/findings LEADING TO
  trustworthiness

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Data Analysis

• Organizing what you have seen, heard, and read,
  so that you can make sense of what you have
  learned.
• Ongoing throughout study
• permits researcher to focus and shape the study
  as it proceeds
• Rudimentary Coding Scheme
• Counting or enumerating items means they must
  defined and located within data records
• Categorizing dividing subdividing
• Field notes are coded, audiotapes are coded

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Data Analysis

• Voluminous
• Computer programs
• Trustworthiness (Reflect on data What is data
  telling you?)
• TRIANGULATION of data sources
• Use of multiple data collection techniques data
  collected in 1 way can be cross checked for
  accuracy with another
• Prevents researcher from accepting to readily the
  validity of initial impressions
• Assists in correcting biases that occur when the
  researcher is the only observer

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Data Analysis

• Trustworthiness (continued)
• Observations, interviews, documents, etc.
• Researcher bias continual alertness
• Peer debriefer
• someone who reads your field notes,
  transcriptions, interpretations
• Member Checks
• data sources provided to participants for their
  review, comments, expansion of thoughts

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Telling the Story

• Maintaining confidentiality Highest priority
• Writing is a political act (Glesne Peshkin)
• Intended and Unintended consequences
• Can respondents be subjected to unwanted
  publicity?
• Keeping at it.
• IncludeNarratives/vignettes/direct quotations
  support the claims one makes in their findings