1. The foundations of qualitative research
Ontology: the nature of the social world and what is there to know about it?
Epistemology: the nature of knowledge and how it can be acquired. How can we learn about the social
world?
The nature of qualitative research
“A set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible. These practices transform the
world. They turn the world into a series of representations, including fieldnotes, interviews,
conversations, photographs, recordings and memos to self… qualitative researchers study things in
their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings
people bring to them” (Denzin and Lincoln, 2011).
Qualitative research mostly involves words or images instead of numbers. Think about observational
methods, semi-structured and in-depth interviews, focus groups etc. hypotheses are commonly
generated from analysis of the data rather than stated at the outset.
Common characteristics of qualitative research:
Aims and objectives that are directed at providing an in-depth and interpreted understanding
of the social world of research participants by learning about the sense they make of their
social and material circumstances, their experiences, perspectives and histories.
The use of non-standardised, adaptable methods of data generation that are sensitive to the
social context of the study and can be adapted for each participant or case to allow the
exploration of emergent issues.
Data that are detailed, rich and complex.
Analysis that retains complexity and nuance and respects the uniqueness of each participant or
case as well as recurrent, cross-cutting themes.
Openness to emergent categories and theories at the analysis and interpretation stage.
Outputs that include detailed descriptions of the phenomena being researched, grounded in the
perspectives and accounts of participants.
A reflexive approach, where the role and perspective of the researcher in the research process
is acknowledged. For some researchers, reflexivity also means reporting their personal
experiences of ‘the field’.
Key philosophical issues in social research
Ontological positions:
The nature of the world and what there is to know about it.
Realism:
An external reality exists independent of our beliefs or understanding. Variants of realism include:
Naive realism or shallow realism – reality can be observed directly and accurately.
Cautious realism – reality can be known approximately or imperfectly rather than accurately.
Depth realism, critical or transcendental realism – reality consists of different levels. The
empirical domain that is made of up what we experience through our senses, the actual
domain that exists regardless of whether or not it is observed, and the real domain that refers
to underlying processes and mechanisms.
Subtle realism – an external reality exists but is only known through the human mind and
socially constructed meanings.
Materialism is a variant of realism which recognises only material features, such as economic
relations, or physical features of the world as holding reality. Values, beliefs or experiences are
‘epiphenomena’ – that is features that arise from, but do not shape, the material world.
Idealism:
No external reality exists independent of our beliefs and understandings.
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, Subtle or contextual or collective idealism – the social world is made up of representations
constructed and shared by people in particular contexts.
Relativism or radical idealism – there is no shared social reality, only a series of different
(individual) constructions.
Epistemological positions
How can we know or find out about the social world and the limits to that knowledge.
Inductive logic involves building knowledge from the bottom up through observations of the
world, which in turn provide the basis for developing theories or laws.
Deductive logic is a top -down approach to knowledge. It starts with a theory from which a
hypothesis is derived and applied to observations about the world.
Retroductive logic involves the researcher identifying the structures or mechanisms that may
have produced patterns in the data, trying different models for ‘fit’.
Abductive logic involves ‘abducting’ a technical account, using the researchers’ categories
from participants’ own accounts of everyday activities, ideas or beliefs.
Foundational vs. fallibilistic models of research-based knowledge – a foundational model of
research-based knowledge assumes it is possible to mirror ‘reality’ accurately. A fallibilistic
model treats all knowledge claims as provisional.
Knowledge as ‘value-mediated’ – holds that all knowledge is affected by the values of the
person who produces/receives it.
Correspondence theory of truth – a statement is true if it matches independent reality.
Coherence theory of truth – an account is true as a representation of the (socially constructed)
world if it is supported by several other accounts – if different accounts ‘cohere’ with each
other.
Pragmatic theory of truth – beliefs are true if they have practical utility – if believing them is
useful, helpful and productive to people.
Positivism and the scientific method
Positivism (Willis, 2007), empiricism (Blaikie, 2007)
Knowledge is produced through the senses based on careful observation.
Regularities and ‘constant conjunctions’ are identified.
Inductive reasoning is used after data have been collected to generalise from empirical
instances to general laws.
Reality is unaffected by the research process, facts and values are separate, objective value-
free inquiry is possible.
The methods used in the natural sciences are appropriate for studying the social world.
Reality can be known accurately (knowledge is foundational, correspondence theory of truth)
Post-positivism, post-empiricism (Willis, 2007), falsificationism (Blaikie, 2007).
Knowledge of the world is produced through testing propositions: hypotheses about causal
relationships are derived from scientific theories and then evaluated empirically against
observations.
Deductive reasoning is used to postulate possible relationships and models before data are
collected.
Reality is unaffected by the research process, facts and values are separate, objective value-
free inquiry is possible.
The methods used in the natural sciences are appropriate for studying the social world.
Reality can be known approximately, hypotheses can be rejected or provisionally confirmed,
but not definitively proved to be true (knowledge is provisional and fallibilistic, coherence
theory of truth).
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,Key developments and traditions in qualitative research
Interpretivism, constructionism
Knowledge is produced by exploring and understanding the social world of the people being
studied, focusing on their meanings and interpretations. (Social constructionist traditions
emphasise the socially constructed nature of those meanings).
Researchers also construct meanings and interpretations based on those of participants.
The research process is considered to be largely inductive in the sense that interpretation is
grounded in the data, though it is also recognised that observations are ‘theory-laden’ because
they are mediated by ideas and assumptions.
Reality is affected by the research process, facts and values are not distinct, and objective
value-free research process, facts and values are not distinct, and objective value-free research
is impossible.
The methods used in the natural sciences are not appropriate for studying the social world
because the social world is not governed by law-like regularities; rather, it is mediated through
meaning and human agency.
Social reality cannot be captured or portrayed ‘accurately’ because there are different (and
possibly competing) perceptions and understandings, though some researchers still aim to
‘represent’ participants’ meanings as faithfully as possible (knowledge is provisional and
fallibilistic, consensus theory of truth).
Advancement and diversification of qualitative research
From the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, ethnography came up.
Ethnography involves understanding the social world or culture – the shared behaviours, beliefs and
values – of particular groups, typically via immersion in their community.
Sociology also saw the influence of phenomenology (describing the meaning people attach to a
particular phenomenon, concept or idea), based on the ideas of Husserl and Schuts, which led to the
development of ethnomethodolgy – the study of how, in practice, people construct social order and
make sense of their social world. Conversation analysis (analysing the way in which talk is
structured) and discourse analysis (focusing on the way knowledge is produced within different
discourses) are related movements. Symbolic interactionism focused on the interactions between
people and the symbolic meanings and interpretations people attach to their social actions and
environments as means of understanding human behaviour.
Grounded theory aims to generate theories that explain social processes or actions through analysis
of data from participants who have experienced them.
Some of the earliest uses of qualitative methods in psychology, around the middle of the twentieth
century, occurred in the fields of personal construct theory - the study of psychological constructs
that people use to define and attach meaning to their thinking and behaviour. Other long-standing
strands of enquiry took place in ethnogenics, concerned with the roles and rules through which people
choose to act or not act and protocol analysis which explores the ‘thinking’ processes that are
manifest when people are engaged in cognitive tasks.
Interpretative phenomenological analysis is concerned with capturing people’s accounts and
reflections to explore and interpret the meanings attached and the ‘sense’ that is made of them.
By the 1970s quantitative research also faced a number of theoretical challenges, including:
Whether it is possible to ‘control’ variables in experimental social research involving people to
achieve unambiguous results.
Whether the elimination of contextual variables in controlled experimental conditions is an
appropriate way to study human behaviour.
Whether it is appropriate to disregard the meaning and purpose of behaviour in controlled
experimental studies.
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, Whether overarching theories of the world and aggregated data have any relevance and
applicability to the lives of individuals
Whether emphasis on hypothesis testing neglects the importance of discovery through
alternative understandings.
Postmodernist theories typically question ‘modern’ ideas that:
- There is an objective reality independent of human beings;
- We can ‘know’ things with certainty, or that it is possible to develop general laws that explain
many aspects of the social world;
- Language refers to and represents a reality outside of itself.
Research tradition Disciplinary origins Aims
Ethnography Sociology, Understanding the social world of people being studied
anthropology through immersion in their community to produce detailed
descriptions of their culture and beliefs
Phenomenology/ Philosophy/sociology Understanding the ‘constructs’, concepts or ideas people
ethnomethodology use in everyday life to make sense of their world.
Uncovering meanings contained within conversation or
text.
Leading to Sociology/linguistics Analysing the way in which talk is structurally organised,
Conversation analysis focusing on sequencing and turn-taking which demonstrate
the way people give meaning to situations.
Discourse analysis Sociology Examining the way knowledge is produced within
different discourses and the performances, linguistic styles
and rhetorical devices used in particular accounts.
Protocol analysis Psychology Examining and drawing inference about the cognitive
processes that underlie de performance of tasks.
Interpretive Psychology Exploring the meaning and significance of a relevant
phenomenological experience to given participant – what it is like for them –
analysis (IPA) in order to gain insights into psychosocial processes.
Symbolic Sociology/social Exploring behaviour and social roles to understand how
interactionism people interpret and react to their environment.
Leading to Sociology Developing ‘emergent’ theories of social action through
Grounded theory the identification of analytical categories from the data and
the relationships between them.
Ethnogenics Social psychology Exploring the underlying structure of behavioural acts by
investigating the meaning people attach to them.
Hermeneutics Theology/philosophy Exploring the conditions under which a human product
/ was produced or act took place in order to interpret its
literary criticism, meanings.
linguistics
Narrative analysis Sociology, social Analysing what a narrative reveals about the person and
history, literary their world. Studying the way people tell stories and the
criticism structure of narratives.
Constructionism Sociology Displaying ‘constructed realities’ of people in a particular
setting, exploring their meanings and explanations.
Critical theory (Marxist Sociology Identifying ways in which material conditions (economic,
and neo-Marxist political, gender, ethnic) influence beliefs, behaviour and
research, feminist experiences (and in some cases using new understanding
research, disability to facilitate change).
research, critical race
theory, queer theory)
Leading to Social psychology, Based on a collaborative approach with participant and
Participatory action sociology aimed at enacting positive change for those involved.
research,
user-led research
Choosing an approach
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