These extensive notes of almost 100 (!) pages consist all the important information to pass the exam of the qualitative research module for the pre master Communication Science on the University of Twente. Do you want help yourself in saving some energy during studies? Then this is your chance!
Inhoudsopgave
Week 1 (14th of september) – introduction & focus group research ............................................................. 2
Reading Homework .................................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter 1 – Introduction to qualitative research (Boeije) ................................................................................... 2
Chapter 2 – Research Design (Boeije) .................................................................................................................. 6
Focus Group Research (Smithson) – Using and analyzing focus groups: limitations and possibilities .............. 12
Week 1 – Interview techniques & Atlas.ti (16th September) ........................................................................ 24
Introduction on interviews as a research method ............................................................................................. 24
Doing interviews ................................................................................................................................................ 26
Analyzing your interview data ........................................................................................................................... 29
Chapter 4 Boeije – Data collection ............................................................................................................. 32
Chapter 5 Boeije – Principles of qualitative analysis ................................................................................... 38
Week 3 – Chapter 3: Ethics in Qualitative Research (Boeije) ....................................................................... 56
Article - employing think-aloud protocols and constructive interaction to test the usability of online library
catalogues: a methodological comparison ................................................................................................. 60
Combining concurrent think-aloud protocols and eye-tracking observations; an analysis of verbalizations and
silences .................................................................................................................................................... 62
Les: Research Ethics & think aloud ............................................................................................................ 63
Research Ethics (chapter 3) ............................................................................................................................... 63
Think aloud / usability research – Think aloud protocols in usability testing ................................................ 67
Usability testing............................................................................................................................................. 67
- Every time the sight got improvements based on the results from participants ............................... 69
Thinking aloud ............................................................................................................................................... 69
Think-aloud data ........................................................................................................................................... 71
1
,Book chapter 9 – Quality of the Research (Content analysis - Boeije) .......................................................... 73
Content Analysis – What’s in a frame? A content analysis of media framing studies in the world’s leading
communication journals ........................................................................................................................... 78
Class - Content / media analysis: an introduction of the method, corpus, codebook .................................... 79
Observation techniques writing the research report .................................................................................. 88
Qualitative research
Week 1 (14th of september) – introduction & focus group research
Reading Homework
Chapter 1 – Introduction to qualitative research (Boeije)
Preparatory thoughts
Science is only recognized and accepted as such when:
- Study is theoretically informed
- Study uses a systematic procedure
- Approved methods and techniques are used
- Study is documented in a way that allows others to assess the findings
Set up research
Literature + talking to experts → Research Q’s → scientific methods
RQ’s need to be related to theory in some way, and the answers need to be found by the use
of systematic methods that must be adequately documented.
Fundamental & Applied research
- Fundamental research = if your aim is predominantly to gain knowledge
- Applied research = if your aim is predominantly to use knowledge to change or
improve situations
→ Qualitative research can be either fundamental or applied research
Considering quantitative or qualitative research
- Quantitative research has to do with numbers
o Often (not always) deductive process to test a theory: literature and
previously selected theory are used to deduce hypotheses that will be tested
in research to eventually say something about the theory
o Observations are made by standardized measures. Results are reached by
working with numbers, and statistical criteria are used to determine whether
the results offer support for the hypotheses or not.
▪ Data collection: numerical strategies of investigation → questionnaire
research with a five-point scale or an experiment. The quantitative
method of research is preset by the ‘ranking’ questions that give only
agreeable or non-agreeable ranks.
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, - Qualitative research uses the help of text and audio, instead of numbers, to help
understand opinion experiences, behavior, and theoretical concepts
o Often (not always) inductive process to build a theory: social phenomenon
explored in order to find empirical patterns that can function as the beginning
of a theory.
o Data collection by semi-structured non-numerical measuring instruments →
interviews that are recorded on tape and transcribed (or observations, etc.)
Paradigm
= framework for thinking about research design, measurement, analysis and personal
involvement
- Reflect issues related to the nature of social reality and knowledge
o Nature of social reality (‘ontology’) (=study of reality of being and existence)
= answers whether the social world is regarded as something external to
social actors or as something that people are in the process of fashioning
(→ means do humans create the reality that is lived, the existence or is it
predefined)
▪ Interpretivism
= how people construct reality with the use of language (e.g.
arguments, words, etc.) and others study while interpreting the acts
around them and grafting their own behavior on these interpretations
o Nature of knowledge (‘epistemology’) (= limits of human knowledge rational,
beliefs and study of human nature)
= answers whether there is one single route to truth or that diverse methods
are needed to grasp the meaning of social experience
Effect paradigm
Paradigm ensures a research group would normally pose and frame RQ’s that fit their usual
way of working.
However, if RQ’s cannot be answered with the methods they usually employ, they can:
- Either decide not to pose these questions at all
- They can employ alternative methods, such as a combined quantitative and
qualitative research
Diversity in qualitative research
‘Qualitative researchers generally agree upon the assumptions attached to constructivism
and interpretivism, but there are many nuances, traditions and specifics which cause the
qualitative research practice to be very diverse’
o Constructivism = all knowledge is constructed from human experience
o Interpretivism = involves researchers to interpret elements of the study
Book is based on the grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss)
1. It is a polemic (= a ‘fuck you’ divisive argument) on social science research, which was
dominated by hypothesis testing and was devoid of any connection to everyday
reality
3
, 2. Ethnographic was too preoccupied with description instead of explanation of social
phenomena and wanted to provide researchers with an alternative research strategy
o Ethnographic = science description of people and cultures with traditions in
respect to mutual differences
o Social phenomena = constantly evolving individual and external influences
that significantly affect our behaviors and opinions
Grounded theory contributes to the systematic approach of qualitative analysis
A methodology in which the data became ‘centre-stage’ in reaching a theoretical description
of a phenomenon and explaining it. The data are systematically generated and analyzed
step-by-step in order to develop a theory
- In the beginning the research has mainly an explorative nature, but as the research
progresses, data generation becomes more aimed at verifying results found earlier
on in the research process. The comparative cases are sought to expand, confirm or
deepen the assertions.
‘Theoretical sampling’ since the choice for new cases depends on theoretical needs. The
theory is unique for its emphasis on: theory development.
- Grounded theory was framed in terms of a series of cycles in which the researchers
moves back and forth among: the data collection and the data analysis
- Data is analyzed by ‘coding’
= relevant parts of the data are indicated and labeled
Coding → conceptual categories → conceptual modelling or theory development
- Saturation = no additional data are being found whereby properties (eigenschappen)
of the category can be developed
Example: awareness of dying
In a case there is a grounded theory on ‘awareness context’, which is influenced by questions
that may arise
o Awareness context = who, why, how does the information help people (deal with
grief)
o Questions = ethics and morals (of practicing staff and society) at time
o Structural prerequisites (voorwaarden) which lead to a shift from one awareness
context to another
→ Grounded theory offers a theoretical lens which facilitates understanding of the thinking
and acting of the parties involved. Rather show the process of dying than death itself and
prefer describing contexts to the more static attitudes towards dying.
Defining and delineating (afbakenen) qualitative research
Definition
= the purpose of qualitative research is to describe and understand social phenomena in
terms of the meaning people bring to them. The RQ’s are studied through flexible methods
enabling contact with the people involved to an extent that is necessary to grasp what is
going on in the field. The methods produce rich, descriptive data that need to be interpreted
through the identification and coding of themes and categories leading to findings that can
contribute to theoretical knowledge and practical use.
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