QUALITATIVE
METHODS
SUMMARY
Rosa Craane
CM2006 | 2024
,Week 1 – Introduction
Four principles of qualitative research
Meaning-making NOT numbers
Complexity NOT causal relationships
Observe phenomena in a natural context.
Comprehensive view NOT causal explanation that can be generalized
Micro insights NOT macro picture
Different epistemological, ontological, and methodological positions
Epistemology – how do we know the world?
Positivist epistemology
Constructivist epistemology – socially constructed notions of family, and
gender shape what you ask and what you see.
Ontology – what is the nature of the (social) world?
Methodology – beliefs related to how the social world.
Methods – concrete ways of studying the social world e.g. method of data
collection or analysis.
A methodological section on paper – methodological literature and justify
what you must do to collect and analyze the data.
Epistemologies + ontologies > lead to different approaches to the research process
Paradigms
Set of views and beliefs that researchers use to guide their work.
Intellectual maps and models
Epistemological + ontological + methodological positions
Two views of communication (two paradigms)
Messages transmission – Focus on the effect on audiences (media effects)
Communication as ritual – Focus on meaning-making as an active
participation drawing upon cultural familiarity.
Predictive
Positivism - Dominant reality exists and scientific truth is knowable and
findable through rigorous testing that is free from human bias → Truth.
Post-positivism - Same as positivism, but while reality exists, people are
flawed and that is why they may not be able to understand it.
Descriptive
Constructivism - Socially constructed notion / filter what you see → You are
informed by the culture you live in
Critical tradition - Reality and truth are shaped by specific historical, cultural,
racial, gender, political, and economic conditions, values, and structures.
Participatory - Emphasizes the subjectivity of practical knowledge and the
collaborative nature of research.
Quantitative Language NO
Hypotheses
Variables
Correlations
Objectivity
Researcher bias
Qualitative research
Qualitative Language
Research Questions
Concepts
Relationships
Reflexivity/Context
Situatedness and intersubjectivity
QUALITATIVE METHODS SUMMARY |BY ROSA CRAANE
, Core features
Insightful
Complex
Emancipartoy
Research process
Intentionally
Theoretically-informed
Methodical process
Choices -explained and justified
Transparency
Qualitative research: Iterative
6 steps of qualitative research projects
Idea
Perspective
RQ
Design
Research
Write
Triangulation: Use of multiple methods to increase the rigor of analysis and to develop in-depth
understandings
Ethics purpose and principles
Protection – for yourself, research subjects, and research data
Basic principles
Informed consent
Required part of research.
People should:
Participate on a volunteer basis.
Understand the study and participation.
Understand risks and benefits.
Able to give consent.
Avoid deception.
Privacy and confidential
Data Accuracy
Respect
Well-being
Justice
How do we engage in ethical research?
Awareness of:
Potential confrontations
Potential harm
Vulnerable people
Disturbance to the research site
Own interaction
Own ignorance
Maintain:
Accuracy
Fairness
Confidentiality
Respect
Sensitivities
Anonymity
Stories are produced with respondents rather than solely by us or by them
Reflexivity - The process of reflecting critically on your role as a researcher
helps researchers understand how their interpretations of evidence are
QUALITATIVE METHODS SUMMARY |BY ROSA CRAANE
METHODS
SUMMARY
Rosa Craane
CM2006 | 2024
,Week 1 – Introduction
Four principles of qualitative research
Meaning-making NOT numbers
Complexity NOT causal relationships
Observe phenomena in a natural context.
Comprehensive view NOT causal explanation that can be generalized
Micro insights NOT macro picture
Different epistemological, ontological, and methodological positions
Epistemology – how do we know the world?
Positivist epistemology
Constructivist epistemology – socially constructed notions of family, and
gender shape what you ask and what you see.
Ontology – what is the nature of the (social) world?
Methodology – beliefs related to how the social world.
Methods – concrete ways of studying the social world e.g. method of data
collection or analysis.
A methodological section on paper – methodological literature and justify
what you must do to collect and analyze the data.
Epistemologies + ontologies > lead to different approaches to the research process
Paradigms
Set of views and beliefs that researchers use to guide their work.
Intellectual maps and models
Epistemological + ontological + methodological positions
Two views of communication (two paradigms)
Messages transmission – Focus on the effect on audiences (media effects)
Communication as ritual – Focus on meaning-making as an active
participation drawing upon cultural familiarity.
Predictive
Positivism - Dominant reality exists and scientific truth is knowable and
findable through rigorous testing that is free from human bias → Truth.
Post-positivism - Same as positivism, but while reality exists, people are
flawed and that is why they may not be able to understand it.
Descriptive
Constructivism - Socially constructed notion / filter what you see → You are
informed by the culture you live in
Critical tradition - Reality and truth are shaped by specific historical, cultural,
racial, gender, political, and economic conditions, values, and structures.
Participatory - Emphasizes the subjectivity of practical knowledge and the
collaborative nature of research.
Quantitative Language NO
Hypotheses
Variables
Correlations
Objectivity
Researcher bias
Qualitative research
Qualitative Language
Research Questions
Concepts
Relationships
Reflexivity/Context
Situatedness and intersubjectivity
QUALITATIVE METHODS SUMMARY |BY ROSA CRAANE
, Core features
Insightful
Complex
Emancipartoy
Research process
Intentionally
Theoretically-informed
Methodical process
Choices -explained and justified
Transparency
Qualitative research: Iterative
6 steps of qualitative research projects
Idea
Perspective
RQ
Design
Research
Write
Triangulation: Use of multiple methods to increase the rigor of analysis and to develop in-depth
understandings
Ethics purpose and principles
Protection – for yourself, research subjects, and research data
Basic principles
Informed consent
Required part of research.
People should:
Participate on a volunteer basis.
Understand the study and participation.
Understand risks and benefits.
Able to give consent.
Avoid deception.
Privacy and confidential
Data Accuracy
Respect
Well-being
Justice
How do we engage in ethical research?
Awareness of:
Potential confrontations
Potential harm
Vulnerable people
Disturbance to the research site
Own interaction
Own ignorance
Maintain:
Accuracy
Fairness
Confidentiality
Respect
Sensitivities
Anonymity
Stories are produced with respondents rather than solely by us or by them
Reflexivity - The process of reflecting critically on your role as a researcher
helps researchers understand how their interpretations of evidence are
QUALITATIVE METHODS SUMMARY |BY ROSA CRAANE
