Samenvatting onderzoekpracticum kwalitatief onderzoek
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Samenvatting onderzoekpracticum kwalitatief onderzoek .................................................................... 1
Thema 1 De theorie van kwalitatief onderzoek ...................................................................................... 2
Thema 1.1 Theoretische inbedding ..................................................................................................... 2
Thema 1.2 Wanneer kwalitatief onderzoek ........................................................................................ 9
Thema 1.3 Onderzoeksvragen, design en methoden ....................................................................... 10
Thema 1.4 Ethiek bij kwalitatief onderzoek ...................................................................................... 13
Thema 1.5 Steekproeven................................................................................................................... 15
Thema 2 Kwalitatief onderzoek in de praktijk....................................................................................... 22
Thema 2.1 Diepte-interviews voorbereiden ..................................................................................... 22
Thema 2.2 Diepte-interviews uitvoeren............................................................................................ 23
Thema 2.3 Transcriberen en coderen ............................................................................................... 30
Thema 2.4 Diepte-interviews rapporteren ....................................................................................... 35
Thema 5 Observeren ............................................................................................................................. 39
Thema 5.1 De theorie van observeren .............................................................................................. 39
Thema 6 Cognitieve interviews ............................................................................................................. 44
Thema 6.1 De theorie van cognitieve interviews .............................................................................. 44
Thema 6.2 De praktijk van cognitieve interviews ............................................................................. 45
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,Thema 1 De theorie van kwalitatief onderzoek
Thema 1.1 Theoretische inbedding
Leerdoelen van deze studietaak:
o De aard en karakteristieken van kwalitatief onderzoek begrijpen.
o De belangrijkste filosofische aspecten van kwalitatief onderzoek onderscheiden.
o Positivisme en verwante stromingen aanduiden.
o Belangrijke ontwikkelingen en tradities binnen kwalitatief onderzoek beschrijven.
o De benadering van kwalitatief onderzoek in deze cursus kennen.
Boek hoofdstuk 1 (blz. 1 -20)
Why is it helpful to understand the background of qualitative research?
o There is no single, accepted way of carrying out qualitative research. It depends on
beliefs about the nature of the social world (ontology), nature of knowledge and how to
acquire it (epistemology), the purpose and goals of the research, characteristics of the
participants, audience, funders, positions & environments of the researchers.
o Views on whether and how quality should be assessed depend on positions of people in
the philosophical debate. Some belief researchers should maintain consistency between
their philosophical starting point and the methods they adopt. Others believe there is
value in not doing that. But understanding the background of methods will contribute to
better research practice.
The nature of qualitative research
o Qualitative research does not have a theory, paradigm or distinct set of methods or
practices.
o It can be described as ‘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 setting,
attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people
bring to them.
o Qualitative research is often distinguished by the fact that hypotheses are commonly
generated from analysis of the data rather than stated at the outset.
o There are many key elements that are identified as giving qualitative research its
distinctive character:
Aims and objectives that strive to understand the social world.
The use of non-standardized, adaptable methods of data generation.
Data are detailed, rich and complex.
Analysis that retains the complexity and nuance of the data.
Openness to emergent categories and theories.
Outputs include detailed descriptions of the phenomena being researched.
A reflexive approach, where role and perspective of researcher is acknowledged.
Key philosophical issues in social research
o Ontology is concerned with the nature of reality and what there is to know about the
world. Two overarching ontological positions:
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, Realism, there is an external reality that exists independently of people’s beliefs
about or understanding of it. Meaning that there is a distinction between the
way the world is and the meaning of the world held by individuals.
Naïve realism (shallow), reality can be observed directly and accurately.
Cautious realism, reality can be known approximately and imperfectly.
Depth realism (critical or transcendental), reality consists of the empirical
domain of what we experience via 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 recognizes only material features. Values, beliefs or
experiences are epiphenomena, being features that arise from, but do
not shape the material world.
Idealism, reality is fundamentally mind-dependent; it is only knowable through
the human mind and through socially constructed meanings.
Subtle (collective or contextual) the social world is made up of
representations constructed and shared.
Relativism (radical) means there is no shared reality, only a series of
different constructions.
An underlying ontological question concerns whether the social and natural
worlds exist in similar ways or whether the social world is different.
Contemporary researchers believe the 2 are very different.
o Epistomology is concerned with ways of knowing and learning about the world and
focuses on how we can learn about reality and what forms the basis of our knowledge.
Several key issues dominate epistemological debates:
1) How can knowledge best be acquired?
o Inductive logic involves building knowledge from the bottom up
through observations of the world, which in turn provide the
basis for developing theories and laws.
o Deductive logic is a top-down approach to knowledge. It starts
with a theory, a hypothesis is derived and will be tested to
confirm or reject it, which will strengthen or weaken the theory.
o Qualitative research is often seen inductive, but that’s a
misleading simplification, as there is no such thing as pure
induction.
Two further logics of enquiry into the social world (Blaikie):
o Retroductive logic is about identifying the structures or
mechanisms that have produced patterns in the data, trying
different models that fit.
o Abductive logic where everyday activities are described using
participants’ language and meaning (first-order concept) and
then abduct a technical account from the lay accounts using the
researchers’ categories (second-order concept). Unique to
qualitative research.
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, Other epistemological concepts
o Foundational vs. fallibilistic models of research-based
knowledge. The first mirrors reality accurately, the second treats
all knowledge claims as provisional.
o Knowledge as ‘value-mediated’ means that all knowledge is
affected by the value of the person producing it.
2) How does the relationship between the researcher and the researched
influences the connection between facts and values?
Objective observation. The phenomena being researched can be viewed
as independent and unaffected by the behavior of the researcher. The
researcher can be objective, and the research is thus value free.
Value-mediated observation. People are being affected by the process
of being studied and the relationship between the researcher and social
phenomena is interactive. The researcher is not neutral and cannot be
objective.
Emphatic neutrality recognized that research cannot be value free, but
advocates researchers should try to make their assumptions and biases
transparent.
3) What does it mean to accept a claim as accurate or true?
Correspondence is the dominant theory of truth in natural sciences,
meaning that there is a match between observations of the natural
world and an independent reality.
Coherence or intersubjective is a more appropriate theory for the social
world, suggesting that this independent reality can only be gauged in a
consensual rather than absolute way.
Pragmatic theory of truth means that an interpretation is true if it leads
to actions that produce desired or predicted results.
Positivism and the scientific method
o Positivism (Willis) and empiricism (Blaikie):
Knowledge is produced through the senses based on careful observation.
Regularities and constant conjunctions are identified.
Inductive reasoning is used to generalize empirical stances to general laws.
Reality is unaffected by the research process, value-free inquiry is possible.
The methods used in natural sciences can be used for the social world.
Reality can be known accurately.
o Post-positivism, post-empiricism (Willis), falsificationism (blaikie)
Knowledge is produced through testing propositions, hypotheses are derived
from theories and evaluated against observations.
Deductive reasoning is used to create hypotheses and models.
Reality is unaffected by the research process, value-free inquiry is possible.
Methods used for natural sciences can be used for the social world.
Reality can be known approximately, hypotheses can be rejected or provisionally
confirmed, but not definitively proved to be true.
o Positivism had a major influence on the way social enquiry developed and thus impacted
qualitative research.
Rene Descartes (1637) focused on the importance of objectivity and evidence.
Isaac Newton stated that knowledge can be acquired through observation rather
than be deducted from abstract propositions.
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