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WEEK 4 READING 2 - Understanding methodologies - Coggle Diagram
WEEK 4 READING 2 - Understanding methodologies
THE QUALITATIVE APPROACH:
An approach to research highly reliant on qualitative data (words, images, experiences and observations that are not quantified).
It is often tied to a set of assumptions related to relativism, social constructionism and subjectivism.
It is considered a critique of positivism
It recognises the need for alternative ways to produce knowledge
It accepts multiple perspectives and realities
It recognises the power of research over both participants and researchers
It argues the value of depth over quantity and works at delving into social complexities in order to truly explore and understand the interactions, processes, lived experiences and belief systems that are a part of individuals, institutions, cultural groups and even the everyday.
QUALITATIVE DATA:
Represented through words, pictures or icons, that are analysed using thematic exploration
Assumptions - Subjectivism, interpretivism, constructivism.
METHODS:
Small scale
Interviewing
Observation
Document analysis
METHODOLOGY:
Ethnomethodology
Phenomenology
Ethnography
Action research
Inductive
Subjective
Idiographic
Intuitive
It means working in a world that accepts and values:
The search for holistic meaning
Research conducted in natural settings
Emergent methodological design
Smalls numbers
Non-random sampling strategies
Rich qualitative data
Inductive analysis
Idiographic interpretation
GROUNDED THEORY:
Methodology that seeks to generate theory through the analysis of data. It begins with data collection and progresses through to a step-by-step process for analysing data so that theory is generated.
CASE STUDY:
The study of elements of the social through comprehensive description and analysis of a single situation or case.
This can be conducted through surveys, hence why there is debate as to whether it a qualitative or quantitative method.
CREDIBILITY IN QUALITATIVE STUDIES:
Because the ‘rules’ of science were born of the positivist/quantitative tradition, methodologies that sit under the qualitative umbrella are sometimes maligned for not reaching standards of credibility.
Strategies for achieving credibility in Qualitative studies:
Saturation -
Finishing collecting data only when additional data no longer adds richness to understanding or aids in building theories.
Crystallisation -
Building a rich and diverse understanding of one single situation or phenomenon by seeing the world as multi-faceted, and accepting that what we see depends on where we look, where the light is etc.
Prolonged engagement -
Investment of time sufficient to learn the culture, understand context and/or build trust and rapport.
Persistent observation -
Looking for readings of a situation beyond an initial, possibly superficial, level.
Broad representation -
Representation wide enough to ensure that an institution, cultural group or phenomenon can be spoken about confidently.
Peer review -
External checking on the research process in which a colleague is asked to act as a ‘devil’s advocate’ with regard to all aspects of methodology.
TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE USED TO OBTAIN CONFIRMATION OR VERIFICATION:
Triangulation -
Using more than one source of data to confirm the authenticity of each source
Member checking -
Checking that interpretation of events, situations and phenomena gels with the interpretations of ‘insiders’.
Full explication of method -
Providing readers with sufficient methodological detail so that studies are audit-able and/or reproducible
THE QUANTITATIVE APPROACH:
An approach to research highly reliant on quantified data
.
It is often tied to a set of assumptions related to realism, empiricism and positivism.
It is based on a belief that the study of society is no different than the scientific study of any other element of our world - from particles to animals.
There is a strong belief in the scientific method, the need for objectivity and the value of quantification.
There is an underlying belief in the power of numbers and their ability to represent the world with both vigour and accuracy.
QUANTITATIVE DATA:
Represented through numbers and analysed using statistics.
Assumptions - positivism, empiricism
METHODS:
Large scale
Surveys
Randomised controlled trial
METHODOLOGY:
Scientific method
Hypothesis driven
deductive
Reliable
Valid
Reproducible
Objective
Generalised
In the social sciences, what underpins the quantitative tradition are scientific or hypothetico-deductive methods - inc experimental and quasi-experimental design. Such approaches attempt to follow the same rules and laws as are applied to the study of non-human objects.
Quantitative social scientists also call on existing data and survey techniques in their quest to study and capture the reality of human populations.
SCIENTIFIC/HYPOTHETICO-DEDUCTIVE METHODS: Quantitative
The scientific standard for conduct of research goes something like this
Engage with and adopt, adapt or generate a theory.
Drawing from the theory and using processes of deductive reasoning, generate specific propositions or hypotheses.
Gather quantitative data, often through experimental design, or in the case of social sciences, large-scale survey research.
Analyse the data using statistical processes.
Draw conclusions that may or may not support your hypothesis.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN METHOD:
Experiment definition -
A rigorous and controlled search for cause and effect. Researchers vary an independent variable (something they believe is a key determinant in their study) in order to see if it has an impact on their dependent variable (the main object of their inquiry). In other words, you manipulate X to see if it has an effect on Y .
In the social sciences, the likely object of your inquiry will be people in all their complexities. Your research is likely to take place in less-controlled settings.
Determining the TYPE of experiment you need to conduct:
You will need to decide on...
Dependent and independent variables
Assessment of change
Research setting
Number of participants
Number of groups
Assessment strategy
Number of variables
Ethics
Control of the environment
RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL: Most popular
Independent variables are manipulated by the researcher
Experiments are conducted under controlled circumstances
Control groups are used
There is random assignment to both control and target group.
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN:
You have a control group but no random assignment
SINGLE-GROUP DESIGN:
You do not have access to any control group
STRENGTHS OF EXPERIMENTS:
They allow you to...
Assess cause and effect
Compare groups
Explore real actions and reactions
Avoid reliance on respondents' memory or reaction to hypothetical situations
Generate both standardised quantifiable data and in-depth qualitative data.
CHALLENGES OF EXPERIMENTS:
Often in social contexts it's hard to control for all influences that sit outside the experimental design.
You need to consider
If there is equity in your design (will it be advantageous to anyone?)
If your design will allow you to get informed consent from participants
If participants will stay involved for the duration of the experiment.
If you can control for your own biases
If your design can control for extraneous, confounding or intervening variables.
EXPLORING A POPULATION:
A central objective in social science research is to understand the make-up, or demographics, of a particular population and build and understanding of that population's knowledge, attitudes and practices on a particular issue or topic.
CONDUCTING STUDIES OF POPULATIONS: Quantitative
In the quantitative tradition, there are actually two broad methodological strategies that can help you understand a population...
1. Capitalising on existing data:
Data is everywhere - in organisations, individuals, students, research teams, professors, government and non-government agencies.
The data may not be in the form that directly answers your question, but therein lies the challenge.
2. Gathering primary data:
Generating data from a population for the express purposes of your study (new data)
For the most part this involves survey processed
See page 140 for what gathering primary data involves.
STRENGTHS OF STUDYING POPULATIONS:
Survey data/new data:
Generally derived from a large number of respondents
Represents an even larger population
Is confidential and anonymous
can generate standardised, quantifiable, empirical data
Enables you to show statistical significance
Allows you to mathematically establish reliability, validity and generalisability.
LIMITATIONS OF STUDYING POPULATIONS:
Survey data/new data:
It can be difficult to get an adequate response rate
The eventuating sample can be skewed and not representative
You are limited to what you have thought to ask
You do not have the opportunity to offer additional question clarification
It can be hard to assess respondent candour and honesty
You cannot dig for more depth
ETHNOGRAPHY: Qualitative
The study of cultural groups in a bid to understand, describe and interpret a way of life from the point of view of its participants.
Literally means 'culture writing'
Explores a way of life from the point of view of its participants and tries to avoid assessing a culture using pre-existing frames of reference or from a particular worldview.
The goal is to 'see' things the way group members do, and grasp the meanings they use to understand and make sense of the world.
Ethnographers attempt to suspend judgement and understand the symbolic world in which people live in order to interpret meaning from within a culture.
ROLE OF THE ETHNOGRAPHER:
They tend to immerse themselves within a culture for a significant period of time
They participate and then reflect on their lived conversations and observations.
They attempt to delve into cultural complexities in order to understand the world from the perspective of participants.
They accept multiple realities and require cultural empathy.
CONDUCTING AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY:
Because ethnographic studies attempt to understand the reality of the researched, they generally rely on multiple data collection strategies, involve the exploration of cultural groups within natural settings, and often require ‘immersion’ through prolonged engagement and persistent observation.
The cultural group needs to meet the prerequisite of s shared culture.
The ethnographic researcher must have a very high level of access within the group. They must believe it will be possible to build rapport and trust.
Credible ethnographic studies require that researchers are able to get below the surface, break through the pleasantries, and observe cultural actors and actions that are not performed solely for the benefit of the researcher.
DATA COLLECTION/ANALYSIS METHOD:
The goal of the ethnographer is thick description and rich and reflexive interpretation, and few ethnographers would want to limit themselves to only one method of data collection.
Data collection is therefore multi-method and often continues until saturation.
Data collection methods:
Observation
Interviews
Document analysis
Surveys
STRENGTHS:
They offer rich and in-depth exploration of the values, norms, symbols, beliefs and practices of cultural groups.
They can develop insights that can lead to the development of new theory.
CHALLENGES:
Gaining access and building trust
Emotional costs
The potential for researchers to have an effect on the researched
The demands placed on those being studied
Ethnographers need to guard against 'homogenisation' that can have minimal recognition to divergence within a particular group
It is extremely difficult to get ethics approval to immerse yourself in a culture.
PHENOMENOLOGY: Qualitative
Study of phenomena as they present themselves in individuals’ direct awareness and experience. Perception, rather than socio-historic context or even the supposed ‘reality’ of an object, is the focus of investigation.
If you want to be truly effective in getting people to move from A to B you need to start at A, and you can only do that if you understand and appreciate A. Not just intellectually, but emotionally.
There is no need to worry about causes, truth value, reality or appearances. In a socially constructed, intersubjective world, our direct awareness is the only thing we can really know, since all knowing depends on individual perceptions
ELEMENTS IN PHENOLOGICAL STUDY:
Highly dependent on individuals
Highly dependent on constructs (displacement, victory, power etc)
Phenomena sits at the intersection of people and objects, and centre on an individual's lived experience of these objects.
CONDUCTING A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY:
The product of this study is phenomenological descriptions.
The process involves gathering descriptions, making sense of those descriptions and writing up those descriptions (which are not discrete activities)
See page 150 for how to produce descriptions
STRENGTHS:
It offers a way of exploring 'phenomena', which is highly important in understanding our social world, yet is often ignored.
You're able to understand and described lived experience. This can be useful for change initiatives or problem resolution strategies.
A lot of our actions are driven by our heart not our head, so it's good to ask questions about and understand how people feel.
CHALLENGES:
The literature on phenomenology tends to be thick and philosophical, and does not offer a lot of clear guidance on actual ‘methods’.
You probably won’t get much advice from research texts either. Few texts cover the topic at all, and those that do, don’t do it very well.
Unless you have a supervisor or mentor experienced in phenomenology, ‘doing’ a phenomenological study will require you to get into the literature.
ETHNOMETHODOLOGY:
The study of the methods that individuals use to accomplish their daily actions and make sense of their social world. Ethnomethodological focus is on uncovering the ‘rules’ that direct ordinary life. It is not interested in whether what is said or done is right or wrong, true or false. In fact, ethnomethodology ignores the question of ‘what’ altogether and concentrates on ‘how’ interactions are performed.
It is the study of everyday interactions
Argues that individuals engage in interpretive work every time they interact with the world. In order to do this in a way that makes sense, they engage in 'documentary method'.
DOCUMENTARY METHOD:
Involves 'indexicality' and then making sense of that interaction in terms of that pattern. Through the use of 'reflexivity' you then use that response to generate your next response, and so on until the interaction ends.
Indexicality -
Selecting cues from a social interaction that conforms to a recognisable pattern. It is defined as the contextual nature of behaviour and talk, in particular the cues that conform to a recognisable pattern that we use to make meaning.
CONDUCTING AN ETHNOMETHODOLOGICAL STUDY:
The goal is to draw out how individuals go about the interpretive work necessary to make sense and make meaning in everyday interactions.
Approaches for drawing out meaning includes: (see pages 153-154 for details on each)
'Breaching Experiments'
Exploring the building of shared interpretation
Exploring interpretive miscues
STRENGTHS:
Recognises the interpretive work of individuals
Recognises that individuals are not passive in making and establishing social order.
Recognises that the process of interacting is a worthy topic of investigation
It can be used to explore how members of a particular cultural group make meaning and engage in interpretive work. This in turn can offer us an understanding of the nature of communication and social structure within in a culture.
Offers a way of investigating how particular types of interactions are performed.
CHALLENGES:
Difficulty of getting experienced support
Having to explain and justify your choice of methodology to those who may not know much about it
Some argue that because it does not explore the 'meaning' of utterances or actions, it does not help us understand fundamental social issues or important constructs such as race, class, gender.
Some argue that the 'rules' that it draws out are obvious and not very interesting
UNDERSTANDING FEMINIST APPROACHES:
There is no clear cut feminist methodology
Feminist researchers argue that what we accept as general knowledge is actually 'male' knowledge - that is, knowledge underscored by patriarchal values and beliefs that shape what research is and how it should be done.
Research protocols derived from one particular reality (male) are accepted as the standard, proper and credible way to produce knowledge.
Female researchers agree that hidden male bias demands a critical stance towards exisiting methodological approaches.
There is a need to unmask male bias and work towards research that is free from patriarchal influences and is informed by feminist theory and principles throughout all stages of the research process.
Some even argue that women are better suited to capture diverse social reality than their male counterparts who are not in a position to see patriarchal legacies
The feminist perspective argues that research:
Is always politically motivated
Should be committed to the empowerment of women
Should work towards changing social inequality
Needs to represent human diversity, including marginalised voices
Needs to recognise important differences between women and men, as well as among themselves (according to race, class, ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation etc)
Needs to acknowledge the power and position of the researcher
Should lessen the distinction between researcher and researched
Should accept and search for multiple, subjective and partial truths.