FAD4630 Exam 2 WEEK 8 Chapter 8 G D Qualitative Methods Basics of Qualitative Methods Research that focuses on non numerical analysis and interpretation o Focuses on the process by which families create sustain and discuss their own family realities Relatively unstructured and naturalistic Used as a theory verification Emphasis on holistic understanding which makes it prime for studying families Constructionist or phenomenological approach suited to understanding the meanings interpretations and subjective experiences of families Grounded theory theory can only emerge from the data so researches use this model to gain data to generate theories o Don t go into the research with a specific theory hypothesis in mind o Most advantageous when there isn t a well developed theory about the phenomenon of interest What constitutes as good qualitative research is controversial because there are many interpretations Not really a right way to conduct research process and findings well Eight Recurring Elements of Qualitative Research o Best way to know if you re doing it right is if you can communicate the 1 Conducted through intense and prolonged contact with the subject 2 Goal of researcher is to gain a holistic overview of the subject 3 Attempts to understand the context from the standpoint of the participants 4 Field notes and observations should be maintained in their original forms throughout the study 5 Goal of research is to understand the ways that people come to understand account for take action and manage their day to day activities 6 Many interpretations of notes are possible but some are more compelling than others 7 Little standardization of the instruments used 8 Most analysis is done with words Three Research Types Case Studies o An intensive in depth study of a single or several cases with the goal of developing a full understanding of the case o Typically a study one family or a group of families who share a common trait in family research Can also be individuals or dyads o Focus is on an example of something that is studied in depth and in its natural context a particular type of subject s collection Ethnographies o Researcher is likely to use multiple sources of data and methods of data o Need to have set boundaries purposes research questions and methods of data collection to allow sound evaluation o Attempt to understand a culture or way of life from the view point of the participant by participating in their lives for an extended period of time o Best text is by Hammersley and Atkinson called Ethnography Principles in Practice o Primary goal is description of cultures by making the culture an explicit object of study to prevent biases o Usefully in studying marginalized groups o Studied in subject s natural setting o Exact focus on study is not evident before it begins o Data will be structured and instruments developed as the research develops o Long and repetitive process Focus Groups o Small groups of 7 10 people who are brought together to discuss a specific o Led by a moderator who directs the discussion but it is relatively o Used in social research for development of instrumentation and to gain o Sometimes used in conjunction with questionnaires o Collects data faster at a lower lost get more direct interaction and is user o Has low generalizability less accurate difficult to create open participation topic unstructured qualitative data friendly more biased Observation Used during early stages of research as an exploratory tool Five Criteria that make an observation scientific o Must serve a specific research purpose Designed for a specific goal not just that you went and observed something for no reason o Must be planned systematically Have to know whom you re observing at what time etc o Must be recorded systematically Need to have an idea of what s relevant to the research and what isn t so you re not just recording everything o Related to general propositions rather than specific examples Have to be observing a topic with scientific relevance and generalizability o Subjected to checks on reliability and validity Need to have consistency so that someone else could observe it Sociology Methods Interviewing Interview series of questions asked directly by a researcher to the respondent o Can also be conducted as a discussion Various types of interviews but most are either structured or unstructured o Structured tightly organized with the interviewer reading out questions o Unstructured basic areas for discussion and asks questions that seem relevant o Semi structured falls in the middle of the two o Group researcher interviews a group to explore their dynamics together Issues with interviews o Lying people have no reason to tell the truth especially on sensitive topics so you might not get totally accurate information o Reliability interviews need to be done on just one topic to allow for generalizability o Interviewer bias the interviewer can affect the response based on their manner of speech ethnicity gender or personality o Transcribing writing up information from the interview takes a long time o Leading questions asking questions while implying what the correct answer would be o Loaded words phrases like abortion or things like of that nature that could have a heavy emotional response for certain people Need to operationalize concepts that may be vague o Ex Good health can mean different things to different people so you need to establish what exactly good health means for this interview Have to use indicators to make concepts measurable o Responses need to be coded so that they can produce data than can be Interviews are seen as having high validity and reliability o Unstructured interviews have high validity and structured interviews have counted high reliability Smit Journal Studying family rituals in south Africa in three categories family celebrations family traditions and daily rituals Food religion and the family story played a large role in all of these rituals types Using Observation to Obtain Data Lecture Observation watching a subject to meet a stated research purpose Do observations to obtain knowledge about individuals or groups in terms of behaviors and interactions Advantages of Observations o Naturalistic gives a good idea of real happening and settings o Best for certain topics time usage processes seeing patterns o Can compare observations over time to determine progress o Flexible Disadvantages o Can be time consuming o Can t tell if