Qualitative Methods Part I: Tips, Tricks, & Resources ACE Award Symposium Barret Michalec, PhD Dept. of Sociology University of Delaware

Outline for Today & later

• My background in/with Qual Methods

• Initial Thoughts

• Traditional Qualitative Methods – Qualitative Description – Interviews, Focus Groups, Participant Observations, PAR, Ethnography

• Content Analysis

• Approaching Your Qualitative Research

• Data Gathering – Embodied Knowledge

• Analysis of Qual Data: Coding – Interpretation and Your Argument

• Writing it up

Background in Qual Methods

• Classes (ECU & Emory) Fundamentals

• Dissertation: The role of empathy in pre-clinical medical students – Interviews, observations, content analysis

• Various Projects: UD, TJU, CCHS – Focus Groups – Interviews – Observations – Content Analysis

• Advanced Qualitative Methods

• Ain’t no Makin’ It, Down on Their Luck…..Into the Valley, Boys in

White…Rats, Among the Thugs….

Initial Thoughts

• Reading/writing Intensive – Practice and examples make perfect (or at least decent) – Use your own data, and outside data

• My approach is that qualitative data analysis (and writing) is all about “feel” and “touch”

– THERE IS NO ONE METHOD/APPROACH/FORMULA • It all very much depends

• Some degree of self-teaching

• Heavy focus on critical/original thought

• This is harder than you think – More than likely going to get frustrated – Struggle with writing

• Expectations vs. Reality of Analysis

– REITERATE: THERE’S NOT ONE WAY TO CODE • Or write about your methods and/or findings

• Not all of you will be “good” qualitative researchers

– Fundamental feel and sensitivity to it that some of you will have and some will not – That’s not to say you can’t work on these qualities

• Some of you will choose not to

Initial Thoughts

• Get outside of yourself

• Battle your over-reliance on “traditional” frameworks & approaches

• Push yourself out of your comfort zone

• Acknowledge your anxiety/self-consciousness (“unfocused”) and where it comes from

• “Monkey Mind” – Stay with something, don’t abandon it and think why you wanted to

• Taking a step further (digging deeper)

• Body as a filter/conductor

Initial Thoughts: Quant & (not vs) Qual

• Quantitative methods: seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form – Then uses statistical analysis to describe the social world

that those data represent

• Qualitative methods: attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form – Info gathered often used to document meanings that

actions engender in social participants or describe the mechanisms by which social processes occur

Types of Qual Methods: Qual Description

• Not really a “method”

• Some are “posturing” about phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and narrative study when they’re really just utilizing Qual Description

Types of Qual Methods: Qual Description

• Qual Description: – Straight up description – Comprehensive sum of events

in everyday terms of those events

– Surface-level – “thick description” – Not necessary “bad” or “lazy”

but need to take it much much further • It’s a start • Good exercise/practice

• Do we take the Base-level for granted though?

• Are these social facts? • Is it the Objective in a

Subjective world?

Types of Qual Methods: Interviews

• Interviews: respondent is asked a series of questions related to research project – Interviewer leads all respondents over the same issues but

may not ask same specific questions to each respondent • Structured, Semi-Structured, Unstructured

– Advantages: Can go into depth on issues, respondents may let you know of things that you would not have thought to ask

– Disadvantages: Time consuming, $$, limited sample,

cannot be anonymous, individual accounts of behavior

Types of Qual Methods: Interviews

• Difficulties w/ interviewing

• Boundaries of study “substantive frame” = likely to shift as more is learned – Should be less and less as move forward

• “Substantive Frame” dictates WHO gets interviewed and WHAT they

should be asked – Knowledgeable audience

• Know your study’s audience – therefore know what NEEDs to be included

Types of Qual Methods: Interviews

• Value in using work of others to backup your efforts and reasoning

• “Getting In”

– Med Students

– Nurse Students

– EMTs

Types of Qual Methods: Interviews

• Asking Questions – Should you “Show your cards”? – Early interviews as learning experiences

• Even more important than pretests/pilot studies

• Interviewing Relationships

– sex/race/age/ses it can change – Med students who cried (acknowledgement?) – The art of self-deprecation – Talking about yourself

• Intimacy

– What if it goes poorly – SIT & LISTEN!!!

• The value in verbal and nonverbal • Part of it can NOT be trained

Types of Qual Methods: FGs

• Focus Group(s) – A (series of) small group of people (6-10) led

through an open discussion by a (skilled) moderator • Not too small, not too large

• Accepting environment

• Advantages: large amounts of data at particular time points, open discussion/back & forth

• Disadvantages: group dynamics, time, planning & scheduling, out of context

Types of Qual Methods: PO

• Participant Observation: The Researcher observes individuals or groups of individuals in their natural social setting – PO’s may be very involved in group (becoming one of

the group), or may remain a distant observer • Letting people know they are a researcher

• Advantages: See people in natural setting, don’t have to rely

on individual’s accounts • Disadvantages: People behave different when observed.

Time consuming. Dual observers. Potentially dangerous

Methodology: Observations

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Types of Qual Methods: PO

• Use your surroundings – use what you know – Don’t reinvent the wheel – But “Know Before You Dig”

• Difficult settings

– What are some examples of difficult settings?

• Getting along

– Emo & phys challenges – Info overload – Distance – “Acceptable Incompetence” & “Selective Competence”

• How do you “Get Out”

Types of Qual Research: PAR

• Participatory Action Research:

• “PAR seeks to understand and improve the world by changing it. At its heart is collective, self reflective inquiry that researchers and participants undertake, so they can understand and improve upon the practices in which they participate and the situations in which they find themselves. The reflective process is directly linked to action, influenced by understanding of history, culture, and local context and embedded in social relationships. The process of PAR should be empowering and lead to people having increased control over their lives”

• Differs from positivist paradigm

• “PAR advocates that those being researched should be involved in the process actively”

Baum, Fran, MacDougall, Colin, and Smith, Danielle. 2006. Participatory Action Research. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. 60(10): 854-857

Types of Qual Research: PAR

• Pros: Lived experience, “interpretation”, minimizes (if possible) power of “researcher”, objective data

• Cons: getting in, organizing, willingness of community, research/methodological design, “cooks in kitchen”

Types of Qual Methods: Ethnography

• Ethnography: Can involve multiple methods think extreme PO

– You’re “in it”

– Easier for Social Commentators (disclosure)

– “Pseudo” Ethnography

Ethnography: “Going Native” How Far is Too Far?

• Bias – value free • Too close to subjects • Too much data • Danger (mental and physical health)

Why Qualitative Methods?

• When would be a good time to utilize interviews/PO/FGs?

• Why these over Surveys?

• How are these methods appropriate to “attack” your research question?

• NECESSARY to discuss this in your paper/proposal

• ALWAYS “SHOW YOUR WORK”!!

QUESTIONS?

• Any questions pertaining to your specific projects/proposals?