Qualitative Research

ApproachesResearch Methods Module

Assoc Prof. Chiwoza R Bandawe

MALAWI DHS 2010

Maternal Mortality 675/100,000

Under 5 Mortality 112/000

Infant Mortality 66/000

Age of first sexual intercourse Female: 17.3, Male 18.6

Literacy rate: Male 81%, Female 67.6%

Malnutrition stunted 47%

“Through qualitative research we can explore a wide array of dimensions of the social world, including the texture and weave of everyday life, the understandings, experiences and imaginings of our research participants, the ways that social processes, institutions, discourses or relationships work, and the significance of the meanings that they generate” Jennifer Mason

Qualitative research approaches:

“Celebrate richness, depth, nuance, context, multi-dimensionality and complexity” of the social world

Can help us see “how things work in particular contexts”

Have grown out of a wide range of disciplinary and intellectual traditions

Qualitative research theories

Assumes a psychological reality and that methods are a way of getting to this reality

Wide range of theories. It is a theory method

Discourse analysis: Language a reflection of inner reality. Language constructs identity. Language centred, what it does, how it operates

Quantitative Research methods

Repeatability

Facts. How many, how long?, how much?

Predetermined categories of analysis

Structured, based on analysis

Compare groups and focus on variables

Weakness: Not all social problems addressed

What are qualitative research approaches?

Based on interpretation: Asks why

Holistic understanding of behaviour

Based on language

Captures the perspective of the population in their world view experience

Patterns of themes said, not said

Context sensitive

Challenges of qualitative research

Systematically and rigorously conducted

Strategically conducted, flexible, contextual

Active reflexivity (researcher is a player)

Produce explanations or arguments.

Be generalisable and show wider resonance

Qualitative Tenets

• There are “multiple realities” not just one objective reality.

• Truth is in informant’s perspective, not the assessors.

• Assessment “emerges” from data, rather than being determined ahead of time.

Which is better Qualitative or Quantitative research?

Complimentary:

Qualitative can help develop quantitative instrument

Quantitative findings embellish qualitative findings

Qualitative data explains quantitative findings

Qualitative vs. Quantitative

The different enquiry approaches demand different knowledge (Stevenson & Roger, 1995).

Synergetic effect: “The outcome of the two used together is greater than the effects of either used separately” Steckler et al. (1992) .

Qualitative Approaches

Ethnography

Grounded theory

Phenomenology

Case studies

Ethnography

Concerned with experience as it is lived, felt or undergone

Participates in people’s daily lives

Purpose is to uncover social, cultural, or normative patterns

Participants are the experts

Is essentially a cultural description

Ethnography

Behavior occurs in a context and ethnography takes that context into account

Assessors must become immersed in a particular situation in order to describe and interpret people’s actions

Involves observation, interviews, construction of working hypothesis and action

Ethnography uncovers…

Understandings (e.g., beliefs, perceptions, knowledge) which participants share about their situation

Routine methods (e.g., social rules, expectations, patterns, roles) by which their situation is structured

The legitimizations by which participants justify the normality and unquestioned character of their situation

Motives and interests (e.g., purposes, goals, plans) through which participants interpret their situation

Ethnography strengths & weaknesses

Strengths

Uses multiple methods of collecting dataCan provide rich data

Weaknesses

Assessor is assessment tool, subject to subjectivenessTime consuming for data collectionTime consuming for analysisMay be difficult to gain access to group

Case studies

Single group e.g students

Single village

Single family

Individual e.g. Eugene de Kock

Qualitative Methodologies

Interviews

Focus Group Discussions

Participant Observation

Direct Observation

Diary Methods

Role Play and Simulation

Interviewing

Informal interviewing

Unstructured interviewing

Semi-structured interviews

Fully structured/formal

Probing: Silent, Echo, Uh-hum, Probing by leading.

Focus Group Discussions

Quick effective, homogenous group

Focussed on specific topic

6-12 persons, 45-90 minutes

Set agreed rules

Observe group dynamics

Record and transcribe

Participant observation

Ethnographic approach

Structured to unstructured continuum

Unobtrusive note taking

Context, participants, observer, actions, interpretation, alternative interpretation, feelings

Why observe, who observe, what used?