Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
The World of Qualitative Research Qualitative Research designs Scientific Adequacy Of Qualiative Research Advantages & Limitations of qualitative Approaches
Qualitative research is complementary to quantitative research. Both processes produce different kinds of knowledge that are valued by the profession and both are needed to promote excellence in practice
Rationale for delaying the L.R. is to avoid leading the participants in the direction of what has already been discovered.
Purpose of L.R. is to show how current findings fit into what is already known
Purpose is to make known to the researcher her/his beliefs about the topic so that the researcher may approach the topic honestly
Selection of Participants
Participant or informant refers to the individual who informs the research study (vs subjects or respondents) They are active participants & equal partners Must have 1st hand experience with research phenomenon (vs random selection) They want to help others understand their lives & the social contexts in which they live & create meaning
Purposive Sampling
Participants must have first hand experience with the research experience and be able to talk about it Researcher establishes clear criteria & rationale for sample selection Goal is not generalization of findings but rich descriptions of phenomenon by those who have experienced it
Saturation
A situation in data collection in which participants descriptions become repetitive & confirm previously collected data
An indication that data collection is complete Similar to adequate sample size in quantitative research
Data Analysis
Researcher immerses self in data to bring order & meaning to vast narrative Begins with 1st data collection episode Reading, rereading, intuiting, analyzing, synthesizing & reporting on data Cyclical & recursive process that requires an extensive amount of time
Scientific Adequacy
RIGOR in qualitative research is less about the adherence to rules and more about fidelity to the spirit and standards of qualitative work (Sandelowski, 1993)
4 Criteria of Trustworthiness
Credibility Transferability Dependability Confirmability
Credibility
Refers to the accuracy of the description Is the description plausible & recognized by those who experienced it. Enhanced by prolonged time in the field Repeatedly observing & interacting with participants Triangulation of data sources, methods, data type, investigators, & theories Member checks-participants involved with data analysis
Dependability
Refers to the stability & trackability of the changes in data over time & conditions Reflects the reality that peoples situations change & reality differs for people Want to determine the extent to which another researcher with similar training & rapport with participants would make the same observations This is determined by an audit trail
Transferability
Concerned with generalizability or fittingness of findings to other settings, populations, & contexts
Report must provide sufficient detail so that readers can assess this Lack of transferability is often viewed as a weakness of qualitative methods
Confirmability
Basic issue here is one of neutrality Do conclusions depend upon the subjects & conditions of inquiry rather than on the researcher Would 2 independent researchers agree about the meanings emerging from the data An audit trail is used researcher must explicate how personal biases may have come into play and consider alternative explanations
EXERCISE
Use the questions in Box 6.8 to assess the qualitative rigor of an assigned research study
Phenomenology
Describes the meaning of the lived experience from the perspective of the participant Seeks to achieve a deep understanding of the phenomenon by rigorous, systematic examination of it
Its purpose is to describe the essences of lived experiences
ESSENCES
ELEMENTS RELATED TO THE TRUE MEANING OF SOMETHING THAT GIVES COMMON UNDERSTANDING TO THE PHENOMENON UNDER STUDY
Philosophical Tenets
Whatever is known must appear in consciousness Consciousness provides access to the world
All phenomenologists believe in multiple realities constructed by individuals within the social context of their lives
Role of Researcher
Is the instrument for data collection Establishes good rapport with participants Explicates beliefs through bracketing
The meaning of the lived experience is interpreted from the participants stories
Sample
Small purposive sample
Participants are able & willing to talk about their experience and describe their feelings
Data Collection
In-depth interviews Written descriptions of experiences in diaries & journals Observations Multiple interviews with same participants to reflect the meaning of the lived experience from the participants perspective
Data Analysis
Immersion with the data Read, re-read transcripts, may return to participants for clarification or description Comparative analysis to identify themes in data Look for similarities & differences in data to identify themes Reduce data into smaller & smaller number of categories to arrive at a consistent description of the meaning of the lived experience Share description with participants for verification
Review of Literature
Conducted after data collection & analysis are complete Places findings within the context of what is known about the phenomenon
Findings
reports the essence of the experience reader should get an understanding of what it is like to experience the phenomenon
Grounded Theory
Goal is to develop a theory about the processes (social behaviour or scene) under investigation in a natural setting Useful in areas where little is known or when a new perspective is needed Tries to identify the core process and subsidiary processes in the situation
G.T. - Philosophy
Symbolic interactionism humans react to things on the basis of meanings that events have for them in everyday life meanings are derived from social situations meanings are shaped by dealings with others
G.T. - Sample
Participants who are experiencing the social process under study Size determined by theoretical sampling (collects, codes & analyzes data & then decides what additional data are needed)
Saturation- inability of new data to add new codes
Everything to the grounded theorist is data Data are obtained through a combination of: participant observation, interviews with informants, reading the literature on the study questions, and self-reflection
Data Analysis
Data collection, coding & analysis occur simultaneously Constant comparative method Early data are coded with words that describe the action in the setting Codes get revised & data recoded Categories develop from the clustering of codes Categories are then linked to develop a tentative theory or conceptual framework
G.T.-Literature
Review of the literature in the substantive area of the study is reserved until after the theory begins to emerge from the study data
Researcher integrates the literature with the emerging theory during saturation, sorting memos, & report writing
ETHNOGRAPHY
Aims to understand human behavior in the cultural context in which it is embedded
Aims to understand the way in which people live from the emic (insiders) perspective vs the etic (researchers or outsiders) perspective
Ethnography
The work of describing a culture (Spradley, 1980)
Culture includes a way of life (all the ways a group of people solve problems, a pattern of living that guides thoughts, actions, sentiments as reflected in language, dress, food, traditions, customs, etc. Purpose is to make explicit what is implicit within a cultural group
Ethnonursing
the study & analysis of the indigenous peoples point of view, beliefs, & practices about nursing care phenomena & processes of designated cultures
Provides a means to study cultural variations in health& illness, & nurses & their clients as subcultures of society
Ethnonursing
Mini ethnography - a small scale ethonography focusing on a narrow area of inquiry, limited time period, published as an article
Maxi ethnography - comprehensive study of a designated culture. Have a broad focus of inquiry, extend over a long period of time (years), & are published in book form
Ethnography- Philosophy
Roots in cultural anthropology (study of the origin of people, their past, & strategies for surviving through time) Involves learning from people rather than studying them. The researcher must become a student & the participants of the culture the teachers Researcher adopts an attitude of conscious ignorance about the culture
Postfield Work
Role of Researcher
Is the primary data collection tool Enters the world for an extended period of time, asking questions, observing, participating, & collecting whatever data are available Observe behavior but go beyond it to inquire about the meaning of it researchers role is to make inferences from their observations & then to test these inferences over time with their population until they are confident they have an adequate description of the culture Must set aside biases & explicate beliefs
Sample
A cultural group that has experience with phenomenon of interest
Informant vs subject
Gatekeeper
Key Informants
Data Collection
Participant observation Formal & informal interviews Focus groups Collection of artifacts & documents Field notes Other sources (demographic data, maps, genealogies, life histories)
Proceeds through 4 levels: domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, & theme analysis Goal is to discover cultural patterns in the data people are using to make sense out of their experiences
Ethnographic Findings
A two-step process 1. A cultural inventory 2. A final descriptive report that may be a book or monograph