Chapter 9- The Basics of Qualitative Research
Example of an unstructured interview
"Tell me about how family meals have changed, if at all, since your children went away to college."
Example of a semistructured interview
"What are some tactics you use to control your blood sugar?"
Example of a structured interview
"What was the first thing you ate when you woke up yesterday?" followed by a list of questions about that food such as how big it was, how much of it he or she ate, what he or she had with it (eg. condiments), and so forth.
group think
(the phenomenon in which a group influences an individual's beliefs or discourages someone from speaking up against the group) might sway individuals' opinions, an individual interview is a better option.
If a researcher conducts two focus groups of 8 participants and three focus groups of 10 participants, the size is
5, not 46
In a qualitative study, the number of participants may be determined by: A. saturation B. maximum variation C. purposive sampling D. snowball sampling
A. saturation
A qualitative study includes an Introduction (with literature review), Methods, Results, and Discussion (with conclusions). A. true B. false
A. true
Qualitative researchers may receive training on how to hold interviews and focus groups if used in studies they conduct. A. true B. false
A. true
Qualitative studies often use inclusion and exclusion criteria. A. true B. false
A. true
Researchers are a key instrument in a qualitative study. A. true B. false
A. true
A qualitative study almost always has a hypothesis. A. true B. false
B. false
A qualitative study is deductive in nature. A. true B. false
B. false
To maintain consistency in a series of focus groups, the researchers will use a: A. GPS B. guide C. tool D. coding
B. guide
A study that combines multiple qualitative data collection methods is a: A. mixed methods study B. multi-method study C. theoretical study D. thematic study
B. multi-methods study
Which of the following is not a method used in a qualitative study? A. focus groups B. interviews C. observations D. intervention
D. intervention
For interviews and focus groups, one established training involves a five-phase process
Ethics training A review of basic qualitative research methods and data collection procedures Mock interview with previously recorded interview Mock interview within the research team Mock interviews within the participant or closely related to population
Examples of seminal work
Framingham study Nurses study
Training for an observer could include:
Learning to pay attention Learning to write descriptively disciplined recording of field notes separating detail from trivial information
Typical subheading found in qualitative research articles include the following:
Sampling and subjects Data Collection Tools Data collection Data analysis
Triangulation
Using this method, a researcher would make use of multiple (and oftentimes different) types of data sources (i.e observational field notes and interviews) or methods (i.e. written policy and focus groups) to investigate and provide additional evidence for understanding the problem being studied.
Initial stages of coding
When researchers read through all the data in the early analysis process and put labels on parts.
Code
a label researchers use to describe a segment of data. Similar to a hashtag #nooutsidefoodordrink
Observations require
a lot of training
Trustworthiness is
a set of criteria for judging the quality, or goodness, of a qualitative study
Primary documents
all the documents that are the main focus of the study
Unstructured interviews
allow for participants to guide the conversation completely.
Semistructured interviews
allow for structure but are not so rigid that they limit the participant from sharing tangential, and oftentimes relevant, information; they are the most common type of interview in nutrition research.
structured interviews
are more rigid, almost resembling a survey rather than an interview.
Indvidual interviews
are similar to focus groups, but the questions are directed to an individual rather than to a group of people.
consensus coding
coders first independently apply a set of codes to the same data. Then the coder compare their coded data sets and meet and discuss.
Theming typically occurs in tandem with
coding and is facilitated through memoing.
Mixed methods study
combines both quantitative and qualitative methods
Multimethod qualitative study
combines multiple qualitative data collection methods
Focus groups are
conducted with a group of individuals who may or may not know each other but who have common characteristics.
Secondary documents
documents written about those primary documents.
seminal work
groundbreaking. Changes our understanding on a particular subject.
Sampling is purposive meaning that
inclusion and exclusion criteria are used to select participants
a guide is used for
individual interviews or focus groups
Document analysis
involves systematically collecting, authenticating, and analyzing documents such as government press releases pictures or other written works.
Research is an instrument
it plays an important role in "calibrating" the researcher (the instrument) to collect strong qualitative research data.
convenience sample
means participants were recruited in a way that saved time, money, and effort
An observation tool
might include the physical setting the participants present, activities and interactions, conversations, subtle factors, and the researcher's own behavior within the environment.
Observations are commonly used in
multimethod qualitative studies or in a mixed method study (qualitative and quantitative)
Qualitative research has
no hypothesis, no statistics and very few numbers.
Exclusion criteria prevents
nonconformists or outliers from affecting your data
Rather than interacting with an individual or group, __________________ require the researcher to observe a situation as a bystander.
observations
a tool is used for
observations or document analysis
a theme is a
pattern that is seen throughout the data
Coding
process used to segment or chunk qualitative data
Documents might include
public records (nutrition legislation) personal documents (personal medical records) popular culture documents (newspaper articles about nutrition trends in society) visual documents (social media photographs of meals)
inter-rater reliability
quantitate approach to demonstrating how similarly two or more coders applied a set of codes to the same data set.
Theoretical saturation
refers to when a researcher obtains saturation in theory development , and it is not a term for "presumed saturation."
Saturation is reached when
researchers conclude they are not learning anything new from additional data collected.
Pilot test
researchers typically conduct a series of interviews, focus groups, observations, or document analyses that are not intended to be included in the final data set.
Inclusion criteria
rules followed for including someone or something in a study.
Qualitative researchers may determine their sample size in different ways, but the most common method is
saturation.
qualitative research can
stand on its own
Note taker
takes notes so the moderator can focus on the group
Exclusion criteria
the rules made about keeping someone or something out of a study, even though all of the inclusion criteria were met.
Research can be used at the end of a project
to bring deeper meaning and understanding to the results of quantitative research
Researchers can use qualitative research in the middle of a project
to explain the process of quantitative research (particularly interventions)
Researchers can us qualitative research at the beginning of a project
to generate hypotheses for quantitative research or to inform the development of nutrition interventions.
Observations allow the researchers
to observe participants' behaviors and interactions in their natural environment.
snowball sampling
to recruit participants, researchers ask original participants, or other key informants, to help identify people who might qualify for the study.
With focus groups, interviews, and observations inclusion criteria
typically are based on demographic variables (i.e. age, gender, socioeconomic status, job, ethnicity, race) or a common experience (i.e. breastfeeding, disease state, food insecurity)