Chapter 10: Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening

Ethnography

The study of a culture or cultures that some group of people shares, using participant observation over an extended period.

Netnography

The use of ethnographic methods to study online communities; also termed cyberethnography and virtual ethnography.

Field Notes

Notes that describe what has been observed, heard, or otherwise experienced in a participant observation study. These notes usually are written after the observational session.

Field Research

Research in which natural social processes are studied as they happen and left relatively undisturbed.

Reflectivity

Sensitivity of and adaptation by the researcher to his or her influence in the research setting.

Reactive Effects

The changes in individual or group behavior that result from being observed or otherwise studied.

Grand Tour Question

A broad question at the start of an interview that seeks to engage the respondent in the topic of interest.

Gatekeeper

A person in a field setting who can grant researchers access to the setting.

Participant Observation

A qualitative method for gathering data that involves developing a sustained relationship with people while they go about their normal activities.

Intensive (In-depth) Interviewing

A qualitative method that involves open-ended, relatively unstructured questioning in which the interviewer seeks in-depth information on the interviewee's feelings, experiences, and perceptions.

Focus Groups

A qualitative method that involves unstructured group interviews in which the focus group leader actively encourages discussion among participants on the topics of interest.

Adaptive Research Design

A research design that develops as the research progresses.

Participant Observer

A researcher who gathers data through participating and observing in a setting where he or she develops a sustained relationship with people while they go about their normal activities. The term participant observer is often used to refer to a continuum of possible roles, from complete observation, in which the researcher does not participate along with others in group activities, to complete participation, in which the researcher participates without publicly acknowledging being an observer.

Field Researcher

A researcher who uses qualitative methods to conduct research in the field.

Thick Description

A rich description that conveys a sense of what it is like from the standpoint of the natural actors in that setting.

Complete (or Covet) Participant

A role in field research in which the researcher does not reveal his or her identity as a researcher to those who are observed while participating.

Covert Observer

A role in participant observation in which the researcher does not participate in group activities and is not publicly defined as a researcher.

Complete (or Overt) Observer

A role in participant observation in which the researcher does not participate in group activities and is publicly defined as a researcher.

Theoretical Sampling

A sampling method recommended for field researchers by Glaser and Strauss (1967). A theoretical sample is drawn in a sequential fashion, with settings or individuals selected for study as earlier observations or interviews indicate that these settings or individuals are influential.

Case Study

A setting or group that the analyst treats as an integrated social unit that must be studied holistically and in its particularity.

Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

A technique for drawing a representative sample of everyday activities, thoughts, and experiences. Participants carry a pager and are beeped at random times over several days or weeks; on hearing the beep, participants complete a report designed by the researcher.

Jottings

Brief notes written in the field about highlights of an observation period.

Saturation Point

The point at which subject selection is ended in intensive interviewing, when new interviews seem to yield little additional information.

Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening Learning Objectives

- Identify the circumstances that make qualitative methods most useful. - Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research. - Define the methods of ethnography, netnography, and case study research. - Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role. - Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project. - Explain how field researchers take and analyze notes. - Describe the process of intensive interviewing and compare it to the process of interviewing in survey research. - Discuss the advantages of focus group research and identify particular challenges focus group researchers face. - Identify the major ethical challenges faced by qualitative researchers and discuss one qualitative research project that posed particular ethical concerns. - Explain what qualitative elements can add to surveys and experiments.

Key Informant

An insider who is willing and able to provide a field researcher with superior access and information, including answers to questions that arise in the course of the research.

Process Consent

An interpretation of the ethical standard of voluntary consent that allows participants to change their decision about participating at any point by requiring that the researcher check with participants at each stage of the project about their willingness to continue in the project.