Research Methodology

Quasi experiments:

"natural experiments" entailing manipulation of social setting.

Steps for coding

1) read transcript 2) generate codes 3) review codes 4) generate theorical ideas

Qualitive research process

1) research questions 2) choose methodology 3) collect data 4) interpretation of data 5) conceptual and theorical work 6) prepapre your report/ findings

Research process

1)Analysis: identify and clarify research question 2) Planning: research proposal, research design 3)implementation: Data collection and analysis,and reporting

narrative interview

A kind of qualitative interview in which the researcher is interested in the participant's story or stories about some experience or phenomenon.

Research method

A systematic plan for doing research. It can be associated with different kinds of research designs, the technique for collecting data.

Validity

Accuracy, integrity of conclusions

Strategies of qualitative data analysis

Analytic induction, grounded theory and coding

Cross sectional study

Data are observed, measured, and collected at one point in time.

Descriptive Studies

Description of relatively well known circumstance and measuring of the frequency of occurrence. Studies that collect detailed information about specific situations.

Evaluative Studies

Determination of effectiveness of measures.

Focused interview: Specificity

Determine the impact of an event for interviewees. Encourage retrospective inspection.

Exploratory Studies

Discovery, development of hypotheses. Investigation of a new phenomenon. Tendency to use on qualitative methods.

Basic type of research design

Exploratory, descriptive, explanatory and evaluative

Case study designs:typology Stake (1995)

Intrinsic, instrumental, multiple/collective

Types of coding

Open, Axial, selective

Inductive theory

Proceeds from concrete observations from which general conclusions are inferred through a process of reasoning. researches infer the implications of his findings in the theory.

Difference between qualitative and quantitative

Qualitative is data that can be observed but not measured and Quantitive is information that can be counted or expressed numerically

Theoretical sampling

Selecting sample members based on earlier interview that suggest that particular types of participants will help researchers better understand the research topic

Purposive Sampling

Subjects are deliberately selected based on predefined criteria chosen by the investigators. Select interviewees who are relevant to research questions.

Explanatory Studies

Test the hypotheses, explains associations and causal relationships.

ecological validity

The extent to which a study is realistic or representative of real life. applicable to people's everyday and natural settings.

Reliability

The extent to which a test yields consistent results.

Middle range theories

Theories that address a specific phenomenon and reflect practice. Explain a portion of human experience. E.g Decision making

Disadvantages of Qualitative research

When collect data about what your select group of participants feel or think, or how they behave. You can't necessarily use this data to make assumptions beyond this specific group of participants. It is not a research method that conveniently allows for the collection of statistical data. However this is only a disadvantage if your research question also requires statistical data. Adopting a mixed methods approach is one way of overcoming this problem.

Ontological

a branch of philosophy dealing with the meaning of being or the meaning of life

Expert interview

a discussion with someone knowledgeable about the problem or its possible solutions

A research design is

a plan and structure of investigation so conceived as to obtain answers to research questions.

Respondent validation

a process where a researcher provides the people on whom he conducted a research with an account of his findings. The aim is to seek corroboration

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

Experiment

a research design that rules out alternative explanations of findings deriving from it.

content analysis

a research method in which observers systematically analyze media subject matter

Interviews

a research tool in which the investigator asks the participant questions

Grand theory

a theory designed to describe and explain all aspects of a given phenomenon. Indicate to researchers how they might guide or influence researches.

narrative analysis

a type of qualitative approach that focuses on the story as the object of the inquiry

grounded theory is well suited to

a) capture complexity b) linking with practice c) facilitate theoretical work in substantive areas that haven been not well research d) put life into well established fields

Characteristics of Quantitative

a) it is deductive, testing a theory b) natural science model, in particular positivism c) objetivism: The belief that certain things exist independently of human knowledge or perception of them. d) fixed procedures, narrow and precise e) focus on number measuring

Characteristics of Qualitative:

a) it is inductive, generation of theory b) Interpretativism: aim to construct or obtain in the practice c) constructivism: emphasis on the ways that people create meaning of the world through a series of individual constructs d) focus on words and pictures. e) flexible procedures

Tools of grounded theory

a) theoretical sampling b) coding c)theoretical saturation, d) constant comparison

elements of problem centered interview

a)qualitative method b) biogrphical method c) case analysis and d)group discussion

Focused interview

aim is to provide basis for interpreting statistically findings on the impact of media in mass communication

Open coding

applied in various degrees of detail. text is coded line by line. develop categories of information.

Focused interview:Non direction

are unstructured questions

multiple/collective case

can require extensive resources and time. it has rich theorical framework

intrinsic case

case-focused study

Research questions should be

clear, researchable, connect with established theory and research, have potential to make contribution to knowledge and should be neither too broad or too narrow.

Triangulation

combination of different methods to investigate a social phenomena

Evaluation research:

concerned with the evaluation of occurrences as organizational programmes or interventions

Selective coding

continues the axial coding to a higher level, focus on core concepts or core variables.

4 types of triangulation

data, researcher, theory, methodological

Qualitative and Quantitative research constitute

different approaches to social investigation and carry with them important epistemological and ontological considerations

Focused interview: depth and personal context

ensure emotional responses in the interview go beyond simple assessments. like : pleasant" .

Coding

entails reviewing transcripts and/or field noted that seen to be potential interest of study.

Kinds of Qualitive research methodology

ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, case study research

external validity

extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings

objetivity

free of bias.

measurement validity

how well an empirical indicator and the conceptual definition of the construct that the indicator is supposed to measure "fit" together

Qualitative methods includes

interviews, focus groups, biographical methods, participatory monitoring and content analyses

theory triangulation

looking at data through different theoretical perspectives

Types of validity

measurement, internal, external and ecological

Cognitive mapping

mental representation of the layout of one's environment

researcher triangulation

multiple researchers are used to collect and analyze data.

Qualitative interview types

narrative, problem-centered, expert, and focus groups

Epistemological

philosophical study of how we acquire knowledge

Problem centered interviews has 3 central criteria

problem centering, object orientation and process orientation

Axial coding

process of relating subcategories to a category. interconnecting information

Deductive theory

represents the most common view of the nature of the relationship between theory and research. The researcher on the basis of what he knows on a domain deduces a hypothesis that must be subject to empirical scrutinity.

Key elements of research design

sample selection, sample size, data collection, instrumentation, procedures, justification of method use, ethical requirements

Focused interview: range

securing that all aspects and topics relevant to the research questions are covered

using document as data

selecting, classifying and analyzing documents to conduct research.

grounded theory

social theory that is rooted in observation of specific, concrete details. Theory that si driven from data.

Longitudinal study

strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years

Quantitative methods includes

surveys, experiments, statistical analyses of data

internal validity

the characteristic of an experiment that allows one to draw accurate inferences about the causal relationship between an independent and dependent variable

semi standardize interview

the relations formulated in these questions serve the purpose of making interviewees' implicit knowledge more explicit. The interview guide mentions several topical areas, introduced by an open question and ended by confrotational question.

methodological triangulation

the use of multiple research methods to achieve a more complete and accurate understanding

Options to quantify a qualitive research

thematic analysis, quasi qualifications, limited qualifications

instrumental case

theme-based study

problem centered interviews aim is

to focusing the interviewee's view of the problem around which the interview is centered.

Combining quantitative and qualitative research mixed methods

triangulation, facilitation (one approach aides the other), complementarity (different aspects are addressed with different methods

Alternative criteria for evaluation of research

trustworthiness(credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability) and relevance(importance and contribution)

analytic induction

universal explanations of pehnomena by pursuing the collection of data until no cases inconsistent with hypotheses are found. Reasoning from empirical observations towards the creation of theories

A conceptual framework is

used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to an idea or thought

snowball sampling

useful when there is no sampling frame. Recruitment of participants based on referrals from other participants

data triangulation

using a variety of data sources in one study

Replicability

whether a study can be repeated to produce similar findings or not