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)