Qualitative Research Methods Introduction

1. Qualitative Research Methods  Introduction 30 September & 7 October 2011 Dr Helene Snee Sociology Email: helene.snee@manchester.ac.uk

2. Aims of QRM Understanding the philosophies underpinning qualitative research (Introductory sessions) Hands-on experience of three qualitative methods Understanding of ethical issues related to qualitative research Understanding the qualitative research process

3. Structure of course Two compulsory introductory sessions (Helene Snee) 3 course units (5 credits each, 15 credits in total) (various tutors) A compulsory final session (Helene Snee)

4. Course units Doing interviews Participatory learning and action Interpreting texts Working with memory The use of Film in Ethnographic Research Archival research Practicing participant observation Focus groups for social research Elite interviews Narrative analysis Qualitative comparative analysis and case study methods Systematic Mixed Methods Research (SMMR)

5. Course units IMPORTANT UPDATE: Working with Memory (SOAN70231) Friday 4 November, 9-1.30pm HBS Hanson Room (unchanged) Friday 25 November, 9-1.30pm HBS Hanson Room (change of date)

6. What you can expect Students take 3 course units of their choice (15 credits in total over both semesters); usually 2 sessions per unit Workshop-based � this means work! But the amount of work varies for each unit Participation in workshops is a requirement for getting credits

7. Registering Enrol on your course units using the on-line registration system a.s.a.p. �Auditing� a course unit is not possible No changes can be made after Friday 7 October 2011 For some course units you will also have to sign up for a workshop group Beware of clashes! Note that most of the course units have caps on numbers � you may not be able to enrol on your first choice of course unit! � Doing interviews 60 max

8. The Postgraduate Office Room 2.003 Arthur Lewis Building Open 10am-4pm Mon-Fri Postgraduate administrators based here (see page 4 of the QRM handbook)

9. Ethics If you collect data from �human subjects� in the context of QRM you must: use the confidentiality form provided by us NOT publish the results unless your project has undergone the formal process of ethics approval for your Faculty The confidentiality form is available on-line: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/intranet/pg/forms/

10. Assessment Assignments Submit to the Postgraduate Office Submit one copy plus an assessed essay cover sheet (available from your Discipline Area) Your name must not appear on the assignment The deadlines for assignments are listed in the Handbook Extensions � unforeseeable events; extension applications must be made on the �application for extension to submission date� form, available at: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/intranet/pg/ An average of the three unit marks is used to calculate the overall result

11. On-line materials Handbook: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/intranet/pg/handbooks/ Confidentiality form Blackboard The on-line materials available for each module will vary according to Discipline Area

12. Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences

13. Lecture content Central concepts What is qualitative research? The quality of qualitative research Ethics The research process

14. Central concepts

15. Central concepts Method Methodology Ontology Epistemology Inductive/deductive Grounded Theory Objective/subjective �Truth�

16. What is qualitative research? How would you answer this question?

17. Qualitative research Umbrella term for a variety of research traditions and methods Researcher as bricoleur or quilt maker No necessarily oppositional to quantitative methods Importance of fit between methods and questions

18. Some central characteristics Words Seeing through the eyes of the people being studied (interpretivist epistemological position) Constructionist ontology Questioning the taken-for-granted Thick description and emphasis on context Focus on process Flexible approach Inductive reasoning Appreciation for subjectivity Tolerance of complexity

19. The seven moments of qualitative research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003) The traditional (1900-1950) The modernist or golden age (1950-1970) Blurred genres (1970-1986) The crisis of representation (1986-1990) The postmodern (experimental and new ethnographies) (1990-1995) Postexperimental enquiry (1995-2000) The future (2000-)

20. Four traditions (Gubrium & Holstein, 1997) Naturalism Ethnomethodology Emotionalism Postmodernism

21. Main methods associated with qualitative research Ethnography/participant observation Qualitative interviewing Focus groups Language-based approaches Collection and analysis of documents and texts Visual methods

22. Assessing the quality of qualitative research How do we assess research quality?

23. �Inherited� from quantitative traditions Generalisation: based on representative samples Validity: whether one is measuring what one says one is measuring Internal validity External validity Reliability: the replicability of results Internal reliability External reliability

24. Alternative criteria (Lincoln & Guba) Trustworthiness: credibility: research is conducted according to good practice and research findings submitted to peers. transferability: Researchers are encouraged to produce thick descriptions which provides others with information for making judgements about the possible transferability of the findings to other social settings. dependability: �auditing� approach ie keeping complete records on all phases of the research process in order to show that proper procedures have been followed. confirmability: complete objectivity is impossible in social research, but the researcher has acted in good faith ie has not allowed personal values sway the conduct of research or the findings. Authenticity: helping members of a society/community better understand their social setting and empowering them to take necessary steps towards action to change their circumstances.

25. Critiques of qualitative research Too subjective (cf constructionist ontology) Difficult to replicate (cf trustworthiness) Generalisation problematic (generalising to theory) Lack of transparency (cf trustworthiness)

26. Ethics

27. Humphreys, Laud (1970) Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places Study of men having sex in public toilets Methods used by Humphreys: Covert observation Noted down the car registration numbers of some of the men and wrote systematic fieldnotes afterwards Obtained the names and home addresses of these men Wrote a description of the residence and neighbourhood (socioeconomic profile) Interviewed the men in question through becoming involved in a social health survey

28. Code of ethics Code of ethics set by academic professional bodies eg the Social Research Association or the British Sociological Association Welfare, dignity and rights of research participants Informed consent and voluntary participation Avoiding harm to research participants An ongoing, reflexive process Quality of research Researcher rights

29. The research process

30. The research process (Bryman, 2004) Formulating general research question(s) Selecting relevant sites and subjects Collecting relevant data Interpretation of data: analysis Conceptual and theoretical work: the making of a sociological point. Tying in theory and data. Writing up the findings/conclusions

31. Defining what your research is about (Mason, 2002) Ontology: assumptions about the nature of reality and the phenomenon you wish to investigate Epistemology: what constitutes as knowledge/evidence of this phenomenon Topic/substantive area Intellectual puzzle and research questions What are the aims and purpose of your study?

32. Choosing your method Think creatively about a range of methods Which methods enable you to address your research question(s) Scale of your study?

33. �Sociologist Considers Own Behaviour Indicative of Wider Trends� " My observations indicate that the typical married American man has had increasing difficulty relating to his spouse over the last two and a half years, ever since she started taking those yoga classes," wrote Piers, 56, in his Interpersonal Connections Within The Marriage Paradigm: A Study In Causality � Though Piers is well respected within the sociology community, some colleagues charge that his paper breaks no new ground. "On page 73, Piers reports that 'the married American male can no longer stand his wife's hyena-like laugh,'" said Boston University sociology professor Dr. Theodore Muncie. "I don't know if Piers keeps up on the literature, but I reported that trend almost three years ago. By the time Piers released his findings, the American husband's general attitude toward the laugh had long passed into the stage known as 'icy acceptance.'" Source: The Onion (2001): http://www.theonion.com/articles/sociologist-considers-own-behavior-indicative-of-l,421/

34. Qualitative sampling Purposeful and strategic Rigorous Systematic Aims: Provide the data required to address your research questions To find useful and meaningful empirical contexts Be clear about your sampling criteria In what way does your sample represent the phenomenon you are studying

35. Sampling strategies Extreme or deviant cases Intensity sampling Maximum variation sampling Homogeneous samples Typical case sampling (eg on the basis of survey findings) Critical case sampling Snowball/chain sampling

36. Sampling strategies continued� Criterion sampling Theoretical sampling Confirming and disconfirming cases Stratified purposeful sampling Opportunistic or emergent sampling Purposeful random sampling Sampling politically important cases. Convenience sampling

37. Sample size �It depends� Breadth � depth Peer review: Sampling procedures and decisions must be fully explained (cf trustworthiness) Be wary of over-generalisations Make most of the depth, complexity and nuance provided by the data

38. Making convincing arguments Types of argument Developmental Mechanical Comparative Causal Some ways of arguing convincingly: Arguing evidentially Arguing interpretatively or narratively Arguing evocatively and illustratively Arguing reflexively or multivocally

39. Further things to consider: Role of data Role of theory Demonstrate reliability or trustworthiness of your methods Justify your interpretation Provide your audience with enough material to judge how convincing your argument is

40. Suggested reading Blaikie, Norman (1993) Approaches to Social Enquiry, Cambridge: Polity. Bryman, Alan (2004) Social Research Methods (2nd ed), Oxford: Oxford University Press. Denzin, Norman K. & Lincoln, Yvonna S. (eds) (2003) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues (2nd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Denzin, Norman K. & Lincoln, Yvonna S. (2003) �Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research�. In Denzin, Norman K. & Lincoln, Yvonna S. (eds) Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry (2nd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Pp. 1-45.) Flick, Uwe (2009) An Introduction to Qualitative Research (4th ed.), London: Sage. Gilbert, Nigel (2008) Researching Social Life (3rd ed.), London: Sage. Gray, Paul S. et al. (2007) The Research Imagination: An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Methods, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Gubrium, Jaber F. & Holstein, James A. (1997) The New Language of Qualitative Method, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mason, Jennifer (2002) Qualitative Researching (2nd ed.), London: Sage. Patton, Michael Quinn (2002) Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods (3rd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Seale, Clive (ed) (2004) Researching Society and Culture (2nd ed.), London: Sage. Silverman, David (2005) Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook (2nd ed.), London: Sage. Silverman, David (2006) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analyzing Talk, Text and Interaction (3rd ed.), London: Sage.

41. �Truth� http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WRXE5FP3KI Is this �true�? How might we critically engage with this?