Lecture 9: Verbal reports/qualitative data analysis

• Aims & Objectives

• To examine a variety of qualitative techniques such interviews, protocols, and other field based techniques such as diaries etc

• To look at ways of analysing such data

Verbal reports

• Behaviourism saw the down fall of introspection

• However, much of what psychology is interested in, is not directly observable

• Resurgence of an interest in language

Protocols

• HIP model

• Used in-situ to provide concurrent recall

• Declarative knowledge

Retrospective recall

• Recall of past events (stress, coping, memories etc)

• Mood congruency effect

• Reconstructive memories/effort after meaning

• Memorable things are better remembered

Diaries

• Allow direct in-situ observations– End of each day (cf. retrospective)– Signal contingent – Event contingent– Interval contingent

• Analysis is via hierarchical linear modelling

HLMLevel 2

Level 1

Interviews

• Open ended• Semi-structured• Structured• Face to face

– Social desirability

• Telephone– High turn around Tele owner (mobiles)– Sampling easy No visual aids– Follow up easy Fewer questions– Low refusal (foot in the doors) Limited channel

Observations

• The effect of the observer– Alter the behaviour– Infer rather than record

• Validity– Teacher strikes pupil (no inference)– Teacher is aggressive (inference)

• Reliability– High category number = high reliability/low validity– Low category number = low reliability/high validity

Participant observations

• Reprisals

• Legal issues

• Ethics

• Subjectivity

Case studies

• Generate new and novel hypotheses

• Fine grained analysis

• Freud, Ebbinghaus

• Popular in medicine

• Clinical vs statistical significance

• Extensive vs intensive

• Rise of Fischarian statistics

Content analysis

• Units of analysis• Reliability

– Accuracy reliability

• Validity– External referents

• Coding– Manifest– Latent

• Quantification– Dummy codes

Discourse analysis

• Function

• Variation

• Construction

Examples from DA

• Three part lists– I came, I saw, I conquered

– Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out, Out, Out

– Education, education and education

– The father, the son and the Holy ghost

– I am he, as you are he, as you are me

• Contrasts and 3 part list– This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the

end. It is perhaps the end of the beginning.