Refining Qualitative Data
QRAM 9th National Seminar 2012
Consistency-questions model
What are questions or purposes of the research?
What then are the research methods? What are the underlying assumptions? What are the findings? What are the implications from the findings?
Qualitative method & methodology
‘Hypothesis’
Theory building
Research design
Data generation
Data analyses
Design validity criteria
Viable data Reliable method Generalisable analyses
truth value (credibility)
Viable data
Objectivity Prolonged engagement on-site Triangulation Member checking Structural relationships
Reliable method
Interviewing as method of generating data Ethics in researching (MUHREC) Theoretical sampling Data analyses (CAQDAS)—ATLAS.ti
Generalisable analyses
Applicability Context limited (transferability) Replicability (consistency) Leaving an audit trail
Sense of qualitative methods
Preference for qualitative data Preference for naturally occurring data Preference for meanings Preference for inductive research
(hypothesis-generating)
Quan-Qual continuum
Qualitative Data theory Grounded theory Empirical conceptual Inductive (theory-
building)
Political (value-laden)
Quantitative Theory data Hypothesis testing Conceptual empirical Deductive (theory
testing) Apolitical (value free)
Interviewing
‘purposeful conversation’ Method of generating data (interview
transcript as non-extant text) Semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face ‘paradigmatic feminist method’ Emancipatory paradigm: ‘praxis,
empowerment/ reciprocity
Interviewer-interviewee
Locating self in research Being transparent & accountable Epistemic privilege (who knows) Reciprocal reflexivity: Knower/ known
knower-known Theoretical sampling (Grounded Theory
Methodlogy) generalisability of analyses Elite interviewing
Ethics in interviewing
Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC)
High risk/ low risk research : Participants Types of activities Informed Consent (≠ implied consent) Collection, use and disclosure of information
Explanatory Statement
Sampling (how & why) Research aims Benefits Method of generating data Time involved Inconvenience/ discomfort Withdrawal from research Confidentiality Data storage (data for other purpose)
Consent Form
Data as information Agree to be interviewed Agree to allow interviewed to be recorded Agree to make myself available for follow-
up interviews Data as potential information Use of data for future research projects
(optional)
Sensitive topic
‘one that potentially poses for those involved a substantial threat, the emergence of which renders problematic for the researcher and/or researched the collection, holding, and/ or dissemination of research data’ (Renzetti and Lee 199: 5)
Researcher: stewardship of data
Grounded Theory Methdology
Data as source of theory (hypothesis-building)
‘Theory’: relationship among categories that is inductively generated from ‘units of meaning’ (Kelle 1997)
‘Hypothesis’: tentative and imprecise conjecture about possible relationships between two domains of interest (Kelle 1997)
Data analyses using CAQDAS
CAQDAS: Computer-assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (ALTAS.ti)
Data: interview transcript Data analyses: data management & interpretation
coding (code-and-retrieve) Codes: heuristic devices (units of meaning)
theory-building Coding: De-contextualise (data reduction) & re-
contextualise Fine-grained hermeneutic analysis