Qualitative research

When looking at qualitative research methods I came across some qualitative action cards that really helped me sum up various terminology when creating my proposal. Just brief and to the point it gave me that little bit more understanding. I thought I'd post a blog on it in the hope it may help others as they approach their research proposal. Happy reading!

Actions: Within the participatory approach to qualitative research, action refers to an intervention based on the qualitative research findings that is co-designed by all stakeholders with the objective to achieve social change.

 

Conceptualization: understanding how individual components of data are linked together in a broader conceptual framework to help understand or explain a phenomenon as a whole

 

Constant Comparative Method: Part of the grounded theory method that involves a process of constantly comparing and contrasting data at every stage of analysis to identify patterns and explanations.

 

Discourse analysis: focuses on how language, expressions, societal expectations and structures construct a social reality (or discourse) around a specific phenomenon.

 

Embeddedness: A characteristic of the participatory approach to qualitative research that helps to understand and interpret how the perspectives of study participants are embedded in their relational, institutional and cultural contexts. It is often operationalized by involving relevant societal stakeholders in a participatory study.

 

Epistemology: Refers to the questions: What is represented as knowledge? What is the relationship between the researcher and study object? and What counts as evidence?

 

Etic Perspective: Refers to the ‘outsider’s’ perspective, typically the researcher’s perspective, opinions and beliefs.

 

Focus Group Discussion: A method of qualitative data collection involving an interactive discussion between six to eight pre-selected participants, led by a trained moderator and focusing on a specific set of issues.

 

Grounded Theory: Grounded theory is an approach to collecting and analysing qualitative data to develop empirical theory to explain phenomena, developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967).

 

Group Probe: A strategy used in focus group discussions to promote interaction between group members, whereby the moderator uses an issue raised by one participant to seek the reaction of other group members.

 

Hypothesis: Deductive reasoning: A ‘top down’ approach of deriving an explanation or hypotheses from exisiting literature or theory (maybe what you could expect to find after the literature review?)

 

In-depth interview: A method of qualitative data collection that uses an unstructured or semi-structured format to collect detailed narrative data from a study participant.

 

Inductive Inferences: A process used during qualitative data collection, whereby initial data collected guides further data collection to initiate a circular process, which enables deeper exploration of the phenomenon studied.

 

Informed consent: An ethical principle to ensure that research participants are informed about their role in a study, any potential risks of participating and that they voluntarily consent to participate.

 

Interpretive Paradigm: A research paradigm based on understanding people’s lived experience from their own perspective, often called the ‘emic perspective’ which guides the conduct of qualitative research. It includes studying subjective meanings that people attach to their experiences. The paradigm emphasizes importance of subjective interpretation and observation in understanding social reality.

 

Justice: An ethical principle that emphasizes treating research participants in a just and fair manner.

 

Methodology: A set of principles that indicate how we gain knowledge: the research methods, procedures and practices used to study a social phenomenon.

 

Mixing methods: Refers to research designs that combine different methods, which may include quantitative and qualitative methods or mixing various qualitative methods in a single study.

 

Moderator: The key person who leads and manages the discussion in a focus group.

 

Motivational probes: Short, verbal prompts used by an interviewer to encourage the interviewee to continue talking (e.g. a-ha, m-hm, ok).

 

Narrative Analysis: Narrative analysis focuses on understanding people’s own constructions of their lives and experiences, whereby each text is examined as a whole to maintain the narrative flow and context of each individual’s experience.

 

Non-directive interviewing: An approach to data collection, used in focus group discussions, that moves away from interviewer-dominated questioning towards generating data through spontaneous discussion between participants.

 

Ontology: Refers to the questions: How do we view the social world? and What does reality look like?

 

Open ended question: A type of interview question designed to allow interviewees to answer from their own experience, knowledge or feelings, rather than leading them to answer in any particular way.

 

Paradigm: The lens through which we interpret reality. An approach to doing research that encompasses a specific set of guiding principles on ontology, epistemology and methodology.

 

Participant recruitment: Strategies for inviting sampled people to participate in a study.

 

Pilot-test: Involves testing the effectiveness of a data collection instrument by conducting a mock interview, reviewing the outcome and modifying the instrument where needed.

 

Positionality: The way researchers portray themselves during data collection, which can influence data generated.

 

Positivist Paradigm: A research paradigm based on the principles of objectivity, measurement, and the ontology of a single factual reality, which guides much quantitative social science research.

 

Purposive sampling: Non-probability based sampling used in qualitative research, involving purposefully selecting participants with specific characteristics to provide data richness and sample diversity.

 

Qualitative research cycle: A conceptual framework depicting the cyclical process of qualitative research, comprising three interlinked cycles – design cycle, data collection cycle and analytic cycle.

 

Quotation: Exact words of study participants used to exemplify issues, convey language, expressions or emotions of study participants.

 

Rapport: A relationship of trust between an interviewer and interviewee that creates a comfortable environment for an interviewee to share their experiences openly.

 

Reflexivity: The practice of acknowledging the potential influence of the researcher (e.g. their background, values or assumptions) or the research setting on data generation and interpretation.

 

Research Ethics Committee: An independent, multidisciplinary and legally mandated committee that evaluates research proposals to ensure ethical guidelines are followed.

 

Research Objective: A statement of the overall purpose, goal or aim of the study.

 

Research question: An overarching question that captures the research problem and will be answered by the study.

 

Sampling: How we select study participants from a study population.

 

Saturation: The point in data collection when no more new issues emerge, data begin to repeat with no added understanding of the issues, so that further data collection becomes redundant. Reaching saturation indicates the sample is adequate for a qualitative study.

 

Snowball Sampling: A sampling strategy (also called ‘chain sampling’) whereby a study participant is asked to refer other eligible people to the study, often used to sample a ‘hard to reach’ study population.

 

Subjectivity: Refers to the potential influence of the researcher or research setting on the data generated in a study.

 

Theoretical sampling: An approach to sampling used in grounded theory, whereby people or materials are selected to fill gaps in understanding of the phenomenon studied, as additional data continue to strengthen and refine an emerging theory.

 

Topical probes: Written prompts on an interview guide to remind the interviewer to ask on specific topics to go deeper into a question.

 

Transcript: A written version of a recorded interview or group discussion. A verbatim transcript is an exact word-for-word replica of the recording and may have varying levels of detail in addition to spoken words (e.g. linguistic details or speaker interactions).

 

Validating theory: A process of verifying that a theory is empirically derived, well supported by data, and adequately fits the data.

 

Verstehen: Refers to the process to comprehensively understand the phenomenon from the perspective of the study participants.

 

Vignette: A short scenario or anecdote on an issue related to the study topic, used in an interview or group discussion to promote reaction and discussion.

 

Reference: 

Hennink, M., Hutter, I., & Bailey, A. (2020). Qualitative Research Methods: Glossary Flashcards | Online Resources. Https://Study.Sagepub.Com/Hennink2e/Student-Resources/Glossary-Flashcards. https://study.sagepub.com/hennink2e/student-resources/glossary-flashcards