wk2 four qualitative - sfu.carwakkary/downloads/wk2_four_qualitative.pdf · iat 801 qualitative...

Sept 4, 2007 IAT 334 Interface Design Instructor Ron Wakkary

Week 2 - Jan. 14, 2008

IAT 801 Qualitative Research Methods - Ron Wakkary

IAT 801 Qualitative Research Methods - Four DifferentTraditions, Week 2

Instructor: Ron Wakkary ([email protected])


Week 2 - Jan. 14, 2008


WK1: Introduction

• Review of Papers and Discussion• Four Qualitative Traditions of Inquiry• Exercise


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Review of Papers and Discussion


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• A Phenomenology (Rieman, 1986;Appendix C)• Study of the “caring interaction” between a

nurse and her patient• The design included interviewing 10

nonhospatilized adults who have had priorinteractions with a nurse and were able tocommunicate their feelings regarding theinteractions

• Question: “What is essential for theexperience to be described by the client asbeing a caring interaction?”


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• A Grounded Theory Study (Morrow &Smith, 1995; Appendix D)• Study about survival and coping strategies

of 11 women to childhood sexual abuse• Multiple data collection: one-on-one

interviews, focus group interviews, andparticipant observations

• Systematic analysis: forming of categoriesfor data, building a visual model for therelationships between categories. Model isfocused on the phenomenon and supportedby theory


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• An Ethnography (Wolcott, 1994; AppendixE)• Study of the hiring of a new principal• Details of the Principal Selection

Committee, candidates, and proceduralissues

• Author develops themes related to thephenomenon and then expands the themesto address the larger issue of “change”


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• A Case Study (Asmussen & Creswell, 1995;Appendix E)• Study of a campus reaction to a gunman

incident• The study focuses on a chronology of the

event and context (building, campus, city)• Multiple forms of data collection:

interviews, observations, documents andaudio-visual analysis

• Study provides a social-psychologicalaccount and practical concerns for campussecurity


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[insert figure 3.1]


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• Questions for Discussion• What experience is examined in a

phenomenological study?• What concept is the basis for a theory in a

grounded theory study?• What cultural group or people are being

studied in an ethnographic study?• What is the “case” being examined in a case

study?• How do the five traditions differ in the foci

of their study?


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Four Qualitative Traditions of Inquiry


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source: wikipedia commons

[insert Table 1.1]


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A Phenomenological Study• Reports on the “lived experiences” of a

phenomenon• Roots in philosophy: Husserl, Heidegger,

Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty• Essentialist view: Researchers search for

“essential, invariant structure” or theunderlying “intentionality of consciousness”

• In analysis aims to reducephenomenological data

• Aims to “bracket” or “epoche” experiencesby suspending prejudgments


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A Phenomenological Study - Principles• A return to the task of philosophy of

knowing before empirical sciences• A philosophy without assumptions:

bracketing or epoche to suspend alljudgments of what is real

• The intentionality of consciousness: anobject is inextricably linked to one’sconsciousness

• The refusal of the subject-objectdichotomy: disavowal of Cartesianism.Reality s perceived within the meaning ofexperience to an individual


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A Phenomenological Study - Methods• The concept of epoche is central• Research questions explore the meaning of

lived experiences by indivduals• Phenomenological data is collected in long

interviews, researcher self-reflection, andexperiential techniques


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A Phenomenological Study - Methods• Data analysis:

• Protocols are divided into statements orhorizontalization

• Data transformed into clusters of meanings• Resulting description is textural and structural• Personal meaning can also be incorporated

• Phenomenological report provides a betterunderstanding of the essential, invariantstructure (essence): “I understand betterwhat it is like for someone to experiencethat” (Polkinghorne, 1989)


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A Phenomenological Study - Challenges• See Creswell’s challenges


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A Grounded Theory Study• The aim is to generate an abstract analytical

schema or theory of a phenomenon thatrelates to a particular situation in whichindividuals interact in a process in responseto a phenomenon

• Reversal of traditional a priori hypothesesor proposition prior to study. Aim is toground theory in data

• Developed by sociologists Barry Glaser andAnselm Strauss


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A Grounded Theory Study - Principles• Theory can be articulated in a number of

forms and emerges at the end of the study• Data is collected through interviews

(sometimes observations anddocumentation) until data is saturated (nofurther theory can be generated)

• Data is organized into categories thatrepresent events, happenings and instances

• Participants aim to represent a theoreticalsampling

• Data analysis is iterative and seen asconstant comparative


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A Grounded Theory Study - Methods• Systematic and complex coding of data

known as open coding:• Initial categories formed in which several

properties are found and the researcher looks fordata to dimensionalize to articulate thecontinuum

• Axial coding assemble data in new waysafter open coding following a codingparadigm or logic diagram that:• Identifies a central phenomenon• Explores causal conditions, specific strategies,

and outcomes• Context and intervening conditions


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A Grounded Theory Study - Methods• In Selective coding the researcher identifies

a “storyline” that integrates the axial codingmodel by developing conditionalpropositions

• Finally, the researcher may develop andvisually portray a conditional matrix thatelucidates the social, historical andeconomic conditions of the phenomena(Creswell: does not typically happen instudies)


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A Grounded Theory Study - Methods• Systematic and complex coding of data

known as open coding:• Initial categories formed in which several

properties are found and the researcher looks fordata to dimensionalize to articulate thecontinuum

• Axial coding assemble data in new waysafter open coding following a codingparadigm or logic diagram that:• Identifies a central phenomenon• Explores causal conditions, specific strategies,

and outcomes• Context and intervening conditions


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A Grounded Theory Study - Challenges• See Creswell’s challenges


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An Ethnography• An ethnography is a description and

interpretation of a cultural or social group orsystem

• Researchers examine observable and learnedpatterns of behaviour, customs and ways oflife

• Genesis in cultural anthropology includingBoas, Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, Mead, Parkand Dewey


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An Ethnography - Principles• Researcher is immersed in the day-to-day

lives of the participants, typically throughparticipant observation

• Researchers study the meanings of behaviour,language, artifacts and interactions of theculture sharing group

• Culture is bound and constructed by a group• Themes of structure and function can guide

the research of social organization:– Structure: kinship and political– Function: patterns of social relations


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An Ethnography - Methods• Fieldwork is immersion into member culture to

gather data through observations, interviews,and materials to develop a portrait of culturalrules

• Key concepts:– Gatekeepers permit entry into membership– Key informants provide insightful information– Reciprocity awareness of involvement of participants– Reactivity awareness of the impact of the researcher– Deception is avoided in transparency in the role of

the researcher


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An Ethnography - Methods• Aim of holistic cultural portrait:

– Thick description– Emic: participant’s view– Etic: researcher’s view

• “They [researchers] establish what a strangerwould have to know in order to understandwhat is going on here or, more challengingstill, what a stranger would have to know inorder to be able to participate in a meaningfulway” (Wolcott, 1996)


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An Ethnography - Challenges• See Creswell’s challenges…


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A Case Study• A case study is an exploration of a “bounded

system” or a case (multiple cases) over timethrough detailed, in-depth data collectioninvolving multiple forms of data

• Antecedents in cultural anthropology, I.eMalinowski’s Trobriand Islands, ChicagoSchool’s “One Corner” study.

• Familiar in psychoanalytic cases (Freud),medicine, law, business and political science


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A Case Study - Methods• Yin (1989) describes qualitative and mixed

methods approaches: exploratory, descriptive,and explanatory case studies

• Single, multiple, comparative, multi-sited,within site case studies

• Purposeful sampling dependant on type ofcase study

• Multiple sources of data collection(observations, interviews, documents andaudio-video data)

• Triangulation: related analysis of data arounda central point or points


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A Case Study - Methods• Holistic analysis across the entire case(s) or

embedded analysis of a specific aspect• Emergence of a detailed description for its

own purpose, validation, theory generationand theory validation

• Multiple design decisions, e.g. within-caseanalysis or cross-case analysis.


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A Case Study - Challenges• See Creswell’s challenges…


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Exercise


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Exercise

Identify two possible traditions of inqury for yourstudy

• 1200-1600 words• Submit to the Wiki by Jan. 14th• Write in summary form including:

– What is the issue, problem or phenomenonyou plan to study

– What is the major research question– What is the data you will collect and who are

participants in your study– What do you think is the importance of the

study– What is your relationship to the topic and the

participants in the study


Week 2 - Jan. 14, 2008


Questions?

Ron Wakkary ([email protected])

wk2 four qualitative - sfu.carwakkary/downloads/wk2_four_qualitative.pdf · iat 801 qualitative...

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