Chapter 14 Introduction to qualitative research

Introduction to qualitative researchChapter 14 What is qualitative researchPreserves the form and content of interaction Contextually situatedDiscourse is the data Analyzed for its qualities – empirical, inductive, and interpretiveAims for subjectivityAllows interactants’ voices to be heardWhat is qualitative research?IntersubjectivityThe social accomplishment of how people co-construct and co-experience their social life and rules for doing soHow do people understand and interpret communication processes?How is communication socially situated?Mutual simultaneous shapingThe here and nowEverything influences everything elseEmphasis on process and the holistic frame of interactionPlausible explanations built on what is observedInductive analysisFrom the specific to the generalExplanations and theories emerge from the dataPropositions formulated continuously throughout the data collection and data analysis processModel for qualitative researchInterdependent stagesNot linearCannot be planned in entiretyTop circle reflects design of the projectBottom reflects activities in the fieldCredibility in qualitative researchExtent to which data interpretations are truecorrectdependableAllows for multiple interpretations by asking “What’s plausible?”Enhancing credibilityTriangulation: use of several kinds of methods or data to enhance credibilityData triangulationInvestigator triangulationInterdisciplinary triangulationMember validationTaking research findings back to individuals who provided dataConceptualizing research questionsfor qualitative researchBased on previous literatureBroadly statedNondirectionalGives researcher latitude in following interesting pathsSpecific to the interaction contextAssessing qualitative research questionsShould ask how or what?Should reference the research site?Focus on a specific type of interaction?Discover how meaning is developed/shared?Reveal naturally occurring communication not suitable for study in an experiment?Reveal unanticipated phenomena/influences?Reveal process that occur over time?Explore the influences of the context?Does the research question --What counts as qualitative data?Anything that can be observed or capturedInterpreting meaning Researcher constructionSubjective valuingContingent accuracy Level of evidenceMicrolevel, midlevel, macrolevelWhy choose qualitative research?advantageslimitationsDocuments the unseenProvides information about those who cannot or will not speak for themselvesSupplements information from quantitative studiesCommunication environment must be accessible Interactants may change their behavior Observations filtered through the researcherTime consumingThreats to credibilityInaccuracy or incompleteness of dataProblems of interpretationWhose interpretation is being imposed?Theoretical validityWhat about data that fail to fit the interpretation?Selection biasReactivity bias