Psychology as a Science > Qualitative Methods :) > Flashcards

Qualitative Methods :) Flashcards

(50 cards)

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1
Q

What type of research questions do qualitative methods consider?

A
  • what? (individual experience)
  • how? (social construction)
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2
Q

Why did attention for qualitative methods increase? (4)

A
  • turn to language (what people say + how they say it)
  • critique of assumptions about positivism
  • recognition of limits of quantitative methods
  • influence of other social sciences (where interpretative methods were more common)
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3
Q

Is the focus on the wider population or individuals/singular groups?

A

individuals/singular groups

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4
Q

What are the qualitative data forms? (3)

A

textual, visual, audio

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5
Q

What are the qualitative methods of data collection? (6)

A
  1. interviews
  2. focus group discussions
  3. diaries
  4. broadcast and print media
  5. social media
  6. participant observations
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6
Q

What are the types of interviews? (3)

A

structured, semi-structured, unstructured

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7
Q

What is the goal of focus group discussions?

A

get people to open up (more confident because they won’t see them again)

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8
Q

Which data collection method is a moderator needed for?

A

focus group discussions

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9
Q

What is the role of a moderator in focus group discussions?

A

maintain social facilitation (rich discussion, information from everyone etc.)

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10
Q

How many participants are recommended in focus groups? Why?

A

6-10; to avoid it getting ‘dry’ or hard to manage

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11
Q

What are the key features of diaries as a data collection method?

A

self-reported; data recorded over time

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12
Q

What are the strengths of using diaries? (4)

A
  • depth
  • contextual data in natural settings
  • authentic
  • can study sensitive topics
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13
Q

What is the limitation of using diaries?

A

attrition (dropout)

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14
Q

How can data from broadcast and print media be collected?

A

analyse the context of media for trends, themes, public opinion

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15
Q

Where can data from broadcast and print media be collected?

A

archives or real-time monitoring

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16
Q

What is the strength of using broadcast and print media?

A

cost-effective (for secondary research)

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17
Q

What are the limitations of using broadcast and print media? (2)

A
  • limited depth (second-hand)
  • risk of bias in media reporting
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18
Q

What are some types of social media and what do they offer to research? (4)

A
  • blogs - personal/niche insights
  • forums - community-driven discussions
  • online news - professional perspectives
  • readers’ comments - spontaneous reactions
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19
Q

What are the strengths of using social media? (3)

A
  • broad, diverse user base
  • real-time responses
  • unfiltered opinions
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20
Q

What are ethical considerations when using social media? (2)

A
  • ensure privacy and data security
  • get permission (when needed)
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21
Q

Are participant observations usually inductive or deductive? Does this mean the theory comes before or after observation?

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A

inductive; observation –> theory (after)

22
Q

What are the strengths of participant observations? (2)

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A
  • depth
  • doesn’t depend on participants’ ability to verbalise (because doesn’t rely on their words)
23
Q

What are the limitations of participant observations? (2)

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A
  • time-consuming
  • intimacy; invasion of privacy
24
Q

What are the qualitative methods of data analysis? (7)

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A
  1. grounded theory
  2. content analysis
  3. thematic analysis
  4. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
  5. discourse analysis
  6. narrative analysis
  7. conversation analysis
25
What does is the aim of grounded theory?
to build thematic structure and theory directly from the data (body of text)
26
How do you analyse data when following grounded theory?
compare text segments (systematically and comprehensively)
27
Is grounded theory inductive or deductive?
inductive (observation --> theory)
28
What is the most common data collection technique associated with grounded theory?
in-depth interviews
29
What are the types of coding in grounded theory? (3)
open, axial, selective
30
open coding (grounded theory)
analyse data in all possible directions
31
axial coding (grounded theory)
analyse relations within data (interactionally, contextually, causally, consequentially)
32
selective coding (grounded theory)
core category is selected and related with other categories depending on the types of relationships
33
What is the aim of content analysis?
describe what's in the text
34
How is content analysis done?
2+ coders independently assign coding units to categories which are designed and assembled in a coding frame
35
What is the aim of thematic analysis?
identify themes from textual data
36
Is thematic analysis inductive or deductive?
both (data driven OR theory driven)
37
What is the emphasis placed on in thematic analysis?
meaning (not prevalence)
38
Name a specific type of thematic analysis.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
39
What data collection technique is used in IPA?
interviews
40
What are the assumptions of IPA? (2)
- people interpret the world of phenomena so researchers study interpretations of their world - researchers interpret people's interpretations because they bring in their own sense-making when studying other people's (SO REFLEXIVITY IS IMPORTANT)
41
What does IPA study?
phenomenology
42
phenomenology
objective investigation of subjective experience
43
discourse analysis
textual material studied in its social context for more understanding
44
What is the key rhetorical device found through discourse analysis? Define this.
disclaimer: speaker denies support/responsibility of a stance they then advocate
45
What is the focus of methods using narrative analysis?
stories - subjective accounts of experiences (not factual records)
46
What is narrative analysis especially suitable for studying?
interrelated factors & their impact on psychological phenomena
47
What does conversation analysis analyse?
structures of interaction at a micro level - social activities
48
What does conversation analysis study?
how social activities are accomplished in conversations
49
What are the strengths of qualitative methods?
- data depth and detail - helps in early research to identify key variables, hypotheses, themes (can then use quantitative studies) - empowers participants by giving them a voice - face validity (bc open-ended + participant-driven so authentic) - especially useful for unique cases/experiences
50
What are the limitations of qualitative methods? (2)
time-consuming, lacks generalisability (small samples)
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