1. www.handels.gu.se C 22 Johan Brink, IIE 23 November Qualitative research Lecture 6 2015-10-15

2. www.handels.gu.se Agenda Chapter 11, Structured Observation Chapter 17, Ethnography Chapter 19, Focus Groups

3. www.handels.gu.se Our senses Sight (ophthalmoception) Hearing (audioception) Taste (gustaoception) Smell (olfacoception Touch (tactioception) Objective Subjective 2015-10-15

4. www.handels.gu.se Structured observation Systematically observe behavior Captures actual rather than stated behavior No interpretation of questions No omission No memory effect Records according to pre-set rules & check list Aggregation Well defined categories – Scheduled meetings – Unscheduled meetings – Desk work – … Grocery cupboard Water Rinsing & cleaning place Processing site Baking site Fermentation site Stove Food store Grocery Arrangement Place Arrangement Place 2

5. www.handels.gu.se Structured observation Sampling Continuous Incident/event triggered Timeslots Individual – Shadowing Place Unit of analysis Physical conditions Behavioral Linguistic

6. www.handels.gu.se Structured observation Pros More reliable information on events Greater precision and accuracy on time, duration & frequency Not dependent on verbal communication and linguistic analysis

7. www.handels.gu.se Structured observation Cons Time consuming! Intrusive – ethical? Do researchers follow the pre-set rules? – Are the pre-set rules the right ones? – Do not capture the ‘big picture’ Do the presence of a researcher change the behavior? – Good impression? – The Hawthorn effect

8. www.handels.gu.se Break 2015-10-15

9. www.handels.gu.se Ethnography Observe – Events – Context Focus on – Patterns of behavior – Norms and values – Stories – Compare and contrast Activities – Probe with questions – Additional documents – Spend time –hang around – Field notes & diary

10. www.handels.gu.se Ethnography - problems Access – Opportunistic – Gatekeepers – Give something back – Retro perspective - ‘memoirs’ Key informants – Bias in information? Never ending story – Drown in information

11. www.handels.gu.se Ethnography Overt vs. Covert – Access and researcher interference! – Ability to take notes & ask questions? – Ethical? – Safety? Going native & the Inability to cope with dual identities – Debriefing – Reflections

12. www.handels.gu.se Experiments Testing theories Select variables Select treatment Control the environment Control the situation: Blind & double bind test Ethics? Real life situations? Quasi experiments Naturally occurring events

13. www.handels.gu.se Focus Groups Group discussions around a theme Help each other to jointly recollect a story- sense making Challenge each others More extensively cover a theme Moderator / Facilitator Series of questions Gentle guiding – People skills - Knowledgeable Low level of control once started

14. www.handels.gu.se Focus groups – How to do it Recruitment Neutral room Simple self explained questions or scenarios Format 6-12 individuals 10-15 groups 1-3 hours One or several occasions Tape/video-recording Extensive material

15. www.handels.gu.se The big problem Group dynamics Interactions Personal traits Power Limited Creativity! Other problems Satisfying the researcher Non-natural settings

16. www.handels.gu.se Thank you! Next Monday’s lecture will be about Qualitative analysis