Components of the Research Process INFO 272. Qualitative Research Methods Components of the Research Process

Outline The relationship between qualitative and quantitative research Steps and sequencing in the research process – 2 versions Discussion of Becker’s ‘The Epistemology of Qualitative Research’

Bridging Qualitative and Quantitative Quantification also involves qualification Statistical analysis requires interpretation Interpretation is not the enemy of systematized procedures (see grounded theory) Mixed-Method Approaches Results don’t interpret themselves

Bridging Qualitative and Quantitative Methodological pluralism? Time ordering: Qualitative to define concepts  Quantitative to refine, test Quantitative to test  Qualitative to explain/interpret results The question of rigor

The Linear Model 1) theory/model 2) hypothesis 3) operationalization 4) sampling [see Flick, An Introduction to Qualitative Research, chapter 4] 5) data collection 6) interpretation 7) validation [Flick]

The Iterative Model movement back and forth between these phases 1) research topic/questions movement back and forth between these phases 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering 4) analysis 5) write-up

The Iterative Model movement back and forth between these phases 1) research topic/questions movement back and forth between these phases 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering Field work 4) analysis 4) more analysis Desk work 5) write-up

A Double Iteration Field work Desk work 1) research topic/questions 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering Field work 4) analysis 4) more analysis Desk work 5) write-up

1) research topic/questions academic setting: contextualized within the major debates in your discipline ‘the boy with the hammer’ (law of instrument) = match between research questions and methods used to answer those questions (does not mean that questions always precede choice of method, nor does it mean that you will not tend to favor certain methods)

how to start, where to look, when to stop – meaning saturation 2) ‘corpus construction’ Why not ‘sampling?’ how to start, where to look, when to stop – meaning saturation but more generally, the search for data richness and the visibility of certain cultural processes recruiting people for interviews selecting texts or images fieldsite selection

interviews (transcripts) participant-observation (field notes) 3) data gathering interviews (transcripts) participant-observation (field notes) collecting texts/images (from the field) expediency technique - how the communicative process between researcher and researched influences the data produced

Comments in your field notes, emerging themes Established forms: 4) Analysis Comments in your field notes, emerging themes Established forms: Discourse analysis Rhetorical analysis Content analysis Semiotics Grounded theory

Writing is committing (an extension of analysis) 5) Final Report Writing is committing (an extension of analysis) Coping with heterogeneous data (tip: start with the most interesting bit) Closeness to the data

A Double Iteration Field work Desk work 1) research topic/questions 2) ‘corpus construction’ 3) data gathering Field work 4) analysis 4) more analysis Desk work 5) write-up