1. Qualitative Research

2. John Donne (1572 – 1631) Meditation 17 - Devotions upon Emergent Occasions No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

3. Modernism Positivism, empiricism - a stable singular observable reality Strong faith in science and that behaviour is reducible to physics and chemistry Technological solutions to problems, industrialisation, victory over nature Destruction of religious/cultural/class dogma /power Humanistic moral force Research as defined, structured, quantifiable process – surveys, experiments, observations

4. Quantitative Methods measuring, theory confirmation, defining Experiments Questionnaires and surveys Psychometric Scaling and Tests Quantitative analysis of documents, video, observation, etc Analysis of existing data, audits What are they?

5. Postmodernism Metaphysical and Epistemological assumptions multiple and individual realities the idea of “other” an absence of universals (metanarratives) rejection of structural and hierarchical models – surface (lateral) not depth (vertical) relationships methodology of deconstruction research as a creative interactive qualitative process – focus groups, interviews, grounded theory

6. Qualitative Methods descriptive, theory building, meaning making Focus Groups Interviews Case Studies Ethnographic Inquiry Cooperative Inquiry Grounded Theory Qualitative analysis of documents, video, observation, etc What are they?

7. What’s your style? Redo the mod-postmod test Add up your score

8. What’s your style? A high negative score (-10 or lower) means that you favour the ideas behind quantitative research Between -9 and +9 means you’re somewhere in the middle liking bits of both A high positive score (+10 or higher) means that you favour the ideas behind qualitative research

9. QUALITTATIVE METHODS

10. PHENOMENOLOGY The study of that which appear real to the senses, regardless of whether their underlying existence is proved real or their nature understood perceived meaning is more important than objects, facts or physical events, so-called objective reality understanding is regarded as being the true end of science self-worlds are the object of study for the phenomenologist self-worlds are based on their own hidden assumptions

11. PurposeIntellectual Roots, Subjects Data sources Data Analysis Focus of Interview & Analysis Research Outcome Phe no me n- olo gy To understand the meaning of a specific human experience Philosophy. Persons who have lived the experience. Interpretivism Interviews diaries, review of art, music and, literature Reflection on the data, explication, of themes constitutive patterns Common practices, exemplars, paradigm cases. Full, rich description of a human experience Gr oun ded Th eor y To generate theory about social structures & processes Sociology. All persons involved in a social process Interviews, participant observations document review Constant comparative analysis Phases, dimensions, properties of the social structure Integrated, parsimonious theory with concepts that have analytic imagery Eth no- gra phy To describe a culture Anthropology All persons past & present in a culture Interviews, participant observation, document review Constant comparative analysis Domains taxonomies components, cultural terms Well described cultural norms

12. Types of Interviews Informal, conversational (unstructured) interview – there are predetermined themes, but no predetermined questions. Researcher is open to the participant’s nature and priorities and “goes with the flow”. Ethnographic and grounded theory approaches General guide (semi-structured) interview – ensures that the same general areas of information are collected from each participant. More focussed, but allowing adaptability to get a rich perspective from the participant. Grounded theory and phenomenological approaches

13. Un- struct- ured inter- view

14. Types of Interviews Standardized (structured), open-ended interview - the same open-ended questions are asked to all participants; this approach facilitates faster interviews that can be more easily analysed and compared. Phenomenological and survey approaches Closed, fixed-response interview - where all participants are asked the same questions and asked to choose answers from among the same set of alternatives. This generates easy to analyse statistical data. Survey and questionnaire approaches

16. Telephone Interviews Telephone interviews enable a researcher to gather information rapidly, while still allowing they allow for personal contact between the researcher and the respondent. All of the above types of interviews can be used on the telephone, with some limitations on their effectiveness.

17. Constructing Grounded Theory

18. Grounded theory Grounded theory does not test a hypothesis. It sets out to find theory that accounts for our observations. It’s an inductive process Rigour in grounded theory comes from its responsiveness to the situation; a continuing search for evidence which disconfirms the emerging theory.

19. Data All is data - everything that gets in the researcher’s way Interviews, observations, field notes of lectures, meetings, newspaper articles, TV shows, conversations, self-interviews

20. Grounded theory process - background information - from interviews, observations - finding themes/concepts - generating theories/propositions Axial coding = - axial coding grouping the themes into larger overview thematic ideas.

21. NO’s? No pre-research literature review. Literature of the area under study gives preconceptions about what to find and the researcher gets desensitized by borrowed concepts. The literature should instead be read in the sorting ideas stage, being treated as more data (ideas) to code and compare with what has already been coded and generated. No taping. Taping is counterproductive and a waste of time - the researcher delimits her data by field-noting interviews and soon after generates concepts that fit with data, are relevant and work in explaining what participants are doing to resolve their main concern. No talk. Talking about the theory before it is written up can either render praise or criticism, and both diminish the motivational drive to write memos that develop and refine the concepts and the theory

22. Building Community resilience through community project groups What would be some things that you would like to change about where you live? What are these things about, what’s behind each of these thoughts In pairs, take notes, swap Bring in a 2 nd pair. Identify themes (codes, propositions, assumptions, key ideas – e.g. It could be about the location, access to places, the neighbours, the family, the building, the grounds, the atmosphere, the weekend, traffic – memoing) In groups, discuss themes, can you cluster (sort) them? (e.g. flowers and trees on the street, no grafitti, speed bumps, get rid of the rubbish – all under a general concept or theory of what makes better, safer streets)

23. Axial Coding - 2 nd level coding Element Description Phenomenon The name of the theme - the concept/theory that holds the bits together - e.g. better, safer streets Causal conditions the events or variables that lead to the occurrence or development of the phenomenon – e.g. Slow traffic, flowers and vegetables growing on the verge

24. Axial Coding - 2 nd level coding Context linked with causal conditions. Context includes (these can be positive and negative) – Intervening conditions : Other variables and events that influence the phenomena – e.g. having a tinny house on the street, having street BBQs, solo parents – Action strategies: The purposeful, goal-oriented activities that participants perform in response to the phenomenon and intervening conditions – e.g. talk to neighbours, share resources, build a big fence. – Consequences: These are the consequences of the action strategies, intended and unintended - e.g. organise, paint a mural, go further into your shell

25. Data comparison process – constant comparison

26. Other key concepts Saturation In collecting and interpreting data, eventually extra interviews add nothing to what you already know about a category, its properties, and its relationship to the core category. Saturation is reached – cease collecting about that category – i.e. all the new interviews tell familiar stories about bullying, no new themes) Theoretical sampling - deciding whom to interview (bullies, victims, bystanders, different cultures, ages, gender) or what to observe next according to the state of theory generation. This can happen from the first interview Checking context - the need to compare between phenomena and contexts to make the theory strong (e.g. aggression on the Rugby field vs at home).

27. Validity – being well-grounded or justifiable; at once relevant and meaningful Fit - how closely concepts fit with the incidents they are representing, and this is related to how thoroughly the constant comparison of incidents to concepts was done. Relevance. the "grab" that captures our attention – seeming to match real concern of participants, Workability. The theory works when it explains how the issues are understood and managed within a variety of contexts. Modifiability. Theory can be altered when new relevant data is compared to existing data. Grounded theory is never right or wrong, it just has more or less fit, relevance, workability and modifiability.

28. Criteria for judging emerging theory It should fit the phenomenon, provided it has been carefully derived from diverse data and is adherent to the common reality of the area; It should provide understanding, and be understandable; Because the data is comprehensive, it should provide generality, in that the theory includes extensive variation and is abstract enough to be applicable to a wide variety of contexts; and It should provide control, in the sense of stating the conditions under which the theory applies and describing a reasonable basis for action.

29. Grounded Theory - strengths Research is free from the bias of literature – mainly reflecting western ideologies Theory emerges from the data – data is not made to fit the theory The method is able to respond to emerging ideas Gets detailed information but is efficient Provides a strong information base for surveys

30. Grounded theory - weakness Difficult to define saturation – the point where no new ideas are emerging Difficult to generalise from as the questions have changed across the process Lack of transcript use means that interviews are filtered by the researcher’s ideas of what’s emerging Harder to manage ethically

31. Creating Interview Questions -1 Begin with descriptive questions. Not asking for evaluations (though you may get them). You are after a rich description of experience. What was it like when you first came to MPHS? Or, if very recently, what were your first impressions of MPHS? Prompts: when was that, impressions before you came, neighbours, street atmosphere, making friends, children (their making friends, new school, where would they play?), pets, parks, shops, transport, work, sport, church, marae, community events, community organisations, the MPHS community development centre, clubs, ………

32. Creating Interview Questions -1 In this model of a semi-structured interview we want the participant to explore the issue from their own direction and thus start with a simple open ended question that could go in several directions. The prompts are used to help the interviewer develop a rich idea of the possibilities of the interview and sensitise them to the moments when the participant is heading in the direction of an issue explored by a prompt. Prompts should be used delicately, so as not to interrupt the narrative. Prompts are important questions and so if they aren’t covered during a narrative sequence they can be asked at the end

33. Creating Interview Questions -2 Descriptive with simple evaluations (likes and dislikes, and what is behind these): What's changed since you first arrived? Prompts: potentially all of the above list, but focussing on the good and not so good highlights - what's got better or worse? What are your favourite things about MPHS (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, time of the year), what do you do for fun and relaxation (you personally or with a partner or friends, your children, as a whānau/family, spiritual practice)? what are the things that get you down a bit about MPHS (people, children, schools, places, work, lack of resources, services).

34. Creating Interview Questions -3 Then get to major evaluations, after the experiential groundwork has been done. Overall what’s it like to live in MPHS? Prompts: generally, in comparison to other communities, will you stay on, do you want your kids to stay on? Next are solutions/resolutions to the major issues that have arisen; finish on a hopeful note. What can be done to fix some of the problems of living in MPHS? Prompts: national government, city council, community organisations, businesses, individuals. What could you contribute to change MPHS – what skills/resources do you have?

35. Creating Interview Questions -4 Confirming questions. In focus groups key hypotheses can be checked with simple and direct questions. Demographic questions. What contexts influence the answers to the questions? Age, gender, culture, spiritual orientation, education, occupation and income?

36. Creating the questions This interview is about understanding what people’s connection to their neighbourhoods, how they want to be engaged with their neighbourhood and what they would like change. It’s not just about the small things that could change it’s about what people really yearn for and how parts of that yearning could be addressed if we could work together. It’s about finding out what stopping us/our neighbourhood from doing things that would make our neighbourhood a safer, richer, more vibrant place to live. What’s the contribution they feel that they could make to creating a better neighbourhood? What would they expect from others/ from community organisations/ from councils? What would make getting involved in community a fun thing to do?

37. Drafting the Interview Questions As a class: develop questions and prompts about the experience of living and/or working in MPHS using the Davidson’s descriptive, evaluation, solution, demographics model.