Gruber
.pdf
Methodology and Methods: Combining
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods –
“Urban lone-mother households in Russia: The influe nce of risks and vulnerabilities on conducting a life“
(An Example of Mixed Methods Research)
Dr. Denis Gruber
DAAD-Lecturer
Saint Petersburg State University
Faculty of Sociology
E-Mail: dgspb@gmx.de
Strelna, St. Petersburg,
29.06.2012
Introduction
•three distinct approaches to research: quantitative; qualitative; and mixed methods research
•different definitions of mixed methods research used by different researchers: multi-methods research (Brannen 1992), multistrategy research (Bryman 2004), mixed methods (Creswell, 2003; Tashakkori & Teddlie 2003), or mixed methodology research (Tashakkori & Teddlie 1998)
•“mixed methods [is] research which collects both q ualitative and quantitative data in one study and integrates these data at some stage of the research process” (Halcomb et al., 2009)
•Distinction between mixed methods (quant and qual) and multi method research (uses more than one method from same tradition) (Bazeley, 2007)
Quantitative vs. Qualitative
•Explanation through numbers
•Objective
•Deductive reasoning
•Predefined variables and measurement
•Data collection before analysis
•Cause and effect relationships
•Explanation through words
•Subjective
•Inductive reasoning
•Creativity, extraneous variables
•Data collection and analysis intertwined
•Description, meaning
Qualitative Research Methods
•Interviews
–narrative
–ethnographic
–contextual interviews (topic-centred; phenomenological; Grounded Theory)
•Participatory design
•Case studies
•Ethnographic observation
Qualitative Research Goals
•Meaning: how people see the world
•Context: the world in which people act
•Process: what actions and activities people do
•Reasoning: why people act and behave the way they do
Coding
Maxwell, 2005
What qualitative design will you use?
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Grounded |
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Dimension |
Narrative |
Phenomenology |
Theory |
Ethnography |
Case Study |
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Focus |
•Exploring the |
• Understanding |
• Developing a |
• Describing and |
• Developing an |
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life of an |
the essence of |
theory grounded |
interpreting a |
in-depth |
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individual |
experiences |
from data in the |
cultural or |
analysis of a |
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about a |
field |
social group |
single case or |
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phenomenon |
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multiple cases |
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Data |
• Primary |
• Long interviews |
• Interviews with |
• Primarily |
• Multiple |
Collection |
interviews and |
with up to 10 |
20-50 |
observations |
sources |
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documents |
people |
individuals to |
and interviews |
including |
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“saturate” |
with additional |
documents, |
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categories and |
artifacts during |
archival records, |
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detail a theory |
extended time in |
interviews, |
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the field |
observations, |
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• Physical |
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artifacts |
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Data |
• Stories |
• Statements |
• Open coding |
• Description |
• Description |
Analysis |
• Epiphanies |
• Meanings |
• Axial Coding |
• Analysis |
• Themes |
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• Historical |
• Meaning themes |
• Selective |
• Interpretation |
• Assertions |
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content |
• General |
Coding |
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description of the |
• Conditional |
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experience |
Matrix |
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Product of |
• Detailed picture |
• Description of the |
• Theory or |
• Description of |
• In-depth study |
the study |
of an individual’s |
“essence” of the |
theoretical |
the cultural |
of a “case” or |
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life |
experience |
model |
behavior of a |
“cases” |
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group or an |
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individual |
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What to look for when coding
•Coding is the process of combing the data for themes, ideas and categories and then
•marking similar passages of text with a code label so that they can easily be retrieved at a later stage for further comparison and analysis
•Coding the data makes it easier to search the data, to make comparisons and to identify any patterns that require further investigation.
Codes can be based on:…
•Themes, Topics
•Ideas, Concepts
•Terms, Phrases
•Keywords
…found in the data
Taylor, C and Gibbs, G R (2010) "How and what to code", Online QDA Web Site, |
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onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/how_what_to_code.php, 20.02.2012 |
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Approaches to starting coding
•start coding with themes identified from a priori ideas such as pre-existing theories
•Or new codes emerge from your data set (grounded theory).
A priori codes (can be identified from a range of sources):
•Previous research or theory
•Research or evaluation questions you are addressing
•Questions and topics from your interview schedule
Grounded codes
•emerge from the data because put aside prejudices, presuppositions and previous knowledge of the subject area and concentrate instead on finding new themes in the data
Taylor, C and Gibbs, G R (2010) "How and what to code", Online QDA Web Site, |
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onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/how_what_to_code.php, 20.02.2012 |
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Developing Codes 1
•typically, when coding, researchers have some codes already in mind and
•are also looking for other ideas that seem to arise out of the data
•When coding in this second, open minded manner, Charmaz (2003:94-95, writing in the grounded theory tradition) suggests to ask the following questions about the data one is coding:
•What is going on?
•What are people doing?
•What is the person saying?
•What do these actions and statements take for granted?
•How do structure and context serve to support, maintain, impede or change these actions and statements?“
Taylor, C and Gibbs, G R (2010) "How and what to code", Online QDA Web Site, onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/how_what_to_code.php, 20.02.2012
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Developing Codes 2
NO. |
WHAT CAN BE CODED |
EXAMPLES |
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Behaviours, specific acts |
Seeking reassurance, |
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Bragging |
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Events – short once in a lifetime events or things |
Wedding day, day |
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people have done that are often told as a story. |
moved out of home |
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for university, starting |
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first job |
3 |
Activities – these are of a longer duration, involv e other |
Going clubbing, |
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people within a particular setting |
attending a night |
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course, conservation |
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work |
4 |
Strategies, practice or tactics |
Being nasty to get |
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dumped, |
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Staying late at work to |
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get promotion |
5States – general conditions experienced by people o r found in organisations
Table: Types of phenomena that can be coded (Adapted from Bogdan and Biklen, 1992; Strauss, 1987; Mason, 1996; and Gibbs, 2006), in: Taylor, C and Gibbs, G R (2010) "How and what to code", Online QDA Web Site, www.onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/how_what_to_code.php, 20.02.2012
Hopelessness “I’ll never meet anyone better at my age” settling for someone who is not really suitable 10