International Journal of Qualitative Methods: ARCHIVE
Not a member yet
403 research outputs found
Sort by
Working Through Challenges in Doing Interview Research
No full textRecent methodological work that draws on a ‘constructionist’ approach to interviewing – conceptualizes the interview as a socially-situated encounter in which both interviewer and interviewee play active roles. This approach takes the construction of interview data as a topic of examination. This article adopts the view that close examination of how particular interactions are accomplished provides additional insights into not only the topics discussed, but also how research design and methods might be modified to meet the needs of projects. Focus is specifically given to investigation of sequences observed as puzzling or challenging during interviews, or via interview data that emerged as problematic in the analysis process. How might close analyses of these sorts of sequences be used to inform research design and interview methods? The article explores (1) how problematic interactions identified in the analysis of focus group data can lead to modifications in research design, (2) an approach to dealing with reported data in representations of findings, and (3) how data analysis can inform question formulation in successive rounds of data generation. Findings from these types of examinations of interview data generation and analysis are valuable for informing both interview practice as well as research design in further research
Email as a Data Collection Tool when Interviewing Older Adults
No full textThis article explores several aspects of electronic communication, specifically its advantages and disadvantages within the context of a brief experience using email to interview elders. Two older adults participated via email as the psychosocial impact of aging was collected using such venue. Our experiences are compared with published reports from others to analyze the benefits and limitations of email as a research tool. The email was spontaneous, comprehensive, interactive, efficient, confidential, and cost effective. The use of email within this exploratory study appeared to be an effective approach to collecting qualitative information about beliefs and behaviours from older adults who feel comfortable with this form of communication. The lack of similar studies limited the scope of discussion and comparison of findings; generalization is limited due to the small sample size. This investigation, however, suggested that the use of email as an interview tool may be considered in today’s exploratory research arena as an alternative to conference calls or face-to-face interviews when time is a constraint
Duration, Dominance and Depth in Telephone and Face-to-Face Interviews: A Comparative Exploration
No full textTraditionally, methodological textbooks have advised that the telephone mode is not well suited to the task of qualitative interviewing. At the same time, there are well-rehearsed arguments as to why telephone interviews may be a useful option in some circumstances. Despite this debate, there remains very limited systematic empirical exploration of differences in the process and outcomes of qualitative telephone vs. face-to-face interviews. Based on a recent ‘mode comparison’ study that sought to contribute to this gap in methodological knowledge, analysis of the overall duration, dominance and depth of talk between researcher and participant in a small set of telephone and face-to-face interviews revealed the following findings. (i) Despite much variation in individual interview length, telephone interviews were typically, and on average, shorter than those conducted face-to-face. (ii) The shorter duration of telephone interviews was a result of the participant speaking for less time, rather than a proportional reduction in talk from both parties. Additionally, in telephone interviews, participants generally held the floor for shorter stretches at a time. (iii) The researcher did slightly more talking during telephone interviews than in face-to-face interactions. Combined with the reduced amount of participant talk, this meant that the researcher tended to hold the floor for a greater proportion of the time in telephone interviews. (iv) To a moderate degree, the shorter length of telephone interviews could be accounted for by a reduction in coverage of themes. However, the principal explanation appeared to lie in a tendency for telephone interview participants to provide relatively less detail or elaboration. In this article, we consider why these differences may occur, if and how they might matter to the research, and how we might wish to modify interview practices in response
The Evocative Power of Projective Techniques for the Elicitation of Meaning
No full textA unique project was undertaken by doctoral and postdoctoral students, and their mentor, from diverse backgrounds in health and social sciences to explore their past experiences as participants in a qualitative research training initiative called EQUIPP (Enhancing Qualitative Understanding of Illness Processes and Prevention). The purpose of the project was to create a symbolic representation of the EQUIPP program through the use of projective techniques. The authors examined the meaning of engaging in qualitative research training through images and conceptual metaphors that were subsequently consolidated thematically and then portrayed in the form of a newly constructed logo that was developed with the assistance of a professional graphic designer. Projective techniques proved to be a powerful, evocative tool for eliciting meaning and translating concrete experiences into visual discourse. In this paper, the authors discuss how projective techniques were operationalized and consider their broad implications for qualitative research
Contextual Reflexivity: Towards Contextually Relevant Research with South African HIV/AIDS Home-Based Care Volunteers
No full textWhat are the processes through which researchers understand context and its value in the qualitative research process? This is an important question for researchers to consider and is especially pertinent in non-Western environments where Western research precepts have traditionally been followed. This article proposes that continually addressing ethics in practice (ethical reflexivity) and maintaining methodological reflexivity keeps the researcher on the path to a deeper and broader perspective of the contextual salience of emerging data. The combination of the latter, which is referred to as ‘contextual reflexivity,’ produces an iterative-reflective-generative process, consistent with an Afrocentric view on research. This process includes ethical reflection on research activity beyond institutional requirements, as well as inter-relational reflexivity. Field material and reflective research journal extracts from a study on HIV/AIDS home-based care and support volunteers’ (HBCVs) identity provide illustration of this process in practice
Focus Groups as Transformative Spiritual Encounters
No full textFocus groups are a valuable method for exploring the construction and negotiation of meanings. In her doctoral research the author explored how Australian women’s experiences of menstruation, birth, and spirituality are invested with meaning and how that meaning influences and shapes those experiences. The focus group has been described as a potentially liminal space, which enables the discussion of taboo subjects by breaking the ice and giving people permission to comment. In addition, she discovered that the groups could be occasions of empowerment and transformation for both participants and researcher. In a way that far exceeded her expectations, the group format was ideally suited to feminist research and the organic inquiry methodology she used. Some groups became deeply spiritual encounters that were nourishing and transformative for all. This article explores how focus groups can be vehicles of spiritual transformation, examining one group in particular to highlight the points raised
Summative Analysis: A New Qualitative Method for Social Science and Health Research
No full textIn this paper the author describes a new qualitative analytic technique that she has been perfecting across a range of health research studies. She describes the summative analysis method, which is a group, collaborative analytic technique that concentrates on consensus-building activities, illustrating its use within a study of Holocaust survivor testimony that aimed to clarify how health and well-being were presented in Holocaust testimonials and what that might reveal about professional perceptions of trauma suffering. The author contextualizes the four stages of summative analysis with data from one Holocaust survivor’s health interviews. The Holocaust study is briefly described, as is the survivor’s background and experiences during the war. The author reflects on the study data and offers examples of individual and group analysis exercises to represent the method in practice. The author concludes with a consideration of the wider uses and implications of summative analysis within health and social scientific contexts
Adding Theoretical Grounding to Grounded Theory: Toward Multi-Grounded Theory
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to challenge some of the cornerstones of the grounded theory approach and propose an extended and alternative approach for data analysis and theory development, which the authors call multi-grounded theory (MGT). A multi-grounded theory is not only empirically grounded; it is also grounded in other ways. Three different grounding processes are acknowledged: theoretical, empirical, and internal grounding. The authors go beyond the pure inductivist approach in GT and add the explicit use of external theories. A working procedure of theory development in MGT is presented, which can be seen as an extension of the grounded theory approach
Being an “Insider”: Implications for Enhancing the Rigor of Analysis
No full textDespite the prevalence of the transcription of language data in qualitative research, few published studies provide insight into how the transcription process is negotiated. The purpose of this article is to describe unique challenges to quality transcription faced by a “relative insider” by reflexively exploring the research process (in particular the researcher’s position) and to explicate the implications for transcription quality and research rigor/trustworthiness. Inaccuracies within transcripts created by discrepancies between participants’ intended meaning and the researcher’s/transcriptionist’s interpretation can compromise the rigor of one’s findings. Therefore, when conducting research among speakers of regional dialects, researchers/transcriptionists should plan how issues related to interviewing and particularly to transcription will be negotiated