IB HL Paper 3 - Qualitative Research Methods

Question	Answer
IB HL Paper 3 Qualitative Research Methods	Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative data.
What is quantitative data?	- Numbers that are easy to summarise and run statistical analysis on. - Easily comparable between pps and conditions from the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. - Meant for generalisation beyond the sample.
What is qualitative data?	- Gathered from direct interaction with pps (interview/observations) - Consists of text, could be notes from field observations, transcripts of interview, or pps written accounts - Text should be open-ended rather than closed - 'Rich data' = detailed and open to interpretation meaning it's not easily analysed - Theories can be created based on this research
IB HL Paper 3 Qualitative Research Methods	Explain strengths and limitations of a qualitative approach to research.
What are qualitative researchers concerned with and who/where do they usually research?	- Meaning, i.e. how people make sense of the world. - They usually investigate people in their own environment, preferably naturally occurring situations rather than controlled ones
What are the strengths of qualitative data?	- Provides rich data including in-depth descriptions of experiences, giving explanations and meanings - Can be very useful when investigating complex and sensitive issues such as sexuality and violence in relationships - Can explain phenomena, rather than merely recording whether it happened/how often it happens - Can be used as a basis to create new theories/ideas and to overcome problems - Tends to have higher validity as people are studied in their natural environment
What are the limitations of qualitative data?	- Time consuming to generate large amounts of data - Data analysis can be difficult due to the amount of data collected and that there's no one strategy to analyse the data with - Interpretation of data's subjective, same interview could be interpreted in different ways depending on theoretical viewpoint
IB HL Paper 3 Qualitative Research Methods	To what extent can findings be generalised from qualitative studies?
What debate is there surrounding qualitative data?	If it should be generalisable. Some Psychologists believe that the strength of qualitative research research is that it's so context dependent, and that it should not be relevant to other situations, however others believe it's massively important that research can be generalised.
What are the three types of generalisation?	Representational, Inferential and Theoretical.
What is Representational Generalisation?	The extent to which the findings from qualitative research can be applied to populations beyond the sample and/or target population of the research.
What is Inferential Generalisation?	If the finding can be applied beyond the settings of the study. This' also referred to as 'transferability' or 'External Validity.' Whether or not the findings can be transferred to another setting will depend on the depth of the description of the researched context and the phenomenon.
What is Theoretical Generalisation?	The extent to which theoretical concepts derived from the research can be used to develop further theory. Findings from research could lead to wider social theory and lead to social change.
IB HL Paper 3 Qualitative Research Methods	Discuss ethical considerations in qualitative research.
What usual ethics apply still?	Protection of pps from psychological/physical harm, respect for pps and right to withdraw.
Why is Protecting Pps from Harm a specific ethical issue related to qualitative research?	The nature of this method, e.g. in-depth interviews, means pps may dislike private info, meaning that a good rapport has been built up between interviewer and ppt and the ppt may be happy to dislike that info at the time, but the ppt may regret this when the interviewers gone.
How can this be avoided?	The researcher being clear of the topics to be addressed prior to the research taking place, by obtaining full consent. The researcher should also ensure if sensitive issues are addressed in the course of the interview that the researcher should try to return to less sensitive topics towards the end.
Why is Anonymity and Confidentiality a specific ethical issue related to qualitative research?	The identity of the pps shouldn't be known beyond the research team, but if this isn't possible then pps should be informed. Research data shouldn't be made known to anyone outside the study. Minor details may need to be changed in a report to prevent the possibility of the pps being recognised. Confidentiality also refers to the way that data's stored after the research, e.g. if interviews are recorded, these recordings should be destroyed once the transcribing process is completed.
IB HL Paper 3 Qualitative Research Methods	Discuss sampling techniques appropriate to qualitative research.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Random Sampling.	Every member of a target pop. has an equal chance of being selected. May be used infrequently with Qual. research as generalisation to large pop.'s not essential. - Provides the best chance of an unbiased representative sample of a target population. - The larger the pop. the harder it is to sample randomly so true random sampling's very rare.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Stratified Sampling.	Pop.'s divided into subcategories and then selecting members of these subcategories in the proportion that they occur in the target pop. - A deliberate effort's made to identify the characteristics of a sample most important for it to be representative of the pop. - Very time consuming since a lot of calculations are involved.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Opportunity/Convenience Sampling.	Where selected subjects that are around and available at the time. An effort may be made to not be biased in selecting particular types of subjects. - Quick, convenient and often the most economical method of sampling. It's therefore the most common type of sampling. - Very unrepresentative samples and often biased on the part of the research who may choose subjects that'll be 'helpful.'
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Self-Selected Sampling.	Individuals who have consciously or unconsciously determined their own involvement in the study. - Relatively convenient and, if volunteering is made on the basis of informed consent, ethical. The choice isn't biased. - Often unrepresentative because of bias on the part of the subject. Volunteers are unlike non-volunteers in many ways.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Snowball Sampling.	Existing pps recruit future pps from among their acquaintances. - Can yield large samples of pps through minimal effort. - Can lead to a biased sample, as those who have more friends are more likely to take part. Can also lead to homogenous samples, as people tend to have friends similar to themselves.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Purposive Sampling.	Researchers target a group of pps they wish to investigate, without attempting to be random. Where there;s limited numbers of the population, the entire pop. may be used. - Convenient as obtaining pps is less time consuming. - Samples aren;t easily defensible as being representative of populations due to potential subjectivity of researcher.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Cluster Sampling.	Random samples of successive clusters of subjects until small groups are chosen as units. - Possible to select randomly when no single list of pop. members exists, but local lists do; data collected on groups may avoid introduction of confounding by isolating members. - Clusters in a level must be equivalent and some natural ones aren't for essential characteristics.
Summary, advantages & disadvantages of Quota Sampling.	Selects individuals as they come to fill a quota by characteristics proportional to pop.'s - ensures selection of adequate numbers of subjects with appropriate characteristics. - Not possible to prove that the sample's representative of designated pop.
IB HL Paper 3 Qualitative Research Methods	Explain reflexivity in qualitative research.
What is reflexivity based on?	The assumption that it's important that the research is aware of their own contribution to the construction of meaning in the research process.
What are the two types of reflexivity?	Personal and Epistemiological
What is Personal Reflexivity?	Involves reflecting on the ways in which factors such as the researcher's values, beliefs, experiences, interests and political commitment have influences on the research, This involves the researcher considering how they have personally affect the research.
What is Epistemiological Reflexivity?	Reflecting on the ways in which knowledge has been collected or created in the study. This involves questioning the research question identified, the research approach and the way in which the data was analysed among other aspects.
What is the importance of reflexivity to psychologists?	Psychologists differ in the extent to which they place importance on reflexivity. Some place more importance on one or the other form of reflexivity.

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IB HL Paper 3 - Qualitative Research Methods

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