Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences

by Berg, Bruce L.

• ISBN13: 9780205628070
• ISBN10: 0205628079
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

This text shows novice researchers how to design, collect, and analyze qualitative data and then present their results to the scientific community. It also stresses the importance of ethics in research and taking the time to properly design and think through any research endeavor.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Quantitative Versus Qualitative Schools of Thought	p. 2
Use of Triangulation in Research Methodology	p. 5
Qualitative Strategies: Defining an Orientation	p. 8
From a Symbolic Interactionist Perspective	p. 9
Why Use Qualitative Methods?	p. 15
A Plan of Presentation	p. 16
References	p. 17
Designing Qualitative Research	p. 21
Theory and Concepts	p. 21
Ideas and Theory	p. 23
Reviewing the Literature	p. 27
Evaluating Web Sites	p. 29
The Two-Card Method	p. 32
Theory, Reality, and the Social World	p. 36
Framing Research Problems	p. 37
Operationalization and Conceptualization	p. 38
Designing Projects	p. 41
Concept Mapping	p. 42
Creating a Concept Map	p. 45
Setting and Population Appropriateness	p. 46
Sampling Strategies	p. 48
Data Collection and Organization	p. 52
Data Storage, Retrieval, and Analysis	p. 53
Dissemination	p. 55
Trying It Out	p. 56
References	p. 56
Ethical Issues	p. 60
Research Ethics in Historical Perspective	p. 61
From Guidelines to Law: Regulations on the Research Process	p. 67
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)	p. 68
IRBs and Their Duties	p. 69
Clarifying the Role of IRBs	p. 72
Active Versus Passive Consent	p. 74
Active Versus Passive Consent in Internet Research	p. 76
Membership Criteria for IRBs	p. 77
Ethical Codes	p. 78
Some Common Ethical Concerns in Behavioral Research	p. 78
Covert Versus Overt Researcher Roles	p. 80
New Areas for Ethical Concern: Cyberspace	p. 84
Protection for Children	p. 85
Debriefing the Subjects	p. 86
Informed Consent and Implied Consent	p. 87
Confidentiality and Anonymity	p. 90
Keeping Identifying Records	p. 91
Strategies for Safeguarding Confidentiality	p. 91
Securing the Data	p. 92
Objectivity and Careful Research Design	p. 93
Trying It Out	p. 95
References	p. 95
A Dramaturgical Look at Interviewing	p. 101
Dramaturgy and Interviewing	p. 102
Types of Interviews	p. 104
The Standardized Interview	p. 105
The Unstandardized Interview	p. 106
The Semistandardized Interview	p. 107
The Interview Schedule	p. 109
Schedule Development	p. 111
Question Order (Sequencing), Content, and Style	p. 112
Communicating Effectively	p. 116
A Few Common Problems in Question Formulation	p. 117
Affectively Worded Questions	p. 117
The Double-Barreled Question	p. 118
Complex Questions	p. 118
Pretesting the Schedule	p. 119
Long Versus Short Interviews	p. 119
Telephone Interviews	p. 121
Advantages of the Telephone Interview	p. 123
Disadvantages of the Telephone Interview	p. 123
Computer Assisted Interviewing	p. 123
Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)	p. 124
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)	p. 125
Web-Based In-Depth Interviews	p. 125
Conducting an Interview: A Natural or an Unnatural Communication?	p. 127
The Dramaturgical Interview	p. 128
Interviewer Roles and Rapport	p. 130
The Role of the Interviewee	p. 132
The Interviewer as a Self-Conscious Performer	p. 132
Social Interpretations and the Interviewer	p. 133
The Interviewer's Repertoire	p. 136
Interviewers' Attitudes and Persuading a Subject	p. 139
Developing an Interviewer Repertoire	p. 140
Techniques to Get New Researchers Started	p. 141
Taking the Show on the Road	p. 142
The Ten Commandments of Interviewing	p. 143
Know Your Audience	p. 144
Curtain Calls	p. 146
Analyzing Data Obtained from the Dramaturgical Interview	p. 146
Beginning an Analysis	p. 147
Systematic Filing Systems	p. 147
Short-Answer Sheets	p. 149
Analysis Procedures: A Concluding Remark	p. 149
Trying It Out	p. 150
Notes	p. 151
References	p. 152
Focus Group Interviewing	p. 158
What are Focus Group Interviews?	p. 158
The Moderator's Role	p. 159
Some Problems to Avoid in Focus Group Interviewing	p. 160
The Evolution of Focus Group Interviews	p. 163
Advantages and Disadvantages of Focus Group Interviewing	p. 165
Focus Group Interviewing and Face-to-Face Interviewing	p. 166
Focus Group Interviewing and Participant Observation	p. 168
Focus Group Interviewing and Unobtrusive Measures	p. 169
Facilitating Focus Group Dynamics: How Focus Groups Work	p. 172
The Moderator's Guide	p. 172
Introduction and Introductory Activities	p. 173
Statement of the Basic Rules or Guidelines for the Interview	p. 173
Short Question-and-Answer Discussions	p. 174
Special Activities or Exercises	p. 174
Guidance for Dealing with Sensitive Issues	p. 175
Basic Ingredients in Focus Groups	p. 175
Analyzing Focus Group Data	p. 180
Confidentiality and Focus Group Interviews	p. 181
Recent Trends in Focus Groups: Online Focus Groups	p. 183
Conclusion	p. 184
Trying It Out	p. 185
Notes	p. 185
References	p. 186
Ethnographic Field Strategies	p. 190
Accessing a Field Setting: Getting In	p. 194
Reflectivity and Ethnography	p. 198
Critical Ethnography	p. 198
The Attitude of the Ethnographer	p. 200
The Researcher's Voice	p. 200
Gaining Entry	p. 204
Becoming Invisible	p. 207
Dangers of Invisibility	p. 209
Other Dangers During Ethnographic Research	p. 211
Watching, Listening, and Learning	p. 213
How to Learn: What to Watch and Listen For	p. 215
Field Notes	p. 218
Computers and Ethnography	p. 225
OnLine Ethnography	p. 226
Analyzing Ethnographic Data	p. 228
Other Analysis Strategies: Typologies, Sociograms, and Metaphors	p. 230
Typologies	p. 230
Sociograms	p. 232
Metaphors	p. 236
Disengaging: Getting Out	p. 236
Trying It Out	p. 238
References	p. 238
Action Research	p. 246
The Basics of Action Research	p. 251
Identifying the Research Question(s)	p. 253
Gathering the Information to Answer the Question(s)	p. 254
Analyzing and Interpreting the Information	p. 254
Procedures for Using Interview and Ethnographic Data	p. 255
Guiding Questions of Analysis: Why, What, How, Who, Where, When?	p. 255
Descriptive Accounts and Reports	p. 256
Sharing the Results with the Participants	p. 256
When to Use and When Not to Use Action Research	p. 257
The Action Researcher's Role	p. 258
Types of Action Research	p. 258
Technical/Scientific/Collaborative Mode	p. 259
A Practical/Mutual Collaborative/Deliberate Mode	p. 259
Emancipating or Empowering/Enhancing/Critical Science Mode	p. 260
Photovoice and Action Research	p. 261
The Goals in Photovoice	p. 262
Action Research: A Reiteration	p. 263
Trying It Out	p. 264
References	p. 265
Unobtrusive Measures in Research	p. 268
Archival Strategies	p. 271
Public Archives	p. 271
Private Archives: Solicited and Unsolicited Documents	p. 282
A Last Remark about Archival Records	p. 286
Physical Erosion and accretion: Human Traces as Data Sources	p. 287
Erosion Measures	p. 287
Accretion Measures	p. 288
Some Final Remarks about Physical Traces	p. 289
Trying It Out	p. 290
References	p. 290
Historiography and Oral Traditions	p. 296
What Is Historical Research?	p. 296
Life Histories and Historiography	p. 300
What Are the Sources of Data of Historical Researchers?	p. 300
Doing Historiography: Tracing Written History as Data	p. 301
External Criticism	p. 303
Internal Criticism	p. 307
What Are Oral Histories?	p. 309
Trying It Out	p. 313
References	p. 313
Case Studies	p. 317
The Nature of Case Studies	p. 317
Theory and Case Studies	p. 319
The Individual Case Study	p. 322
The Use of Interview Data	p. 322
The Use of Personal Documents	p. 324
Intrinsic, Instrumental, and Collective Case Studies	p. 325
Case Study Design Types	p. 326
Exploratory Case Studies	p. 327
Explanatory Case Studies	p. 327
Descriptive Case Studies	p. 327
The Scientific Benefit of Case Studies	p. 329
Objectivity and the Case Method	p. 329
Generalizability	p. 330
Case Studies of Organizations	p. 330
Case Studies of Communities	p. 331
Data Collection for Community Case Studies	p. 332
Community Groups and Interests	p. 333
Trying It Out	p. 334
References	p. 335
An Introduction to Content Analysis	p. 338
What is Content Analysis?	p. 338
Analysis of Qualitative Data	p. 339
Interpretative Approaches	p. 339
Social Anthropological Approaches	p. 339
Collaborative Social Research Approaches	p. 340
Content Analysis as a Technique	p. 341
Content Analysis: Quantitative or Qualitative?	p. 342
Manifest Versus Latent Content Analysis	p. 343
Blending Manifest and Latent Content Analysis Strategies	p. 344
Communication Components	p. 345
What to Count: Levels and Units of Analysis	p. 346
Category Development: Building Grounded Theory	p. 346
What to Count	p. 348
Combinations of Elements	p. 349
Units and Categories	p. 350
Classes and Categories	p. 351
Discourse Analysis and Content Analysis	p. 352
Open Coding	p. 353
Coding Frames	p. 356
A Few More Words on Analytic Induction	p. 358
Interrogative Hypothesis Testing	p. 360
Stages in the Content Analysis Process	p. 362
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Content Analysis Process	p. 364
Computers and Qualitative Analysis	p. 366
Word Processors	p. 368
Text Retrievers	p. 368
Textbase Managers	p. 368
Code-and-Retrieve Programs	p. 368
Code-Based Theory Builders	p. 369
Conceptual Network Builders	p. 369
Qualitative Research at the Speed of Light	p. 371
Trying It Out	p. 372
References	p. 373
Writing Research Papers: Sorting the Noodles from the Soup	p. 378
Plagiarism: What It Is, Why It's Bad, and How to Avoid It	p. 379
Why Plagiarism Occurs	p. 379
How to Avoid Plagiarism	p. 380
Identifying the Purpose of the Writing: Arranging the Noodles	p. 382
Delineating a Supportive Structure: Visual Signals for the Reader	p. 383
The Title	p. 386
The Abstract	p. 386
The Introduction	p. 387
Literature Review	p. 388
Methodology	p. 390
Findings or Results	p. 392
Discussion/Conclusion	p. 392
References, Notes, and Appendices	p. 393
Presenting Research Material	p. 396
Disseminating the Research: Professional Meetings and Publications	p. 396
A Word About the Content of Papers and Articles	p. 400
Write It, Rewrite It, Then Write It Again!	p. 400
A Few Writing Hints	p. 402
A Final Note	p. 404
Notes	p. 405
References	p. 406
Name Index	p. 408
Subject Index	p. 413
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