BSNS 112: Qualitative Final Exam and
All Correct Answers
paradigm - Answer A comprehensive belief system, world view or framework that guides
research and practice
Why do we need to understand paradigm? - Answer When we do research, we make many
assumptions about fundamental issues such as the nature of truth and what it means to know
Ontology - Answer concerned with the nature of reality
Epistemology** - Answer Concerned with what we can know about reality
**Episteme = knowledge
Interpretivism - Answer - Focus is on interpreting that particulate context, not universal
- Different contexts = different answers
qualitative data - Answer Describes something
Examines quality of phenom to answer question
Allows for deeper, more complex understandings
Qualitative methods are used to help researchers.... - Answer - understand people + what
they say and do
- understand social + cultural contexts in which we live + behave
- understand phenomena from informants pov (emic/insider)
- gather rich descriptions + dig deeper, beyond superficial explainations
Qualitative research tends to: - Answer - Answer a research question rather than test a
hypothesis
- Seldom looks at effectiveness of an intervention
- Examines perceptions, actions, feelings of participants
- Obtains detailed information from interviews, content analysis, or observations
Qualitative research focuses on: - Answer - Exploratory research questions
- Human behaviour in natural settings (not a lab)
, - Data are: written or spoken words + observation
Model - Answer Framework for looking at reality
Concept - Answer General idea/notion/theme (derived from a model)
Method - Answer Specific research technique
Methodology - Answer General approach to studying research topics
Qualitative methods are adopted by researched who seek - Answer - Alternative methods for
evaluating a phenomena (emotions, motivations, feelings, ethics, political issues, multi-voiced
texts)
- to understand constraints of everyday life
- to uncover intimate, difficult, nuanced issues
- to research new or little-explored aspects of life
Critics argue that qualitative research.... - Answer - fails to identify causal relationships
- cannot generalise findings to entire populations
- is flawed by personal bias (subjective)
Historical overview - Answer Quantification dominated social science research methods for
most of 20th century (per-2000)
Middle ages - Answer Reverence for knowledge of Greek + Roman scholars. Emphasis on
value of Christianity, Islam etc, as the source of truth about the world
Renaissance - Answer Experimentation and observation. Reliance on scientific methods
Enlightment - Answer Systematic scientific methods as a source of knowledge
Steps in the qualitative research process (8 steps) - Answer General research questions -
Select relevant sites/subjects - collect relevent data - interpret data - conceptual and theoretical
work - tighter specification of questions - collections of more data -(then repeat of steps from
interpret data) - write up the findings
Types of Sampling methods in QR - Answer - Quota
All Correct Answers
paradigm - Answer A comprehensive belief system, world view or framework that guides
research and practice
Why do we need to understand paradigm? - Answer When we do research, we make many
assumptions about fundamental issues such as the nature of truth and what it means to know
Ontology - Answer concerned with the nature of reality
Epistemology** - Answer Concerned with what we can know about reality
**Episteme = knowledge
Interpretivism - Answer - Focus is on interpreting that particulate context, not universal
- Different contexts = different answers
qualitative data - Answer Describes something
Examines quality of phenom to answer question
Allows for deeper, more complex understandings
Qualitative methods are used to help researchers.... - Answer - understand people + what
they say and do
- understand social + cultural contexts in which we live + behave
- understand phenomena from informants pov (emic/insider)
- gather rich descriptions + dig deeper, beyond superficial explainations
Qualitative research tends to: - Answer - Answer a research question rather than test a
hypothesis
- Seldom looks at effectiveness of an intervention
- Examines perceptions, actions, feelings of participants
- Obtains detailed information from interviews, content analysis, or observations
Qualitative research focuses on: - Answer - Exploratory research questions
- Human behaviour in natural settings (not a lab)
, - Data are: written or spoken words + observation
Model - Answer Framework for looking at reality
Concept - Answer General idea/notion/theme (derived from a model)
Method - Answer Specific research technique
Methodology - Answer General approach to studying research topics
Qualitative methods are adopted by researched who seek - Answer - Alternative methods for
evaluating a phenomena (emotions, motivations, feelings, ethics, political issues, multi-voiced
texts)
- to understand constraints of everyday life
- to uncover intimate, difficult, nuanced issues
- to research new or little-explored aspects of life
Critics argue that qualitative research.... - Answer - fails to identify causal relationships
- cannot generalise findings to entire populations
- is flawed by personal bias (subjective)
Historical overview - Answer Quantification dominated social science research methods for
most of 20th century (per-2000)
Middle ages - Answer Reverence for knowledge of Greek + Roman scholars. Emphasis on
value of Christianity, Islam etc, as the source of truth about the world
Renaissance - Answer Experimentation and observation. Reliance on scientific methods
Enlightment - Answer Systematic scientific methods as a source of knowledge
Steps in the qualitative research process (8 steps) - Answer General research questions -
Select relevant sites/subjects - collect relevent data - interpret data - conceptual and theoretical
work - tighter specification of questions - collections of more data -(then repeat of steps from
interpret data) - write up the findings
Types of Sampling methods in QR - Answer - Quota
