Summary Chapter 17 Bryman

Chapter 17

The nature of qualitative research


Introduction
Noteworthy features of qualitative research:

 Inductive view of the relationship between theory & research, whereby the former is
generated by the latter
 Epistemological position described as interpretivist
- In contrast to the adoption of a natural scientific model the stress is on the
understanding of the social world through an examination of the
interpretation of that world by its participants
 Ontological position described as constructionist
- Social properties are outcomes of the interactions between individuals,
rather than a phenomena ‘out there’

Why qualitative research is not straightforward (Bryman & Burgess 1999):

 As a term qualitative research is taken to imply an approach to social research in
which quantitative data are not collected or generated
 Qualitative research has compromised various traditions over time
 Sometimes, qualitative research is discussed in terms of the ways in which it differs
from quantitative research
o Addressed i.t.o what quantitative research is not

Postmodernism:

 Is at least two things
- An attempt to get to grips with the nature of modern society and culture
- It represents a way of thinking about & representing the nature of the social
sciences & their claims to knowledge
 Most influential in qualitative research when discussing the nature of ethnographic
accounts & questioning the ethnographer’s implicit claim that he/she has provided a
definitive account of society




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,Reasons for the unease among some writers concerning the nature of qualitative research:

1. Qualitative research subsumes several diverse research methods that differ from
each other considerably
 Main research methods
- Ethnography/participant observation
- Qualitative interviewing
- Focus groups
- Discourse analysis/conversation analysis
- Collection & qualitative analysis of texts & documents

2. The connection between theory & research is somewhat more ambiguous than in
quantitative research
 In qualitative research theory is supposed to be the outcome of the research




Main steps in qualitative research




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, Theory & research
Grounded theory:

 Theory that was derived from data, systematically gathered & analyzed through the
research process
 Two central features
o Concerned with the development of theory out of data
o Approach is iterative (data collection & analysis proceed in tandem,
repeatedly referring back to each other)
 Not a theory – it is an approach to the generation of theory out of data


Concepts in qualitative research
Definitive concepts:

 Idea of definitive concepts is typified by the way in which, in quantitative research, a
concepts, once developed becomes fixed through the elaboration of indicators

Blumer (1954):

 Recommended that social researchers should recognize that the concepts they use
are sensitizing concepts in that they provide a general sense of reference & guidance
in approaching empirical instances’
 Concepts should be employed in such a way that they give a very general sense of
what to look for & act as a means for uncovering the variety of forms that the
phenomena to which they refer can assume



Reliability & validity in qualitative research
Different stances:

1. Adapting reliability & validity for qualitative research
 To assimilate reliability & validity into qualitative research with little change of
meaning other than playing down the salience of measurement issues
 External reliability
- Degree to which a study can be replicated
- Difficult in qualitative research because it is impossible to ‘freeze’ a social
setting
- Strategies suggested: ethnographic researcher should adopt the same
social role as original researcher


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