Summary Chapter 1 Project QRMA:
Considering quantitative or qualitative research:
Theory is viewed as an attempt to describe, understand and explain a certain social
phenomenon.
In quantitative research a deductive process is employed, which means that theory is the
starting point for formulating hypotheses that will be tested in research.
In qualitative research inductive thinking is paramount, which means that a social
phenomenon is explored in order to find empirical patterns that can function as the
beginning of a theory.
A paradigm is a framework for thinking about research design, measurement, analysis and
personal involvement that is share by members of a speciality area.
The nature of social reality, ontology, attempts to answer the question whether the social
world is regarded as something external to social actors or a something that people are in
the process of fashioning.
The nature of knowledge, epistemology, is concerned with whether there is one single route
to truth or that diverse methods are need to grasp the meaning of social experience.
Defining and delineating qualitative research in this book:
The purpose of qualitative research is to describe and understand social phenomena in
terms of the meaning people bring to them.
The research questions are studied through flexible methods enabling contact with the
people involved to an extent that is necessary to grasp what is going on in the field.
The methods produce rich, descriptive data that need to be interpreted through the
identification and coding of themes and categories leading to findings that can contribute to
theoretical knowledge and practical use.
Summary Chapter 2 Project QRMA:
Planning a research project:
A research proposal needs to answer the following questions:
o What is being researched?
o Why is this subject examined?
o How will this be done?
o Where will the study take place?
Literature review:
Definitive concepts have a fixed content that is reflected by its measure.
Sensitizing concepts start out with a broad and general description and as such they can
function as the researcher’s lens through which to view the field of research.
Research question:
Descriptive questions deal with the ‘what’ of social phenomena, while explanatory questions
deal with the ‘why’ of these phenomena.
,Research purpose:
Applied research aims to resolve an unwanted situation or improve an already functioning
situation.
Legitimizing the choice for qualitative research:
Exploration: when a study has an explorative nature you need methods with a maximum of
explorative power.
Description: qualitative methods offer the opportunity for participants to describe the
subject of study in their own words and to do so largely on their own conditions.
Explanation: qualitative methods can lead to an interpretive rendering of the studied
phenomenon.
Change: since qualitative methods are flexible and cyclical, they can be adjusted to the field
and measure possibly important decisions and subtle activities that could have major
consequences.
Use: qualitative methods hold the promise to yield findings that reflect the participants’
perspective and that fit the substantive field.
Sensitivity: qualitative researchers often choose to examine other people’s experiences and
emotions.
Purposive sampling:
A sample consists of the cases that will be examined and are selected from a defined
research population.
One form of purposive sampling is suitable for qualitative research, which is informed a
priori by an existing body of social theory on which the research questions are based.
The other form is theoretical sampling, designed to generate theory which is grounded in
the data, rather than established in advance of the fieldwork.
Summary Chapter 3 Project QRMA:
Informed consent:
This is the obligation to outline fully the nature of the data collection and the purpose for
which the data will be used to the people or community being studied in a style and
language that they can understand.
Privacy:
Refers to the interest of individuals to control the access that others have to them, they
decide to whom they give information and that researchers mat not disclose such
information to others.
Confidentiality and anonymity:
Confidentiality concerns data and agreement as to how the data are to ne handled in the
research in order to ensure privacy.
Anonymity means that participants’ names and other unique identifiers are not attached to
the data.
Professional standards:
, Is this good science? What are the benefits, costs and risks for participants? What are the
benefits, costs and risks for the participating organization?
Risk in qualitative research:
Dragging it all up: has to do with raking up emotions and possible causing psychological
harm.
Exploitation: refers to research that will not produce meaningful results and needlessly
exposes participant to risk and inconvenience.
Coercion: vulnerable groups should not only give assent themselves, but an advocate should
also.
Sanctions: research participants must be assured through informed consent that their
identities will remain confidential.
Benefits of participation:
Feeling relieved: many participants acknowledge feeling better after having participated in a
qualitative research project.
Being a worthwhile participant: the overall experience of being a research participant is
often evaluated positively.
Helping others: participants can be motivated to join the research if they believe that their
experiences may help others.
Benefits in institutional research: institutions participating in research might consider it as a
way to improve their services or environment.
Summary Chapter 4 Project QRMA:
Data:
Data are produced in a specific context with a specific aim, and this will colour them in some
way.
Data depend on the participant’s ability to reflectively distinguish aspects of their own
thoughts, ideas, observations and experiences and to effectively communicate what they
perceive through language.
Participant observation:
The process in which an investigator establishes and sustains a many-sided and relatively
long-term relationship with a human association in its natural setting for the purpose of
developing a scientific understanding of their association.
It is particularly useful when: little is known about the phenomenon, views of insiders and
outsiders are opposed or stereotyped, the phenomenon is somehow hidden from the view
of outsiders.
o What people do: cultural behaviour such as events and interactions.
o What people know: cultural knowledge and opinions.
o What people create and use: cultural artefacts.
The qualitative interview:
Considering quantitative or qualitative research:
Theory is viewed as an attempt to describe, understand and explain a certain social
phenomenon.
In quantitative research a deductive process is employed, which means that theory is the
starting point for formulating hypotheses that will be tested in research.
In qualitative research inductive thinking is paramount, which means that a social
phenomenon is explored in order to find empirical patterns that can function as the
beginning of a theory.
A paradigm is a framework for thinking about research design, measurement, analysis and
personal involvement that is share by members of a speciality area.
The nature of social reality, ontology, attempts to answer the question whether the social
world is regarded as something external to social actors or a something that people are in
the process of fashioning.
The nature of knowledge, epistemology, is concerned with whether there is one single route
to truth or that diverse methods are need to grasp the meaning of social experience.
Defining and delineating qualitative research in this book:
The purpose of qualitative research is to describe and understand social phenomena in
terms of the meaning people bring to them.
The research questions are studied through flexible methods enabling contact with the
people involved to an extent that is necessary to grasp what is going on in the field.
The methods produce rich, descriptive data that need to be interpreted through the
identification and coding of themes and categories leading to findings that can contribute to
theoretical knowledge and practical use.
Summary Chapter 2 Project QRMA:
Planning a research project:
A research proposal needs to answer the following questions:
o What is being researched?
o Why is this subject examined?
o How will this be done?
o Where will the study take place?
Literature review:
Definitive concepts have a fixed content that is reflected by its measure.
Sensitizing concepts start out with a broad and general description and as such they can
function as the researcher’s lens through which to view the field of research.
Research question:
Descriptive questions deal with the ‘what’ of social phenomena, while explanatory questions
deal with the ‘why’ of these phenomena.
,Research purpose:
Applied research aims to resolve an unwanted situation or improve an already functioning
situation.
Legitimizing the choice for qualitative research:
Exploration: when a study has an explorative nature you need methods with a maximum of
explorative power.
Description: qualitative methods offer the opportunity for participants to describe the
subject of study in their own words and to do so largely on their own conditions.
Explanation: qualitative methods can lead to an interpretive rendering of the studied
phenomenon.
Change: since qualitative methods are flexible and cyclical, they can be adjusted to the field
and measure possibly important decisions and subtle activities that could have major
consequences.
Use: qualitative methods hold the promise to yield findings that reflect the participants’
perspective and that fit the substantive field.
Sensitivity: qualitative researchers often choose to examine other people’s experiences and
emotions.
Purposive sampling:
A sample consists of the cases that will be examined and are selected from a defined
research population.
One form of purposive sampling is suitable for qualitative research, which is informed a
priori by an existing body of social theory on which the research questions are based.
The other form is theoretical sampling, designed to generate theory which is grounded in
the data, rather than established in advance of the fieldwork.
Summary Chapter 3 Project QRMA:
Informed consent:
This is the obligation to outline fully the nature of the data collection and the purpose for
which the data will be used to the people or community being studied in a style and
language that they can understand.
Privacy:
Refers to the interest of individuals to control the access that others have to them, they
decide to whom they give information and that researchers mat not disclose such
information to others.
Confidentiality and anonymity:
Confidentiality concerns data and agreement as to how the data are to ne handled in the
research in order to ensure privacy.
Anonymity means that participants’ names and other unique identifiers are not attached to
the data.
Professional standards:
, Is this good science? What are the benefits, costs and risks for participants? What are the
benefits, costs and risks for the participating organization?
Risk in qualitative research:
Dragging it all up: has to do with raking up emotions and possible causing psychological
harm.
Exploitation: refers to research that will not produce meaningful results and needlessly
exposes participant to risk and inconvenience.
Coercion: vulnerable groups should not only give assent themselves, but an advocate should
also.
Sanctions: research participants must be assured through informed consent that their
identities will remain confidential.
Benefits of participation:
Feeling relieved: many participants acknowledge feeling better after having participated in a
qualitative research project.
Being a worthwhile participant: the overall experience of being a research participant is
often evaluated positively.
Helping others: participants can be motivated to join the research if they believe that their
experiences may help others.
Benefits in institutional research: institutions participating in research might consider it as a
way to improve their services or environment.
Summary Chapter 4 Project QRMA:
Data:
Data are produced in a specific context with a specific aim, and this will colour them in some
way.
Data depend on the participant’s ability to reflectively distinguish aspects of their own
thoughts, ideas, observations and experiences and to effectively communicate what they
perceive through language.
Participant observation:
The process in which an investigator establishes and sustains a many-sided and relatively
long-term relationship with a human association in its natural setting for the purpose of
developing a scientific understanding of their association.
It is particularly useful when: little is known about the phenomenon, views of insiders and
outsiders are opposed or stereotyped, the phenomenon is somehow hidden from the view
of outsiders.
o What people do: cultural behaviour such as events and interactions.
o What people know: cultural knowledge and opinions.
o What people create and use: cultural artefacts.
The qualitative interview:
