Chapter 8 Qualitative Methods of Data Collection

While often it is possible to ‘quantify’ the findings of a study:

to count the number of events, or measure the extent to which
a variable is present or absent, or correlates with other
variables, sometimes such quantification is either not possible
or is not appropriate. In such situations, the quality of data is
more important than quantities. This is particularly the case
in the human and social sciences, where what is being
explored are human attributes such as attitudes, beliefs or
judgements. This chapter looks at how we can make such
explorations rigorous and systematic
Having successfully worked through this chapter, you will be
able to:
1. Recognise the advantages and disadvantages of
qualitative methods of research
2. Compare and contrast naturalistic and positivistic
approaches to research
3. Identify the main methods of qualitative data collection
4. Compare and contrast issues of validity and reliability in
quantitative and qualitative research.

Introduction
Qualitative methods are sometimes criticised (usually by
researchers committed to quantitative approaches to research)
as ‘woolly’, ‘unscientific’, ‘journalistic’ or simply a waste of
time and money. Poorly done, I would agree that qualitative
research could be all these things (as could any research).
As we will see in this chapter, the need to specify a research
question, to refine that question to make it feasible, to
identify concepts and indicators, and to find ways to
rigorously and systematically collect valid and reliable data
are all part of a qualitative methodology. In their detail they
may be quite different from quantitative approaches (for
example, inferential statistics play no part in qualitative data
analysis). The choice between quantitative and qualitative
approaches needs to be made by asking the questions:
• Which is the most appropriate method to use to answer my
research question?
• Which method is the most adequate to provide the data
which I need to collect?

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 In this chapter we will look at three methods of collecting
data:
Delphi Study • participant observation (including ethnography)
A methodology that
seeks to establish
• interview-based research, including focus groups and
consensus among consensus techniques such as Delphi methodology.
experts in a subject
• the study of documents, ‘discourse’, and material
culture
We will also touch the subject of action research, which
Discourse although not strictly a qualitative methodology, can best be
A term used to describe
considered here.
talk, but more
specifically , bodies of
knowledge in a culture
The nature of qualitative design
The purpose of qualitative methodology is to provide
rigorous designs to enable use to gather and interpret this data
on quality. Each of the methodologies we will consider
approaches this task in a different way, but the objective is
the same: to provide us with ways to understand the world
which add more than a purely quantitative approach can
achieve.
Three points are worth making:
First, it is a premise that qualitative methodology is not
intrinsically better or worse than a quantitative alternative.
The appropriateness of any methodology can be judged only
in relation to the research question that needs to be answered.
No methodology, from a randomised controlled trial to an
ethnographic study, should be selected for its own sake: the
merit of a methodology rests only upon its capacity to
generate answers to a specific research question.
Second, the need to specify a research question, to refine that
question to make it feasible, to identify concepts and
indicators, to find ways to rigorously and systematically
collect valid and reliable data, to analysis that data, and to
draw inferences or conclusions are all part of a qualitative
methodology. In their detail they will be quite different from
quantitative approaches (for example, inferential statistics
play no part in qualitative data analysis). But they are based
upon epistemological propositions concerning how to gain
knowledge of the world, and the designs have been
developed to generate ‘evidence’ just as have quantitative
methodologies. There is continuous methodological
innovation in qualitative research, and entire journals are
devoted to discussion and application of such techniques (for
example, the journals Qualitative Methods and Qualitative
Health Research).

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Finally, we may note that quantitative and qualitative are
used increasingly in tandem, providing a richness of data that
could not be achieved by uses of one alone. For instance, the
detailed description and inductive reasoning provided by a
qualitative study (for example, an observation of a specific
care setting) can be a stepping stone to a quantitative study
that gathers detailed measurements of phenomena in a range
of settings. On the other hand, a quantitative survey (for
instance, of sickness among ethnic groups in the UK) may
pose questions that require the in-depth interpretive work that
an interview or focus group can contribute subsequently.

Qualitative Methodology and Research Questions

We will now turn to the three main designs (plus ‘action
research’) that we will consider in this chapter. We can set
out the kinds of research questions that each has been
developed to answer, although of course the range of
questions that qualitative methodologies address is vast.
Please look at the following table: then complete SAQ 7.1.

Table 7.1 Research Questions and Qualitative Methodologies

Research Question to be answered Methodology
• What happens in a setting? Participant
Observation
• What are the organisational characteristics of a setting?
• How do people’s attitudes and beliefs affect what they do?
• What do people think about an aspect of their lives? Interviews, Focus
Groups and
• What is the range of views on a subject among interested parties?
Consensus
• Is there a consensus view about a subject? Techniques
• What has been written about a subject over a specified period of Documentary and
time? Material Culture
Studies
• What are the dominant bodies of knowledge in a culture, and how
does these affect power structures?
• What are the cultural products of a group and how do these relate to
their attitudes and beliefs?
• What happens when we try to improve the quality of a setting? Action Research
• How may we enable people in a setting to improve their situation?
• How can we challenge established power structures in a setting?

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SAQ 7.1 Match the Method and the Study
Here are a series of research ideas generated by PhD students.
Suggest appropriate qualitative methods (may be more than one).


1. Adam wants to find out why so many older adults fear going into a residential care home.
Method:

2. Beatrice is interested in studying changes in health promotion policy since the start of the NHS
in 1947.
Method:

3. Catherine is a ward nurse. She wants to see what can improve the experience of parents
visiting their sick children.
Method:

4. Dot wants to study the use of traditional healing remedies among Balinese tourist workers in
Kuta, Indonesia.
Method:

5. Edward wants to find out what is the accepted benchmark for caring for people with severe
learning difficulties among community social workers and their managers.
Method:

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We will now turn to look at the four general research designs
that we have identified. Note that we will address issues of
methodology in this unit, saving detailed study of techniques
for subsequent units.

Participant Observation and Ethnography

Participant observation and ethnography are terms often Ethnography means
used interchangeably to describe a type of qualitative ‘writing
‘writing culture’
research that uses extensive fieldwork observation to
generate rich data about a setting. Participant observation is
‘about engaging in a social scene, experiencing it and seeking
to understand and explain it. … By listening and
experiencing, impressions are formed and theories
considered, reflected upon, developed and modified’ (May
1993: 131-2).
Ethnography derives from anthropology, and traditionally
this term was reserved for studies of ‘other cultures’,
typically of developing world or indigenous peoples by
Europeans. More recently, this term has come to be used to
also document ‘own culture’ studies, partly to ensure that
some principles established in anthropological methodology
are applied: for instance, the effort to ‘make strange’ that
which is familiar, and to resist making assumptions about
what one is observing.
Ethnography usually also implies a particular kind of
research report which seeks to fully document the setting
(Bryman 2001: 291). ‘An ethnography’ thus refers to this
written output.
To describe the specific methodology of field observation,
Answers to SAQ 7.1
we can use the term participant observation, to encompass
both the anthropological tradition and the body of qualitative 1. Interviews with older
research that emerged from sociology in the 1920s and 1930s adults
under the influence of the ‘Chicago School’ (May 1993: 2. Documentary analysis
111). Studies on crime and deviance, race relations and of policy documents
urban life were classic studies using this approach, but it has
been applied widely and some of the most significant studies 3. Action research,
in this genre are in health and social care. perhaps incorporating
ethnography and
As the name suggests, what is involved in participant interviews
observation are two things: observation and participation.
The first is comparatively straightforward: this is a 4. Ethnography,
methodology that is based on direct observation of a setting. incorporating use of key
The second is more significant: it recognises that the informants
researcher is a participant in this process, immersed in the 5. Focus group aiming
setting rather than being separate from what is going on. at achieving consensus
Proponents of participant observation are adamamt that few (Delphi study).
kinds of observation are non-participatory. Only what has
been described as the complete observer can completely
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 avoid involvement in what happens in a field, through the use
of a one-way mirror or closed-circuit TV.
Typically participant observation takes place over an
extended period, during which a researcher familiarises
her/himself with the setting and the people who populate it.
During this period of fieldwork the objective is to gain a ‘rich
picture’ of what is going on, document this by field notes and
other recording means, and then analyse and interpret the
findings to establish some generalisations about what is going
on in a setting.
Participation in the field can take a variety of forms,
depending on the role that the researcher adopts. Three
models can be distinguished (May 1993: 117-8).

The Complete Participant

A researcher may become a complete participant. S/he
covertly becomes part of the field, taking on a role. For
instance, a social scientist might gain employment as a
hospital porter in order to undertake covert observation of
what goes on and around a surgical operating theatre. It is
argued that this reduces the likelihood that a researcher’s
presence will affect the behaviour s/he is observing.
Needless to say, it requires total commitment by the
researcher for an extensive period of time, and may be
emotionally draining as one tries to sustain a deception.
There are also ethical questions about this kind of participant
observation.

Participant as observer
Here the researcher is open about her/his position and does
not attempt to disguise what s/he is intending as an outside
observer. The researcher seeks to establish good
relationships with subjects, so that the latter serve both as
informants and respondents. Typically, a ‘key informant’
will emerge, who provides detailed information that could
not be gathered simply by observation, either because it
requires background knowledge, or because it is not
immediately comprehensible to an outsider (for instance,
technical processes or culturally-specific behaviour such as
rituals or conventions)
The researcher may adopt a role rather like a ‘fan’ of a
celebrity or prestigious institution, seeking to learn as much
as possible from people in the setting, while sanding back
from becoming a member of the group. Thus, a researcher
might seek to learn from a consultant surgeon why they
perform certain tasks in particular ways. The researcher has

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to guard against ‘going native’ in this role, as this will
endanger the capacity to stand back from unquestioning
adoption of setting norms of behaviour.

Observer as participant
Here there is very limited contact with the field, and may be
a one-off engagement, possibly in the context of undertaking
an interview. There is little effort to fully understand the
norms, values and beliefs of the people one is observing. An
example would be to take a tour of an operating theatre
where a surgeon is operating as part of a visit to a hospital to
interview administrators about management of waiting lists.
Any observation is formalised, and only provides context to
other data sources.

Issues in Participant Observation and

Ethnography
This design raises various methodological issues.
Access
Gaining access to a field may require prolonged negotiation.
Even when invited to observe, it may take a long time to be
fully accepted, as outsiders can be regarded with suspicion,
especially where the people being observed are not powerful
(for example, workers in a hospital kitchen). It will take a
while for the subjects to relax and behave ‘normally’ when
the researcher is present.
The Research Bargain
Observers may have to give something back in return for
being accepted. This may simply be a matter of feeding
back findings to participants, or can involve more complex
and even financial contributions to key informants.
Emotional Engagement and Objectivity
Being part of a field setting can become the major part of a
researcher’s life. It may be hard to keep distance, and field
notes need to be used conscientiously to ensure validity and
reliability of data. Leaving the field may be hard for both
researcher and subjects.
Ethics
Participant observation turns ordinary people’s lives into the
subject of academic study. Is it ethical to do this, and what
should be the benefit to the people in return for this
incursion?

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Participant Observation and Ethnography
Advantages Disadvantages
• Provides in-depth data about a setting • Time consuming and emotionally difficult
(highly internally valid)
• Needs to ensure subjects are not exploited
• Good for identifying cultural norms, values by making them ‘guinea pigs’
and beliefs
• Hard to generalise (low external validity)
• Gives an insider view of a setting
• Hard to sustain objectivity (intra-observer
reliability)

SAQ 8.2 Ethnography applied to health care research

Please read the following article:
Savage J (2000) Ethnography and health care. British Medical Journal, 321: 1400-1402


1. Where does Savage suggest ethnography can be applied in health care research?

2. What are some of the limitations of using an ethnographic approach in health care
research?

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Interview Methodologies, including Focus
Groups and Consensus Techniques
The interview is one of the most familiar methodologies used
by qualitative researchers. In this section, we will look at the
main approaches to interviewing, and then consider other
methodologies that have adapted interviews to somewhat
different ends.
The interview is based on a structured conversation between
research and respondent. Normally the latter is asked a series
of questions, which may or may not be pre-arranged and may
or may not be delivered in a set order. The answers
constitute the data that are to be analysed, possibly enhanced
by notes on non-verbal behaviour on the part of a respondent
during the research encounter.
The objective of an interview may be:
• to elicit factual information about a person or a
phenomenon of which the respondent has knowledge
• to elicit data on experiences, attitudes and opinions
• to enable a researcher to gain impressions of the
emotional responses to certain subjects by analyse of
verbal and non-verbal behaviour.
There are a range of methods of undertaking interviews,
including use of the telephone and e-mail and we have looked
at some of these already in chapter 5.

Answers to SAQ 7.2

1. Ethnography can be used to learn about patients’ views,
and to study service delivery.
It can help provide information of how patient’s cultural
practices may affect treatment, and how professionals’
cultural assumptions may affect health promotion activities.
It can be used to understand organisational behaviour and
how informal systems created by staff and other groups can
influence the formal organisation of a care system.
2. Participant observation is costly in time and money.
Funding can be difficult to obtain because it rarely leads to
generalisable findings.
There are ethical issues surrounding participant observation
concerning informed consent.

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 Types of Interview
Different typologies of interviews have been developed (May
1993; Bryman 2001), but we will look at four main kinds of
interview.
Structured or standardised Interview
These have been considered in chapter 5
Semi-structured Interview
This falls between structured and unstructured interviews.
Questions are normally specified, but the interviewer can
probe particular topics that emerge during the interview. The
purpose is to achieve clarification and elaboration of
themes (May 1993: 93). Interviewees may be encouraged to
expand on issues as they are raised.
Questions in this kind of interview tend to be more general,
enabling respondents more flexibility to give responses hat
match their, as opposed to the researcher’s agenda. The order
of questions is also flexible, enabling a more ‘natural’ flow to
an interview.
The advantage of this approach is that it sustains some
structure, in terms of the topics to be covered, and perhaps
the order in which questions are asked, to enable rigour to be
sustained, while at the same time permitting respondents to
develop their answers, providing richer data.
Unstructured (Focused) Interview
The third kind of interview, and one that epitomises the
naturalistic frame of qualitative data collection, is open-ended
in character, allowing the most flexibility to researchers to
explore topics with interviewees, and for respondents to
follow their own trains of thought and lines of reasoning.
The interview is guided by an aide memoire of topics to be
covered, rather than any kind of formal schedule. This leads
to an interview that may have more of the character of a
conversation.
This approach is called focused because it enables the
interview to focus on the respondents’ frame of reference and
enables them to lead the interview into their own focus,
rather than one pre-determined by a researcher.
The disadvantage of the unstructured/focused interview is
that it reduces comparability between subjects. Its advantage
is that it enhances the internal validity of a study by ensuring
it addresses the issues important to respondents, and also
reduces the likelihood that a researcher will ‘lead’
respondents towards some bias of their own.

7 10
Group Interviews and Focus Groups
A group interview enables a number of respondents to be
brought together to discuss an issue. The model for this can
be either an unstructured or semi-structured or even
structured interview.
In the former, the group is encouraged to respond flexibly, as
in an unstructured/focused interview, with the researcher
using a list of topics rather than specific questions to
stimulate the discussion. The objective is to generate a
broad-ranging output, to maximise the data that can be
collected, and to explore group dynamics and a level of
reflection that might not be achieved in a one-to-one
interview. This kind of interview is also known as the focus
group, and this approach is becoming widely used in health
and social care research. In this methodology, the researcher
may take on the role of group moderator. The objective is
to stimulate group dynamics, so that data reflects the
interactions between people as well as individual responses
(Bryman 2001: 337). For example, a focus group conducted
with nursing staff and managers to discuss how care is
delivered may provide data on the power relations between
staff.
However, it is also possible to apply a semi-structured or
approach, in order to elicit more specific information. For
instance, a researcher may wish to gather data on a variety of
relatively factual topics, all of which a single respondent
might not know. Thus, at the start of a piece of exploratory
research or ethnography, a group interview of different
‘experts’ could be used to efficiently generate the background
information that a researcher needs, rather than undertaking a
series of one-on-one interviews.
Group interviews do seems to generate richer data, with
respondents sometimes more willing to speak out in a group
then individually (May 1993: 95).
There is one specific type of group interview that warrants a
separate section: this is the so-called Delphi approach.

The Delphi methodology

The Delphi methodology, named after the Oracle of Delphi in
ancient Greece (said to be able to predict the future and
supply knowledge), is a means to gain consensus views
among a range of experts in a field.
While often using quantitative approaches such as
questionnaires or surveys, sometimes a Delphi study may
incorporate group interviews.

7 - 11
 Somewhat like the focus group, the Delphi methodology
tends to use very focused questions in order to stimulate
discussions. However, the intention here is not to stimulate
group dynamics, but to ensure consensus. What is aimed for
is an output that reflects what all involved can agree upon.
Sometimes this is fairly limited, but can be used as the basis
for a policy or standard. For example, when developing
guidelines on care, a Delphi approach could bring together
different professionals to seek an agreed strategy. Clearly it
is important that those involved are leaders in their fields, and
can represent the shared views of their professional
colleagues.

Issues in Interviewing
There are a number of issues in using interviews to gather
data.
Access
It is sometimes hard to persuade people to be interviewed,
especially powerful or high status individuals. Setting up
group interviews can be difficult, as many people need to
find a suitable time
Validity
There is no guarantee that respondents will tell the truth, and
may refuse to speak about some subjects. Unlike participant
observation, a researcher is dependent on the subject to
provide valid data.
Reliability
Researchers can affect how people respond in interviews.
Males may not be willing to speak freely to females about
some subjects and vice versa. Researchers may also bias
findings intentionally or unconsciously if they have strong
views about a subject. These issues can be addressed by
recording interviews, checking analysis of interview data and
feeding back findings to respondents for ‘member-checking’
to see if they agree with conclusions..
Recording
It is now common to audio-tape interviews and video-
recording is also used. The latter has the advantage of
identifying non-verbal behaviour. When transcribing
interviews, some researchers -- especially those using a form
of detailed transcription called discourse analysis -- code all
utterances and gaps as well as formal speech.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews
Advantages Disadvantages
• Simple to organise and well-understood by • Validity may be suspect as respondents may
respondents be unwilling to talk openly or truthfully
• Relatively easy to learn techniques • Open to ‘researcher-effect’ in which the
presence or characteristics of the researcher
• Can generate data that can be recorded for
affects how interviewees respond
ease of analysis
• Transcription of data is time-consuming
• Cheap and quick

SAQ 7.3 Interview Methodology

Please read the following paper (available from the Library e-journals) and answer the questions.
Lawton, J. (2002) Colonising the future: temporal perceptions and health-relevant behaviours
across the adult lifecourse. Sociology of Health & Illness, 24 (6) 714-733.
1. Why did Lawton choose an interview methodology for this study?

2. Would the study have benefited from using an unstructured interview schedule?

3. Was the interview schedule adapted during the study, and if so, why?

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 Use of Documents and Material Culture in
Research
A less frequent source of data is the documents that have
been produced, perhaps by policy-making bodies, by pressure
groups and other organisations, and of course, the academic
papers that report research findings. When the latter are
analysed, the result is sometimes called a literature review,
meta-analysis or secondary analysis.
The range of documents that may be consulted include:
• personal documents
• official and historical documents including government
policy documents and legislation
• official statistics
• mass media output
• internet web materials
In addition, we can include the study of material culture
products, by which we mean all artefacts produced by
human endeavour: typically, art and craft objects, ritual
objects and technological products. These have traditionally
been collected and analysed as part of anthropological
studies, and often form part of museum collections of
ethnology.
Broadly, the approach to studying a document can be
differentiated as follows (May 1993: 137):
• realist: the document is a medium that provides a
window on to the world. We can use the document to
‘read off’ the underlying reality that it describes, for
instance, a pattern reflected in official statistics or an
account of an historical event. A typical example would
be the use of private papers to substantiate the
development of some innovation in health care such as
antisepsis or anaesthesia.
• a representation of the practical requirements that led to
a document’s creation. The document not only describes
an event but also constructs it within a framework that is
affected by the social context within which it was created,
and also may reflect specific objectives of its author.
Thus, a policy document often reflects a desire to change
existing practices, while an autobiography may reflect not
only what ‘actually happened’ but also the ‘spin’ that the
author would like to promote to the world about
her/himself. The task of the researcher is hermeneutic, to
discover the hidden meaning of the text.

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• part of a ‘discourse’ that mediates power and knowledge:
what can be spoken about a subject at a particular period Hermeneutics
The search for
for the meaning
in history. This perspective has been derived from the
of an event beyond its
work of Foucault and has been applied in the social surface manifestation.
sciences to offer insights into changing patterns of power A hermeneutic approach will
and authority in society, and how this is mediated through try to extract the meaning
knowledge. For example, by studying documentary of a text from the
sources associated with the growth of public health in the perspective of its producer..
20th century, Armstrong (1983) argued that this reflected a
new construction of the community as the subject of
medical power.
The study of material culture can also be undertaken within
these different epistemological approaches. For realists,
objects are considered principally in terms of their apparent Michel Foucault was a
post-
post-structuralist
purpose. In the second and third approaches, objects are
philosopher, who argued
regarded as ‘texts’ that can be ‘read’. The language of that power and
objects may of course be very obscure, and it is impossible to authority is achieved by
know the meaning of an object without recourse to controlling the
knowledge of the social norms, values and beliefs that shaped knowledge that a society
its production. Material culture objects are often discussed holds to be ‘true’
alongside analysis from participant observation or (‘discourse’)
ethnographic approaches.

Answers to SAQ 7.3

1. It was an exploratory study that sought to generate themes
rather than assessing hypotheses already formulated prior to
the study. An interview methodology was appropriate as this
enables a flexible approach to data collection, including the
use of open-ended questions.
2. It is possible that the semi-structured approach constrained
respondents. Despite arguing that the research would
generate themes, the author admits that some themes were
developed prior to the interview schedule being formulated.
3. Early interviews led to changes in the schedule so that
themes emerging from the data could be incorporated into
alter interviews. While preventing comparisons, this added
flexibility to the design of the study.

7 - 15
 Issues in Documentary Research
The following issues need to be considered in documentary
studies.
Access
Access to documents may be restricted and analysis based on
available documents always runs the risk that inaccessible
documents may shed an entirely different light on the issue
under investigation.
Authenticity
What is the guarantee of a document’s authenticity?
Documents may be fabricated to suggest false versions of
events, and it may only be possible to determine authenticity
by reference to other sources. Sometimes errors are
unintentionally introduced into documents when they are
copied or translated.
Analysis
The approach to analysing a document or object will depend
on the theoretical stance taken by the researcher (see above).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Documentary and Material Culture Analysis

Advantages Disadvantages
• Gives access to events that may not • All documents and objects produced by
otherwise by accessible humans will contain an inherent bias as a
consequence of the context and objective of
• Can give an insight into the beliefs of their
their producers. There is no simple way to
producers and cultures within which they are
remove this bias.
produced
• Authenticating texts/objects may not be
• Enables comparisons between
possible.
cultures/groups in terms of different textual
productions • Analysis is very prone to researcher bias and
interpretation is an inexact art.

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SAQ 7.4 Documentary Analysis
Please read the following paper (available from the Library e-journals) and then
answer the questions:


Smart A (2003) Reporting the dawn of the post-genomic era: who wants to live forever? Sociology
of Health & Illness, 25 (1): 24-49.
1 What model of documentary analysis does Smart use in his paper?

2. What concerns might you have about using press reports to provide an insight into an
event such as the completion of the human genome project?

Action Research
Action research is not specifically a qualitative methodology
as it can use both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
However, it fits neatly in this chapter and is a growing
methodological approach in health and social care research.
It seeks not only to understand a setting but to change it in
some way for the better. It is also known as practitioner
research and is well suited to health and social care
researchers who are working in a professional setting and
want to try to improve the experiences or outcomes for
patients, clients or staff.
Action research can be traced back to the work of Kurt
Lewin, a management psychologist, but has subsequently
developed in a number of differing directions, each grounded
in different philosophical and political commitments. An
early manifestation of action research was the Fox projects,
conducted in the US in the 1940s and 1950s. The principles
of this research were to develop and test theory on an on-
going basis in interaction with interventions or actions;
ensure consistency between project means and desired ends;

7 - 17
 and base ends and means upon guidelines established by the
host community (Stull and Schensul 1987).
This model of action or advocacy research may be discerned
in a study by Schensul et al (1987), which extended the use
of a traditional model of maternal care into a new setting, in
order to enhance child health. Another health care example
of this kind of approach may be found in Hart and Bond
(1995).
These examples of action research fall into the first of three
categories set out by Carr and Kemmis (1986). Action
research, they argued could be classed as
• technical (in which an outside expert undertakes the
research);
• practical (in which the researched are encouraged to
participate in the research process); and
• emancipatory (in which the researcher takes on the role
of a ‘process moderator’ assisting participants to
undertake the research themselves).
Emancipatory action research is the most radical, and has
been associated with critical theory, and is predicated on
political commitments to participation and improvement in
quality of life among participants. Schensul (1987) suggests
that it can
• bring together people with diverse skills and knowledge;
• de-mystify the research process, allowing practitioners to
shape the data collection process;
• build a research capacity into a community which can
operate independently;
• increase the likelihood of the use of research findings by
practitioners; and
• improve the quality of research by enabling access to key
bodies of knowledge in a community.
Answers to SAQ 7.4
1. Smart uses a hermeneutic approach in which he considers how the press report this
event in terms of the wider social context and their own concern with a ‘good story’.
2. Smart suggests that the papers have largely depended on the version of reality given to
them in the scientists’ press releases. This is then situated within a common-sense analysis
of the social consequences of such scientific advances. It plays on public fears about the
use of technology by governments for undesirable ends. it would be hard to gain a
balanced view of the innovation from the press reports.

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Fox (1999) has suggested a fourth model: a transgressive
action research. In addition to the principles underpinning
emancipatory action research: namely, of reflexivity and
collaboration, transgressive research has a commitment to
challenge norms and assumptions, resisting power and
constraint and opening-up new possibilities. While many of
the processes involved in undertaking research of this kind
are similar to those of emancipatory action research,
transgressive action research is based in a perspective of
divergent rather than shared rationality, acknowledging that
there may not be a single view of what constitutes an
‘improvement’ in a setting, and working to enable people in a
setting to set their own agenda for change.
The main advantages and disadvantages of action research
are summarised below.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Action Research

Advantages
• Enables practitioners to research their own
workplaces
• Focuses on change rather than
understanding: the outcome is
improvements in service, not academic
reports.
• Can spread research capacity, enabling
people to research themselves rather than
depending on outside academic researchers.
Disadvantages
• Is setting –specific. Hard (and
inappropriate) to generalise
• May be of limited use where practice
cannot easily be changed (e.g. where
there are national guidelines on practice
standards).
• Can be hard to separate dual role of
practitioner and researcher leading to
questions of reliability of data..

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 Sampling in Qualitative Methods
If you have read chapter 4 of this unit, you will be aware of a
range of issues concerning sampling in quantitative research.
The issues for qualitative studies are somewhat different, and
the approach to sampling is distinctive, as will be seen in
Figure 7.1. For example, a study may wish to consider
attitudes towards compliance with asthma treatment. A small
sample of local asthmatic teenagers may be interviewed. The
sample is thus chosen on the basis of ‘theory’: this kind of
theoretical sampling aims to maximise the range of
responses, but does not strictly seek to ‘represent’ all the
people in the community and other stakeholders.

Figure 7.1 Comparisons of sampling approaches

Quantitative
Sample big enough for statistical
Inference (see Chapter 5)
Selected to be representative
Assumes respondents are independent
and do not affect each other’s
responses
Qualitative
Often very small, occasionally a single
case
Rarely attempts to be representative:
sample chosen to maximise range of
responses
Respondents’ interactions may be part of
the topic for study

The issue of sampling is closely associated with ensuring

validity and reliability. Before looking at specific methods of
data collection and analysis, we will not turn to
considerations of how to make qualitative research valid and
reliable.

Validity and Reliability in Qualitative Research

Having read Chapter 3, you should be familiar with the
principles behind the reliability (or consistency) and the
validity (or accuracy) of research, and how to maximise both
in the research which you are undertaking. If you need to
remind yourself of the main kinds of reliability and validity,
you should review this material now.
Validity and reliability are issues for qualitative researchers
as they are for others. However, it has been argued that the
way in which the former need to address validity and
reliability differ from the traditional approach of positivist
researchers. The naturalistic paradigm, Lincoln and Guba
(1985) argued, places different issues before researchers.
However, the question of the trustworthiness of a piece of

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research still stands. Lincoln and Guba suggest four key
areas that we need to consider of a piece of naturalistic
(qualitative) research, relating to four questions:
How truthful is the finding? (Credibility)
Can the findings be generalized? (Transferability)
Could the findings be replicated? (Dependability)
Can we rule out researcher bias? (Confirmability)
These four areas relate to traditional notions of study validity
and reliability, as can be seen in Figure 7.3

Figure 7.3 Positivist and Naturalistic analyses of Validity

and Reliability
Positivist Naturalistic Asks:
Internal Validity Credibility Are the findings believable
External Validity Transferability Are the findings applicable elsewhere?)
Instrument Dependability If the study were repeated, would the same
Reliability findings emerge?)
Intra-observer Confirmability Has the researcher biased the findings
Reliability

Note that just as in the positivist paradigm, validity is

dependent on reliability, while the reliability of a study does
not guarantee its validity.
Qualitative researchers thus have to address the four issues of
credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability
when they undertake their research. However, the way
Lincoln and Guba (1985) argue that we need to think about
some of these issues differ quite markedly from the
perspective of positivist research. Let us look at each area in
turn.

Credibility
Related to the internal validity of a study, credibility
requires that we concern ourselves with the accuracy of
description in a piece of qualitative research. We need to
state the precise parameters of the study - who was studied,
where and when, and by what methods. If we identify these
aspects, and if we have a reliable means of measurement
(dependability and confirmability), our study will be valid for
the specific setting investigated.

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 Transferability
We noted earlier that in most qualitative research, the method
of sampling is not representative, but will be aimed at
Definition:
Definition maximising the diversity within the study setting, to ensure as
‘rich’ a picture of the setting as can be gleaned. Clearly, this
External validity is the
method of sampling will not supply external validity in the
extent to which the
findings from a study
way that is usually sought in quantitative research, which
can be generalized from wishes to generalise from the sample to the population from
the sample to the wider which it has been drawn.
population.
Thus in a major divergence from positivist approaches,
Lincoln and Guba argue that no claims can be made about the
applicability of the findings to other settings. If other
researchers wish to generalise from a study to other
situations, the onus must be on them rather than the original
researcher to demonstrate a study’s applicability elsewhere.

Dependability
Whereas positivist research has to assume an unchanging
world, so that if an identical study were to be performed the
assumption would be that the same findings would emerge,
the naturalistic paradigm acknowledges that the world,
especially the social world, is constantly changing. In
particular, a study might itself affect the world it is trying to
document. (Thus, interviewing someone about their attitudes
to pollution might make them think for the first time about
what they really do think. Repeat the interview, and the
answers given may reflect a new perspective gleaned from
the respondent having considered the subject more fully.)
If change is inevitable, then all a research can do is to try to
predict as much as possible of what these changes may be,
and account for them by casting widely for data within the
setting. You should be able to see how the ‘dependability’
of a study is like the different kinds of reliability we looked at
in Chapter 4: internal reliability of an instrument, test/re-
test reliability and inter-observer. You should also be able
to recognise the need for dependability in order to obtain
credibility.

Confirmability
In a naturalistic paradigm, we have to accept that observer
bias is a fact of life: we all have values and we cannot wholly
avoid allowing these to colour the way we interpret data in a
qualitative analysis.
To minimise this bias, qualitative researchers need to
recognise their biases, and seek to fault their own

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assumptions or ‘pet theories’ about what they are
researching. Bringing in colleagues to offer alternative
readings, and feeding back results of an analysis to the
original respondents can help to reduce these biases. Again,
you should be able to see how the confirmability of a study is
a pre-requisite for its credibility.

Summary
The four approaches to research that have been described in
this chapter underpin all qualitative research studies.
Sometime a mix of methodology is used, and sometimes they
are melded with quantitative methodologies.
These methodologies have in common an emphasis on
interpretation, and seek to maximise the internal validity of
findings (ensuring that a research question generates the right
data to provide the answer.
In contrast, there is lower generalisability (external validity)
than quantitative research, and there are significant problems
of objectivity and dangers of bias, which require meticulous
attention to methods of data collection and analysis.
There are also fundamental questions about the status of
knowledge generated by research (is it ‘truth’ or one among
many ‘truths’?) Although this question is common to all
research, it comes to the fore in qualitative research because
these methodologies have acknowledged the role of
interpretation in the growth of knowledge.
Naturalistic methods are invaluable in researching the
meanings and perceptions of people, either alone or in
conjunction with quantitative methods. In health and social
care research, qualitative research is now firmly established,
and these methodologies are important strategies for the
researcher to master.

Please complete the following reflective exercise to complete

this chapter.

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 Reflective Exercise 7.1 Validity and
Reliability in Qualitative Data
Analysis
Discuss the following questions in relation to the
validity and reliability of qualitative data collection.

1. Why might a researcher ask respondents to check written transcripts of

interviews?

2. Why should a researcher keep a field diary reporting what they did during their
study?

3. How might a researcher ‘triangulate’ her data, and what would be the object of
such a research strategy?

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Reflective Exercise 7.2 Collecting Qualitative Data
Please write a research question on a topic in health and social
care that interests you, using one or more of the qualitative
methodologies described in this chapter.
Describe which methodology you would use, why you consider
the methodology appropriate, and suggest what problems in data
collection you might encounter were you to undertake this research.
Your Research Question

Which Qualitative Method would you use, and why?

What problems in data collection might you encounter?

Further Reading
Bryman A (2001) Social Research Methods. Oxford
University Press.
Denzin N and Lincoln Y (2000) Handbook of Qualitative
Research. London: Sage.
May T (1993) Social Research. Buckingham: Open
University Press.

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Learning Review Form: Chapter 7
Please complete this form when you have completed the chapter. If you do not consider
you have achieved the learning outcomes, you need to go back and do more work on the
chapter or read the recommended reading.
When you have completed the form, save it to hand in with your log book

1. I am confident that I can:

Not at Partly Quite Very

all well well
• describe the advantages and 1 2 3 4

disadvantages of a qualitative approach

• describe the different qualitative 1 2 3 4

methodologies and the advantages and

disadvantages of each

• compare and contrast the naturalistic 1 2 3 4

and positivistic approach

• describe what is meant by grounded 1 2 3 4

theory

• recognise alternative ways of 1 2 3 4

maximising validity and reliability in a

qualitative study

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