Advanced Methods in Mass

Communication Research

Qualitative Research
By
Dr. Sajid Hussain
 Qualitative Research

 Itis a scientific method of gathering

non numerical data.
 This type of research refers to the
meanings, concepts, definitions,
characteristics, symbols and
description of things, and not to
their counts and measures
 Session Outline
Qualitative Methods
Introduction 1. In-depth interviews
2. Group interviews and focus
 Definition groups
3. Un/Participant observation
 Purpose 4. Delphi technique
 Questions 5. Ethnography (Descriptive study of
a particular human society)
 Design/Plan 6. Phenomenological research is a
philosophy of experience. It is a
 Issues description of phenomenon that is
experienced by an individual or
human beings.
Definition Qualitative Methods

 These are interpretative techniques

which seek to describe, decode,
translate and otherwise come to terms
with the meaning, not the frequency, of
certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social world ‘ (Van
Maanen in Easterby-Smith, 1993:71)
 Preferences of Qualitative
Researchers (Hammersley, 1992)
 qualitative data - words, images, rather than
numbers
• naturally occurring data – e.g. observation
(rather than experiment)
• meanings rather than behaviour - ‘attempting to
document the world from the point of view of the
people studied’
 a preference for induction
 ‘grounded theory’, rather than theory testing
 Qualitative Research
 No one definition, however main features
include:
 A preference for qualitative data

 words, observations, images, rather

than numbers
 Documenting the world from the point of
view of the people studied
 Collection of ‘rich’, in-depth data, therefore
qualitative research often small scale – eg.
Case study
Planning Qualitative Research 1

 flexible research design

 research questions rather than
hypotheses
 Qualitative data-collection methods
• Open-ended survey and checklist….
• Non structured checklist
• Focus groups. ...
• Observation. ...
• Case studies.
Planning Qualitative Research 2

 Analysis of qualitative data

 Ongoing through data
collection
 Narrative rather than statistical
 Description and theorizing
1. In-depth interview: what it is
 Usually conducted with a relatively small
number of subjects
 Interview guided by a checklist of topics
rather than a formal questionnaire
 Interviews often tape-recorded and
precise transcript prepared
 Can take ½ hour and may extend over
several hours; repeat interviews possible
 Recognising Limitations

 Can be
 time consuming and expensive
 inefficient, biased, unpredictable…

 hard to pre-test

 difficult to standardise and

replicate
 and then difficult to analyse
Questionnaire
Surveys vs
 A little about a lot /
many
 All respond to
exactly the same
questions
 Directive interviewer
(Directive Interviewer directs
the line of questions and
controls the interview
process. He/She has the
clear agenda).
In-Depth
Interviews
 A lot about a little /
few
 Asked to respond to
same topics in
different ways
 Explore links
between feelings,
attitudes, behaviour
 Interviewer as guide
not directive style.
Warning

 Iinterviewing is not as an easy as it

looks. It requires proper preparations
and careful planning.
 As two commentators recently noted,
interviewing is ‘as easy as writing a book
- most of us have basic literacy skills but
few attain literary art’ (Powney and Watts
in Robson, 1995: 228).
Process to plan an interview
 Identify the objectives  prepare an interview
 Decide whether to schedule (if appropriate)
undertake individual  pilot and refine the
or group interviews research instrument (if
 Determine the most appropriate)
appropriate structure
- fully structured,  keep a full record of the
semi-structured or interview
unstructured  note the relevance to
(informal). interviewees
 Think about the  the ethical implications of
implications (effects)
your study
of your choice
 How structured?

 Highly structured
 Clarity of purpose
 Standard wording abandoned in favour
of flowing conversation
 Language of respondent
 Learn script, but be flexible
Comparing Types of Interviews
(adapted from Finn et al, 2001:75)

Type of Advantages Disadvantages

intervie
w
Struc- Answers to same Little flexibility. Pre-determined
tured questions increase questions might not be relevant.
comparability Standardized wording might
Data easily analyzed prevent.
Semi- Combines flexibility Bias may increase as
str. with comparability interviewer selects questions to
probe and might prevent
comparability
Unstr. Interviewer can adapt, Comparability reduced, data
interviewee is allowed analysis more difficult. Data
to express in own quality depends on listening and
words. Interviewer’s communicating skills of
role minimal interviewer
 When recording, think of
analysis…
 Do it, but think… and make sure you’re
competent
 Recording should allow transcription (is
the action of providing a written account
of spoken words).
 Transcription should allow for coding
 Coding should lead to synthesis
 Synthesis should allow for analysis
 Important Characteristics
 1. Know your  6. Pick up on issues
schedule raised by respondent
 2. Establish  7. Probe, explore,
rapport( Link) follow-up
 3. Listen to  8. Allow space to
respondent answer - don’t fear
 4. Read between the silence
lines  9. Avoid irrelevant
 5. Accept the value of rambling (confused)
respondent’s views
 Interview skills
 think about the motivations of interviewees and their
implications
 listen more than you speak
 build trust - know about the company/organisation,
telephone and then send a letter, use appropriate
language (student/researcher, interview/discussion),
show interest and enthusiasm
 ask straightforward questions
 consider the location of the interview
 begin with the general (things people know - build
confidence)
 keep to time
2. Group interviews/ focus
groups
 Similar to in-depth interviews but conducted
with a group
 Interaction between subjects takes place was
well as interaction between interviewer and
subject
 Researcher is facilitator or just observer
 Use when particular group is important in a
study but small group, or cannot be easily
identified as group
 Possible strong characters dominating group
3. Un/participant observation
 A participant observer gathers data by
participating in the daily life of the group or
organisation. She/he watches the people
she/he is studying to see what situations
they ordinarily meet and how they behave
in them.
 Researcher enters into conversation with
some or all of the participants in these
situations and discovers their
interpretations of the event he has
observed (Becker).
What does this mean in research
terms?
 Researcher gathers information by being
an actual participant or an observer or
behaviour
 Researcher may be known by the
subjects as a researcher or may be
secretly
 Difficulty in keeping accurate records:
what to record, and how to record it?
 Researcher involvement
 Pros & Cons

Pros Cons
 Less bias because of  Lacks reliability &
internal checks validity
 More responsive /  Not generalizable
flexible
 Observer bias
 Deals with realities
of life  Lack of
 Explores in greater evidence/proof
depth
 4. Delphi technique
 Named after classical Greek Delphi oracle.
 Gathering and analyzing information from a
panel of experts about future trends.
 Experts complete questionnaire indicating views
of likelihood of certain developments taking
place.
 Views collated and circulated to panel members
for further comment, process can be repeated a
number of times before final results collected
 Need to consider questionnaire design and
analysis, and qualitative data analysis at the
same time.
 5. Ethnography
 Ethnographic research is a qualitative research on a group
of people and their behaviors and social interactions within
their own, native environment. It involves studying people
in context, mainly making observations rather than focusing
on hard data and numbers.
 A classic example of ethnographic research would be an
anthropologist (scientific study of humanity) traveling to
an island, living within the society on said island for years,
and researching its people and culture through a process of
sustained observation and participation.
 6. Phenomenological Research

 A qualitative research approach that helps in describing the

lived experiences of an individual is known
as phenomenological research. The phenomenological
method focuses on studying the phenomena that have
impacted an individual. This approach highlights the
specifics and identifies a phenomenon as perceived by an
individual in a situation.
• The experiences of every war survivor or war experienced
person are unique. ...
• Losing family members to Covid-19 hasn't been easy…
Summary: What can Qualitative
Research do? (Creswell, 1994)
Qual res. is useful in situations where:
 there is a lack of research and theory,
so that little is known about the concepts
involved
 need to explore and describe the
phenomenon, and to develop theory
 It is conducted on the base of grounded
theory.
 It is the study of concept
 Suggested Reading
 Besides the key books already suggested, you
should consider reading this debate about theory
and interpretation of data :
 Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds) (1998)
Strategies of qualitative inquiry. London:Sage
 Mason, J (1998) Qualitative researching.
London: Sage.
 Yin, R.K (1994) Case study research: design
and methods. 2nd edition. London: Sage.
 Suggested Reading
 The following four short papers provide a good example of
conflicting perspectives relating to the same research issue.
They are also fun to read because the debate gets a bit
personal!
 Slattery, P (1996) International development of hotel chains. In
Kotas R et al (eds) The international hospitality business.
London:Cassell.
 Hughes, H (1994) The structural theory of demand: a comment.
International Journal of Hospitality Management. 12(4) : 309-
311.
 Slattery, P (1994) The structural theory of business demand:a
reply to Hughes. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 13 (2): 173-176.
 Hughes, H (1995) The structural theory of business demand:a
rejoinder to Slattery. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 14 (2):117-118.