Qualitative and mixedmethod synthesis research online methods and

Qualitative and mixed-method synthesis research online: methods and easy tools Neil Thin Digital/online scholarship Making efficient and rational use of digital tools and databases Researching online culture and society

Session overview 1. Qualitative synthesis research: being efficient, transparent, systematic 2. Quick overview of online research tools 3. Small group discussions of which tools you use, and which you would consider using 4. Full class wrap-up – what kinds of further guidance or training would help?

Common purposes of research Scientific, positivistic, logical, cumulative knowledge production All good researchers try to be curious, honest, valid, plausible, and persuasive Humanistic, interpretive, idiosyncratic, elliptical stimulation of creative interest

“The welltrained sociologist may brave the rigors of the field or confront the most recalcitrant interviewees, but quail before the library. But sociologists need to be as skilled and ingenious in using documentary materials as in doing field work. ” (Glaser and Strauss, 1967: 163)

Example of dissertation handbook warning about online research: “Be careful when using the internet. It should not be the main source of data or analysis for your research. Generally speaking, the web is an unreliable source of information for scholars” Source: Dissertation Handbook, MSc by Research in Medical Anthropology, Uo. E

TMI: How should researchers adapt to web 1. 0 (infotsunami) and web 2. 0 (limitless participation)? • Lots of superb new tools, but too much time-wasting? • How to discern reliable and ethical sources? • How to provide a reliable rationale and account of secondary research? • How to engage in collaborative content creation without losing control over unique personal output?

Primary field research primary Data sources: degrees of access and control Primary sources accessed remotely Offsite Secondary field research (e. g. local archives) Secondary (previously gathered) and tertiary (analysed) sources, remotely accessed secondary Onsite

Philosophy Msainly primary Disciplines and evidence More empirical/evidence-based Mainly secondary More theoretical/analytical ‘high’ social theory ‘ethnography’ Economics

Social research in general is becoming more ‘secondary’ in some ways, but more ‘primary’ in others More secondary: more of our scholarly time is spent online exploring mediated environments More primary: informants and ‘the field’ are increasingly accessible online

Uses of secondary/tertiary sources • Clarifying topics, concepts, hypotheses, questions • Guidance and inspiration on methods • Finding key sources, engaging with authorities and informants • Background info on history, geography, debates • Using multimedia for familiarisation and communication • Inspiration on writing styles, graphics, structuring • Learning local languages and specialist jargon

General questions: • Why do so few ‘Research methods’ guides bother discussing secondary synthesis research methods? • How much attention should dissertations pay to secondary research methods? • What are the pros and cons of trying to develop ‘systematic’ approaches?

Questions for you and your dissertation research project • How ‘systematic’ do you want your secondary research to be, and why? • Will online sources and tools to help you transcend disciplinary restrictions? • Will you collaborate with others online? • Will you use dissertation research to strengthen your secondary research skills?

Being ‘systematic’? • Pausing to consider keywords, sources, tools, and analytical approaches • Keeping a record of all searches and decisions • Giving a reliable and interesting account of secondary research choices, rationales, ethics, and limitations

Characteristics of ‘systematic reviews’ Explicit study protocol Formal, pre-specified, focused question Inclusion criteria defined in advance Explicit search methods Formalized appraisal of scientific quality, and other anti-bias steps • Explicit methods for combining findings • • •

A bigger and even more important question: How can we ensure that our secondary research strategy remains genuinely open? How can we benefit from the wisdom of crowds and avoid echo-chambers and groupthink?

In anthropology and qualitative sociology, guidance on secondary research is meagre • Approaches and methods for SR rarely discussed • ‘Primary fieldwork’ overshadows SR • Little guidance on systematic SR – e. g. rationales for source choices, search terms, inclusion and exclusion criteria • Few accounts of SR methods and choices • Inadequate recognition of importance of SR beyond the ‘preparatory’ stage

Ethnographic/qualitative secondary research: • • Marcel Mauss’ Essay on the Gift Ruth Benedict’s Chrysanthemum and the Sword Marshall Sahlins’ ‘Original Affluent Society’ David Graeber’s Debt • Lots of similarly unsystematic secondary research in qualitative sociology, e. g. Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman, Nigel Thrift, Richard Sennett • Some systematic secondary research, e. g. Alex Pentland’s Social Physics; Chrystakis and Fowler’s Connected; ‘Mass Observation’ studies;

Why does secondary research matter? • Holism and comprehensiveness • Systematic comparison (cross-location, transdisciplinary) • Strategic flexibility and responsiveness • Bridging the gap between micro and macro • Analysing ‘virtual’ social life in social media

Qualities of good secondary research • Efficiency • System/rationale • Transparency/accountability • Flexibility

Example of a ‘systematic’ qualitative research article • Moragne-Patterson & Barnett (2017) ‘Experiences and responses to microaggressions’ • Art Google Scholar, Lexis. Nexis, and Social Work Abstracts, using 9 ‘OR’ search terms • 921 relevant articles retrieved, but only 4 left after exclusion criteria applied (total study sample of 108 Afr-Am students) • 14 themes extracted, synthesised to 6 main themes • 6 themes interpreted using quotations, descriptions, and qualitative analysis • Plenty to argue about, but much more evidence-based than the micro-aggression dogma articulated by Derald Wing Sue

Online/digital research processes and tools starting, searching, sourcing sorting, analysing, visualising engaging, collaborating and sharing

Feeling your way: keywords, discourses, trends, debates, discourse • • • Etymology Online Google Correlate Google Trends Google Translate Nexis UK Google Ngram viewer

Search engines and databases • • • • Discover. Ed Google Scholar Academic Search Complete (EBSCO, via Discover. Ed) Sociological Abstracts Social Sciences Citation Index [ISI Web of Knowledge] ASSIA (Applied Soc Sci) ERIC (Education Resources Inf Cntr) Eldis (international development, mainly ‘grey’ literature) Anthrosource Econlit ABI Inform (Business) Psychlit SCOPUS, Web of Science (science, tec, med) Pro. Quest dissertations

Qualitative Data Archives • • Mass Observation Project www. massobs. org. uk Oxford Archive of Patient Experience Data www. ukdataservice. ac. uk QUALIDATA (ESRC Qualitative Data Archival Resource Centre)

Crowdsourcing and using crowdsourced data • • • Wikipedia, Wikiart, Wikiprogress, Wikinomics etc Amazon Mechanical Turk Microworkers Survey. Monkey Twitter poll Crowd. Flower Zooniverse Task. Rabbit Work. Hub Mass Observation Archive [UK] www. massobs. org. uk

Writing, workflow and organizing • Wunderlist cloud-based task management wunderlist. com • Evernote organize and share notes evernote. com • Google Note • Scrivener

Qualitative Data analysis/Text analytics • Nvivo • ATLAS. ti Archiv für Technik, Lebenswelt und Alltagssprache (Archive for Technology Lifeworld, and Everyday Language)] • Tableau • QDAMiner Lite • web. QDA • Correspondence and Hierarchical Cluster (CHIC). • Discover. Text discovertext. com [for Twitter] [

Bibliographies, social bookmarking, folksonomies, collaborative tagging • • • Oxford Bibliographies Online [annotated] Google Bookmarks, Google Docs Research tool Delicious Mendeley Cite. ULike Endnote Reference Manager Zotero Papers 2 [Mac] Bib. Sonomy bibsonomy. org

Word frequencies, concept mapping, and linguistic trends • • • Google Ngram Viewer Google Scholar Google Trends (Ggl Zeitgeist, Ggl Insights) Nexis UK Google Analytics

Mapping and visualization • • • Gapminder Google Maps Issue Mapping www. issuemapping. net Controversy Mapping Google Visualization API/Google Fusion Tables Tableau Issue Crawler (mapping hyperlink ecologies) Onasurveys www. onasurveys. com Netdraw www. analytictech. com www. visualsociology. org. uk GEPHI https: //gephi. org

Semantic analysis, text mining • • Discover. Text discovertext. com Digging Into Data http: //diggingintodata. org Voyant http: //voyant-tools. org Mandala http: //mandala. humviz. org

Various other tools • Keyhole http: //keyhole. co [track hastags, influencers, etc. ] • Twitonomy [find hashtags similar to your content] • Hashtagify. me [keep up with trending hashtags] • Q Method [quantitative analysis of subjectivity in small samples]

Keeping up: interest groups, RSS feeds, alerts, news readers • • • Google Alerts Journal alerts Buzzfeed Reddit Google Hangout; Google Groups Facebook Usenet. org Deja News Feedly Feedburner

Finding scholars, engaging with them • • • Google Scholar -> find author web sites Twitter [search keyword and ‘People’] Academia. edu Researchgate Blogs [e. g. Wordpress, Google blog search]

MOOCs • • Khan Academy Future. Learn Udemy Coursera

Popular social media • • Facebook Twitter Linked. In Google+ Flickr, Istockphoto, Google Images Pinterest Youtube Vimeo

Small group discussions • Choose a thematic group (1. starting/searching; 2. analysing/visualising; 3. engaging/sharing; 4. other) • Share ideas/queries on: Ø Any high-priority online research task that you’d like guidance on Ø Your favourite online research tools