Qualitative methods Examining approaches Qualitative Methods n Rely

Qualitative methods Examining approaches

Qualitative Methods n Rely on researcher as instrument n Introduces certain issues n Inherent subjectivity and bias n Consistency in data collection and interpretation n Impact of researcher on environment (esp. when studying people) n How do we control for reliability and validity?

Qualitative Methods

Interacting with people/environments QUALITATIVE METHODS

Case Study n In-depth review of a single situation: program, process, phenomenon n Might be descriptive or explanatory in approach n Might also form the basis of theory development, or modification of existing theories n Case studies are usually built on one or more of the following methods.

Qualitative Study: Observation n Attempt to understand activities/ behaviors n Role of the observer: n Complete participant n n Effects on the environment/process Genuine or not? § “Going native” n n n Present self as participant not researcher Ethical implications? Observer and participant n Effects on process?

Observation n Complete observer n n Lessen effect on environment (perhaps) Less likely to fully appreciate situations/contexts n Other choices n How much time/frequency on-site n Focus- comprehensive or narrow n Issues n Relations to subjects

Qualitative Study: Interviews n Attempt to gain in-depth knowledge on a topic n In a less structured format, interviewer may act more as facilitator, asking open ended questions and drawing the participant out. n Structured, semi-structured, or unstructured? n Format- in person, telephone, email?

Interviews n Types of questions: n Experience/ behavior n Feeling n Opinion/ value n Knowledge n Sensory n Demographic

Interviews n Issues n Logistics n Building trust n Delicate questions/ situations- ensuring honesty n Accuracy of transcripts n Advantages and disadvantages? n Appropriate uses?

Qualitative Study: Focus Groups n Attempt to learn about the attitudes/ beliefs/ feelings of groups and how those influence behavior n Why groups? One individual’s comments can trigger important responses from others. n Can explore large ranges of topics

Focus Groups n Issues n How structured? n Importance of facilitator’s role- how well trained? n Building trust n Finding reliable representative volunteers n Ensuring accuracy of transcription- audio/ video tape? Outside observation? n Facilities

Qualitative Study: Think-Aloud n Asks respondent to verbalize their thoughts while performing an assigned activity or task n Attempt to gain more insight into thought processes n Correct for mistakes/ assumptions of observer

Think Aloud n Requires participants that are highly verbal in nature n Adding this layer of feedback may affect their cognitive processes and behaviors- more “self -concious. ” n How to transcribe while observing? Accuracy? n Appropriate use of clarifying questions? n Appropriate uses?

Qualitative Study: Ethnographic n Tools developed in the field of cultural anthropology n Attempt to better understand people/ behavior by observing it within natural setting n Can study observable material items, individual behaviors and performances, or ideas n Requires careful attention to detail within cultural context

Ethnographic n Possible Tools: n Observation in context n Key informant interviewing n Drawing pictures n Taking photos n Using maps to track activities n Videotaping

Ethnographic: Examples n Susan Gibbons and Nancy Fried Foster of University of Rochester: Understanding Users to Develop Better Library Services (ACRL/NEC 2006) User-centered studies of library use… n Mapping Diaries n Photo Elicitation Interviews n

Photo Elicitation

Mapping Diaries

Qualitative Study: Delphi Method n A “systematic interactive forecasting method. ” n Involves interviewing/ surveying of experts within a field- generally 9 to 99 n Experts are provided with hypotheses, trigger statements, scenarios, etc. and asked to respond. n First round responses are shared with the group anonymously, so participants can revise earlier statements, react to responses.

Delphi Method n After several rounds, hypotheses may be refined, group may reach “consensus” n Facilitator reviews responses to each roundcan filter out irrelevant content, choose presentation of information, ask questions. n Advantages and disadvantages?

Interacting with Artifacts QUALITATIVE STUDIES

Types of Documents? n Policy Manuals n Digital reference transcripts n Comment/ complaint cards n Job ads n Published Literature n Blogs, listserv postings, etc. n Open-ended responses

Evaluation Research n Published n n n n n Books Journal articles Conference proceedings Theses/dissertations Web ALA. ACRL. CIP Notes CLIR. www. clir. org/pubs. html ARL Other n Peer Review n Unpublished n n Internal reports Local use only reports

Qualitative Analysis: Examining Documents n Focus on: n Word choice n Word frequency n Word sequence n Intensity of feeling/ expression (how to measure? ) n Key word in context n Typology of concepts/ categories?

Qualitative: Examining Documents n Systematic review of text/ images: content analysis n Classifies textual or visual material n Uses analytical constructs or rules to draw inferences about recurring aspects of text.

Qualitative Study: Diaries n Participants record activities, thoughts, reactions, etc. daily (weekly, etc. ) over a set period of time. n Blogs- equivalent? n When to use? n Issues n n n How faithful are participants? How can you help ensure full participation? How much guidance to give? Too much/ too little detail. n Advantages and disadvantages?

Examples n Nicole Henning/ Photo Diary Study (MIT) n 16 students tracked their information seeking behavior for one week. n Used diaries and screen shots to record their thoughts and actions n Hernon et. al. n Track library directors to identify leadership and management behaviors n Used diaries to record activities for two months

Grounded Theory n The attempt to derive theories from an analysis of patterns, themes, and common categories discovered in observational data. n Relies on a systematic set of procedures (i. e. systematic coding, reliability and validity)

Qualitative Study: Citation Analysis n Systematic review of bibliographies/ references within published literature. n Focus on Authorship n Form of publication (periodical, monograph, etc. ) n Class of material (primary, secondary, etc. ) n Language n Subject n Currency n

Citation Analysis n What can citations tell us? n How scholarly is the cited literature? n How current are the citations? n How research-oriented is it? n How interdisciplinary is it? n How writes the literature? How collaborative? n Where does the literature appear?

Citation Analysis n Growth of literature on a subject n Dispersion of writings on a subject across form and journals n Obsolescence of literature n Scholarly networks: who cites whom? n Publishing productivity

Citation Analysis n Advantages n Shows what is cited n Does not involve interaction with subjects n Profiles a literature n Shows changes in a field over time? n Disadvantages n How complete is the work from which citations are drawn? n How accurate are citations? n Are all materials cited? n Choosing easy to find/ retrieve items over better quality? n How easily retrievable are works?

Citation Analysis: Issues n From where are citations drawn? How far can you n n generalize findings? Does citation reflect use? Self-citations and/ or gratuitous citations Half-life Impact factor (to what extent are recent articles in journals cited? ) n Calculated annually: divide the number of current citations a journal receives to articles published in the previous two years by the number of articles published in those same years

Web Citations n How “prestigious” are different online sources- ejournals, open access, etc. n References to and from a Web site n Retrievability

Sweeping Studies n A type of spatial data analysis n Useful for mapping out the physical spaces of a library and investigating how people use those spaces

Qualitative Study: Concept Mapping n “Any process that represents ideas in pictures of maps. ” n A method of organizing the ideas and thoughts of a group to form a common framework n Can be used to integrate ideas from less structured activities such as brainstorming

Concept Mapping n Typical steps: n Focus: determine desired outcomes/ questions to be addressed n Generating ideas: Brainstorm, use trigger statements, ask questions n Analysis: Sort ideas into large sets n Unstructured idea sorting: ask individuals to sort ideas into groups and label n Sorting by stakeholders: organize ideas by group that generated those ideas n Ratings: assign values to ideas (importance, feasibility, etc. )

Concept Mapping n Map analysis: generate map based on idea sorting (could use statistical software, or do by hand) n Interpret map: Share with other groups to obtain understanding

Example: IR and IL

Collection and Analysis QUALITATIVE DATA

Qualitative Data n Systematic collection of data is important n Recording observations n Separating “fact” from feelings and impressions n Empirical observations and interpretation n Deep, thick description n Don’t rely on memory- record as much as possible n Take notes in stages

Qualitative Data n Validity n Field research tends to be more valid than experimental or survey measures. Why? n Reliability n Researcher is the tool- biases and assumptions can influence analysis n Helps to identify and acknowledge those biases and assumptions beforehand, be aware of them throughout

Qualitative Data Analysis n Interplay of theory and analysis- rechecking data against existing theories/modes of thinking n Discovering patterns: Frequencies n Magnitudes n Structures/Types n Processes n Causes n Consequences n

Qualitative Data Analysis n Grounded theory- generating theory solely from examination of data n Usually progresses in four stages (constant comparative method): Comparing incidents applicable to each category n Integrating categories and their properties n Delimiting theory n Writing theory n

Qualitative Data Coding n Coding- classifying or categorizing individual pieces of data Choosing a concepts to code n Physically coding- by hand or with software n Creating codes n Open coding- naming and categorizing phenomena through close analysis of the data. Categories arise from the data n

Qualitative Data Coding n Memoing- writing notes to yourself as you code data n n n Code notes- identify code meanings and labels Theoretical notes-reflections on meanings, relationships among concepts, theoretical propositions, etc. Operational notes- notes on methodological issues, data-collection circumstances, etc. Sorting memo- attempt to discover or create meaning in the data Integrating memo- ties it all together