Educational Research Design Module (Week 6)
The following is a reflection on the Tuesday morning class that took place on 23rd May 2017 from 10:00 to 13:00 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.
Description
THIS WEEK: Data Collection
NOTES: from today’s class…
Qualitative Data
Characteristics
– Depth rather than breadth
– Rich thick descriptions
– Experience the phenomenon through the eyes of others
– Social and historical context
– Flexible research designs
Concerns/Criticisms and Questions about Qualitative Data
(As a reader/consumer)
– it’s soft
– not credible / not scientific /
MORE STUFF (look at file in BB)
Interviews as a Method
– MORE STUFF (look at file in BB)
Interviewer Metaphors (What’s your epistemology?)
– Miner (More structured)
– Traveller (Less structured)
(Kvale, 1996)
Interview Considerations (Planning)
– Formality
– Structure(Structured, Semi-structured, Unstructured)
– Single or Multiple
– In Person or Distanced
Types of Questions
– Closed, e.g. Do you get on well with your colleagues in your office?
– Open, e.g. Can you tell me about your relationship with your colleagues in your office?
Interviews and Ethical Considerations
– Putting people under pressure
– Not safeguarding anonymity
–
Interviews Resources
-Uwe Flick
– Graham Gibbs (YouTube channels)
Focus Groups (instead of interviews)
– Suitable for studying interaction and for comparing viewpoints
– Less suitable for narrative studies or addressing individual attitudes
– Need careful planning and design
– May know each other already or be unfamiliar to each other
– Pragmatic in MA and MSc projects
* a means to gather rich cars in a tight timescale
* may be more comfortable in a group
* can be conducted online if necessary
– Get help!
– If possible ask a colleague to share the focus group
Purposeful Sampling
– Researchers intentionally select individuals and sites
Gray – Doing Research in the real world – Sampling Strategies