This document provides an overview of key concepts in qualitative research. It begins by noting that qualitative research aims to understand how people experience and understand the social world rather than testing hypotheses. Some key points made include: - Qualitative research uses various data sources like interviews, observations, documents rather than predefined variables. - Hypotheses may develop through analysis rather than being predetermined. The analysis process can involve constant comparison and refinement of ideas. - Findings from qualitative research are not intended to be generalized but rather aim to provide a situated understanding. - Subjectivity is part of qualitative research but researchers aim for reflexivity to understand how their own views may shape the analysis. The document discusses various types

1. Blag your way in Qualitative
Research (in less than 40 mins)
Jason Rutter, School of Dentistry, University of DundeeImage: ‘confused’ by TobiGaulke
https://goo.gl/fUvQm1 used under CC BY NC ND

2. Caveats
• This is not a session about how to
do Qualitative Research
• I’m going to try and avoid the
philosophy stuff
• I’m a sociologist…. (Draw your own conclusions)
• I realise your research is special,
precious and, without doubt,
exemplary
• Annnnnd…
Image: ‘Desert Rules’ by Dr. Zhivago -
https://goo.gl/5SxIoc. Used under CC BY NC

3. It’s more complicated than that!

4. Questions…
• What is qualitative research?
• What does qualitative research offer?
• What types of qualitative research are there?
• What is qualitative data?
• Where’s the hypothesis?
• Are the findings generalizable?
• What about objectivity?
• How do I recognise poor qualitative research?
Image: ‘Any Questions?’ by Matthias Ripp -
https://goo.gl/FVmWUV. Used under CC BY

6. Interspecies perspective taking
• Tested fMRI scanner with dead
salmon
• Asked it to identify human
emotions
• It did….
• Activity in the brain compare with rest
state
• Of 8064 voxels - 16 significant
• Cluster-level significance of p = 0.001Bennett, C.M., Baird, A.A., Miller, M.B. and Wolford, G.L., 2011. Neural correlates of interspecies
perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic salmon: An argument for proper multiple
comparisons correction. Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results, 1, pp.1-5.

7. Interspecies perspective taking
• But , of course, it didn’t really….
• “Random noise in the EPI time
series may yield spurious
results if multiple comparisons
are not controlled for.”
• 25-40% of studies on fMRI were
NOT using the corrected
comparisons.
Bennett, C.M., Baird, A.A., Miller, M.B. and Wolford, G.L., 2011. Neural correlates of interspecies
perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic salmon: An argument for proper multiple
comparisons correction. Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results, 1, pp.1-5.

8. Methods alone - whatever they
might be - do not generate
good research or astute
analyses. How researchers use
methods matters. Mechanistic
applications of methods yield
mundane data and routine
reports.
Kathy Charmaz, 2015
Constructing Grounded Theory
“
”
Image: ‘Personal Notes on Call to Action Buttons: Examples and Best Practices’
by Jacob Gube - https://goo.gl/xTvFre. Used under CC

9. What is qualitative research?
Image: ‘what’ by Scott Schiller - https://goo.gl/UbBGqq
Used under CC BY NC

10. What then is time?
If no one asks me, I
know: if I wish to
explain it to one
that asketh, I know
not.
The Confessions of Saint
Augustine Book XI
“
”
Image: ‘time’ by uditha wickramanayaka - https://goo.gl/lg0ZTP
Used under CC BY NC

11. Not just because
It uses qualitative data!
So do literary studies, history, political sciences, religious studies,
philosophy, archaeology, legal studies, linguistics, etc.

12. • Data driven
• Focused on a site
• Inductive
• Reflexive
• Iterative
• Produces theory
Image: ‘i kept telling Geoff the Stormtrooper, but he wouldn't listen.’
by daren – https://goo.gl/5ne7aR. Used under CC

13. General elements
• Emic approach – exploring the meanings of the actor
• Naturalistic enquiry – data gathered within context and on context
• Situated – specific to a particular time and place
• Aims to understand how people manage, experience and understand
a social world
• Focuses on people’s activities, processes, perspectives, categories…
• Uses data which are ‘naturalistic’
• Can integrate unexpected or unique occurrences

14. I lied about the philosophy…
• Associated with phenomenology
• (from Greek phainómenon "that which appears" and lógos
"study")
• Explores the processes and structures of people within
social contexts
• Explores the processes and structures of people creating
social contexts
• Meaning is found in use….

15. What does qualitative research offer?
• Offers an integrated perspective
• Understand group interactions as well as individuals
• Generate ideas and hypotheses
• Illustrates how macro-level concepts are experienced and produced
at micro level
• It can engage with both the rule and exceptions
• Sensitive to contradictions – possible to hold conflicting opinions
• Can detail unexpected or unique occurrences

16. What types of qualitative
research are there?
Image: ‘Choose a Door’ by Adrian Berg -
https://goo.gl/mfpPdg. Used under CC BY NC

17. Action Research, Advocacy Research, Aesthetics, Applied Research, Appreciative Inquiry, Artifact
Analysis, A/r/tography, Arts-Based Research, Arts-Informed Research, Autobiography,
Autoethnography, Basic Research, Biography, Case Study, Clinical Research, Collaborative Research,
Community-Based Research, Comparative Research, Content Analysis, Conversation Analysis, Covert
Research, Critical Action Research, Critical Arts-Based Inquiry, Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical
Ethnography, Critical Hermeneutics, Critical Research, Cross-Cultural Research, Discourse Analysis,
Document Analysis, Duoethnography, Ecological Research, Emergent Design, Empirical Research,
Empowerment Evaluation, Ethnodrama, Ethnography, Ethnomethodology, Evaluation Research,
Evidence-Based Practice, Explanatory Research, Exploratory Data Analysis, Feminist Research, Field
Research, Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, Genealogical Approach, Grounded Theory, Hermeneutics,
Heuristic Inquiry, Historical Discourse Analysis, Historical Research, Historiography, Indigenous
Research, Institutional Ethnography, Institutional Research, Interdisciplinary Research, Internet in
Qualitative Research, Interpretive Inquiry, Interpretive Phenomenology, Interpretive Research,
Market Research, Meta-Analysis, Meta-Ethnography, Meta-Synthesis, Methodological Holism Versus,
Individualism, Methodology, Methods, Mixed Methods Research, Multicultural Research, Narrative
Analysis, Narrative Genre Analysis, Narrative Inquiry, Naturalistic Inquiry, Observational Research,
Oral History, Orientational Perspective, Para-Ethnography, Participatory Action Research,
Performance Ethnography, Phenomenography, Phenomenology, Place/Space in Qualitative,
Research, Playbuilding, Portraiture, Program Evaluation, Q Methodology, Readers Theatre, Social
Justice, Social Network Analysis, Survey Research, Symbolic Interactionism, Systemic Inquiry,
Theatre of the Oppressed, Transformational Methods, Unobtrusive Research, Value-Free Inquiry,
Virtual Ethnography, Virtual Research, Visual Ethnography, Visual Narrative Inquiry…
Given, L.M. (Ed.) 2008. The SAGE Encyclopediaof Qualitative Research Methods

18. Why choose a particular method?
• The choice of approach is subjective – but should be motivated
• Looking for a ‘best fit’
• ‘Best fit’ to what?
• Research concern?
• Available data
• Integration with other data and analysis?
• ‘It’s what we do’?
• If research is to be judged on its own terms – it should be clear about
those terms and their rationale.

19. What is Qualitative Data?

20. Qualitative researchers
have the annoying habit
of using ‘data’ as a
singular.
Deep down we know this is wrong.
Please don’t correct us,
it makes us sad…
Image: ‘Sad’ by OFour - https://goo.gl/KFMZY5. Used under CC BY NC

21. Making or finding data
• Interviews
• Unstructured (passive/nondirective) interviews (Qual possibly GT)
• Semi-structured (forced) interviews (Qual probably not GT)
• Structured interviews (probably not Qual)
• Focus Groups
• Observational & Participational methods
• Non-reactive methods/Unobtrusive research
• Graffiti
• Meeting minutes
• Recordings
• Rubbish (Garbage)

22. Theoretical statements have
become synonymous with
hypotheses about the
relationships between variables,
and variables have replaced
actors as the active subjects with
causal powers.
Hedström, P., 2005. Dissecting the Social: On the Principles of Analytical
Sociology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., p. 105
”
“
Image: ‘Two Pounds’ by Shane Byrd -
https://goo.gl/J5lcV7. Used under CC BY ND

23. ‘All is Data’*
Glaser, Barney G. (2001). The Grounded Theory Perspective: Conceptualization
Contrasted with Description. Mill Valley, Ca.: Sociology Press.
*Except numbers, number are bad.
*Except when they aren’t, and then numbers are data.
Image:‘DataShieldsupforthesummer,becauseyoujustneverknow...’
byMarkAhlness-https://goo.gl/xqhQbu.UsedunderCCBYNCND

24. Unstructured data?
Image: ‘Cat’ by yasin turkoglu- https://goo.gl/sdgXwN. Used under CC BY ND

25. 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144
Fibonacci Numbers | Virahanka Numbers

26. 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144
Fibonacci Numbers | Virahanka Numbers
Rarely are data
random. Part of the
task of the researcher
is to recognise
structures, identify the
practices that
produced those
structures, and
understand what those
structures are
enabling.

27. Communicative action
is doubly contextual
in being both context-
shaped and context-
renewing.
Heritage, J. (1984). Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press. p.242
Image: ‘context’ by green kozi - https://goo.gl/Xf5PKP. Used under CC BY NC ND
”
“

28. Conversation Analysis
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of
Turn-Taking for Conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735.
(1) Speaker-change recurs, or at least occurs
(2) Overwhelmingly, one party talks at a time
(3) Occurrences of more than one speaker at a time are common, but brief
(4) Transitions (from one turn to a next) with no gap and no overlap are common.
[…]
(14) Repair mechanisms exist for dealing with turn-taking errors and violations

29. Image: ‘Trying to repair the Camaro’ by clement127
https://goo.gl/jYDoHi. Used under CC BY NC ND

30. Where’s the Hypothesis?
• Not locked in to original concept
• Hypotheses are developed through analysis
• Testing and refining are part of the analytical process
• Analysis often parallel with data collection
• Responsive to findings - can shape direction of data collection
• New data can be added even at later stages of analysis

31. An overemphasis in current
sociology on the verification
of theory, and a resultant de-
emphasis on the prior step of
discovering what concepts
and hypotheses are relevant
for the area that one wishes
to research.
Glaser, B.G. & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory.
London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p.2-3
“
Image: ‘Lynas (02010289)’ by IAEA Imagebank
https://goo.gl/sLWnV3. Used under CC BY NC ND

32. Coding
https://goo.gl/wzLL5u CC BY SA

33. Coding
• A priori coding
• Deductive – so hard for new knowledge to be generated
• Not reflexive
• About collecting information rather than developing insight
• Quicker and cheaper to undertake other data collection methods.
• Systematises cognitive biases
• May be useful where a FONSI or confirmation of policy is the preferred
outcome…
• Not saying it is wrong….

34. Image: Wrong Way Signs’ by Arizona Department of Transportation
https://goo.gl/nIhn5L. Used under CC BY NC ND

35. Are the findings generalizable?
• Replication is not the same as generalisability
• You can’t step into the same river twice
• Data is specific, but theory aims to generalise an
understanding
• Qualitative work can build on theory making in new sites
• Iterative process
• Engagement with ‘outliers’/‘deviant cases’

36. The First Five Seconds
• PhD research
• Opening of phone calls
• Corpus of 500 calls to & from a
USA police station
• 499 started the same way…
Emanuel Schegloff
Distinguished Professorof Sociology
University of California at Los Angeles

37. Answerer speaks first
• Schegloff 1968
#9 (Police make call)
Receiver is lifted, and there is a one second pause
Police: Hello.
Other: American Red Cross.
Police: Hello, this is Police Headquarters . . . er, Officer Stratton [etc.]
Schegloff, E.A., 1968. Sequencing in Conversational Openings. American Anthropologist, 70(6),
pp.1075–1095.

38. The distribution rule is no less a
‘special case’ for having many
occurrences, nor the latter more
so for having only one. Not
number of occurrences, but
common subsumption under a
more general formulation is what
matters.
Schegloff, E.A., 1968. Sequencing in Conversational Openings. American Anthropologist, 70(6),
pp.1075–1095.
Image: ‘Suitcase’ by Rie H- https://goo.gl/rZ61MF. Used under CC
Image flipped and cropped
”
“

39. Theoretical Saturation
• Specifically linked to Grounded Theory
• Related to Theoretical Sampling
• No new data are apparent…
• Data which stretch diversity have been searched for…
• No further development of category properties is foreseeable…
• Links between concepts have been verified…
• The study could be replicated…
• (Really things are theoretical pretty wet rather than saturated!)
Image: ‘[217/365]’ by Pimthida
https://goo.gl/ByhjyA. Used under CC BY NC ND
(This slide is here because someone always asks about theoretical saturation)

40. What about Objectivity?
This discomfort with
subjectivity clearly makes
sense from a psychological
science standpoint that
emphasizes theoretically
driven research and
replicability of research
procedures and design.
Gough, B., & Madill, A. (2012). Subjectivity in psychological science: From problem to prospect.
Psychological Methods, 17(3), 374–384.
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”Image: ‘’nit’ by pshab - https://goo.gl/F0e0jh. Used under CC BY NC

41. Onwuegbuzie, A.J. & Leech, N.L., 2007. Validity and Qualitative Research:
An Oxymoron? Quality & Quantity, 41(2), pp.233–249
Researcher bias is a
very common threat to
legitimation in
constructivist research
because the researcher
usually serves as the
person (i.e., instrument)
collecting the data.
“
” Image: ‘Smile for the Camera’ by Matt Reinbold
https://goo.gl/B5wz6A. Used under CC BY SA

42. How do I
recognize
poor qualitative
research?
Image: ‘Little Darlings’ by Dave Wild - https://goo.gl/CCvhk7. Used under CC BY NC

43. Nobody in this room…
• Ever misinterpreted a p-value…
• Went data dredging, data fishing, or
p-hacking…
• Failed to replicate results…
• Inferred from a too small sample…
• Was so subjective they were pleased
their hypothesis was proven
…Yet, a lot of work is poor!
Gelman, A., and Stern, H. (2006) "The difference between ‘significant’ and ‘not significant’ is not
itself statistically significant." The American Statistician 60(4), pp.328-331.

44. • It remains descriptive
• It is essentially quant with qual data
• It classifies or quotes without theory
• It employs quantitative categories without reflexivity
• Keen to reduce data ASAP
• Fears ambiguity and lack of control
• A theory introduced at the end saves the day
Clues to questionable quality

45. Clues to questionable quality
• ‘We used grounded theory’
• ‘We reached theoretical saturation’
• ‘We analysed the data using nVivo’
• ‘We did an ethnography’
• ‘We use inter-analyst triangulation
to ensure consensus’
• It is not firmly situated within a
range of literature

46. The Textbook Method
• Coffey, A. & Atkinson, P., 1996. Making sense of qualitative data:
complementary research strategies, London: Sage.
• Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. 1990. Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and
procedures for developing grounded theory, London: Sage.
• Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S., 1994. The Sage handbook of qualitative research,
London: Sage.
• Gubrium, J.F. & Holstein, J.A., 2001. Handbook of interview research: Context
and method, London: Sage.
• Miles, M.B. & Huberman, A.M. (Saldana, J.), 1983, Qualitative Data Analysis: A
Methods Sourcebook, London: Sage.
• Ritchie, J. & Lewis, J. (McNaughton Nicholls & Ormston), 2003. Qualitative
research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers,
London: Sage.

47. • Data driven
• Focused on a site
• Inductive
• Reflexive
• Iterative
• Produces theory
Image: ‘i kept telling Geoff the Stormtrooper, but he wouldn't listen.’
by daren – https://goo.gl/5ne7aR. Used under CC

48. Jason Rutter
School of Dentistry,
University of Dundee
J.Rutter@Dundee.ac.uk
Slides Available at
http://jasonrutter.co.uk/