Types of Qualitative research Report
.jpg "Self Report in Research Qualitative Research (I)")
Self
Report in Research Qualitative Research (I) Qualitative Self-Report
Techniques,Types of Qualitative Self-Reports, Glaser and Strauss
(1967),Spradley (1979),Semi-Structured Interviews.
What is Self Report
Self-report is the most widely used data
collection method by both qualitative and quantitative nurse researchers.
Self-report data can be gathered either orally in an interview, or in writing
in a written questionnaire.
Interviews (and, to a lesser extent,
questionnaires) vary in their degree of structure, their length and complexity,
and their administration. We begin by reviewing various options and procedures
for collecting qualitative self-report data.
Qualitative
Self-Report Techniques
Unstructured or loosely structured
self-report methods provide narrative data for qualitative analysis.
Qualitative researchers usually do not have a specific set of questions that
must be asked in a particular order and worded in a given way. Instead, they
start with some general questions or topics and allow respondents to tell their
stories in a narrative fashion.
Unstructured or semi structured interviews, in
other words, tend to be conversational. Unstructured interviews encourage
respondents to define the important dimensions of a phenomenon and to elaborate
on what is relevant to them, rather than being guided by investigators’ a
priori notions of relevance. Researchers in virtually all qualitative
traditions gather unstructured or loosely structured self-report data.
Types of
Qualitative Self-Reports
Researchers use various approaches in
collecting qualitative self-report data. The main methods are described here.
Unstructured Interviews When researchers proceed without a preconceived view of
the content or flow of information to be gathered, they may conduct completely
unstructured interviews. Unstructured interviews are conversational and
interactive.
Unstructured interviews are the mode of choice when researchers do
not have a clear idea of what it is they do not know. Researchers using
unstructured interviews do not begin with a series of prepared questions
because they do not yet know what to ask or even where to begin.
In conducting
unstructured interviews, it is critical to let participants tell their stories,
with little interruption. Phenomenological, grounded theory, and ethnographic
studies usually rely heavily on unstructured interviews.
Researchers using a completely unstructured
approach often begin by informally asking a broad question (sometimes called a
grand tour question) relating to the research topic, such as, “What happened
when you first learned you had AIDS?” Subsequent questions are more focused and
are guided by responses to the broad question.
Some respondents may request direction
after the initial broad question is posed, perhaps asking, “Where should I
begin?” Respondents should be encouraged to begin wherever they wish.
Van Manen
(1990) provides suggestions for guiding a phenomenological interview to produce
rich descriptions of the experience under study:
•
“Describe the experience from the inside, as it were; almost like a state of
mind: the feelings, the mood, the emotions, etc.
• Focus
on a particular example or incident of the object of experience: describe
specific events, an adventure, a happening, a particular experience.
• Try to
focus on an example of the experience which stands out for its vividness, or as
it was the first time.
• Attend
to how the body feels, how things smell(ed), how they sound(ed), etc.”
Kahn
(2000), discussing unstructured interviews in hermeneutic phenomenological
studies, aims for interviews that resemble conversations. If the experience
under study is ongoing, Kahn suggests obtaining as much detail as possible
about the participant’s daily life.
For example, a question that can be used
is, “Pick a normal day for you and tell me what happened” (p. 62). Repeated
interviews over time with the same participant are essential in this
prospective approach. If the experience being studied is primarily in the past,
then Kahn (2000) uses a retrospective approach.
The
interviewer begins with a general question such as, “What does this
experience mean to you?” , and then probes for more detail until the
experience is thoroughly described.
In
grounded theory, the interviewing technique changes as the theory is developed.
At the outset, interviews are similar to open-ended conversations using
unstructured interviews. Glaser and Strauss (1967) suggested researchers
initially should just sit back and listen to participants’ stories. Later, as
the theory emerges, researchers ask more direct questions related to categories
in the grounded theory.
The more direct questions can be answered rather
quickly, and so the length of an interview tends to get shorter as the grounded
theory develops. Ethnographic interviews are also unstructured. Spradley (1979)
describes three types of question used to guide interviews: descriptive,
structural, and contrast questions (Spradley, 1979).
Descriptive questions ask
participants to describe their experiences in their own language, and are the
backbone of ethnographic interviews. Structural questions are more focused and
help to develop the range of terms in a category or domain. Last are contrast
questions, which are asked to distinguish differences in the meaning of terms
and symbols.
Semi-Structured
Interviews
Researchers sometimes want to be sure that
a specific set of topics is covered in their qualitative interviews. They know
what they want to ask, but cannot predict what the answers will be. Their role
in the process is somewhat structured, whereas the participants’ is not.
In
such focused or semi -structured interviews, researchers prepare in advance a
written topic guide, which is a list of areas or questions to be covered with
each respondent. The interviewer’s function is to encourage participants to
talk freely about all the topics on the list, and to tell stories in their own
words.
This technique ensures that researchers will obtain all the information
required, and gives respondents the freedom to respond in their own words,
provide as much detail as they wish, and offer illustrations and explanations.
In preparing the list of questions, care needs to be taken to order questions
in a logical sequence, perhaps chronologically, or perhaps from the general to
the specific. (However, interviewers need to be attentive because sometimes
respondents spontaneously give information about questions that are later on
the list.)
The list of questions might include
suggestions for follow-up questions or probes designed to elicit more detailed
information. Examples of such probes include, “Please explain what you mean by
that,” “What happened next?” and “When that happened, how did you feel?” Care
should be taken not to include questions that require one- or two-word
responses, such as “yes” or “no.”
The goal is to ask questions that give
respondents an opportunity to provide rich, detailed information about the
phenomenon under study. In deciding whether to use a semi- structured or
unstructured interview, it is important to consider not only the research
tradition, but also the state of knowledge on a topic.
Gibson (1998) conducted
a study of the experiences and expectations of patients discharged from an
acute psychiatric hospital using, and compared the richness of data yielded by
the two approaches. Gibson found that unstructured interviews resulted in
greater depth and detail than semi- structured interviews, and that respondents
preferred unstructured interviews.
Types of Qualitative research Report
Self
Report in Research Qualitative Research (I) Qualitative Self-Report
Techniques,Types of Qualitative Self-Reports, Glaser and Strauss
(1967),Spradley (1979),Semi-Structured Interviews.
What is Self Report
Self-report is the most widely used data
collection method by both qualitative and quantitative nurse researchers.
Self-report data can be gathered either orally in an interview, or in writing
in a written questionnaire.
Interviews (and, to a lesser extent,
questionnaires) vary in their degree of structure, their length and complexity,
and their administration. We begin by reviewing various options and procedures
for collecting qualitative self-report data.
Qualitative
Self-Report Techniques
Unstructured or loosely structured
self-report methods provide narrative data for qualitative analysis.
Qualitative researchers usually do not have a specific set of questions that
must be asked in a particular order and worded in a given way. Instead, they
start with some general questions or topics and allow respondents to tell their
stories in a narrative fashion.
Unstructured or semi structured interviews, in
other words, tend to be conversational. Unstructured interviews encourage
respondents to define the important dimensions of a phenomenon and to elaborate
on what is relevant to them, rather than being guided by investigators’ a
priori notions of relevance. Researchers in virtually all qualitative
traditions gather unstructured or loosely structured self-report data.
Types of
Qualitative Self-Reports
Researchers use various approaches in
collecting qualitative self-report data. The main methods are described here.
Unstructured Interviews When researchers proceed without a preconceived view of
the content or flow of information to be gathered, they may conduct completely
unstructured interviews. Unstructured interviews are conversational and
interactive.
Unstructured interviews are the mode of choice when researchers do
not have a clear idea of what it is they do not know. Researchers using
unstructured interviews do not begin with a series of prepared questions
because they do not yet know what to ask or even where to begin.
In conducting
unstructured interviews, it is critical to let participants tell their stories,
with little interruption. Phenomenological, grounded theory, and ethnographic
studies usually rely heavily on unstructured interviews.
Researchers using a completely unstructured
approach often begin by informally asking a broad question (sometimes called a
grand tour question) relating to the research topic, such as, “What happened
when you first learned you had AIDS?” Subsequent questions are more focused and
are guided by responses to the broad question.
Some respondents may request direction
after the initial broad question is posed, perhaps asking, “Where should I
begin?” Respondents should be encouraged to begin wherever they wish.
Van Manen
(1990) provides suggestions for guiding a phenomenological interview to produce
rich descriptions of the experience under study:
•
“Describe the experience from the inside, as it were; almost like a state of
mind: the feelings, the mood, the emotions, etc.
• Focus
on a particular example or incident of the object of experience: describe
specific events, an adventure, a happening, a particular experience.
• Try to
focus on an example of the experience which stands out for its vividness, or as
it was the first time.
• Attend
to how the body feels, how things smell(ed), how they sound(ed), etc.”
Kahn
(2000), discussing unstructured interviews in hermeneutic phenomenological
studies, aims for interviews that resemble conversations. If the experience
under study is ongoing, Kahn suggests obtaining as much detail as possible
about the participant’s daily life.
For example, a question that can be used
is, “Pick a normal day for you and tell me what happened” (p. 62). Repeated
interviews over time with the same participant are essential in this
prospective approach. If the experience being studied is primarily in the past,
then Kahn (2000) uses a retrospective approach.
The
interviewer begins with a general question such as, “What does this
experience mean to you?” , and then probes for more detail until the
experience is thoroughly described.
In
grounded theory, the interviewing technique changes as the theory is developed.
At the outset, interviews are similar to open-ended conversations using
unstructured interviews. Glaser and Strauss (1967) suggested researchers
initially should just sit back and listen to participants’ stories. Later, as
the theory emerges, researchers ask more direct questions related to categories
in the grounded theory.
The more direct questions can be answered rather
quickly, and so the length of an interview tends to get shorter as the grounded
theory develops. Ethnographic interviews are also unstructured. Spradley (1979)
describes three types of question used to guide interviews: descriptive,
structural, and contrast questions (Spradley, 1979).
Descriptive questions ask
participants to describe their experiences in their own language, and are the
backbone of ethnographic interviews. Structural questions are more focused and
help to develop the range of terms in a category or domain. Last are contrast
questions, which are asked to distinguish differences in the meaning of terms
and symbols.
Semi-Structured
Interviews
Researchers sometimes want to be sure that
a specific set of topics is covered in their qualitative interviews. They know
what they want to ask, but cannot predict what the answers will be. Their role
in the process is somewhat structured, whereas the participants’ is not.
In
such focused or semi -structured interviews, researchers prepare in advance a
written topic guide, which is a list of areas or questions to be covered with
each respondent. The interviewer’s function is to encourage participants to
talk freely about all the topics on the list, and to tell stories in their own
words.
This technique ensures that researchers will obtain all the information
required, and gives respondents the freedom to respond in their own words,
provide as much detail as they wish, and offer illustrations and explanations.
In preparing the list of questions, care needs to be taken to order questions
in a logical sequence, perhaps chronologically, or perhaps from the general to
the specific. (However, interviewers need to be attentive because sometimes
respondents spontaneously give information about questions that are later on
the list.)
The list of questions might include
suggestions for follow-up questions or probes designed to elicit more detailed
information. Examples of such probes include, “Please explain what you mean by
that,” “What happened next?” and “When that happened, how did you feel?” Care
should be taken not to include questions that require one- or two-word
responses, such as “yes” or “no.”
The goal is to ask questions that give
respondents an opportunity to provide rich, detailed information about the
phenomenon under study. In deciding whether to use a semi- structured or
unstructured interview, it is important to consider not only the research
tradition, but also the state of knowledge on a topic.
Gibson (1998) conducted
a study of the experiences and expectations of patients discharged from an
acute psychiatric hospital using, and compared the richness of data yielded by
the two approaches. Gibson found that unstructured interviews resulted in
greater depth and detail than semi- structured interviews, and that respondents
preferred unstructured interviews.