In this blog post I will not discuss all the
qualitative methodologies, but I will rather focus on the narratives,
interviews and focus groups.
The first research paper that I chose was
called Situating Internet Use: Information-Seeking Among Young Women withBreast Cancer. The qualitative methodology used in this paper was narratives,
which I found to be a really interesting one. In my previous post I discussed that
I consider narratives as a form of interviews, but after the first seminar I understand
that narratives is a different type of qualitative methodology that can provide
us with valuable insights and deeper understanding. During the seminar we
discussed that the general idea for narratives is to see a story as source of
information for a specific research. Narrative research uses field texts, such
as stories and life experiences as the units of analysis. A benefit of this methodology
is that the participants have the opportunity to narratize their experiences in
ways that are personally meaningful to them. On the other hand, it might be time
consuming to organize and collect only the relevant information according to
the research topic. It was interesting to find out that that narratives could also
be used in telling the results of a research.
At the first seminar we also discussed the
interviews because the majority of the chosen research papers used this
methodology. Interviews can provide an in-depth understanding of personal
experiences and viewpoints that can contribute to research. Interesting and
unexpected topics might emerge from semi-structured and open-ended interviews,
which might lead to new insights and further knowledge. An advantage of using face-to-face
interviews is the possibility to get non-verbal data from interviewees, while
an advantage of online interviews is that it might be easier to reach a larger
number of participants. On the other hand, in online interviews it is more
difficult to ask follow-up questions and provide explanations and
clarifications to the participants. The disadvantages of using interviews is that
it is time consuming to transcribe the material. Plus, I agree with the
argument that there is a risk of the interviewer unconsciously influencing the
interviewee.
Focus groups is another interesting methodology.
Even though I find it valuable, I have to note that I agree with the arguments
about the risks related to the dynamics of the group. Some participants might dominate
the discussion. Therefore I believe in the importance of an experienced moderator
who can make sure that there is a balance in the discussion and that it stays
in focus-according to the researched topic.
I noticed that the majority of the chosen research
papers which used qualitative methodologies were published in the same journals,
with a focus in social science research. I understand that qualitative methodologies
are used when researchers try to answer to the question why. They can provide
in-depth understanding of a phenomenon.
I also want to briefly discuss the case study
research. I would like to note that it is not always explicit that a research
paper uses case study research. In case studies the focus is in one setting. From
discussions during the second seminar I realized that even though it is unusual,
case studies can also be based on one person. The researchers can also examine multiple
case studies. In the typical case study research, there is a combination of
methodologies- triangulation is a technique that facilitates validation of data
that was received from more than two sources. Case studies are helpful in
getting a deeper understanding about a phenomenon. They can be used for various
reasons: to provide descriptions, test theories and generate theories.
REFERENCES:
Balka, E.,
Krueger, G., Holmes, B. J. and Stephen, J. E. (2010). Situating Internet Use:
Information-Seeking Among Young Women with Breast Cancer. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 15, pp. 389–411.
