Key Terms
What is the data in ethnographic research?
Fieldnotes
Data
Findings
Evidence
Data: interview script; video recording; field notes
Findings: themes
evidence: consistent themes/patterns; behavior shows that patterns are meaningful; examples illustrate the patterns; there aren’t any contradictory patterns; in some cases deviant cases can have special effects
Qualitative (semi-structured) Interview
Less structured, want to get interviewee’s perspective
Deductive vs inductive
Deductive (start with theory, then data) vs inductive (start with data, end with theory) approach to theory
Role of fathers in family life (Lareau)
What role do parents play in their children’s lives?
Qualitative interviews with fathers and mothers of children separately
Observation of 12 families
Fathers (1) lacked objective knowledge about their children (2) but had ideological commitment to childrearing (2) played other important roles (e.g. entertainment, center of conversation, teacher of life skills) – fathers play a symbolic role
Theoretical Sampling / Saturation
Type of purposive sampling; chosen on an ongoing basis; chosen strategically to explore or test emerging theory
themes identified, satisfactorily understood, no new info emerging
Define: Structured vs unstructured observation
Check boxes vs field notes
Ethnography
Participant observation; uses field notes as data
Quantitative vs qualitative: research questions
Generally, more why questions vs more how questions
Doctors asking patients about additional concerns (Heritage et al)
What can physicians do to reduce the number of unaddressed concerns?
Mixed methods: conversation analysis, survey, structured observation, experimental design
Wondered does asking “is there anything else you would like to address” versus “is there something else” make a difference?
Using “some questions” or nothing at all significantly reduced the number of unaddressed concerns when compared to using “any questions”
Research strategy,
design,
method
Epistemological & ontological orientation, approach to theory (inductive/deductive)
Experimental; cross-sectional; longitudinal, case study
Questionnaire, focus groups, conversation analysis, semi-structured interviews
Conversational repair
Self/other – who does the speaking
Same turn/next turn – when on the sequence the speaking is done
Initiation/execution of repair – who points out the trouble source versus who carries out the repair
Focus group vs. group interview
Focus group: tightly focused topics; involves group by design; interest in group discussion
Group interview: broad range of topics; used out of convenience such as to save money; interest in individual responses
Quantitative vs qualitative: methods
Survey/questionnaire
Structured observation
Unstructured observation
Focus groups
Conversation analysis
Semi-structured interviews
Stivers et al. 2003
Parent-doctor communication surrounding antibiotics
candidate diagnosis – what happens when parents offer a candidate diagnosis? MDs perceive that the parent expects an antibiotic regardless of whether they actually expect it
(conversation analysis mixed with surveys and structured observation; parents do things that influence physician perception of their expectation for abx, and influences physician behavior in multiple phases of the visit: establishing problem, diagnosis, treatment)
Purposive sampling
non-probability; strategically choosing participants to answer research question
snowball, quota and theoretical sampling are types, but not convenience
Preference for self-repair
How do participants deal with problems in speaking, hearing and understanding? ; What are the principles or norms that guide when a repair happens and by whom (self vs other)
Conversation analysis ; There is a preference for self-repair
Evidence
When others initiate the repair it is delayed
Other initiates but doesn’t execute
When others execute it is mitigated (ex. Use of I think, ask questions instead of straight out saying where the person is wrong)
Deviant cases have special meaning
Conversation analysis
the fine-grained analysis of spontaneous naturally occurring talk in social interaction
aims to find the rules guiding social interactions
Candidate Diagnosis vs Symptoms Only (give examples)
Candidate diagnosis: parents suggest what they think the illness is
Symptoms only: only list off symptoms child is experiencing
After candidate diagnosis, doctors can agree/disagree right away, rule out candidate diagnosis before diagnosing, and rule out antibiotics before offering symptomatic treatment
Scott
ethnography/observation/interview
custodians interact differently with children in socioeconomically different schools, possibly also influenced by race relations
contrasting patterns of custodian-children interaction: Engaging in or refraining disciplining children’s behavior, seeking or avoiding contact with children, children’s use of address terms: ‘Mr. Last name or First name’ vs ‘Custodian’
Mixed methods: Triangulation / sampling /utility
Reasons for using mixed methods
Triangulation: cross-check findings – findings complement each other
Development: qualitative method used to develop hypothesis
Sampling: use quant method to identify people for qualitative study
Utility: use both strategies to speak to practitioners and policy makers
Self-medication among Latino migrants
What are the self medication practices among Latino undocumented immigrants?
focus groups; exploratory study of reasons why latinos self-prescribe/medicate (difficult to access care, fear of deportation, confusion about where to go)
why use focus groups? because exploratory study with very little previous research, to quickly gain rich and detailed information on the custom, also participants in a group with others like them are more likely to open up
do you remember how they sampled?
convenience sample of recruited through Latino service agency, mean education 9th grade, most household incomes less than $30k/year) how were data analyzed? Similarities and differences
Mixed methods
combines across research strategies (specifically by incorporating qualitative and quantitative components)
examples
Quantitative vs qualitative: theory
different relationship to theory (deductive vs inductive), epistemological orientation (positivist vs interpretivist), ontological orientation (objectivist vs constructionist)
Communication and moral order in preschool
How are deaf or hard-of-hearing children socialized?
Ethnography; participant observation – immersion in school for deaf or hard-of-hearing
Students held morally accountable for using spoken language
This moral order of using spoken language is prioritized over all other types of moral order (e.g. manners)