QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:Limitations Of Quantitative Research

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Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Lesson 06

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

The type of research in which Information about behavior, in terms of quality rather than in quantity is being

looked for. The evidence is also analyzed and reported in qualitative form.

Quantitative versus Qualitative Research:

Quantitative Research:

In quantitative research the data are collected, dealt with, and presented/ reported in the form of numbers. The

numbers can be in the form of simple frequencies, percentages, scores, measurements etc. If the phenomenon

being explored can not be recorded in quantities, it is not considered.

The tools of data collection e.g. questionnaires are designed in a way that the researcher ends up with

quantifiable Information.

Qualitative Research:

In qualitative research the Information collected is in the form of analytical narratives rather than statistically

treatable data. Qualitative methods basically belong to disciplines like Sociology, or Anthropology.

Qualitative research primarily involves:

· In-depth, detailed, case studies

· In-depth interviews

· Basic observational studies

Qualitative or Quantitative Research?

Which of the methods needs to be employed for a research, is not a simple to decide, since the answer to this

question may vary at various occasions?

The research method to be employed depends upon:

· The nature of the problem.

· The accessibility of Information.

Using a qualitative- quantitative combination:

Some researches have used a combination of the two. Walker (1996) adopted this approach in a study. Walker

studied if gender differences in the control of a TV remote control would affect the relationships of couples.

She used semi-structured interviews as the main method (quantitative) and supplemented the Information with

a qualitative analysis. This analysis was based upon a number of open-ended questions asked to the subjects,

and quotes from the interviews. These were used to illustrate the conclusions.

The conclusions of her study showed that when both partners are watching TV, it is men who usually control

what is being watched. In general a leisure activity, watching TV, can become a source of conflict.

Limitations Of Quantitative Research:

· In surveys, the researcher depends upon self-reports and not direct observation of phenomenon of

interest. Therefore the respondents' honesty, seriousness, accurate memory, and interest in the

research determine the accuracy of the findings.

· Co relational research does indicate the existence of a relationship, but gives no clue to the causal

relationship.

· Experimental research involves artificiality, and the researcher tends to ignore many behaviors that can

be important because they are not thought to be related to the variable of interest.

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Qualitative Research Methods

Case studies

Interviews

Ethnography

Focus Groups

Case studies

A type of research in which the focus of investigation is a single case or a small sample.

This approach is employed in rarely occurring cases, or when getting hold of a large sample is practically

not possible.

Rarely occurring condition:

Like cases of brain damage due to accidents, children lost in forests and grown up with animals.

Situations where large samples are not possible:

Like it is difficult to get hold of a large sample of HIV/ AIDS patients, especially females, because

doctors do not disclose the identity of their patients and most sufferers do not like to admit that their

illness due to a fear of social stigma.

Therefore it will be sufficient if one can get one case each of both genders.

Cases that can be chosen for a case study:

People who are typical cases of a certain syndrome, treatment regimen, condition, or any other

phenomenon, and represent many other people.

Cases that is unusual or rare.

Cases that are interesting

Interviews

Interviews are used both in qualitative as well as quantitative research. In depth interviews reveal a lot

about the case being studied. Interviews have an edge over questionnaires because of the opportunity

to observe non-verbal behavior and body language of the subjects. Willingness of the subjects is an

essential requirement of interviews, besides the interviewer's skill and training. When used as the sole

source of data, interviews typically contain more open-ended than close-ended questions.

For example, interviews of abandoned women, and female victims of domestic violence residing in a

shelter home.

Interviews can be conducted in order to:

Gather oral or life histories and have a broad orientation.

Investigate specific, narrow, issues or subjects of interest.

In-depth interviews can be used to supplement case studies.

Conducting Interviews on Gender Issues:

The following points need to be considered before you decide to employ interviews as your preferred

method:

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Sensitive issues need to be tackled carefully. Use carefully selected words, and carefully phrased

language.

Time and place of Interview are very important. Privacy and time suitable to the subjects is should be

given priority.

The people around may matter a lot to the Information yielded by the Interview. Try interviewing in

private, or make sure the people present do not interfere.

For example when Interviewing women in a shelter home, one needs to make sure that the

administration or other inmates are not listening without the consent of the interviewee.

Ethnography:

It is one of the methods most popularly used by anthropologists. It is gaining popularity among psychologists,

especially those studying gender issues. The researchers spend time in the environment under study, in events

of interest, or with people being observed in such a manner that they get immersed in to the situation. The

researchers become a part of the situation e.g. a hospital, shelter home, prison, school, or orphanage, and gets

the direct and real feel of the context. It is a naturalistic observation that can be supplemented by concealed

audio/video recordings of behavior. The researchers record information soon after observations are made.

The researchers have to be particularly careful about not getting emotionally involved with the subjects, or in

the situation or behavior. They should also be cautious that their own behavior should in no way alter or

reinforce the subjects' behavior or beliefs.

Example of ethnography: Becoming a student to study gender differences in private language of male and

female students in a university.

FOCUS GROUPS:

Focus groups are collective interviews conducted in a group setting. It is a discussion that revolves around a

specific issue. The researcher talks to the participants in order to learn about their opinions, attitudes,

preferences, likes or dislikes, and tries to find out reasons/ causes of those. Focus groups are mostly used as a

source of data collection in surveys but used otherwise as well.

The nature of the subject group can be of one of these types:

· The subjects belonging to different spheres of life are brought together at one location for discussion.

· Subjects with the same background are invited for discussion.

The usual size of the group is 6-8 participants. More people can be added if required, but it rarely exceeds 12

discussants. The procedure is the same as interview but focus groups have an advantage in terms of Interview-

participant/within-group interaction.

Example: We can conduct focus groups to assess gender differences in hurdles faced in choosing the preferred

profession by male and female students.

A caution against gender bias in research:

· Researchers should be very careful in selecting the language and words in questionnaires, interview

schedules, and other research tools.

· Stereotype about gender, race, color, or other sensitive issues may be perpetuated and reinforced by

the careless use of language; it can also cause hurt to the party involved.

· APA Publication Manual provides guidelines on the use of gender- neutral language, and addresses the

issue of language that is considered as sexist, because it implies inequalities between males and females.

· In 1977, APA for the first time developed guidelines for "gender- neutral" or nonsexist language.

The use of gender neutral language solves two problems:

The problem of designation:

Researchers often intend to refer to all humanity, but use words that imply men alone e.g. "man is curious by

nature" or `man has to be aware of the health hazards".

Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512)

Research shows that even when the researcher was totally nonsexist in approach and intention, the readers

took sentences including the word

"man' or "his" as referring to men alone 86% of the times (Kidd, 1971).Therefore "they" should be used

instead of "his" or "her".

The problem of evaluation:

The terms chosen to describe males and females imply inequality e.g. men's college and girls' college, men's

team and girls' team. Using "women" instead of "girls" can solve the problem.

Choosing an appropriate research design

The following factors need to be kept in mind while designing a research:

The nature of the problem

The expected form of Information.

The preferred form of Information.... Qualitative or quantitative?

Your skills with numbers and narratives.

How to plan a content analysis pertaining to gender issues?

Consider the following before you decide to employ content analysis as your preferred method:

Variable that you are looking for?

Coding procedure for analysis?

Content to be analyzed?

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