Research Design and Management Chapter Summary “This chapter describes the intial and technical mates involved in qualitative resnateh design, Such core topics incude conceptual frameworks, research questions, Sampling, instrumentation, consideration of mixed methods, and data management ‘with computers and sofware Contents Introduction right Versus Loose Designs: Some Trade-OFs Building a Conceptual Framework Description and Rationale Examples Advice Formulating Research Questions Description and Rationale chapter 2 | Research Design and Management 746 ie lone researcher oF the no vulnerability to poor study management, Kvale and Brinkmann (2009) point out in their entertaining analysis of the naive question “How shall [find a method to analyze the 1,000 pages of interview transcripts | have collected?" thatthe ftst answer is "Never ad yourself in a situation where you vice graduate student, can be notorious for theit condi ask such a question” (pp. 189-190). ct interview research in such a way that you We ‘management butt want to point to a series of issues and associated design decisior ong implications for analysis. We illstrate along the way with brie! examples and give advice, largely from ur own experience and the lore of colleagues pretense of being exhaustive on issues of stu ‘We deal with three topics in turn: (the use of computers and software, (2) data sfing/time planning, management, and (3) s Computer and Software Use en for granted that you need a good desktop or laptop computer to conduct ist qualitative research, Handvvritien or dictated field notes, along with audio recordings. ble text, which then needs to be condensed, displayed and used to draw and verify conclusions. Its also fai to say that the researcher who ich as Microsoft Word will be hampered ay 2.9 list frequent tasks qualitative researchers will conduct on a d must be converted into anaty dloes not use software beyond programs in comparison with those who do, is some of the most common and p or laptop computer. Display 29 Uses of Computer Software in Qualitative Studies Making notes in the field Writing up or transcribing field notes, Editing: correcting, extending or revising field notes Coding: attaching key words or tags to segments of text to permit later retrieval Storage: keeping text in an organized database Search and retrieval: locating relevant segments of text and making them available for inspection 7. Data "linking": connecting relevant data segmens with each other, forming categories, clusters or networks of information 8. Analytic memoing: writing reflective commentaries on some aspect of the data, as @ basis for deeper analysis 9. Content analysis: counting frequencies, sequence or locations of words and phrases 40. Data display: placing selected data in a condensed, organized format, such as 3 matrix of network, for inspection 41. Conclusion drawing and verification: aiding the analyst to interpret displayed data and to test or confirm findings 12. Theory building: developing systematic, conceptually coherent explanations of findings: testing hypotheses 13, Graphic mapping: creating diagrams that depict findings or theories 114. Preparing interim and final reports ‘Souroa Niles, MB, & Huburen, A.M (1984. Quatative dot nafs An expanded sourcebook 2nd) Thawsané Oaks, CA Sage Publications art: The Substantive Start“What software is best?” cannot be answered meaningfully: You have to get specific about the kind of database you are building in your project and about the kind of analysis you will be doing, Microsoft Word and Excel (or comparable programs) are bare minimum requirements. Word includes many layout features and enables you to easily construct complex tables for displays. Excel is most useful for building simple mati especially for holding qualitative survey data and taking quantitative data through selected statistical calculations and tests—a boon for mixed-methods studies (see Display 2.10) As for CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software), there are multiple options available, varying in complexity, cost, and functions availabe These downloads of their most current versions: sites provide online tutarials or demonstration software/manual prograrns’ w © AnSWR: www.cde-gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resourcesi/sofiwarel © ATLAS.U: wwwatlasti.com # CAT (Coding Analysis Toolkit) cat uesurpit.edu/ # Dedoose: www dedoose com © Discoverfext: www. ¢ HyperRESEARCH: wwwresearchwa © MAXQDA: www:maxqda.com * NVivo: www.gsrinternational.com © QDAMiner: wor provalisresearch com © Qualrus: www.qualrus.com 1d video data materials) © Transana: wwwtransana.org (for audi © Welt QDA: wwwopressure to/qda/ Display 2.10 ‘An Excel Spread Sheet With Qualitative and Quant Chapter 2 | Research Design and Management a7