Answers to
Study Questions
for
Chapter 17
(Dont forget that the companion website also has multiple choice
questions for each chapter that you can take for practice. You will find them
here: http://www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/johnson/dr_johnson/2mcq.htm)
17.1. What is interim analysis?
Interim analysis is the cyclical process of
collecting and analyzing data during a single research study.
17.2. What is memoing?
Memoing is the recording of
reflective notes about what you are learning from the data.
17.3. Why is it important to
transcribe qualitative data when possible?
So that you can import the
text file into a qualitative data analysis software program to facilitate data
analysis. Also, so that you can analyze the data line-by-line.
17.4. What is the difference
between segmenting and coding?
Segmenting is the process of dividing
data into meaningful analytical units; coding is the process of marking
segments of data with symbols, descriptive words, or category names.
17.5. What is the difference
between inductive and a priori codes?
Inductive codes are generated by a
researcher by directly examining the data; a priori codes are developed
before examining the current data.;
17.6. What is the difference
between co-occurring and facesheet codes?
Co-occurring codes are codes that partially or
completely overlap; facesheet codes are codes that apply to a complete
document or case.
17.7. Explain the process of
enumeration.
Enumeration is the process of
quantifying data (frequencies, percentages, cross-tabulations).
·
For
example, you may count the number of times that a particular word occurs or you
may count the number of times a category appears in your data.
17.8. What is a hierarchical
category system, and why can it be useful to construct
hierarchical systems?
A hierarchical category
system not only includes categories, it also puts categories into subsets. A
hierarchy by definition includes more than one level. Hence, a hierarchical
category system includes categories taken to be at more than one level.
Creating a hierarchical category system can be a very effective way to make
sense of your data. You can see an example on page 512 (Figure 17.2).
17.9. How do qualitative
researchers show relationships among categories?
One way is to create a
hierarchical category system which is an example of the strict inclusion form
of relationship. Many other types of relationships are given in Table 17.6 (p.
514): spatial, cause-effect, rationale, location for action, function,
means-end, sequence, and attribution. The key is always not just to come up
with an unordered list of categories, but, instead, to determine how the
categories can be related to one another to find patterns in the data and to
help make sense of the data. In Figure 17.3 (p.516) we showed how you can come
up with new categories by crossing two dimensions of categories; in Table 17.7
(p.517) we showed some categories organized by time or sequence.
17.10. How are network diagrams
used in qualitative research?
A network diagram is yet
another way to organize categories. It is done pictorially. These diagrams can
be used in both qualitative and quantitative research. These diagrams are
especially helpful for showing hypothesized causal relations or relations that
occur over time. One example of a network diagram is shown in Figure 17.4 (p.
518).
17.11 What are the five types of validity that are of potential
importance in qualitative
research, and what are their definitions?
1.
Descriptive
validity the factual accuracy of an account as reported by the researcher.
2.
Interpretive
validity accurately portraying the meaning given by the participants to what
is being studied.
3.
Theoretical
validity the degree to which a theoretical explanation fits the data.
4.
Internal
validity causal validity.
5.
External
validity generalizing validity.
17.12. What are the thirteen strategies that are used
to promote validity in qualitative
research, and what are their definitions?
They are shown in the
following Table from the earlier chapter that was on the validity of research
results:
17.13. What are some of the
capabilities of computer programs for data analysis?
Segmenting, coding,
enumeration, drawing of network diagrams, drawing hierarchical category
diagrams, doing advanced searches using Boolean operators, searching for
various kinds of relationships in the data (e.g., see Table 17.6), integrating
data from multiple files (e.g., different interviews, field notes, memos,
etc.), etc.
17.14. What are some of the
leading qualitative data analysis computer programs?
NUD*IST (i.e., Nonnumerical Unstructured Data
Indexing Searching and Theorizing), Ethnograph, and Nvivo.
·
These
and a couple more programs along with their websites are shown in the following
table that was not included in the text.
Bonus
Table:
Websites
for Qualitative Data Analysis Programs
Program
name Website
address
AnSWR
(freeware) http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/software/answr.htm
ATLAS http://atlasti.de/
Ethnograph http://qualisresearch.com
HyperResearch http://researchware.com
Nvivo http://www.qsrinternational.com
NUD-IST http://www.qsrinternational.com