Qualitative Methodology (Sociology)

Sheridan, J., Chamberlain, K., & Dupuis, A. (2011). Timelining: Visualising experience. Qualitative Research, 11(5), 552-569.

by Kerry Chamberlain

doi: 10.1177/1468794111413235

This paper discusses the uses and benefits of an innovative method of graphic elicitation; timelining. The method was... more This paper discusses the uses and benefits of an innovative method of graphic elicitation; timelining. The method was developed in the context of a narrative-based research project on fatness and weight loss. Participants’ weight over time was plotted on a graph, informed and elaborated by a variety of material objects such as photographs, diaries, and medical records. The timeline provided a focus for participants and prompted their stories of weight loss experiences over time. While initially intended as a simple heuristic tool for eliciting talk, over the course of the research the process of timelining became a central feature of the project. Timelining is a subtle and malleable research method. While keeping time in view, timelining documents, records, extends and deepens understandings of participants’ past experiences. It encourages the construction of rich temporal narratives. It also provides opportunity for deeper researcher-participant relationship to develop. This form of graphic elicitation has particular value for narrative forms of research.

Archäologie des Nicht-Gesagten: Eine psychoanalytisch inspirierte Sozialforschung

by Torsten Heinemann

In: Freie Assoziation. 2011. 14(1): 67-80.

The concept of the working alliance is not only crucial for the psychoanalytic practice, but can be utilised for... more The concept of the working alliance is not only crucial for the psychoanalytic practice, but can be utilised for generating new knowledge in empirical social research. Empirical research, inspired by the concepts of psychoanalysis, allows to discerning, unravelling, and revealing the tacit knowledge and implicit norms, every social phenomenon is based on. This leads to a deeper understanding and allows to gain new insights that otherwise would not be accessible to the researcher. The paper starts with an introduction to a reflexive social research. Subsequently, the concepts of the working alliance as well as transference and countertransference and their productive use in the empirical social research are laid out. The paper concluded with some methodological considerations that may well be helpful for the analysis of working alliances and an archaeology of the unspoken.

Telling the CAQDAS Code: Membership Categorization and the Accomplishment of ‘Coding Rules’ in Research Team Talk

by Robin James Smith

Housley W and Smith R.J. (2011) ‘Telling the CAQDAS Code: Membership Categorization and the Accomplishment of ‘Coding Rules’ in Research Team Talk’ Discourse Studies 13 (4): 417

During the course of this paper we examine data gathered from two research meetings in which coding issues and data... more During the course of this paper we examine data gathered from two research meetings in which coding issues and data organisation are being discussed in relation to the use of the software package Atlas.ti. The meetings were concerned with the organisation and coding of semistructured interviews carried out by three different groups as part of a wider collaborative research project. A number of papers have considered aspects of coding practice in teams or small groups; however, little work exists on the analysis of first order collaborative CAQDAS coding interaction. In doing so this paper respecifies formal coding and collaboration models through the examination of practical methods of situated interaction and data sense making in the course of producing
social scientific facts and explanation. In this sense, the analysis reveals the way in which the professional argot of social science codes can be understood to rely on everyday methods of sense making within team based contexts. These methods can be understood to be realised through the fine detailed ‘granular’ categorical and sequential specifics of talk-inmeetings where matters relating to social scientific reasoning, accountability, stakeholders interests, defeasible and defensible reasoning protocols, disciplinary rights and the ‘search for underlying patterns’ are salient features and recognisable and accountable concerns for team members as a routine aspect of doing qualitative social science.

Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of Arctic tundra caribou

by Mike Ferguson

Ferguson and Messier. 1997. Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of Arctic tundra caribou. Arctic 50: 17-28.

Keywords: Inuit knowledge, Inuit qaujimajatuqangit, methodology, wildlife population fluctuations and ecology, caribou, Rangifer tarandus, Baffin Island, Nunavut, savoir inuit, méthodologie, fluctuations dans la population et écologie de la faune sauvage, île de Baffin

Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this,... more Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this, management agencies will need regional summaries of aboriginal knowledge about long-term changes in the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations and ecological factors that influence those changes. Between 1983 and 1994, we developed a method for collecting Inuit knowledge about historical changes in a caribou (Rangifer tarandus) population on southern Baffin Island from c. 1900 to 1994. Advice from Inuit allowed us to collect and interpret their oral knowledge in culturally appropriate ways. Local Hunters and Trappers Associations (HTAs) and other Inuit identified potential informants to maximize the spatial and temporal scope of the study. In the final interview protocol, each informant (i) established his biographical map and time line, (ii) described changes in caribou distribution and density during his life, and (iii) discussed ecological factors that may have caused changes in caribou populations. Personal and parental observations of caribou distribution and abundance were reliable and precise. Inuit who had hunted caribou during periods of scarcity provided more extensive information than those hunters who had hunted mainly ringed seals (Phoca hispida); nevertheless, seal hunters provided information about coastal areas where caribou densities were insufficient for the needs of caribou hunters. The wording of our questions influenced the reliability of informants’ answers; leading questions were especially problematic. We used only information that we considered reliable after analyzing the wording of both questions and answers from translated transcripts. This analysis may have excluded some reliable information because informants tended to understate certainty in their recollections. We tried to retain the accuracy and precision inherent in Inuit oral traditions; comparisons of information from several informants and comparisons with published and archival historical reports indicate that we retained these qualities of Inuit knowledge.

Les peuples autochtones veulent voir leurs connaissances sur l’environnement utilisées dans la gestion de la faune sauvage. Pour ce faire, il va falloir que les organismes chargés de la gestion possèdent des résumés à l’échelle régionale du savoir autochtone sur les changements à long terme dans la distribution et l’abondance des populations fauniques et des facteurs écologiques influençant ces changements. Entre 1983 et 1994, on a mis au point une méthode de collecte du savoir inuit sur les changements survenus d’environ 1900 à 1994, changements qui ont affecté une population de caribous (Rangifer tarandus) dans la partie méridionale de l’île de Baffin. Des conseils donnés par les Inuit nous ont permis de recueillir et d’interpréter leur savoir oral selon des modalités pertinentes au plan culturel. Les Associations des chasseurs et des trappeurs (ACT) locales et d’autres Inuit ont indiqué des répondants potentiels, de façon à maximiser l’envergure spatiale et temporelle de l’étude. Lors du dernier protocole d’interview, chaque répondant a 1) établi sa carte biographique et sa ligne de temps, 2) décrit les changements dans la distribution et la densité du caribou au cours de sa vie, 3) discuté des facteurs écologiques qui auraient pu causer des changements dans les populations de caribous. Les observations sur la distribution et l’abondance du caribou émises par les répondants eux-mêmes ou leurs parents étaient à la fois fiables et précises. Les Inuit qui avaient chassé le caribou en des temps de pénurie offraient plus d’information que les chasseurs qui avaient surtout chassé le phoque annelé (Phoca hispida); les chasseurs de phoque n’en donnaient pas moins des renseignements sur des régions côtières où la densité du caribou ne pouvait satisfaire les besoins des chasseurs de cet animal. La formulation de nos questions a influencé la fiabilité des réponses des personnes interrogées; les questions suggestives en particulier posaient des problèmes. Après avoir analysé la formulation des questions ainsi que des réponses, à partir d’une traduction des transcriptions, on a seulement retenu l’information jugée fiable. Cette analyse peut avoir exclu des renseignements fiables car les répondants avaient tendance à sous-estimer l’exactitude de leurs souvenirs. On a essayé de préserver l’exactitude et la précision inhérentes à la tradition orale inuit; des comparaisons d’informations venant de plusieurs répondants ainsi que des comparaisons avec des rapports publiés ou archivés indiquent que ces qualités du savoir inuit ont ont été préservées dans l’étude.

Vers une sociologie des usages des outils de la sociologie ? Exploration du côté des logiciels d'analyse textuelle. Journée des Sociologues de l'INRA, Avignon, 15 juin 2010, pp. 26.

by Guillaume Ollivier

Interconnecting lives: Examining privacy as a shared concern for the researched and researchers

by Geraldine Lee-Treweek

Co-authored with Jan Bourne-Day

Bourne-Day, J. and Lee-Treweek, G. (2008), Interconnecting lives: Examining privacy as a shared concern for the researched and researchers, in Brinda Jegatheesan (ed.) Access, a Zone of Comprehension, and Intrusion (Advances in Program Evaluation, Volume 12), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.29-61

Privacy is a highly valued ideal in western societies and the researcher is usually expected to protect the privacy of... more Privacy is a highly valued ideal in western societies and the researcher is usually expected to protect the privacy of the researched. However, real world fieldwork experiences are highly complex and the researcher can often find their private life encroached upon. The chapter uses the authors’ own field experiences to discuss this complexity. Lee-Treweek focuses upon her research experience with disabled children living in rural England and Bourne-Day on projects with refugee and asylum seekers in Staffordshire, England. Their discussions reveal that more often than not, privacy issues in the field often interconnect researcher and the researched.

Researching governmentalities through ethnography: the case of Australian welfare reforms and programs for single parents

by Brady Michelle

5th International Conference in Interpretive Policy Analysis conference, Grenoble
Critical Policy Studies Vol. 5 Issue 3. 2011

In this article I argue that the spaces of freedom and constraint that personalized planning programs targeted at... more In this article I argue that the spaces of freedom and constraint that personalized planning programs targeted at Australian single parents open up and close down are distinctly different when viewed from a top-down perspective of governmental rationalities as compared to a bottom-up perspective, or what Foucault referred to as the ‘witches’ brew' of actual practices. Around 90% of single parents with dependent children in Australia are single mothers, and around 80% of these single mothers receive single rate Parenting Payment. Changes to this payment (and its precursor, Sole Parent Pension) over the last 25 years have recognized this gendered composition by focusing on issues of mothering and the intensive activities of care that continue to be carried out most commonly by mothers. While the existing literature argues that the 2005 Welfare to Work package sharply broke with this practice by not focusing on gender and the unique features of mothers' life courses, I find that these considerations have remained a key part of the ‘witches’ brew' of actual practices. Given this finding, a key argument is that studies of governmentalities which combine sociologies of actual practices together with studies of official governmental rationalities can make important critical contributions to understanding the heterogeneous logics and practices through which welfare reform policies occur.

La arquitectura de los nuevos programas de análisi audiovisuales / The architecture of new visual analysis software

by Dafne Muntanyola-Saura

Draft Only, to be presented at the Congreso Español de Sociologia Pamplona 2010

Visual analysis in social sciences is not a new phenomenon, but it is still a controversial issue in the sociological... more Visual analysis in social sciences is not a new phenomenon, but it is still a controversial issue in the sociological domain.  We propose to move the methodolgical debate to a theoretical level. Moreover, we compare three analytical tools, Elan, Transana and Atlas.ti, three instrumental alternatives that complement the analogical observation in the ethnographical field. In using digital tools we must be hyperaware of the architectonic principles that define their functions and applications, in order to decide which is the most effective strategy for codification. A detailed natural history of two study cases in professional settings, medical and artistic, will show how the real use of these visual tools are complex, flexible and adaptive.

Choreographing Duets: Gender Differences in Dance Rehearsals

by Dafne Muntanyola-Saura

Published in E-pisteme, electronic journal

Stereotypes in the creative process reproduce the mainstream gendering of knowledge. From Becker and on, the... more
Stereotypes in the creative process reproduce the mainstream gendering of knowledge. From Becker and on, the focus of analysis has moved down to the deep micro sociological level. As noted by dance theory and sociology of art, gender stereotypes are powerful topos for the production of chorographical meaning.
Audiences project almost universally an erotic relationship onto a classical duet. Such roles are not only apparent in the reception dimension of dance, but are constantly part of its everyday production. Focusing on how artists think, and looking for the mechanisms for thought in the chorographical process, we come to
understand the gender effects on task sharing and completion. A cognitive ethnography of a contemporary dance rehearsal is proposed. A correspondence can be established between the types of directive interactions from a particular dance company and the dancer’s gender. Such differences may seem less relevant in dance, where other means for expression are paramount, such as gesture and movement. Nevertheless, while body awareness configures the
dancers’ resources, words are the choreographer’s main modality of instruction and so it shapes legitimate creative behavior.

Having, and Being Had By, “Experience” Or, “Experience” in the Social Sciences After the Discursive/ Poststructuralist Turn

by Cristyn Davies

Co-authored with Bronwyn Davies. Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 13, no.8, 2007, pp.1139-1159.

The Impossible Intermediary. Some Reflections on Epistemology and Ethics in Qualitative Research

by Jose Antonio Cerrillo Vidal

Published (Spanish Only) in NÓMADAS Nº 24 VOL. II (December 2009). It's a Critical Social Sciences journal published by the Complutense University of Madrid.

The qualitative researcher's ethical position is one of the most committed of the scientific field. On the one hand,... more The qualitative researcher's ethical position is one of the most committed of the scientific field. On the one hand, as scientists we must satisfy the requirements of rigor, analysis and formalization of the field, i.e. we tend to objectify the studied subjects. In addition, we are compelled to respond to the funders of our research, especially the state and market, which inserts our work into strategies of power. On the other hand, the characteristics of our methodology, especially direct bonding with the subjects we study, difficult moral distancing, pushing ourselves to question our own methods, knowledge and the role of qualitative research. This tension between our moral and material duties, our methods, knowledge and ethical considerations, prevent us from placing ourselves at the comfortable position of the intermediary: the modern figure which replaces the moral responsibility for the technical competence. This leads to paradoxes that are difficult, if not impossible, to solve for qualitative research. In this paper I examine the main ones and present some provisional solutions for them. In summary, I believe that this difficult epistemological and ethical position is the main feature of qualitative research and the engine that invites us to reflect further on our research practices.

Absences and Silences In the Production of Work-Life Balance Policies In Canada

by Brady Michelle

Michelle Brady’s “Absences and Silences in the Production of Work-Life Balance Policies in Canada” focuses on... more Michelle Brady’s “Absences and Silences in the Production of Work-Life Balance Policies in Canada” focuses on developments in Work-Life Balance policy in Canada since the 1990s by engaging with the discursive shift in federal documents away from concerns about work-family conflict. The author argues that this shift further obfuscates the legacy of patriarchy in the division of paid and unpaid work, and the corresponding organization of industrial relations. Brady contends that Work-Life policy in Canada ascribes responsibility for overcoming imbalance to individuals, especially women, at the cost of reinforcing systemic factors that underpin persistent gender inequalities. The system presumes that individuals can and should achieve balance on their own, but without any public effort to remedy systemic barriers that constrain diverse groups of women more than men.

Throwing the Baby Out With the Bathwater: Towards a Sociology of the Human-Animal Abuse'Link'?

by Nik Taylor

Gender Matters? Three Cohorts of Women Talking About Role Reversal

by Jane Pilcher