EAB5100 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER 3
 CHAPTER 3
An Overview of Qualitative Research Methodologies
 A Guide t o Using
Q ual itati ve Research M e t h o d o l o g y

Reproduced with kind permission of Michael Quinn Patton

© 2002 Michael Quinn Patton and Michael Cochran
 A Guide t o using Qualitative Research M et h od o lo g y
C ont ents

1 . W h a t is q ua li ta tiv e research? Aims, uses ( i i) Group inte rv iews

a nd et hic al issues a) What is a group interview? 16
a) What is qualitative research? 2 b) Advantages of group interviews 16
b) When to use qualitative methods 3 c) Practical issues 17
c) Ethical issues 5 ( i i i ) Co nte xtu al da ta
2 . Ho w to de velop q ua li ta tiv e research designs a) Observations 20
a) The research question 7 b) Reports and other written data 21

b) The research protocol 8 c) Oral data 21

c) A word on sampling 9 4. Data managem ent and analysis
3. How to generate data ( i) Practical issues
( i) Individual interviews Confidentiality and security issues 22
a) Interviews- what are they? 11 Translation 22
b) Topic guides 12 Recording/transcribing interviews 22
c) Asking questions 13 ( ii) Analysis
d) Interviewing skills 14 Thematic analysis of data 23
e) Managing expectations 15 Narrative analysis 25
The use of computer software 28
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1. Wh at is q ua l it a t iv e research? Aims, uses an d e t h ic a l issues
“Not everything that can be counted counts,
and not everything that counts can be counted “ (Albert Einstein)

(a ) W h a t is q u a l i t a t i v e research?

Qualitative research is characterised by its However, for many research projects, there These can be addressed through
aims, which relate to un ders tand ing are different sorts of questions that need qualitative methods such as interviews or
some aspect of social life, and its me th ods answering, some requiring quantitative focus groups. If the final report is to be
which (in general) generate words, rather methods, and some requiring qualitative used for lobbying, the quantitative data
than numbers, as data for analysis. methods. If the question is a qualitative and qualitative data together are very
one, then the most appropriate and powerful. The survey identifies the
For researchers more familiar wi th quan- rigorous way of answering it is to use extent of the problem, and the
titative methods, which aim to meas ure qualitative methods. For instance, if you interviews can be used to give some of
something (such as the percentage of want to lobby for better access to health the detail, and the ‘story’ of how user fees
people wi th a particular disease in a care in an area where user fees have been have affected people.
community, or the number of households introduced, you might first undertake a
own ing a bed net), the aims and methods cross-sectional survey which wil l tell you In situations where little is known, it is
of qualitative research can seem imprecise. that 16.5% of your population does not often better to start with qualitative
Common criticisms include: have access to care. This is essential methods (interviews, focus groups, etc). It
information, bu t you might also have a can help you wi th generating hypotheses
samples are small and not necessarily number of other questions that the survey that can then be tested by quantitative
representative of the broader can’t answer very well, such as: methods. For instance, in an area where
population, so it is difficult to know we had no idea what kinds of issue were
how far we can generalise the results; what are people’s experiences of user acting as barriers to health care, it would
the findings lack rigour; fees? be difficult to design a survey to cover the
it is difficult to tell how far the findings what other barriers exist to accessing main factors. Once these have been
are biased by the researcher’s own health care? identified, then a quantitative approach
opinions. (such as a survey) can be used if you need
 3
(b ) W he n t o use q u a l i t a t i v e met hod s?
to measure to what extent these issues are use both types of method. W h a t, h ow, a nd why?
typical for the whole population.
The first step in research is, then, to In this guide, we suggest some ways Qualitative methods generally aim to
identify whether the specific research of making the qualitative parts of your understand the experiences and attitudes
question you want to answer is best research more rigorous, so that users can of patients, the community or health care
answered by a quantitative or a qualitative have more faith in your findings. The first worker. These methods aim to answer
approach. Often, there are several step, though, is to clarify some of the questions about the ‘wh a t’ , ‘h ow ’ or
questions that we need to answer, such as situations in which qualitative methods ‘wh y’ of a phenomenon rather than ‘ho w
‘How many people are affected?’, or ‘How might be chosen. m an y’ or ‘h ow m uc h’, which are
does this affect them?’. We’d then need to answered by quantitative methods. If the

Case Study: W hat are the barriers to accessing surgery for cataracts? 1
Although affordable surgery for cataracts is provided by an Eye Care Programme in a rural part of KwaZulu-Natal, researchers found
that uptake was low, and that two-thirds of those who were blind or sight impaired from cataracts had not had surgery.

Alan Rotchford and colleagues wanted to understand why elderly people in this area might not take up surgery. They interviewed 20
people who had been invited for surgery, bu t did not attend, asking them about the impact of poor vision on their lives, their beliefs
about blindness and its treatment, and views of surgery.

The interviews revealed a number of fears about surgery: that it wou ld make vision worse, or might kill them. Many tho ught blind-
ness was an inevitable risk of getting older. Most significantly, however, the interviewees did not share the researchers’ perspectives
of blindness as a disability. Living in secure and predictable environments wi th extended families, they did not in general see their
blindness as a ‘burden’. The impact of sight disability was not as debilitating as it might be in other environments.

This study illustrates the value of qualitative methods. It identified some beliefs about surgery that were different from those of
professionals, and also some more fundamental reasons why surgery might not be a priority: i.e. poor eyesight was not as devastating
a disability as assumed by the researchers.
1 Rotchford, A.P., Rotchford, K.M., Mthethwa, L.P. and Johnson, G.J. (2002) ‘Reasons for poor cataract surgery uptake – a qualitative study in rural South
Africa’, Tropical Medicine and International Health, 7(3): 288-292
4

aim is to understand how a community or You are planning a health promotion Numbers are not always meaningful
individuals wit hin it perceive a particular campaign about hand washing, to ‘Er... Good morning, O Deep Thought,’ said
issue, then qualitative methods are often reduce diarrhoeal disease in a refugee Loonquawl nervously, ‘do you have... er,
appropriate. camp. Before designing the campaign, that is...’
it wou ld be useful to interview ‘An answer for you?’ interrupted Deep
Examples of topics t h a t qu al itat ive residents to find out their current beliefs Thought majestically, ‘Yes, I have.’
m etho dolo gie s can address include: and practices around hand washing, ‘Though I don’t think,’ added Deep
so your information ‘makes sense’ Thought, ‘t hat you’re going to like it.’
People’s experiences of health wit hin their understanding. ‘Doesn’t matter!’ said Phouchg. ‘We must
needs, health care, accessing care know it ! Now!’
and keeping healthy. Few women have attended a new ... ‘Alright,’ said Deep Thought. ‘The
Understanding different service of Voluntary Testing and answer to the Great Question...’
perspectives, such as those of Counselling for HIV in your clinic. In- ‘Yes!...!’
professionals and patients. depth interviews wi th health ‘Is...’ said Deep Thought, and paused.
How experiences, attitudes and life professionals and local women would ‘Yes...!’
circumstances affect health needs help understand the barriers to use. ‘Is...’
and behaviours. ‘Yes...!!!...?’
You want to know what your national ‘Forty-two,’ said Deep Thought, with
Scenarios wh ere qu al itat ive staff think about MSF; whether they feel infinite majesty and calm.
research could help included in the decision-making ...
process, what their perception is of the ‘Forty-two !’ yelled Loonquawl. ‘Is that all
you’ve got to show for seven and a half
An NGO has distributed bed nets to organisation for which they work. Semi
million years’ work?’
villagers, bu t it appears that they are structured interviews and focus group
‘ I checked it thoroughly,’ said the computer,
not being used. Household interviews discussions could be organised to get
‘and that quite definitely is the answer. I
might help the NGO understand how their views.
think the problem, to be quite honest with
beliefs about efficacy, family
you, is that you’ve never actually known
circumstances or household priorities
what the question is.’
impact on usage patterns.
Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy (London: Pan Macmillan, 1979), pp. 134-6
 5

You want to ‘witness’ the plight of Consider carefully the context in which ( i ) Consent
victims of violent trauma: you could you wil l be working, the aim of your Everyone who participates in your study
collect experiences suffered through in- research and how sensitive the topic might should have freely consented to
depth interviews and/or focus groups. be. Might the questions that you wil l be participation, wi tho ut being coerced or
asking be traumatising or might they make unfairly pressurised. This means they
( c) E t h i ca l issues your respondent(s) uncomfortable/fearful should be well-informed about what
of consequences? participation entails, and reassured that
As a researcher, you have responsibilities to declining wil l not affect any services they
your research participants, bu t also to your Remember that asking a person to talk receive. While written consent may in
colleagues, MSF, and the people to whom about experiences that were frightening, some situations frighten the individuals
you wil l present your findings. One humiliating and painful can cause or increase you are talking to, you should at the very
starting point in considering ethical anxiety. It may not only create distress least obtain verbal consent.
concerns is the four principles of Tom during an interview, bu t may also emerge
Beauchamp and Jim Childress (1983): after2. It is therefore very im porta nt that ( i i ) Con fide ntia lity 3
you take care in how you ask a question It is not always easy or even possible to
Autonomy; respect the rights of the and where you choose to ask questions. measure the dangers of a certain context
individual to a given population, let alone to
Beneficience; doing good Two key ethical issues that should be individuals. It is therefore essential to
Non-maleficience; not doing harm considered in any project are consent and protect the identity of the person from
Justice; particularly equity co nfid enti ality . wh om you gather information. If collected,
the identity of the participants must be
protected at all times and not be left
lying around in notebooks or un-protected
computer files.

2
WHO Ethical and Safety Recommendations for 3
Rocha S (2004) ‘Has anyone said “ethics”?
Inter-viewing Trafficked Women, 2003. World “Safety” of beneficiaries? Some considerations
Health Organization, London School of Hygiene about info gathering in the field’, Analysis and
and Tropical Medicine and Daphne Programme of Advocacy Unit, MSF B.
the European Commission.
6

Fo rma l et hic al revie w for International Development; research is not needed, it is good practice to give
In some situations, you wil l need formal carried out by individuals registered as your protocol (see next section) to your
ethical review of your intended project students at many institutions, if done as manager and perhaps colleagues for them
before starting to collect data. Such part of their studies; research intended to give you feedback on potential ethical
situations include: research sponsored for publication in many journals. All peer issues.
by many publicly funded organisations reviewed journals require ethical review
such as the UK’s Department before acceptance. Even if formal review

MSF Ethical Review Board

MSF as an organisation has the obligation Objective Typical ethical framework

to endorse with confidence any research
proposed to take place under its respon- To ensure that all research carried out by The ERB has a typical ethical framework.
sibility. It is for this reason that it was MSF is ethically sound, thus safeguarding You can access it on the MSF open reposi-
decided in 1999 to organise an ethical the dignity, rights, safety and well-being tory (http://msf.openrepository.com/msf).
review board (ERB) specifically for MSF. of all actual or potential research By following their ethical framework, you
participants. This is achieved through the will be sure to receive a quick response
The MSF ERB will sometimes provide the review of all proposals of research to be from them.
major review of a proposal (if MSF carried out by or in cooperation with an
proposes research independently) or MSF mission by an independent and
sometimes a preliminary review of a competent ethical review board.
proposal (in cases where there is a
collaboration with another institution How to contact the ERB?
with its own ERB/IRB). The overall ethical Send an e-mail with your proposal to:
review should always include a review [email protected]
by a locally constituted review board in
the country where the research will take
place.
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2. How to develop qualitative research

designs
Identify the research question
Develop your research protocol
(a ) The re se a rch q u e st i o n Is this a p ro bl e m t h a t research can Some problems are clearly problems
First and foremost you wil l need to identify address? of funding, or management, or
the research question. This is one of the => Not all ‘problems’ are those that can be politics, rather than knowledge. Be
most importa nt parts of your research. answered by research. careful not to be persuaded to do
Identifing the right question wil l get you Research is most useful when there is research just to pu t off managing a
half way there! genuine uncertainty about the answer problem where the solution is already
to a question. For instance, if health known.
‘WH AT’ – what is the question that you care is very expensive, and local
want to answer? people are poor, you probably do n’t Is a qu alita tive approach appropriate?
need to interview people to identify => If you want to:
Has this research al rea dy be en done? the main barrier to care. It might be Understand the perspectives of
=> Find out through a l it er a tu re search. useful to interview people to gather participants; or
If you have access to university material for publicity, bu t we do n’t Explore the meaning they give to
libraries, electronic databases can be really have any uncertainty about the phenomena; or
searched by key words to identify answer. Observe a process in depth...
published literature, and the web can
be searched for unpublished reports. ... if the answer is yes, then qu al itat ive
m eth od o log y is ap pro pria te.
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(b ) The re se a rch p r o t o c o l

A research protocol is essentially a map of your research, of what you wil l be doing, how and why. Protocols typically have the following
headings:

Aims and Objectives The WHAT of the study, including broad aim (what you are going to do) broken down into measurable objectives
Example:
Aim: To identify preferred sources of health care in X area.
Objectives: To interview 30 mothers from 3 villages.
To identify where they sought help for their last illness.
To identify where they sought help for their child’s last illness.

Background WHY this is an interesting, important or policy relevant question, and what we already know about the topic.

Methods HOW, with a detailed description of data you will collect. This includes:
the setting; the participants (your sample); how you will recruit them; how you will collect data; plans for analysis
Ethical issues Ethical issues raised by this study, including whether there is a need for ethical appraisal, and how you will address them.
Costs of the project, e.g.:
Resources
Travel expenses Salaries of staff
Accommodation Stationery
Other resources needed
Skills: interpreting/translation
data input/help with analysis

Time scale How long is it going to take? Identify key milestones, such as completing data collection, analysis, report-writing, holding
meetings for stakeholders.

Dissemination/output Who will you target and how do you want to disseminate your conclusions?
Possible dissemination:
Internal reports; External reports; Conferences; Workshop (internal/external)
Possible targe t audience:
MSF, including home societies; Other NGOs; Academics; Governments; International
institutions; Community – local, and more global
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( c) A w o r d o n samp li ng While the aim is not to be able to skill, etc). Thus, if we were interested
generalise statistically, it is useful to think in the experiences of conflict in a camp
It is importa nt to select your sample in a in terms of minimizing sample bias. This of internally displaced people from two
systematic way so as to ensure that the simply means that you need to recognise ethnic groups, we might decide that our
community/users/external actors see it as that the people you are selecting wil l not key demographic variables were: ethnicity,
a credible and indicative sample. However, represent all people in the population, gender, age, arrival at camp before or after
statistical representativeness is not the aim. and you cannot make claims about, for last outbreak of violence. The sampling
instance, the prevalence of views in a grid might look like this:
Instead, samples in qualitative research are community from a qualitative study. But Men Men Women Women

usually purposive. This means participants we can aim to include a range so that the Age: <20 20+ <20 20+

are selected because they are likely to research does not have obvious limitations, Ethnicity A
generate useful data for the project. To such as only including older women, if we arrived
this year
ensure that this sample is credible, and are interested in all women, or choosing
covers the main groups you are interested just people who are in touch wi th the Ethnicity A
arrived
in, one strategy is a maximum variation clinic. last year
sample. This involves selecting key Ethnicity B
demographic variables that are likely to Sample sizes are typically small in arrived
have an impact on participants’ view of qualitative work. One way of identifying this year

the topic. You can then create a sampling how many people you need is to keep Ethnicity B
arrived
‘g rid ’ and recruit groups that reflect interviewing until, in analysis, nothing last year
various combinations of variables. For ex- new comes from the data – a point called
ample: age (adolescents, adults, elderly); ‘saturation’. In our sampling grid, we wou ld then have
male/female; lo w income/high income; 16 cells. If we interview 3-5 people in each
rural/urban; ethnicity. Sampling strategies A more practical method for short term cell, our total sample is around 50-60, bu t
should therefore always be determined by studies is to estimate this point as around we also have, for instance, around 10 young
the purpose of the research project. 15 people for any homogeneous group men, or 20 from A Ethnicity to aid
(which could be based on age, gender, comparisons in the analysis. We have also
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Types of sampling methods
Type of sampling Purpose Example
ensured that readers of any reports
Intensity sampling To provide rich information Interviewing survivors of date rape to learn more
wil l not dismiss them because the
from a few select cases that about how coerced sex affects women’s sexuality
research only included some impor- manifest the phenomenon
tant groups wit hin the camp. intensely but are not extreme
cases
There are practical ways of choos- Deviant case To learn from highly unusual Interviewing men who do not beat their wives in
ing individuals from the sample to sampling manifestations of the phenom- a culture where wife abuse is culturally
enon in question accepted
minimise the chance of including
an atypical groups. For instance, Stratified purposeful To illustrate characteristics of Interviewing different types of service provider
the camp could be divided into a sampling particular subgroups of interest; (police, social workers, doctors, clergy) to com-
number of segments, and you to facilitate comparisons pare their attitudes toward and treatment of
could choose every tenth (or third, abuse victims
depending on size) household to
Snowball or chain sampling To facilitate the identification of Finding commercial sex workers to interview
invite participants from, until you
(locate one or two key indi- hard-to-find cases about experiences of childhood sexual abuse by
have enough people meeting the viduals, and then ask them to getting cases referred through friendship
criteria. name other likely informants) networks

Maximum variation sampling To document diverse Researching variations in norms about the
(purposely select a wide variations; can help to identify acceptibility of wife beating by conducting focus
range of variation on common patterns that cut across groups: young urban women, old urban women,
dimensions of interest) variations young rural men, old rural men, women who have
been abused, women who have not experienced
abuse
Convenience sampling To save time, money and Forming focus groups based on who is available
(Select whoever is easiest, effort. Information collected that day at the local community centre, rather
closest, etc.) generally has very low credibility than according to clear criteria
Source: Ellsberg M and Heise L (2005: 106)
Researching Violence Against Women - A Criterion sampling To investigate in depth a par- Specifically interviewing only abused women
Practical Guide for researchers and activists, ticular “t yp e” of case; identify all who have left their partners within the last year in
Washington DC, United States, World Health sources of variation order to better understand the variety of factors
Organisation and PATH, 2005 that spur women to leave
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3. How to generate data

To use qualitative methods means that you group. In practical terms, this means that Semi-struc tu red
wil l be generating data that is primarily in our techniques should aim to be: These are conducted on the basis of a
the form of words, not numbers. Some of loose structure (topic guide, see below)
the most common data collection methods Repro ducib le: that is, someone else made up of open-ended questions
are different types of individual interviews could use the same topic guide to defining the area to be explored.
(general or key informants) and group generate similar information;
discussions. In this section, we also Systematic: to ensure that we are I n-d ep th (also re fe rre d to as
discuss other types of data that might help not just picking interviewees or data q ua li ta tiv e o r un stru ctu red )
you understand the context. that support our pre-existing ideas In-depth interviews are less structured
about the answers; than semi-structured ones and may
INTERVIEWS Credib le: the questions we ask, for cover only one or tw o issues (a topic
instance, and the ways in which we guide may not be used, or may just
(a ) I n t er vi e w s - W h a t a re they? ask them should be reasonable ones for have a few broad questions on it). This
generating valid (or ‘t ruthf ul’ ) accounts type of interview is used to explore in
Interviews resemble everyday of phenomena. detail the respondent’s own
conversations, although they are focused Tra nsp aren t: methods should be perceptions and accounts. This method
(to a greater or lesser extent) on the written up so that readers can see is used on topics for which little is
researcher’s needs for data. They also exactly how the data were collected known and where it is importa nt to
differ from everyday conversation because and analysed. gain an in-depth understanding. They
we are concerned to conduct them in the might start wi th very open questions
most rigorous way we can in order to The skills and training of the interviewers is such as ‘Tell me about how you came to
ensure re li ab il it y and va lid ity (i.e. crucial for maximising validity and be here’.
‘trustworthiness’). This means that both reliability. There are different types of
the researchers and the users of the interviews used in qualitative methods that
findings can be as confident as possible range from semi-structured (using a topic-
that the findings reflect what the research guide) through to less structured and very
set out to answer, rather than reflecting detailed (such as life histories).
the bias of the researcher, or a very a typical
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Life histories are one type of in-depth This is a n e xtra ct fr om a top ic guid e
interviews. They are illustrative case on sight disability an d access to care:
studies which are very good at
looking at people’s lives in general 1) When did the problems wi th your eyes
and setting health in its wider context. start?
They wil l tell you how much things PROMPTS: What happened next? Did
have changed, evolved over decades you seek any advice? From whom?
and how broader social change has
affected the lives of individuals. 2) What do you think might have caused
this?
(b ) To pi c gu ide s
3) Have you seen a doctor/nurse about
The topic guide is used mostly in semi- your eyesight problems?
structured interviews. It is very impor- PROMPTS: When? Where? What did they
tant to develop the right question to ask advise?
and to remember that the respondent is
4) IF NO:
unlikely to share your perspective on the
Have you ever tho ught about visiting or
world. A topic guide usually has a list of
been advised to visit the clinic?
the key questions the interviewer would
Explore why no t: awareness of clinic
like to cover, wi th some useful prompts to
services/awareness of cost/availability of
encourage the interviewee to talk about
transport and escort.
specific issues if they do not come up
spontaneously. 5) Has your eyesight got worse/better
over the last few years? How has this
affected your everyday life?
PROMPTS: ask about activities of daily
living (work; in the house; social activities)
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( c) Aski ng q u e sti o n s

For any kind of interview, it may take a respond in the ways you expected? Then
while to develop the right question for pilot them wi th people similar to your
getting precisely the kind of data you are participants. Sometimes small changes in
interested in. Pilot questions wi th col- how you ask can make a large difference
leagues first – does it make sense? Do they to the information you are given.

Some rules of thumb for asking questions4

1)Start with a general question to 6)Ask neutral questions. For example do If questions are not generating
orientate interview to the topic not ask: ‘why haven’t you had your useful data, tr y these methods:
children immunized’ but rather ‘how did
2)Gauge the level at which you need to you decide whether or not to immunise Diary question: ask people to describe
express yourself, the type of language your children’? a day in their life, or their last shift in the
that you should use so that the people clinic, as a way to introduce the interview
you speak to understand you and do 7)Use concrete rather than abstract
not feel intimidated by complex questions. For example ‘think about last
Critical incidents: ask about worst/best
vocabulary or patronised by a time you were pregnant. What did you
experiences to understand what is
simplistic one either like about services then?’, rather than
important about a topic
‘what do you think about ante-natal
3)Use everyday vocabulary, don’t use
services?’
technical words or overly complicated Free listing: ask people to list all causes
ones 8)Use concrete events to help people of malaria, for example, or all the
remember – eg ‘After your last child was possible treatments to use in case of
4)Put more sensitive questions born’ or ‘the day of the earthquake’ fever in children
towards the end
rather than ‘January the 3rd’
Ranking: ask people to rank items
5)Ask open questions, i.e. requiring
generated by free listing in order of
more than ‘yes’ or ’no’ in answer
importance or efficacy
4 Adapted from Neuman W L (2000)
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( d ) I n t e rv i e w i n g sk i l l s accessing services. Teachers or intimidating, bu t a scruffy appearance

community leaders might favour the ‘high might make interviewees feel disrespected.
Interviewing people is very enjoyable, but status’ respondents, or those they think
it is a skill which takes practice. You need wil l give you the answers you want. The interviewee needs to trust you. This
to think about a number of issues before means that you have to show that you are
you start and whilst you are doing it. Settin g interested in them and what they have to
Remember that the place where you will say, and most importantly that you wil l not
Access do the interview wil l have an impact on judge them whatever their answers.
How are you going to gain access to the the answers that you wil l get: is there
people you need to interview? As a enough privacy for the interviewee to feel You wil l therefore need to start by intro-
medical organisation, it might be possible comfortable in giving honest answers? ducing yourself (giving your name), the
to get a doctor to ask patients whether Is there too much privacy, making the aims of the interview, a reminder that the
they want to be interviewed; you could interviewee uncomfortable? How can you interview can stop at any time (should the
also use key informants (community organise the space and people to make interviewee feel uncomfortable/unhappy),
leaders, teacher). However, if using health sure the interviewee is relaxed? and allow time for questions.
care workers or other informants to ask for
participants you need to consider: Ra ppo rt You wil l need to be sensitive to the needs
All qualitative researchers need to consider of your respondents. They wil l need to be
Ethical issues – make sure the informant how they are perceived by interviewees comfortable, helped if they are frail or do
is not persuading or coercing people to and the effects of personal characteristics not hear well, for example.
take part. Also, community leaders may such as ethnicity, status, gender and social
not invite certain ‘marginal’ members of distance. It might be sensible, for instance, A key issue is to remember that a research
the community – if you want their voices not to conduct interviews wi th your own interview is not like a clinical interview
included, you may need other methods of patients if you are their doctor. Think about or an interrogation. The aim is to be as
access. what you are wearing and how you present non-judgemental as possible, and not to
yourself – is it appropriate for the context? lead the respondent to particular answers:
Bias – Health care workers wil l only have Wearing a lot of expensive jewellery and you are interested in their views, not their
access to patients, not to those not clothes could be responses to your views!
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Some thi ngs to b ea r in m ind Some thi ngs to avoid whi le (e) Ma n a g i ng Expe ct ati on s
in terv iewi ng :
It is very importa nt in any interview that
The ‘rules’ for interaction differ across Competing distractions (such as
you do not create expectations which
cultural contexts, bu t some general issues children)
MSF cannot fulfil. Don ’t lead people to
to consider are: Asking interviewee embarrassing/
believe that you wil l accomplish more than
Is eye contact acceptable? awkward questions
you are able. Always do what you say you
Is sitting in certain positions Asking leading questions. These are
will do. The best way to avoid creating too
disrespectful (eg: feet towards questions that may suggest a
high expectations is to tell the person what
interviewees)? specific answer. e.g. instead of asking:
you plan to do wi th the information and
Make appropriate non-verbal noises, ‘Did you take the drugs exactly as the
then do it.
Follow-up points where appropriate, doctor advised?’ ask ‘Tell me how you
Do not interrupt – allow silences, if this used the drugs...’
is culturally acceptable, to give Jumping too quickly from one subject
respondent time to think, to another
Do not give your opinion or disagree. Having more than one idea per
It is vital that you check whether you question - to ensure focus
have understood respondents’ Teaching, for example giving
meanings instead of relying on your interviewee medical advice
ow n assumption (for example, patients Counselling, for example summarising
may not use medical terminology in the responses too early
same way as professionals). Presenting your ow n perspective, thus
potentially biasing interview
Remaining at a superficial level, for
instance by asking questions too rapidly
Interruption from outside (people
intruding, etc) should be minimised as
much as possible
16

GROUP INTERVIEWS (a ) W h a t is a g r o u p i n te rvi e w? (b ) Ad va nt age s o f g r o u p i n t e rvi e w s

A group interview is any discussion with
Group discussions may be more appropri-
a group of people. This could include One advantage of group data is that you
ate for some topics. Some issues, such
informal, spontaneous ‘chats’ wi th groups have access to how people talk to each
as dissatisfaction wi th health services, are
as they are waiting for services, or meeting other. For example, in a study of clinic
often more readily discussed in groups.
at a social event. These are discussed health workers, it was noticed that in a
Some sensitive topics work better wi th a
under contextual information (below); mixed group, nurses said very little, and
group, if all members of the group share
here we discuss more formal groups, tended to agree wi th what doctors said.
an experience. Group interviews wil l also
which are organised on purpose. It is If we notice these kinds of power rela-
tell you more about the social structure of
helpful to think about tw o different kinds tionships, they can inform our work – for
the community in which you wil l be work-
of formal group interview: the focus group instance, in this setting, it wou ld not be a
ing and give you a more in-depth under-
and the natural group interview. good idea to rely on nurses to implement
standing of the context and social fabric of
changes in treatment protocols.
the community, and of how opinions and
knowledge are formed in social contexts.
Bear in mind for focus groups what you
wil l get is a measure of the interaction
Group int ervie w type Features Typical use between people and your analysis wil l be
Focus groups Participants selected to meet sampling criteria Testing health promotion done at the group level rather than the
Seeks broad range of ideas on open-ended topic materials, exploring service
individual. If you want to gain access to
Formal, controlled pre-arranged time and users’ views
place the perspective of vulnerable or marginal
Usually audio-taped and transcribed for people, then group interviews wil l not be
analysis the best way, as they may not be comfort-
able or able to speak in a mixed group.
N atural group Group exists independently of the research Ethnographic data
study collection (informal)
Formal or informal format Interview social research (formal)
guide loosely followed Often recorded Project planning,
by written notes programme evaluation
 17

( c) P r a ct i ca l issues Groups typi cally have b et wee n 6 and Obviously, if you want a natural group,
1 0 pe op le. Below 6 , i t m ay be you need to invite a group that already ex-
If you want to organise a focus group or d iff ic ul t to sustain a discussion; ists. You can invite one individual to invite
natural group interview, you wil l need to above 1 0 , i t m ay be d iff ic ul t to their colleagues or other members of the
think about the following issues: co ntro l i t. I f you a im fo r 1 0 , i t is household as well. Or invite all the clinic
usually a go od id ea to over re cru i t by staff together.
Ho w wil l you recruit the participants? a bo u t 2 5 % , ie re cru i t 1 3. In contexts
W h a t wil l you include in the topic guide? where you expect neighbours and family Ru nni ng a gro up
Ho w wil l you run the groups? to join in wi th the recruited member, over- The moderator’s role is crucial: you will
W he re wil l you hold the sessions? recruitment may be a problem, especially need to provide a clear explanation of the
Ho w wil l you record the data? in settings where it is usual for a whole purpose of the group, help people feel
community to tu rn up. Do think about at ease and facilitate interaction between
The re c ru itm e n t of focus gro up what you wou ld do wi th the extra people, group members.
pa rticip ants or how you wil l manage a very large
To run group discussions, you wil l need group, for example wou ld you split the The moderator wil l need to promote the
people who wil l discuss! It is often difficult group in two? debate by using the topic guide,
to get the participation needed and inad- sometimes challenging participants,
equate recruitment efforts are a common To recruit your participants, you can ask drawing out differences in opinion, asking
source of problems in research projects. for volunteers from the population of for details and tactfully moving things
interest, or ask for the help of ‘gate- forward when the conversation is drifting.
Whether people wil l want to come will keepers’, leaders or contacts in the The moderator wil l also need to ensure
depend on how involved the researchers or community who can invite participants for that everyone speaks while not favouring
their organisation are wi th the community, you. The other option is to recruit people any particular participant.
how well they understand the topic of your systematically from a sampling frame for
research, how interested the community is the population of interest. So for example It is usual to have tw o moderators, so that
in the research topic, and what they think use the list of all patients from a particular one can concentrate on the topic guide
they wil l gain by attending the discussions. clinic, and invite every tenth person. and managing the discussion, while the
other takes notes, checks the tape
18

recorders and helps wi th the organisation Reco rding th e da ta These are some of the questions used in
(eg meeting and greeting participants). Ideally, it is useful to have full transcripts a gu id e fo r focus gr oup discussions in
Both can take notes on body language, available to analyse the group discussion, Dad aab Refugee Camp in Kenya as part
attitudes etc. of a study looking at sexual violence.5
so wherever possible use tape recorders
(two are advisable). In many situations, 1) What problems have women and girls
Ho w m an y groups should you run? it is politically or practically not possible, experienced in health and security in your
The general rule of th um b is that you though. Here, there should be a dedicated community?
should stop when additional data note taker. At key points through the dis- 2) Can you give examples of sexual violence in
collection no longer generates new cussion, the note taker should summarise the camps?
understanding, also called the saturation for the group what issues have come up, 3) When and where does violence occur?
4) Who are the perpetrators (PROBE: inside /
point. Whether you wil l need to run three, and check they have interpreted them outside the camp, people you know/don’t
five or six groups wil l vary depending on correctly. For literate populations, a flip know). What happens to the perpetrators?
the questions you’re asking, the context, chart or similar is a useful way of recording 5) What are the problems that face women
and what wil l be credible for your group consensus or divergent opinions as after the attack? (PROBE: physical /
audience. they emerge. psychological / social problems)
6) How do survivors of sexual violence cope
after the attack?
Settin g Have a look at the later chapter on Analysis 7) What are community responses when sexual
Make sure that you have your discussion in of data for a few things to look out for such violence occurs? What is done to prevent
a quiet, comfortable place so that people as enthusiasm of participants etc when violence? What is done to help survivors?
feel relaxed and inclined to speak. What recording the data. How could these efforts be improved?
8) What social and legal services exist to help
feels comfortable and just the right level
Advan tages/ Disadvantages of natu ral to address these problems? Who provides
of intimacy wil l depend on the context. and focus groups. these services? How could they be
Think about the space and the seating – Natural groups are most useful if you are inter- improved?
organise in a circle, so people can see each ested in group norms; focus groups if you want 9) Has the problem of sexual violence become
other and there is space for a flip chart or a range of views worse, better or stayed the same since you
some other way of recording issues. arrived in Dadaab?

5 Igras, S; Monahan, B; Syphrines O. (1998) Issues and responses to sexual violence. Assessment Report
of the Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya: CARE International. Reproduced with kind
permission of CARE.
 19

H o w t o r u n a d iscussi on Discussion st arte r I t is also useful to pro vi de a clear

The top ic guid e You then need to move on to the in di ca tio n of wh e n th e session is
This is a more or less structured in te rvi ew ‘discussion starter’ question. The e nd ing . Focus groups should last
schedule for the discussion. discussion starter question wil l present a bo u t 9 0 m inute s b u t i t is b e tte r to
the basic topic for the session and throw an nou nce to th e g rou p t h a t i t will
Generally, the order of questions should be the discussion open to the group as a ta k e tw o hours. To indicate that the
as follows: whole. When you start the actual discussion is coming to a close, you could
discussion, the aim is to get each for example ask each participant for a final
Early questions should be directly participant to give some meaningful summary statement wit hin which you
related to topic of research. response or opening statement. Hence a should ask them to point out what they
key feature of the discussion-starter think are the most importa nt points (will
Most relevant/interesting questions question is that one should be easily able help for the analysis part).
should be asked as soon as possible to to respond to it. This should get everyone
interest interviewee on record wi th their different experiences Also, do remember common courtesy at the
and opinions before a consensus emerges end and thank all participants for their time
Embarrassing/sensitive questions during the group discussion. Examples and energy, and provide whatever refresh-
should be left till later might be getting each participant to say ments might be appropriate in the setting.
their name and one thing about their
Put general questions before specific experiences of the topic, such as last time
ones they used the local clinic, or how long they CONTEXTUAL DATA
have lived in the camp.
The st art Interviews (of various kinds) are the most
A good icebreaker is to ask each person in The discussion common source of data for qualitative
the group to give a brief self-introduction. After this first discussion starter, you can projects. However, most researchers also
If you want to relax the atmosphere, you start tapping into your topic guide. Do try draw on a number of other sources, even
could start by asking each person to say to relate your questions to what has been if these are less formal than the interviews.
something about what they like to do in mentioned during the opening statements. These are useful techniques to use not
their spare time. simply when undertaking research bu t also
20

when working in the field. It wil l help you Observational data is also very useful in Is there a pattern to the week, or year?
better understand the community in which overcoming discrepancies between what
you work. people say and what they actually do How do people relate to peers, those of
and might help you uncover behaviour of higher social status, outsiders?
(a ) Ob s erv a ti o ns which the participants themselves may not
be aware. What is considered ‘p ubl ic’ and what is
To understand fully the complexities of ‘private’? To pu t it more simply, what
many situations, direct participation in, The following are n ot guidelines for a full do people believe belongs to them and
and observation of, the phenomenon of observational study, bu t they contain what belongs to all/the community?
interest may be the best research method. useful hints for developing our skills in
The data collected must be descriptive thinking about what we are observing. As well as providing you wi th useful
so that the reader can understand what You could include observations of: contextual information about the setting,
happened and how it happened. In most this data is also vital for designing good
applied projects, there is not enough time Who does what tasks, and where? interviews, and suggesting who might
to carry out a detailed observational study, What routines are there in this setting? be an appropriate person to conduct the
bu t some observation, as part of your daily For instance, when is water collected? interviews.
work, wil l help. When do people eat? When do they
wash their hands?
Recomm endati ons for ta king fi eld notes6
Record notes as soon as possible after each Make notes as concrete, complete, and others during the period of observation.
period in the field, and do not talk with others comprehensive as possible. Record emotional feelings and private
until observations are recorded. Record small talk or routines that do not thoughts in a separate section.
Begin the record of each field visit with a new appear to be significant at the time; they may Avoid evaluative summarizing words. Instead
page, with the date and time noted. become important later. of ‘the sink looked disgusting’ say ‘the sink was
Use wide margins to make it easy to add to Let your feelings flow, and write quickly rust-stained and looked as though it had not
notes at any time. Go back and add to the notes without worrying about spelling. Assume that been cleaned for a long time’.
if you remember something later. no one else will use the notes. Reread notes periodically and record ideas
Record events in the order in which they occur Include diagrams or maps of the setting, and generated by the rereading.
and note how long they last. outline your own movements and those of
6
Neuman W L (2000:364) Social research methods – qualitative and quantitative approaches
 21

(b ) Re p ort s a n d o t h e r w r i t t e n d at a departments and NGOs as well as the

international literature (such as WHO
Some written sources of data that might policies) that frame your research.
help you answer your research question
include: ( c) O r a l d at a

Reports of previous research: Many cultures are primarily oral rather

A literature search should identify other than literary. Just talking to people
studies in this area, and other studies on informally is an ideal way of understanding
the same topic in different areas. As well more about a setting. Listen to stories
as providing background, use this people tell, what they complain about,
information in your analysis to think about what can and can’t be said in various
what is the same and what is different in situations.
your study, and why.
Informal conversations while people are
Clinic a nd o th er service records: going about their business can be more
If you have access to them, this wil l give an informative than a formal group interview.
overview of who is using services and why. While people are collecting water, they
Are there obvious ‘gaps’ of those who are may be talking to each other about health
not accessing services? Other providers care problems, and how they manage
may have published summaries of service them. If you are privileged enough to be
users, or surveys of the local population. included in these conversations, they are
an excellent way of accessing what is
Policy reports: im porta nt to people locally, and how they
As essential background to the study, you think about it.
wil l want to familiarise yourself wi th the
relevant policy documents, which might
include those from local health
22

4. Data management and analysis

(a ) Da ta manag ement 7 : some p r a ct i c a l family names and place names in code always wi th the interviewee.
issues: or even not taking the person’s name at
Co nfi de nt ial ity a nd security issues all. If you hear something potentially Re c or di n g/ tra nsc rib ing inte rv iews
Always consider the safety of those very dangerous, be extremely careful You can either write notes at the same
being interviewed. Think about stigma- about making notes. Do so in code, or time as you are speaking (it is easier
tisation of the person, further humilia- not at all. to have a transcriber do this), or write
tion, additional trauma, victimisation, the notes afterwards (but you will
your ow n security, and the security of Transla tio n forget a lot of what has been said, so
your MSF team. Even if the person being interviewed not advisable) or even audiotape.
trusts you, they might not trust your
Be careful to chose a good interpreter translator, especially if they believe The best method is generally to ask a
and take time to brief him or her and the translator is connected to one of the transcriber to take notes whilst taping,
limit those present during the interview warring parties or is a member of a and ask the transcriber to go through
to a m ini mu m. Try to find a private different ethnic or religious group. Be the notes he has taken afterwards
place, if this is appropriate. In many aware of this. Choose your translator checking wi th the recording whether
settings, you wil l need to ‘match’ the carefully. Take time to brief the person. s/he has forgotten anything.
gender of interviewers and interpreters Always insist that your translator gives a
to that of interviewees. literal sentence-by-sentence translation If an audiotape is going to be used, the
(a good translator uses the ‘I ’ person, respondent’s prior permission must be
Don ’t leave transcripts lying around. Be not ‘he or she’), not a summary. Brief sought. You wil l need to explain that
sure that no-one can access your the translator well about the reason for the reason why you are recording them
material. If you are dealing with the interviews and about the risks. The is to help you check whether you have
particularly sensitive issues such as translator is outside the interview. S/He recorded their views correctly. If people
human rights abuses, make sure that if is a facilitator, and should not start to are anxious about a tape recorder, do
the information falls into wron g hands ask the questions himself. You should reassure them that they wil l soon forget
it could not be traced to a specific not have eye contact wi th your it’s there. But if they refuse, you need
person. That may mean writing translator when asking questions but to respect their choice and pu t your
7 some of these considerations were outlined in Schockaert L document for the Analysis and Advocacy Unit (MSF B)
 23

audio recorder away. When talking a thematic, descriptive approach, or more as possible. This means not just
about a very delicate/sensitive issue or in-depth methods. For most applied summarising the text, bu t trying to think
in a tense context, DO NOT USE tape projects, thematic analysis is sufficient. what the text is an example of.
recording. It might be dangerous for For instance, this extract comes from an
your respondent. Th em at ic analysis of da ta interview wi th a mother about access to
A thematic analysis is one that looks across health care:
If you do tape, one common approach all the data to identify the common issues 1. my baby was very hot with a fever in the
is to tu rn the recorder off at the end that recur, and identify the main themes morning
of the interview and to continue that summarise all the views you have col- 2. he cried and cried
chatting wi th the respondents. You lected. This is the most common method 3. my mother in law said to put a flannel
on his head
should be able to gauge whether to be for descriptive qualitative projects. The key
4. but he was so hot I knew it was not right
recorded has inhibited or not your stages in a thematic analysis are: 5. and I told my husband to hurry to get
respondent. him to the clinic
1. Read a nd a nn o ta te transcripts: We could just see this as an example of the
(b ) An alysi s
this is the most basic stage. Here you do theme ‘coping wi th fever’, bu t we wil l get
It wasn’t curiosity that killed the cat not provide an overview of the data, but more out of the data if we think in detail
It was trying to make sense of all the make preliminary observations. This is about the various different things that are
data curiosity generated Halcom8 particularly useful wi th the first few tran- going on here, such as: sources of infor-
scripts, where you are still trying to get a mation and advice; remedies; triggers to
The analysis of qualitative data is often feel for the data. health care seeking.
seen as the most difficult part of the
exercise. Yet it is very enjoyable to see 2 . Id e nt ify themes: Note that it is useful to number the lines,
patterns emerge and be able to draw out The next step is to start looking in detail at to make it easy to refer to each segment
of all the discussions some meaningful the data to start identifying themes: of data when coding or discussing it with
conclusions. summaries of ‘what is going on here’. In colleagues.
the margins of each transcript or set of
There are many different ways to notes, start to note what the interviewee is As you look through the data, make a list
analyse qualitative data. You can either use referring to. Try to make these as abstract of these themes.
8 As quoted in Patton (2002:440)
24

3 . Dev elo pin g a coding scheme colleagues. This helps avoid going down This is what another extract from the same
These initial themes can no w be gathered narrow analysis paths, and ensures that study might look like after initial coding:
together to begin to develop a coding individual bias about ‘what is going on ’ is
scheme. This is a list of all the themes, kept in check.
1 He had a fever in the night,
and the ‘codes’ that we wil l apply to the
Code1 - Initial symptoms
data. From the small extract above, some 4 . Coding th e da ta
of the codes might be: The next step is to start applying these 2 we noticed when he woke up crying
Initial symptoms (could be given code codes to the whole set of data, by either
3 and would not go back to sleep.
number 1) writ ing codes on the margins of transcripts
Informal help seeking (could be given or notes or (if using computer software) 4 It got worse and worse.
code number 2) marking the text on line. 5 I called my mother-in-law from her
Giving advice on what to do (code Code 2 - Inf ormal Help-Seeking
number 3) Notes: The same line(s) of data may be
Formal help seeking (code number 4) coded in several different ways, from 6 room, I was so worried.
Responsibility for taking child (husband, very basic codes to categories that reflect 7 She said to wait till morning, it was
self, other) (code number 5) broader analytic themes.
8 nothing serious, so I stayed up all

Each broad code can have a number of sub You wil l amend your coding scheme as you 9 night with him crying and sweating.
codes. start going through the data in detail. Code 1 - Initial symptoms

10 In the morning, my husband and

It is useful to begin developing the coding Ideally, the whole data set should be
Code 5 - Responsibility
scheme as soon as initial data have been coded. This ensures that the analysis does
collected. This early analysis can help not just concentrate on the atypical, or 11 mother-in-law said we should
shape later data collection (are we asking ‘exotic’ extracts of data, and is a truly Code 3 - Advice
the right questions? Have we included the comprehensive analysis. Code 5 - Responsibility for decision
right people?) as well as giving feedback to
12 take him to the clinic
the interviewers. Whenever possible,
Code 4 - Formal Help-Seeking
develop the coding scheme with
 25

Cut a nd Paste data sets, it is not usually wo rth investing Na rra ti ve analysis
When all the data have been coded, you in computer aided analysis packages. It is As well as the themes that cut across the
can ‘cut and paste’ codes into piles by of course vital to know where the extracts data, you wil l also want to look narra-
code. This is the point where you take data you are cutting and pasting came from. tively wit hin each case, so the ‘story’ of an
extracts out of their original context (the With small data sets, one practical way of individual’s health care access is not lost.
interview or focus group transcript) and doing this is to pu t a different coloured Cutting and pasting can lose some of the
pu t them together wi th other examples of line lengthways do wn each page before narrative context, so you may also want to
data on the same topic to start looking for cutting – you can then see at a glance look in detail at some cases to see how the
patterns across the data. So all the where each extract came from. themes interrelate in a particular case.
examples of ‘Responsibility for decision’
can be gathered together to look at The patterns and relationships you find un-
patterns. This is point where you can ask der these themes are then the basis of your
questions such as: in which situations do report. In our example, there might be a
mothers in law make the decision? How section for instance on the role of moth-
and when do daughters/husbands override ers in law in advising when to access care.
this? In the pile of extracts on this theme, we
wou ld have identified patterns across the
Cu tti n g a nd pa stin g can be done very data and perhaps some typologies. One
simply wi th scissors and paste – cut up typology might be ‘usual’ and ‘unusual’
copies of notes or transcripts and paste illnesses, if for instance, it was found that
them together on large sheets of paper. mothers only asked for advice for fevers
A word processor makes this easier, and in children when the fevers were seen as
there are no w a number of computer unusual in some way.
packages designed to enable you to
manage this kind of analysis. For small
26

Ho w to i n te rp r et th e da ta went through in detail. A key element of improving validity is

dealing wi th what are known as deviant
Ho w m uc h emphasis should you give Va l id at io n strategies cases or findings: these are those that do
a specific top ic in yo ur fi na l rep ort? You wil l also need to ensure that the not fit wi th your conclusions. Be sure to
There are three basic factors that influence validity (or ‘trustworthiness’) of your look in detail at the d ev ian t cases, and
how much emphasis to give a topic: how findings is maximised. account for why they differ. Explaining
many groups mentioned the topic, how this wil l strengthen your analysis.
many people wit hin each of these groups T ria ng u la tio n is one method for
mentioned the topic, and how much en- increasing validity of findings, through You wil l need to be as rigorous as possible
ergy and enthusiasm the topic generated deliberately seeking evidence from a wide to get the most out of the collected
from the participants. This is called ‘group- range of sources and comparing findings information, and for your results to be
to-group validation’. For any specific topic, from those different sources. For example credible both inside and outside MSF.
group-to-group validation means that if you have done interviews and focus There are a number of ‘good practice’
whenever a topic comes up, it generates a groups, compare the findings from each. guidelines to bear in mind thro ugho ut the
consistent level of energy among a If they coincide, that strengthens our faith analysis process9 (see table overleaf).
consistent prop ortio n of the participants in having identified importa nt issues.
across nearly all the groups. Remember, though, that people talk about
things very differently in different contexts:
Despite the relatively unstructured form any differences you find are an importa nt
in which qualitative data is collected, it source of data in themselves.
remains importa nt to ensure that your
analysis is reliable and its validity Another validation strategy is called
safeguarded. m e m be r checking. This involves feeding
findings of the analysis back to the
To ensure reliability of your analysis, you participants, through focus groups for © 2002 Michael Quinn Patton and Michael Cochran
wil l need to maintain meticulous records example, and assessing how far they Reproduced with kind permission
of all the interviews and group discussions consider them to reflect the issues from of Michael Quinn Patton
and document the process of analysis you their perspective.
9
as per Thorogood and Green (2004:191)
 27

Good Practice Guidelines

Criteria Possible methods
Transparency Provide a clear account of procedure used, an ‘audit trail’ that
i) are your methods others can follow (i.e. ensure that the evidence – fieldwork notes,
clear? interview transcripts etc - can be inspected independently, and that
ii) could others procedures for data analysis are clearly described and justified.)
repeat your
work?

Maximise Ensure that your conclusions are based on supporting evidence

validity and include analysis of cases that do fit within your conclusions
and enough context for reader to judge interpretation.

Maximise Analyse the whole set of data

reliability Use more than one analyst / coder

Comparability Compare data between and within cases in the data set
Compare findings to other studies

Your role as a Account for the role of you, the researcher, in the research. Take
confounding factor into consideration the impact that you being part of a wealthy
organisation such as MSF might have had on the
responses given. Do you think people might have exaggerated
certain problems for example?

Don’t be swayed by favourite findings! Be careful not to pull out only

those findings that you find interesting. For example, don’t just
include in your analysis those who might say that MSF provides the
right type of aid if others disagreed.
28
The use of co mpute r software to computer assisted qualitative analysis, and
hel p ma na ge data gives you links to demo versions of a range
of qualitative analysis packages:
There are a number of dedicated software http://www.caqdas.soc.surrey.ac.uk
packages designated to help manage
qualitative data and aid analysis. These Finally, in wri ting up your analysis, it is
packages do not do the analysis for you worth bearing in mind the kinds of
though and you will still have to develop questions readers might be asking
a coding system and code the data. Also themselves when judgi ng how useful or
beware that each package will require a credible they think your findings are.
particular format, so make sure at the
beginning of your research that you use Assessing rigour in qualitative research10
the appropriate format for your analysis. Was the theoretical framework of the study
and the methods used always explicit?
The time taken to familiarise yourself with
computer aided qualitative analysis Was the context of the research clearly
packages can be substantial, and many described?
novice researchers report that they can
get rather distracted with the mechanics Was the sampling strategy clearly
of coding. For smaller projects, it is not described and justified?
usually worth the investment. However,
if generating a large data set, or one Was the fieldwork clearly described in
which will be spread across many sites, detail?
and with different people working on
it, it is worth the effort as they facilitate Were the procedures for analysis clearly
easier management and retrieval of data. described and justified?

The following website is devoted to Were triangulated methods used to test the
validity of the data and analysis?
10 Bowling A (2002:354)
 29
C on lu si on:
This is all the theory you need to start using qualitative methods. These simple steps should help you
obtain sound and reliable results!

We hope you have found this interesting.

Throughout 2007 we will be distributing case studies on:

perception study of national staff

access to healthcare
violence
sexual and reproductive health
30

Bibliography Su gge ste d f u r t h e r r e a di n g

Bowling A (2002) Research methods in health – Investigating health and health services, These are resources on particular topics or
Open University Press methods that you might want to look in
more detail before carrying out a
Green J and Thorogood N (2004) Qualitative Methods for Health Research, London: Sage qualitative study.

Neuman W L (2000) Social research methods – Qualitative and quantitative approaches, Campbell, O et al (1999) Social science
Allyn and Bacon Pub (4th ed) methods for research on reproductive
health. WHO
Rocha S (2004) ‘Has anyone said “ethics”? “Safety” of beneficiaries? Some considerations
about info gathering in the field’, Analysis and Advocacy Unit, MSF B Ellsberg M and Heise L (2005) Researching
violence against women: a practical guide
Rotchford, A.P., Rotchford, K.M., Mthethwa, L.P. and Johnson, G.J. (2002) ‘Reasons for for researchers and activists. WHO/PATH
poor cataract surgery uptake – a qualitative study in rural South Africa’, Tropical Medi-
cine and International Health, 7(3): 288-292. Krueger, RA and Casey, MA (2000) Focus
Groups: a Practical Guide for Applied
Tom Beauchamp and Jim Childress (1983), Principals of biomedical ethics (2nd ed) Research, (3rd Edition) Sage
Oxford: Oxford University Press
Horizons Populations Council (2005)
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Terima Kasih