CRS Qualitative Research Approaches 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'thick description' in qualitative research?
- Using large sample sizes to increase data richness
- Detailed, contextual description that captures meaning and nuance (Correct answer)
- Writing lengthy literature review sections
- Applying multiple statistical analyses to qualitative data
Correct answer: Detailed, contextual description that captures meaning and nuance
Geertz's concept of thick description refers to rich, contextual accounts that capture not just behavior but its meaning within its social and cultural context.
Question 2: In narrative inquiry, what is a 'restorying' technique?
- Asking participants to repeat their stories multiple times
- Organizing participant stories into a coherent narrative structure (Correct answer)
- Storing qualitative data in secure repositories
- Restoring deleted interview recordings
Correct answer: Organizing participant stories into a coherent narrative structure
Restorying involves the researcher retelling or reconfiguring the participant's narrative into a plotted story with beginning, middle, and end.
Question 3: Which concept describes the qualitative researcher's obligation to set aside personal assumptions when studying a phenomenon?
- Triangulation
- Bracketing (epoché) (Correct answer)
- Saturation
- Reflexivity
Correct answer: Bracketing (epoché)
Bracketing, derived from Husserl's phenomenological philosophy, requires researchers to suspend or set aside their preconceptions to see phenomena freshly.
Question 4: What is the role of a 'theoretical framework' in qualitative research design?
- It determines the statistical tests to be used
- It provides a lens or perspective that guides data collection and interpretation (Correct answer)
- It establishes the minimum required sample size
- It identifies the control variables in the study
Correct answer: It provides a lens or perspective that guides data collection and interpretation
A theoretical framework provides the conceptual scaffolding that informs how the researcher sees the problem, collects data, and interprets findings.
Question 5: When should a qualitative researcher typically stop collecting data?
- After interviewing exactly 30 participants
- When theoretical saturation is reached and no new themes emerge (Correct answer)
- After completing one full calendar year of fieldwork
- When funding for the study is exhausted
Correct answer: When theoretical saturation is reached and no new themes emerge
Theoretical saturation, the point at which additional data collection yields no new conceptual categories, is the standard stopping criterion in qualitative research.
Question 6: Which qualitative approach specifically examines how individuals construct meaning through language and social interaction?
- Content analysis
- Constructivist grounded theory (Correct answer)
- Experimental phenomenology
- Longitudinal survey research
Correct answer: Constructivist grounded theory
Constructivist grounded theory, championed by Kathy Charmaz, emphasizes that knowledge and meaning are co-constructed between researcher and participant.
Question 7: In qualitative research, what is 'negative case analysis'?
- Focusing solely on participants with negative experiences
- Actively seeking data that disconfirms emerging interpretations (Correct answer)
- Analyzing cases where research ethics were violated
- Removing outlier cases from the analysis
Correct answer: Actively seeking data that disconfirms emerging interpretations
Negative case analysis strengthens credibility by deliberately searching for disconfirming evidence that challenges the researcher's interpretations.
CRS Qualitative Research Approaches 3
What is 'thick description' in qualitative research?