•im- 4.1 Design and Process in Qualitative Research Uwc Flick 1 On in* ro'e of design ö qualitative research 2 Bavc Ongin m qualitative research 3 Processus úeciswns in the realization of des.gns 4 Short-cut strategics 5 Summary 1 ON THE ROLE OF DESIGN IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH hi quantitative n "in h Miete Ku comprehensive Ittoimuro on various forms of íesean h design. Řidl II CtOSMC-cHoiial and longitudinal designs. Bxpulmcntal versus non-experimental nnildl. «ii the use «ti tontiol groups of so-called double blind in.ih in pharmaceutic .t I studies I »it.i CO ■■ tlOfl designs are a means lo the end oi collecting meaningful data' (Diekmann 1995: 274). Tnfi decision to use one ot the types of design mentioned is ölten intended to conliol, minimize or exclude the influence ol the research or the researcher on the data-collecting situation In qualitative research little importance is 4ft-xru.il to this aspect, which leads Miles and lluherman ■.199ľ 16) to point out th.it i onii.itytMwh.it you might have Iu-.m.i. >|i ,il i.iib n< , ,iii li .1» signs do exist ' In niiiif general lnut», In both areas ibe question of Ihl planning "I .in investigation K addressed with Ihe keyword ol research design; DOW ih'xild Hi. data tollecllon and analysis tu-M-l up, .nid how u ili< • i: ot riiipirii.il llIJtľll.lľ (SltWllllin« cases, [íeisonM to be mad«, "• lhal Um research questions can bi aiUWCiCd and Mils can Im« achieved within the Mini' ivallable, using the available means? ['his is m agreement with the definition given by Ragin 11994: l*»l>: 147 148 i'./ ■v Research. «»MRU n j plan tot colkiilng and uialy/ln* rvhlcncr thai will nuke It ptMftll ■ | , Hi" invtsHgMoi tu MSHci whatever questtoni hs *»i ihi h*l poHdi fhe design ot" mi investigation liilHlli'\ almost ill .ISpFCtS OÍ tile IfM'.Utll. hum ihr iiiiinilľ ilcliilh otd.it.) colled Ion m llw win lion ol Hie in linliiucs ol data aiMlyil«. Tl»e (ikiI very comprehensive) literatim* on ■ rdi design In qualitative research (cl. I.ei.)in|)t,. and Prcissle 1993; Marshall and KosMitann 1995; Miles and Hubeiman 1994; and |M PllCk 2002: chs 5-7) deals with Hie sublet i m two ways: either particular basic models oi qualitative research are contrasted, and the researcher may choose between lot his oi her ......"i- -tnd| <■■.: CnsHdl 1998) Ol toil ÜM components from which a conciele nstaich design Is put together are listed and ■ i leg Maxwell 1996). Ihr components lhal play a role in the con- ItlUCtl......1 a research design and must there- t"i" I" tonMdeied are: lb oi the study " i'-Mi ,il It.uiicwork lu conoete questions the Mlictlon ol empirical material Lhi methodological proced ures the degltC Ol standardization and LlH generalisation goals and unlt'-l DESIGN AND PROCESS IN OUALITATrvt RESEARCH (mi Petite temporal, pCftOnal and material resources that are available dl. m t inn i below). 2 BASIC DESIGNS IN QUALITATIV! Ml SI AHCM The following basli designs in qualitative research may be distinguished u I also f reswell 1998): • case studies ■ comparative studies . retrospective stu . snapshots: analyses oi slate and process at the time oi the research, and . longitudinal studies. Case studies The aim "I case simile* Is the precise description or paconstnM U.....t i< ne «t ■«■ more detail cf. Ragin and He. k n I"'1 I ase Is rather broadly understood here in addition lo persons, social communities (e.g. families). organization! und Initltuiloni (eg. a nursing home) could blCORM till lUbjKI of a case analysis in thli thi -i<-> t-.ivi- problem is the identllicatlon ol a rase thai would l>r slgnift-canl for lite resean h question, and the clarification o( what else belongs to the case and what methodological approaches Its reconstruction requires (on this cl Hildenbrand 1999). If a case analysis is concerned with school problems of a child It mutt, for Instance, be made clear whether il is enough to observe the child in the school environment, whether the teachers and/or fellow pupils should be questioned and to what extent the family and their everyday life should be iiliwivťd as part ol ihe analysis. Finally, it needs to be m.uk-. le.ir what this case represents (cf, Flick 2002 "'"(■>■ Comparative Uuillu\ In comparative itutlirs. .xi the other hand, the case is not observed In its totality and complexity, but rath« a multiplicity •»' CBSes with regard to particular excerpu iheipedfk content of the expeit knowledge ol a number of people or biographies in respect ol ■ concrete experience of sickness and the lubaequenl course of life are compared wllh each other Here there arise above all question-, tu do with the selection ot cases in the k roups u. |w uinipared. A further problem II wliai degree ol standardization oi constancy is fell to I"- necessary m the remaining conditions that ne imt Ihr sohjiil ol Ihe comparison: to lie show cultural dilfeicnces In the views o| health unong PWtUfUeSf and German women w partners horn both cultures were selected who live in as many respects as possible (big * Ity life, comparable professions, Income and level Ol education) Udder at least very similar conditions, in ordei lo Ik' able to relate differences lo the comparative dimension ot 'culture' (cf. Flick et al. 1998; Fhck 2000c). The dimension of single case-comparative study represent i sm anlS according to which the basic design of qualitative research may Ik- classified. An Interim stage consists of the interrelation of a number of ( tune. fromrelrospectisvai>.ils>,ei, tu Snapshots and then tO longitudinal studies. HmtrospmcUvm studios Hie pilililple ol i,isc reconstruction is chai.u teilst» ol a great number of biographical investigations whkh operate with a series ot C8M analyses in a comparative, typologizing or con-trastlve manner (see below). Biogr.ipbu.il research (see 3,6, 3.7. 5.11) is an example ot a retrospective research design in which, retrospectively from Ihe point in time when the research Is carried out, certain events and processes ate analysed In respect of their meaning foe Individual or collective life-histonev Design questions In relation to retrospective research involve the selection of informants who will he meaningful for the process to be liivestigaifd rhiogi.iphy bearers' - Schütte 1983) I'lrey also involve defining appropriate gTOUps mi toiiiparlson, |uslilying Die bonini alles ul Ihe Mine tu hr lll>'estig Hed. > het king tile research question, iWuling which thiMoiiuli sonn es ami ilix umeiits isee S.I5) shOUMbC used m iddlnon to Intirvkws with the Uogiaph) bearers (on tisla form <>t iri.ingui.it..... cl M.liot/kl I9USI,, ,H,d 4.(0. and how lbe mílu ences ol modi m views Ofl the perreptlon and evaluati.....i hi Her experiences should In- considered (cl. limner 1987). D6A 48 86 (Ql A COMPANION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Snapshots: the analysis of state and process at the time of the investigation in contrast to this, a large part of qualitative research focuses on snapshots: different manifestations of the expertise that exists in a particular field at the time of the research are collected in Interviews (see 5.2, 5.3) and compared to one another. Even if certain examples from earlier periods of time affect the Interviews, the research does not aim primarily at the retrospective reconstruction of a process. It is concerned rather with givirfc a description of circumstances at the time of.ihe research. A range of process-oriented procedures are also strongly related to the present and are therefore not interested in the reconstruction of past events from the point of view of (any of) the participants (cf. Bergmann 1985; see 5.5), but in the course of currents from a parallel temporal perspective. In ethnographic studies researchers participate in the development of some event over an extended period in oider to record and analyse this in parallel to its actual occurrence. In .conversation analyses (see 5.17) a conversation is recorded and then analysed in terms of its sequencing, while in objective hermeneutics (see 5.16) a protocol is interpreted in a strictly sequential manner 'from beginning to end'. In these approaches, from the design point of view, there arises the question of how to limit the empirical material. How can the selection guarantee that the phenomenon that is relevant to the research question is acmally contained in empirically documented extracts from conversations and processes? Where should the beginning and end of a (conversational or observational) sequence be located? According to what criteria should material fór comparison be selected and contrasted: what conversations or conversational extracts, and what ohservarional protocols ought, m concrete tenns, to be compared? Longitudinal studies The final variant of a basic desigtijn qualitative research consists of longitudinal studies, which also analyse an interesting process or state at later times of data collection. This strategy has rarely been used, at least explicitly, in qualitative research. Exceptions are Gerhardts (1986) investigation of patients' careers, where an interview partner was questioned again a year later, and the study by Ulich et al. (198S) on the processing of unemployment among teachers, where the subjects were íntervieweďíBven times in the couise of a year. In most qualitative methods there is little guidance on how they could be applied in longitudinal studies with several periods of data collection (see 6.5). Implicitly, a longitudinal perspective within a temporally limited framework is realized in ethnography (see 5.5) by virtue of the researcher's extended participation in the neld of study, and also -with a retrospective focus - in biographical research (see 3.6, 3.7, 5.11), which considers an extended section of a life-history. The great strength of a longitudinal study - of being able to document changes of view or action through repeated collection-cycles, where the initial state of a process of change can be recorded without any influence from Its final state - cannot therefore be fully realized. Figure 4.1,1 arranges the basic designs in qualitative research that we have discussed according to two dimensions. 3 PROCESSUAL DECISIONS IN THE — REALIZATION OF DESIGNS The process of qualitative research may be described as a sequence of decisions (Flick 1995, 2002). Here researchers, in realizing their projects, can make a choice between a number of alternatives at various points in the process -from questions to data collection and analysis and ultimately to presentation of results. In these decisions researchers realize the design of their study in a dual sense - a design planned in advance is translated into concrete procedures or else, while in process, the design is constituted and modified by virtue of the decisions in favour of particular alternatives. Goals of the study A qualitative study may be used to pursue a number of different goals. The model is often the approach of grounded theory development in accordance with the model of Glaser arid Strauss (1967; see 2.1, 5.13, 6.6). The form of openness essential for this goal has long been a feature of the debate about qualitative research in general (e.g. Hoffmann-Riem 1980) and lies behind a number of methodological approaches (e.g. theoretical sampling as a principle of case DESIGN ANO PROCESS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Í149 iyt. Case analys ŕtetiosoecove study Snapshots: description of state/ process analysis Longitudinal ■,Mi!y Comparative study Figure 4.1.1 Bask designs In qualitative research selection, see 4.4). In this context, it must be borne in mind that the requirement of theory development is an excessive burden for many types of qualitative studies: to force this goal on graduation theses is as unrealistic as it is incompatible with the intentions of many of those who commission qualitative research projects (see 6.5). Here what is required are detailed descriptions or evaluations of current practice. In the case of a stage that seeks to provide an exact description of sequences of events in institutional or everyday practice, some of the methodological tools of Glaser and Strauss (for example, theoretical sampling) may be applicable, but do not necessarily have to be. The question of the extent to which a hypothesis-driven or hypothesis-testing study can be realized by qualitative methods (see 4.2} has not yet been adequately answered, but will be of practical relevance in a number of different contexts: for example, in objective liermeneutics hypotheses will be set up in the course of the interpretation, and these will be tested and falsified during the analysis of further material (see 4.7, 5.16). These examples will demonstrate that there arc different types of objectives for qualitative studies: description, testing of hypotheses, theory development. At rhe level of objectives, Maxwell (1996: 16) makes a further distinction between studies that pursue primarily personal goals (for example, a graduation thesis or dissertation), those that pursue practical goals (discovering if and how a particular programme or product functions) and those that pursue research goals (and are more concerned wiUi developing general knowledge of a particular subject). Formulation of the research questions The research question of a qualitative investigation is one of the decisive factors in its success or failure. The way in which it is formulated exerts a strong influence on the design of the study. On the one hand, questions must lie formulated as clearly and unambiguously as possible, and this must happen as early as possible in the life of the project. But on the other hand, in the course of the project questions become more and more concrete, more focused, and they are also narrowed and revised (cf. Flick 2002: 64). Maxwell (1996: 49Us representative of the viewpoint that questions^hould be less the starting point and rather the result of the formulation of a research design. Consequently questions may be viewed or classified according to the extent to which they are suited to the confirmation of existing assumptions (for instance in the sense of hypotheses) or whether they aim at new discoveries or permit this. Strauss (1987: 22) characterizes the latter as 'generative questions'. By this he means: 'Questions that stimulate the line of investigation in profitable directions: they lead to 1501 A CCMPÄtfOrt TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH hypotheses, ustrul comparisons- the collection of Certain classes of data, even to genera» lines of aitack or» potentially important problems.' ßssearch question» may on the one hand be kept too broad, which means that they would then proyide aJniost no guidance in the planning and implementation of a study. "Bur they may also be kept too narrow and thereby miss the target of investigation or block rathef than promote new discoveries- Questions should be formulated in such a way that (in the context ot the planned study and using tne available resources» they are capable of being answered. There have been a number oj attempts to establish a typology of rc.seardh.questions (et for example, Hick 2O02; J-ofiaod and Löfland 1984). Maxwell (1996), with an eye on research design, distinguishes between generalizing and particularizing question«, together with questions that locus on distinctions, and those thai focus on the description of processes. G$jieralizztioft goals and representational gouts In setting up a research design it is advisable to take mlo account xvhat generalfeation g FURTHER READING Flick. U. (2002) An introduction to Qualitative Research, 2nd. edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, esp. chs 5-7. Marshall, C. and Rossman, G. B. (1995) Designing Qualitative Research, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Maxwell, J. A. (1996) Qualitative Research Design - An Interactive Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.