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Fall 2004 Comprehensive Exams – Doctor of Philosophy in Information StudiesDay 4 Notes – Thomas Virgona

Long Island University / C.W. PostAuthor Document

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(Hildreth 2000) 1 Class notes For each of these items, discuss how you ensure validity and reliability of the design

. For the quantitative part of the study you should consider the following:· Identify concepts and variables(Hildreth, 2000 - Class notes)

2 Five point Likert scale, ranging from "very satisfied" to "very unsatisfied"

(Glebocki and Lancaster, In Search of the Wild Hypothesis)

6 Nominal data: These numbers do not have any numerical value or relationship. A designation of 2 does not mean that it is more or less than 3 or more than 1.


6 Nominal data Samples: Telephone numbers, Male = 1, Female =2.


6 Ordinal data Samples: Finishing in a race 1,2,3; Weight.


6 Ordinal data: Ordinal level data are ordered data.


6 Interval level of measurement: We say that 30 degrees F is twice as warm as 15 degrees and half as warm as 60 degrees F.


6 Ratio Level: basically the same as interval level data, but the have a true 0 point. An income of zero means no income.


6 Level of significance: Most scientific and business applications conventionally use either the .05 or the .01 level of significance for hypothetical testing.


6 Independent and Dependent Variables: We label the variable about which the prediction is to be made the dependent variable. Its value depends on the other variables.

(Berg 2001) Text Concepts are symbolic or abstract elements representing objects, properties, or features of objects, processes, or phenomenon. Concepts may communicate ideas or introduce particular perspectives, or they may be a means for casting a broad generalization. Concepts provide a means for people to let others know what they are thinking, and allow information to be shared.

· Formulate one or more testable hypotheses(Hildreth, 2000 - Class notes)

2 Sample: Searchers actual performance will be reflected in their level of satisfaction with search results

(Hildreth, 2000 - Class notes)

2 Sample: Search performance by users of the WebOPAC will be significantly superior to the search performance of users of the TextOPAC.


2 Sample: Users will judge the WebOPAC as superior in ease of use.

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6 Sample: There is a difference between the heights of men and women.


6 Hypothesis: we can never accept the null hypothesis, we can only reject it or fail to reject it.


6 Level of significance: Most scientific and business applications conventionally use either the .05 or the .01 level of significance for hypothetical testing.

(Sirkin 1995) 32 Sample: There is a relationship between sky conditions and the presence of rain, such that cloudy sky conditions are associated with the presence of rainfall and clear sky conditions are associated with no rainfall.

(Sirkin 1995) 32 Sample: The amount of cloudiness and the amount of rainfall are positively related. (Sirkin 1995) 32 Sample: The size of a public defender's case load and the size of the community employing

that individual are positively related.(The Problem: The Heart of the Research Process)

33 Page 52; 5 excellent examples on Welfare and work, busing and schoolchildren, retirement plans for adults.

· Identify a population(The Survey System)

12 Target Population: What kind of people to interview.

(Berg 2001) Text A community can be defined as some geographically delineated unit within a larger society.(Fowler 1993) Text The sample frame is the set of people that has a chance to be selected, given the sampling

approach that is chosen. Statistically speaking, a sample only can be representative of the population included in the sample frame. One design issue is how well the sample frame corresponds to the population a researcher wants to describe.

(Schutt 1999) Text We don’t have the time or resources to study the population, all the elements in which we are interested, and so we resolve to study a sample, a subset of this population.

(Shutt 1999) Text Population: The aggregation of elements that is specified as the study’s focus.(Sproull 2002) Text Population: All members of a defined category of elements such as people, events or

objects.

· Explain the sampling technique you propose to use(Glebocki and Lancaster, In Search of the Wild Hypothesis)

6 Random samples: In a completely randomized sample, each member of our population has an equal chance of being selected. By represent, we mean that the information we derive from our sample and the conclusions we draw about our sample will reflect the same conditions that exists in our population as a whole.

(Wechsler, Eun Lee, Kuo, Lee; March 2000)

7 Example: The sample was selected using probability sampling proportionate to the size of undergraduate enrollment at each institution.


7 Example: To encourage students to respond, we offered an award of one $1,000 prize to a student whose name was drawn from among students responding within 1 week; a $500 award and 10 $100 awards were offered to students whose names were drawn from a pool of all who responded.

(Morgan 1995) 14 Simple Random Sample: This involves the random selection of the desired number from the sampling frame. Here randomness indicates a statistically defined procedure requiring random number tables or computer generated random number.

(Morgan 1995) 14 Systematic sampling: This involves selecting a starting point and in the sampling frame. A starting point needs to be randomly selected (with in the 'divisible' criteria).

(Morgan 1995) 14 Stratified Random Sampling: This involves dividing the sampling frame into different strata. The random sampling then takes place within each of the strata. Proportionate sampling

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would be appropriate in ensuring that the number for each stratum reflect the relative numbers in the sampling frame.

(Morgan 1995) 14 Convenience (or Accidental) Sampling: This involves the sample items (or persons) being chosen at the convenience of the person drawing the sample. It does not produce representative findings'.

(Microsodt Excel 2000)

x RANDBETWEEN function: Returns a random number between the numbers you specify. A new random number is returned every time the worksheet is calculated. Syntax: RANDBETWEEN(bottom,top) where, Bottom is the smallest integer RANDBETWEEN will return. Top is the largest integer RANDBETWEEN will return.

(Budd, Connaway 1997)

15 In order to achieve representative, these institutions are included to reflect both private and public governance structures and are geographically dispersed across the Unites States. 45.8% Return Rate limits the scope of the conclusions that can be drawn.

(Carpenter and Vase, Chapter 2 Sampling)

73 The formula for determine the size of a sample is: n = ((z(o)/e)^2.N = sample sizeo = the guessed value of the standard deviatione = the amount of error we will allow forZ = the accuracy we estimate as desirable in z-score units.

(Carpenter and Vase, Chapter 2 Sampling)

73 Sample size example: Let use assume we want to be accurate 95 times out of 100. Margin of error you are willing to accept, say $0.20 cents. A guess at the standard deviation: Say $1.50. A 95% confidence level translates to a 1.96 standard deviation. 99% confidence level would require 1.57 standard deviation. In this example n = ((1.96*1.50)/.2)^2 = 216 cases.

· Describe the research design(Hildreth, 1997) 8 Complementary methods: A survey questionnaire and computer transaction logging

software.(Hildreth, 1997) 8 The questionnaire was administered to users of the catalog at one or another of the public

access terminal clusters in the library and two branches. During eleven weeks during the spring of 1995, data collectors approached catalog users after they had used a search terminal for at least five minutes and before they departed the terminal. A randomized schedule was followed by the data collectors to insure they rotated among the public access terminal clusters on different days and at different times of the day to include a proportionate number of participants from each of three different times of library use: weekday mornings, weekday afternoons, and evenings (after 5 o'clock) or weekends.

(Hildreth, 1997) 8 The brevity of the questionnaire and the collector's emphasis that it would take only a minute or two to complete may account for the good response rate.

(Hudson, How to ask questions)

9 Research experience consistently indicates that nearly all who refuse their cooperation do so within the first few seconds after initial contact, whether the contact is in person, on the telephone, or by mail.

(Hildreth, 1997) 8 Transaction logs: Due to apparent degradation of system response time, the transaction logging software was run during limited periods.


9 Cover letter; How sample was selected, sponsors, purpose of study, results of the study will be, confidentiality, how to return the questionnaire, ease of the survey, contact person for concerns, use of letterhead, use of signatures, when to return survey, how to get results.


9 Question structure; Open ended, closed-ended with ordered choices, close ended with unordered response choices, partially close-ended.


9 Common wording problems: Will words by uniformly understood, abbreviation, non-conventional phrases, vague, ambiguous, biased, objectionable, double question, assumed to much knowledge, can responses be compared with existing information,.


9 Use lower case letters for questions, upper case for answers, identify answer categories on left with numbers, establish vertical flow, provide directions for answering, show hoe to skip questions, make questions fit to a page, use transitions for continuity.

(Hseih-Yee, 10 The Delphi Technique is best defined as "a method for the systematic solicitation and collection of judgments on a particular topic through a set of carefully designed sequential

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September 2000) questionnaires interspersed with summarization information and feedback of opinions derived from earlier responses.

(Hseih-Yee, September 2000)

10 A typical Delphi sequence: Participants are asked to provide opinions on given topics, the answers are analyzed and turned into statements, responses are summarized and presented back to the participants. A summary of the responses are sent to the participants to give them a chance to revise their opinions.

(Powell, Data Collection Techniques)

11 Advantages of the interview: Better response rate, correction of misunderstandings, better at revealing that is complex and/or emotionally laden.


11 Focus Group Interviews: Acquisition of new information, development of new ideas and concepts, refinement of hypothesis, refinement of research instruments, facilitate complex decision-making, identifies important issues, identification and evaluation of information services.


11 Telephone Interviews: Cheaper than face-to-face interviews, can be conducted quickly after an event has occurred, easier to supervise and train. One major disadvantage is that is favors people with phones (-10% of Americans do not have phones) and more people have unlisted numbers.


11 Observational research: Possible to record behavior, compare what people did to what they said, highlights 'irrelevant' Behaviour, can observe people that cannot give verbal responses.


11 Observational methods are best suited for describing and behavior and understanding behavior as it occurs. They are less effective for gathering information about a person's beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, etc. Questionnaires and interviews are frequently used for obtaining the latter type of information.

(Chapter 3 - Defining Variables)

74 Demographic data: Background information, such as age, sex, marital status, religion, ethnic background and so on.


74 Validity: The extent to which the concept one wishes to measure is actually being measured by a particular scale or index.


74 Reliability: For a measure to be reliable, it must be free of errors.

(Berg 2001) Text Focus groups: benefit is the belief that they are less expensive to conduct than individual interviews.Basic ingredients: clearly identify objective and research problem, the nature of the group, atmosphere and rapport, an aware listening facilitator, a well-organized and prepared facilitator, structure and direction, research assistance, systematic analysis. Information from these focus groups may draw out minority opinions as well as dominant majority ones.

(Berg 2001) Text Case study methods involve systematically gathering enough information about a particular person, social setting, event, or group to permit the researcher to effectively understand how it operates or functions. The case study is not actually a data gathering technique, but a methodological approach that incorporates a number of data-gathering measures.

(Shutt 1999) Text Participatory action research: A type of research in which the researcher involves some organizational members as active participants throughout the process of studying an organization; the goal is making changes in the organization.

(Rowley and Farrow 2000; Organizing Knowledge)

Text Evaluation for information retrieval systems: observing and monitoring user’s interaction, eliciting user’s opinions, experiments or benchmark tests, prototyping, predictive evaluation.

· Suggest appropriate statistical tests for testing hypotheses.(Hildreth, 2000 - Class notes)

2 t-tests

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2 Mann-Whitney


2 Tests for independence (Chi Square)


6 Standard Deviations: The SD is a measure of the average variability of all values from the mean. A SD of 0 indicates that all of the values are identical. The higher the SD, the more the value vary.


6 z-score: the score is just a different way of expressing each original value within a given variable - in terms of SD units.


6 z-score sample: If the man/average os 10 and the SD is 1, an original value of 8 would have a zscore of -2, and 11.5 would have a zscore of 1.5.


6 Independent t statistic: compare the estimated means (average values) of two populations. What we are looking for is a significant difference between the two means.


6 Correlated t tests: Unlike the independent t test, the correlated t test requires paired samples.


6 Mean t tests: Compare a sample mean to a know population mean.


6 Mean t tests: Compare the results of a questionnaire distributed among a small group of students to the results of a similar questionnaire distributed among an entire population.


6 Analysis of Variance: A technique for determining if there is a significant difference between the means of two or more variables.


6 Chi Square Goodness of fit test: Compares the distribution of a sample to that of a known population. From this comparison we can find out if the sample is representative of the population. Goodness of fit refers to how well the observed (sample) values fit into the description for the expected (population) values.


6 Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient: Symbolized by the letter "r", measures the degree of association between two variables.


6 Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient: Symbolized by the Greek letter rho, is an index of the relationship between rank ordered variables.

For the qualitative part of the study you should consider the following:

· Problem statement and specific research questions (Hildreth, 2 Sample: Why do OPAC users often overrate the success of their searches and the

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Accounting for users inflated assessments of online catalog search performance and usefulness: An experimental study)

system's performance.

(Hildreth, Accounting for users inflated assessments of online catalog search performance and usefulness: An experimental study)

2 Sample: Does perceived ease of use affect assessments of system usefulness and search results


10 Sample: What are the issues related to metadata that ought to be introduced to all LIS students?


10 Sample: What are the successes and the disappointments in metadata research conducted from 1995 to 2000?

(Perrault and Arseneau, 1995)

31 Sample: The primary purpose of the study was to assess the perceived quality of interlibrary loan services among the users of that service at Louisiana State University. Research questions: What is the level of satisfaction with response time for faculty and graduate students? Are there differences in satisfaction with service by status of user? Do faculty and graduate students perceive response time differently?

(Berg 2001) Text Sample: Problem Statement: This research proposes to examine alcohol-drinking behaviors in social settings among college-age American men.Research Questions: How do young adult American men define alcoholism? What are the normative drinking behaviors of young adult American men during social gatherings where alcohol is present?

· Symbolic interactions(Berg 2001) Text Blumer is considered the founder of symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactions does

not regard meanings emanating from the intrinsic makeup of the thing, nor does it see meaning from arising through psychological elements between people. The meaning of a thing for a person grows out of the ways in which other persons act toward the person with regard to the thing. Their actions operate to define the thing for the person; thus, symbolic interactionism sees meanings as social products formed through activities of people interacting.

(Berg 2001) Text Sample Symbolic interactions: The first day of the semester, a person begins to lecture, distribute syllabi, discuss course requirements, etc. No students ask for credentials. Students perform their roles as students. Suppose several weeks into the semester, the class is notified that the ‘teacher’ is a dogcatcher with no credentials. Although the information conveyed would be questionable, these students had defined the reality as a class, and it becomes one for them.

(Berg 2001) Text Sample Symbolic interactions: A VCR in a classroom is a teaching device, in a dorm it is an instrument for entertainment.

(Schutt 1999) Text Symbolic ineteractionism focuses on the symbolic meanings that people give to behavior. Symbolic interactionists would give symbolic meanings to objects, behaviors, and other people.

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· Operational definitions or Limitations (if any)(Berg 2001) Text Operational definitions concretize the intended meaning of a concept in relation to a

particular study and provide some criteria for measuring the empirical existence of that concept. In defining a term or concept, a researcher is declaring the term to mean whatever you want it to mean throughout the research.

(Schutt 1999) Text Operationalization: The process of specifying the operations that will indicate the value of cases on a variable.

(Schutt 1999) Text Sample: Poverty ConceptsVariable: Subjective poverty – Indicator: “Would you say you are poor?”Variable: Absolute poverty – Indicator: Family Income / Poverty threshold

· Tentative procedure, including theory<>design spiraling and triangulation(Hildreth 2000, Class Notes)

43 Qualitative Research Methodologies: Structured observation, "On the spot" Interviews, Verbal Protocol Analysis ("Thinking Aloud"), Focus-Group Interviews, Diaries/Journals-Analysis, Case Studies, "experiential", "Natural", "Contextual", "Engagement", "Immersion", "Walking in their shoes", "Seeing it in their eyes", ethnographic study.

(Diane Sonnenwald and Barbara Wieldmutch, 1995)

48 Incorporating both verbal description and graphical representation provides data triangulation, thus improving validity.

(Berg 2001) Text Theory can be defined as a general and, more or less, comprehensive set of statements or propositions that describe different aspects of some phenomena.

(Berg 2001) Text Spiral process: 1. Identify the research questions 2. Gathering the information to answer the questions 3. Analyzing and interpreting the information 4. Sharing the results with the participants.

(Shutt 1999) Text Grounded theory: build up inductively a systematic theory that is “grounded” in, or based on, the observations. The observations are summarized into conceptual categories, which are tested directly in the research setting with more observations. Over time, the conceptual categories are refined and linked, a theory evolves.

(Shutt 1999) Text Triangulation: the use of multiple methods to study one research question.(Shutt 1999) Text Triangulation: the use of multiple methods to study one research question.(Shutt 1999) Text Example of Triangulation – Housing Study: Detect increasing feeling of self-confidence

among the residence of the evolving consumer households. Survey based method supplemented with participant observation techniques.

· Projected analyses (Descriptive Research)

13 A correlation exists if, when one variable increases, another variable either increase or decreases in a somewhat predictable fashion. Correlation, in and of itself, does not indicate causation. One variable correlates meaningfully with another only when a common bond links the phenomena of both variables in a logical relationship. The strength of the relationship is indicated by the size of the correlation coefficient. A number close to +1 or -1 indicates a string relationship. A positive number is a positive correlation. In contrast, a negative number indicates an inverse, or negative relationship.

(Hildreth 2000) x Winks statistical software will be used for all analyses.(Section 12 - Correlation)

27 Correlation: Is there a correlation between SAT scores and GPA?

(Sirkin 1995) 32 Induction: going from specific to general. Deductive: Going from general to specific.(Berg 2001) Text Qualitative data needs to be reduced and transformed in order to make it more accessible,

understandable, and draw out various themes and patterns.

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· Development of grounded theory based on qualitative observations(Leazer and Smiraglia, Bibliographic Families in the Library Catalog: A Qualititative Ananlysis and Grounded Theory)

KO #80 Qualitative analysis is intended to produce an explanation of a phenomenon, particularly an identification of any patterns observed. Sample: We arrive at two statements of grounded theory concerning bibliographic families: cataloger-generated implicit maps among works are inadequate, and qualitative analysis suggest the complexity of even the smallest bibliographic families.

(Leazer and Smiraglia, Bibliographic Families in the Library Catalog: A Qualititative Ananlysis and Grounded Theory)

KO #80 Theoretical Sampling: A process of data collections generating the theory whereby the analysts jointly collects, codes, and analyzes the data and decides what data to collect next and where to find them, in order to develop his theory as it emerges. Theoretical sampling is a key component of grounded theory, a method of discovering concepts and hypothesis directly from the data observed (Glaser and Strauss).

(Berg 2001) Text Glaser and Strauss description of grounded theory: To generate theory… we suggest as the best approach an initial, systematic discovery of the theory from the data of social research. Then one can relatively sure that the theory will fit the work. And since categories are discovered by examination of the data, laymen involved in the area to which the theory applies will usually be able to understand it, while sociologists who work in other areas will recognize an understandable theory linked with the data of a given area.

Necessary Steps (Hildreth, Accounting for users inflated assessments of online catalog search performance and usefulness: An experimental study)

2 A brief introduction to the project and directions.


9 It is absolutely essential that the introduction be composed and delivered effectively. If the survey is introduced properly, the response rate will be increased and the reliability and validity of the needs assessment survey enhanced.

(Kathryn S. Rocket, Director - Office of Sponsored Research; LIU.)

19-24 If humans are involved, an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval is required.

(Kathryn S. Rocket, Director - Office of Sponsored Research; LIU.)

25 Valid informed request requires (1) disclosure of relevant information to prospective subjects about the research; (2) their comprehension of the information, and (3) their voluntary agreement, free of coercion and undue influence, to research participation.


2 The experiment took place over a x period.


6 Assumptions: In all statistical tests, the data we use for computations are restricted by a set of assumptions.

(Wechsler, Eun 7 Responses are voluntary and anonymous

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Lee, Kuo, Lee; March 2000)(Wechsler, Eun Lee, Kuo, Lee; March 2000)

7 Mailings were timed to avoid 'inconvenient times'.


7 Respondents may intentionally or unintentionally distort their answers.


7 A possible source of bias may be introduced through sample attrition or non-response.

(Hildreth, 1997) 8 The survey instrument was printed on one-side of an 8.5 by 14 inch sheet.(Hildreth, 1997) 8 The physical and logical setting: Describe as an overview.(Powell, Data Collection Techniques)

11 After obtaiing an informal evalation of the questionare, it should be pre-tested fully (pilot study).

(The Survey System)

12 Avoiding Bias: Favorable (your customers), Unfavorable (your ex-customers), Extreme views (phone in), Daytime (non-working), Internet (Atypical people).

(Morgan 1995) 14 Quantitative: Breadth/mass data, objective, scientific, highly structured approach, Answers how often - statistical, less helpful with complex topics, emphasis on neutrality, usually clear-cut precise results.

(Morgan 1995) 14 Qualitative: Depth/smaller samples, subjective, non-scientific, looser approach, answers why -causation, more helpful with complex topics, emphasis on the actors perspective, useful for preliminary work.

(Morgan 1995) 14 Internal Validity: questions answered truthfully, respondent recall accurately, results a valid representation of the collected data, is this a true picture?

(Morgan 1995) 14 External Validity: synonymous with Generalizability., appropriate sampling procedure have been chosen and carried out.

(Morgan 1995) 14 Reliability: use of stable, consistent and dependable methods, instruments, questions and exercises. Could the results be repeated with full confidence that similar results would be produced?

(Budd, Connaway 1997)

15 Provide key working definitions.

(The Role of Statistics)

28 The Scientific Method: State the problem, formulate the hypothesis, design the experiment or survey, make observations, interpret the data, draw conclusions.

(The Role of Statistics)

28 The data should be examined for unusual values, outliers, which do not seem to be consistent with the rest of the observations. Each outlier should due checked to see whether or not it is due to a recording error.

(Berg 2001) Text Verification: Conclusions must be verified (not merely the wishful thinking of the researcher) and verification that all procedures used to arrive at the eventual conclusions have been clearly articulated.

(Smiraglia, 2002 in Works as Entities for Information Retrieval)

Text Qualitative analysis involves the close examination of deliberately selected cases to yield insights into phenomenon that might not otherwise be discovered. In the social sciences, qualitative analysis is used predominately with human subjects to uncover patterns of social interaction. While many see the qualitative and quantitative paradigms as opposites, increasingly scholars understand the two as complementary. Where the quantitative paradigm allows generalization of specific empirical observations to a population, the qualitative paradigm facilitates the discovery of interactions that might otherwise go unnoticed. Qualitative analysis, particularly case study, is a powerful means fro analyzing phenomena that a re little understood, which can lead eventually to the development of hypothesis that can be tested in the quantitative paradigm. On the other hand, qualitative analysis is a critical means for discovering cultural influences that affect phenomena under study.

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Long Island University / C.W. Post

From http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rpsmiraglia/

Notes on Symbolic InteractionismThe first thing to understand is that symbolic interaction is a movement within the field of sociology, which is the paradigm from which qualitative methods have evolved. There is a society for symbolic interaction. You can find more about them here http://www.soci.niu.edu/~sssi/.

Berg (p. 7) writes: Symbolic interaction is an umbrella concept under which a variety of related theoretical orientations may be placed. The theme that unites the diverse elements of symbolic interaction is the focus on subjective understandings and the perceptions of and about people, symbols, and objects.

He continues (p. 8): Human beings are unique animals. What humans say and do are the results of how they interpret their social world. In other words, human behavior depends on learning rather than biological instinct. Human beings communicate what they learn through symbols, the most common system of symbols being language. Linguistic symbols amount to arbitrary sounds or physical gestures to which people, by mutual agreement over time, have attached significance or meaning. The core task of symbolic interactionists as researchers, then, is to capture the essence of this process for interpreting or attaching meaning to various symbols.

And (p. 9): First, all interactionists agree that human interactions form the central source of data. Second, there is a general consensus that participants’ perspectives and their ability to take the roles of others (empathy) are key issues in any formulation of a theory of symbolic interaction. Third, inter-actionists agree with Thomas concerning “definitions of a situation”: How inhabitants of a setting define their situation determines the nature and meaning of their actions as well as the setting itself.

There are three premises stated simply:

(1) people act toward things based on what those things mean to them

(2) what things mean to a person develops out of social interaction

(3) individuals act toward people, objects and events not only on the basis of meanings that have developed through past interactions , but also on interpretations made by the individual at the moment of new interaction.

Two principle architects of symbolic interaction are Herbert Blumer and George Mead. Here is the citation for Blumer’s book, which I will try to get placed on reserve:

Herbert Blumer. 1969. Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. (Berkeley: University of California Press).

Here is Blumer’s statement about the three premises (p. 2):

Symbolic interactionism rests in the last analysis on three simple premises. The first premise is that human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them. Such things include everything that the human being may note in his world—physical objects, such as trees or chairs; other human beings, such as friends or enemies; institutions, as a school or a government; guiding ideals, such as independence or honesty; activities of others, such as their commands ore requests; and such situations as an individual encounters in his daily life. The second premise is that the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one’s fellows. The third premise is that these meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he encounters.

Blumer’s text is from 1969—so, like Goldhor, it is a classic text. Take a little time to page through it—you will see that he is at great pains to deal with the positivist paradigm. Here we see the origins of the qualitative, or naturalist, paradigm. You see that the inductive thinking has not yet been found to be the key—but, of course, the third premise, that interpretative process is essential, is the cue that induction is critically important.

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http://www.soci.niu.edu/~sssi/


Long Island University / C.W. PostHere are some web resources:

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic-interactionism

http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/Schneider/soc_sem/seminar_si.htm

http://www.cdharris.net/text/blumer.html

http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/schneider2/5325F03/5325_3_ACT.htm

And a tutorial on the closely related Affect Control Theory: http://www.indiana.edu/~socpsy/ACT/acttutorial/basicideas.htm

Denzin is another of the classic authors in the qualitative paradigm. In Symbolic interactionism and cultural studies: The politics of interpretation (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992 [this book is not available at LIU]) he traces the evolution of symbolic interactionism from the pragmatist movement (James, Peirce, Mead, Dewey) in the late 19th century, through the Chicago school of sociology in the 1920s and on across the 20th century. The point of his book is to move symbolic interactionism as a movement to an awareness of the importance of communication and culture. But along the way he makes some interesting observations. Here are a couple:

p. 20 The interactionists cling to a pragmatism which produces a crippling commitment to an interpretive sociology too often caught in the trappings of positivist and postpositivist terms (e.g. validity, proposition, and theory). This pragmatism leads to a humanistic politics of action which is ingrained in the liberal traditions of American democracy. It produces a romantic preoccupation with the interactionist subject and the ethnographic (and audiovisual) representations of this subject’s experiences in empirical texts.The following assertions are central to what interactionists do. They study the intersections of interaction, biography, and social structure in particular historical moments. Interactional experience is assumed to be organized in terms of the motives and accounts that persons give themselves for acting. These accounts are learned from others, as well as from the popular culture. These motives, gendered and nongendered, explain past behavior and are used to predict future behavior. They are ideological constructions which create specific forms of interactional subjectivity in concrete situations …. Constantly preoccupied with the daily, ritual, and enforced performances of stigmatized identities (race and gender), the interactionists speak always to t hose persons who occupy powerless positions in contemporary society ….

Note here that Denzin is (like Blumer before him) at some pains to separate the qualitative paradigm from the positivist. However, by 1992 when Denzin wrote this, the qualitative paradigm was well established in sociology and had begun to take root in other fields—most notably for our interest, in information studies. In the second chapter Denzin sets out a working version of symbolic interactionism:

(p. 22) What Interactionists Think They Must Not Do

Interpretive (and symbolic) interactionists don’t think that general theories are useful. They do not write … grand or global theories of societies … They take this position because they believe that “society” is an abstract term which refers to something that sociologists have invented in order to have a subject matter. They understand society to be something that is lived in the here and now, in the face-to-face and mediated interactions that connect persons to one another. Society, as it is lived, known, felt and written about, goes on behind people’s backs …

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http://www.indiana.edu/~socpsy/ACT/acttutorial/basicideas.htm

http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/schneider2/5325F03/5325_3_ACT.htm

http://www.cdharris.net/text/blumer.html

http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/Schneider/soc_sem/seminar_si.htm

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic-interactionism


Long Island University / C.W. Post(p. 25) What Symbolic Interaction Is

Interactionists assume that human beings create the worlds of experience they live in. They do this by acting on things in terms of the meanings things have for them … These meanings come from interaction, and they are shaped by the self-reflections persons bring to their situations ….

He goes on to list a set of self-identities by which people order their interactions. These include the phenomenological self (inner stream of consciousness), the interactional self (the self presented to another), the linguistic self (the self filling personal pronouns “I” and “me” with meaning), the material self (the self as material object—those things that are “mine”), the ideological self (cultural meanings, such as “tourist” or “wife”), and the self as desire (the sexual self).

(p. 26) The interaction order is shaped by negotiated, situated, temporal, biographical, emergent, and taken-for-granted processes. The central object to be negotiated in interaction is personal identity, or the self-meanings of the persons…. The situation of interaction may be routinized, ritualized, or highly problematic. In them consequential experience occurs. Epiphanic experiences rupture routines and lives and provoke radical redefinitions of the self. In moments of epiphany, people redefine themselves. Epiphanies are connected to turning-point experiences. Interpretive interactionsts study epiphanic experiences. The interactionist locates epiphanies in those interactional situations in which personal troubles become public issues.

[Emphasis is added]Berg tells a little story about a group of college students sitting in a classroom. A person arrives behaving in an authoritative manner, sits at the desk in front, lectures, passes out papers, and otherwise behaves like a professor. The students, who are expecting such a person to behave in such a way, assume this is their professor and behave accordingly. This is symbolic interactionism. They are reacting not to any known facts, but rather to expected symbolism.

Eventually they learn that this is not their professor, rather it is the dog-catcher. But the fact is, the students, because of their symbolic conditioning, have trouble dealing with the anomaly because their expectation is dictated by symbolic interactionism.

What does this mean for research? It means, in every situation involving human beings, some symbolic interaction is taking place. It is our job as qualitative researchers, to identify that interaction (or group of interactions). It is a powerful explanatory tool that goes beyond the simple narrative of events. It adds nuance to the themes and primary concepts that might be derived at a less sophisticated level of analysis from qualitative data.

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Long Island University / C.W. Post

1. Ethnography

Berg

Ethnography places researchers in the midst of whatever it is they study. From this vantage, researchers can examine various phenomena as perceived by. participants and represent these observations as accounts.

Macroethnography attempts to describe the entire way of life of a group; microethnography focuses on particular incisions at particular points in the larger setting, group, or institution.

Getting In

Most ethnographic research involves human subjects, researchers must give considerable thought to ways they can protect the subjects from harm and injury.

Researchers must consider how they. will go about gaining permission or consent of the subjects (overtly or covertly).

Researchers must consider that their very presence in the study setting may taint anything that happens among other participants in that setting.

Note:

casing and approaching style

gatekeepers = formal or informal watchdogs who protect the setting, people, or institution sought as a target for research.

guides and informants = guides are idigenous persons found among the group and in the setting to be studied.

Snowballing = using people whom the original guide(s) introduces to the ethnographer as persons who can also vouch for the legitimacy, and safety of the researcher.

Becoming Invisible

The Hawthorne effect suggests that when subjects know they are subjects in a research study they will alter their usual routine behavior.

Problems with visibility in ethnographic research:

1. Disattending: Erosion of visibility by time

2. Disattending: Erosion of visibility by display of no symbolic detachment

3. Disattending: Erosion of visibility by display of symbolic attachment.

4. Disattending: Erosion of visibility by personalizing the ethnographer-informant relationship

5. Misrepresentation: Masking real research interests

6. Misrepresentation: Masking identity as ethnographer

Dangers

Ambient and situational risks ... ambient dangers arise when a research exposes himself ... to otherwise avoidable dangers, simply by having to be in a dangerous setting to carry out the research.

Situational danger occurs when the researcher's presence or behaviors in the setting trigger conflict, violence, or hostility.

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Long Island University / C.W. PostField notes

The central component is the ethnographic account

Disengaging: Getting Out

1. Physical removal of the researchers from the setting; and

2. Emotional disengagement from the relationships developed during tile field experience.2. Action research (formerly Sociometry)

A procedure that allows researchers to make assessments about the affinity, or disdain members of some group have toward one another ... friendship patterns, social networks, work relationships, and social distance in general. In action research, ethnographical methods are used to introduce change into the social setting.

Peer Nominations.

Positive: Group members asked to name three or more peers

Negative: Peer Nominations Group members requested for three peers disliked

Peer Rating: Group members respond for every other member of the group. Given a list of whole group, asked to rate every other member using a Likert scale.

3. Structured Participant Observation

Structured observation is a methodology, designed to yield specific types of categorical data from a sequence of activities. A moment by moment description of a subject's activities during a specific period of time, structured in two ways: 1) the length of observation and 2) predetermined recording categories.4. Case study

Case study methods involve systematically gathering enough information about a particular person, social setting, event or group to permit the researcher to effectively understand how it operates or functions.

Case studies may focus on a single individual, a group, or an entire community.

May employ a number of data technologies such as life histories, documents, oral histories, in-depth interviews, and participant observation.

Types of case study:

Intrinsic case studies are undertaken when a researcher wants to better understand a particular case.

Instrumental case studies are cases examined to provide insight into some issue or to refine some theoretical explanation.

Collective case studies involve the extensive study of several instrumental cases.5. Content Analysis

Berg: Interviews, field notes, and various types of unobtrusive data are not amenable to analysis until the information they convey has been condensed and made systematically comparable. An objective coding scheme must be applied to the notes or data. This process is commonly called content analysis.

manifest content (those elements that are physically present and countable)--surface structure; latent content (an interpretive reading of the symbolism underlying the physically presented data)--deep structural meaning.

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Long Island University / C.W. PostCommunication Components: message, sender, and audience; in vivo codes (literal terms used by individuals under investigation) and sociological constructs (terms formulated by the analyst).

Levels and Units of Analysis: sampling: words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, sections, chapters, books, writers, ideological stance, subject topic, etc. ... strategies: simple random sampling; systematic sampling; stratified sampling; purposive sampling

What to Count: words, themes, characters, paragraphs, items, concepts, semantics

Units and Categories: Content analysis involves the interaction of two processes: specification of the content characteristics (basic content elements) being examined and application of explicit rules for identifying and recording these characteristics.

Open Coding: four basic guidelines when conducting open coding. These are (1) ask the data a specific and consistent set of questions, (2) analyze the data minutely, (3) frequently interrupt the coding to write a theoretical note, and (4) never assume the analytic relevance of any traditional variable such as age, sex, social class, and so forth until data show it to be relevant.

1. Introduction to research

Broadly, research is any consciously premeditated inquiry. Research is the process of discovering or creating new knowledge. Research involves an attempt to gain knowledge by testing beliefs.

Appropriateness of methods (quantitative, qualitative, historical, etc.) is dependent on what is known and what needs to be known next.

2. Goldhor and the Growth of Knowledge

Goldhor p. 40-42 “Pre-Conditions necessary for theory”

1. Accumulation of specific facts

2. Classification

3. Formulation and testing of relationships between two or more variables

3. The Qualitative Paradigm

(Berg p. 7) Orientation: Qualitative research properly seeks answers to questions by examining various social settings and the individuals who inhabit these settings. Qualitative researchers, then, are most interested in how humans arrange themselves and their settings and how inhabitants of these settings make sense of their surroundings through symbols, rituals, social structures, social roles, and so forth.

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Long Island University / C.W. Post(p. 8) Symbolic Interactionism: a set of related propositions that describe and explain certain aspects of human behavior. Human beings communicate what they learn through symbols.

Three premises:

(1) people act toward things based on what those things mean to them

(2) what things mean to a person develops out of social interaction

(3) individuals act toward people, objects and events not only on the basis of meanings that have developed through past interactions , but also on interpretations made by the individual at the moment of new interaction. (Blumer)

4. Creswell’s Table “Quantitative and Qualitative Paradigm Assumptions” (p. 5 from Creswell, John W. 1994. Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. SAGE.)

Assumption Question Quantitative Qualitative

Ontological What is the nature of reality?

Reality is objective and singular, apart from the researcher

Reality is subjective and multiple as seen by participants in a study

Epistemological

What is the relationship of the researcher to that researched?

Researcher is independent from that being researched

Researcher interacts with that being researched

Axiological What is the role of values?

Value-free and unbiased Value-laden and biased

Rhetorical What is the language of research?

Formal; based on set definitions; impersonal voice; use of accepted quantitative words

Informal; evolving decisions; personal voice; accepted qualitative words

Methodological

What is the process of research?

Deductive process; cause and effect; static design—categories isolated before study; context-free; generalizations leading to prediction, explanation, and understanding; accurate and reliable through validity and reliability

Inductive process; mutual simultaneous shaping of factors; emerging design—categories identified during research process; context-bound; patterns, theories developed for understanding; accurate and reliable through verification

5. Concept Map of the Qualitative Paradigm

Philosophical Orientation:

Social questions about settings, the individuals who inhabit them, and the roles each play.

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Long Island University / C.W. Postò

Philosophical Construct (paraphrased from Berg p. 8):

Symbolic Interactionism—meanings derive from the social process of people or groups, meanings allow people to produce realities that constitute the sensory world, reality becomes an interpretation of definitional

options.ò

Definition (Denzin & Lincoln p. 3):Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It

consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible. These practices transform the world. They turn the world into a series of representations,

including field notes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos to the self. At this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach

to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the

meanings people bring to them.ò

Approaches:1. Ethnographic; the study of a population in its own environment

2. Sociometric; the study of members of a specific group3. Case study; the study of a single individual

ò

Methods:

Participatory

Nonparticipatory

Interviews Unobtrusive methods dictated by ethical standards:

1. erosion

2. accretion

Focus groups Historical narration of past events so as to discern cause and effect

1. archival observation—secondary retelling of supposed eye-witness accounts

Structured Content analysis of documents to reveal patterns or propositions represented in language

ò

Techniques for Reliability (The Qualitative Parallel to “Validity” or “Control”)

1. Hunt for “out-croppings;” seek out anomolous cases2. Triangulation (a static concept)

a. Between method triangulation: using at least 3 methodsb. Within method triangulation:

i. Theory triangulation: using multiple perspectivesii. Investigator triangulation: using multiple observers

3. Spiraling (a dynamic concept)Page: 17 of 18


Long Island University / C.W. PostSelecting diverse approaches in sequence; each test reveals the necessity of the next.

4. Objectivitya. Methodological consistencyb. Accuracyc. Anomolous discoveryd. Reflexivity (flexibility)

ò

Grounded Theory

(the explanation of symbolic interaction among the cases analyzed and within their settings)

Analysis reveals a result suggesting an hypothesis

Literature review seeks to “ground” the hypothesis by finding affirmation in other observations.

6. Question formulation

Here is a set of simple heuristics for formulating research questions in the qualitative paradigm.

Determine the focus:

a state of affairs resulting from the interaction of two or more factors that yields (1) a perplexing or enigmatic state (a conceptual problem); (2) a conflict that renders the choice from among alternative courses of action moot (an action problem); or (s) an undesirable consequence (a value problem).

Establish boundaries (context)

Determine inclusion-exclusion criteria

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