crjs 4466 program & policy evaluation lecture #5
Post on 30-Dec-2015
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Qualitative Methods – strengths
• Carol Weiss (1998) – the coming of age of qualitative methods
• note the Campbell versus Cronbach controversy here
• qualitative methods are an important technique for under- standing the ‘context’ of success or failure of programs
• qualitative methods most commonly used in process evaluation (formative) or the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of a program and its workings
• ability to represent subtleties and complexities of program functioning and dynamics
Qualitative Methods - strengths
• many evaluators like the interpersonal nature of qualitative methodologies
• qualitative approaches are often ‘action oriented’
• a choice of ‘depth’ over ‘breadth’
Qualitative Methods - limitations
• reliability and validity of measures
• interviewer bias
• anecdotal
• labour-intensive
• costly
• less useful for reporting on program outcomes
Qualitative Methods – Single System Evaluations
• evaluating an intervention with a single client system, usually quantitatively during the course of treatment
• limited or questionable usefulness of qualitative methodology
4. Qualitative Methods – Focused Qualitative Evaluation (FQE)
• reflects the immediacy of much evaluation – not time for extended research, ethnomethodological development
• use of FG and rapid ethnographic assessment
Qualitative Methods – Mixed Methods
• ‘triangulation’, combining both quantitative and qualitative methods
• ‘temporal sequencing’ and qualitative subsamples
• benefit of both breadth and depth
Qualitative Methods – Action (Participatory) Research
• overtly ‘action-oriented’ approach primarily among those conducting qualitative evaluations
• participatory, collaborative, empowering – now an expectation in some evaluation projects
• ‘praxis’ orientation
Qualitative Methods – Research Design
• units of analysis and comparative designs
• gaining access, key informants, and sponsorship
• reciprocity, payback and feedback – and the methodological, ethical concerns here (‘false hope’)
• sampling considerations • deviant case sampling/typical case sampling• maximum variation sampling• snowball sampling• purposive sampling• convenience sampling• random sampling
Qualitative Methods – Research Design
• data collection strategies• on-site observation• participant observation• reflexivity• use of interview guide• use of focus groups• cross-validation among interviewers• use of documents
• when to stop data collection – the issue of saturation
Qualitative Methods – Data Management and Analysis
• use of qualitative data analysis programs: Ethnograph, AskSam QSR (Nudist)
• coding data
• emic (indigenous) and etic (researcher-created) coding
• quality control mechanisms
• reporting – issues related to qualitative methodologies
Table 5.2: Summary of Key Questions in Conducting Qualitative Evaluation Assessments and Evaluation Studies
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