Design and method in psychology

1. Qualitative methods and psychology

2. Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis

3. Conversation analysis: how to proceed

4. Your practical – what next!

5. Summary

Qualitative methods and psychology

1. The qualitative vs. quantitative methodological divide

2. Qualitative methodology and social science

3. Which methods are most frequently used in psychology?

4. Who uses them?

5. What are qualitative methods ‘good for’?

1. The qualitative vs. quantitative methodological divide

Quantitative methods………………………….Qualitative methods

Tend to be associated with(1) ‘Hard science’(2) Objectivity(3) Hypothetico-deductive

thinking(4) High status within psychology

Tend to be associated with(1) Relativistic epistemology(2) ‘Soft(er) science’ (3) Ideologically informed (can be)(4) More questionable status(5) Increasingly seen as part of the

‘turn to language’ in social science

Can we identify a kind of ‘middle ground’ in the methodological preferences of psychologists?

(a) Developmental psychology and child clinical research have always used qualitative methods

(b) One can distinguish between what Kidder and Fine (1987) call ‘big Q’ and ‘little Q’. ‘Big Q’ refers to open-ended inductive research methodologies focuses on theory generation and the examination of people’s ‘meaning-making’ practices. In contrast ‘little Q’ describes the approach where non-numerical data collection techniques are adopted, and adapted so as to inform and supplement hypothetico-deducitive research approaches.

Essentially: The nature of the question you are asking helps determine, and inform, any given method you might employ.

2. Qualitative methodology and social science

3. Which methods are most frequently used in psychology?

Inductive qualitative methods: (1) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)(2) Grounded theory(3) Content analysis

Discursive qualitative methods:(1) Discourse analysis (2) Narrative analysis(3) Conversation analysis

Structural qualitative methods(1) Repertory grid techniques(2) Q Methodology

4. What are qualitative methods ‘good for’?

(a) Qualitative methods tend to be good whenever you wish to ask a more open-ended question

(b) This might be ‘foundational’, e.g., what is the nature of x or y?

(c) This might be ‘descriptive’, e.g., can we obtain a realisable picture of x or y?

(d) This might be interpretative, e.g., on the basis of the data we collect, can we provide a defensible account of event x, why x occurs, and what sense x might have for those involved in producing and recognising x as significant in some way.

(e) And, most importantly, qualitative methods are exceptionally useful in helping in the formation of hypotheses and associated theory generation.

Ethnomethodology focuses on providing a rational analysis of the structures, procedures and strategies that people themselves use when they are making sense out of their own everyday world and their actions and interactions within in.

Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis

Conversation analysis

• Conversation analysis, or as it is sometimes known, the study of ‘talk-in-interaction’ takes to heart the ethnomethodological focus on what people actually say and do. The analysis centres on a process of first identifying elements and structures in naturally occurring conversation and then through a detailed procedure of micro-analysis, identifying participant-oriented evidence for the models, concepts and ideas that people use.

Method and conversation analysisTwo basic methods in conversation analysis-style investigations

(Levinson, 1983):

We should attempt to locate some particular conversational organisation and isolate its systematic features by demonstrating participant’s orientations to it.

We should ask (1) What problems does this organisation solve, and

(2) What problems does this organisation raise and therefore what implications does it have for the existence of further solutions to further problems

Conversation analysis: an example transcript

Context: eight-year-old child phoning her grandmother who lives some distance away and who she has not seen for some time. The conversation opens very soon after the grandmother answers the phone – i.e. it is the child who is making the call.

Extract 1:

1. Ro: Hi:: :[::]2. Gm: [in] your neck of the woods 3. (4.3) 4. Gm: it’s lovely down here5. (0.4)6. Ro: yea[::]7. Gm: [ sure it’s] going to rain again in a minute [xxx difficult] 8. Ro: [it’s very bright]

Extract 2:

8 Ro: [it’s very bright]

9 (0.6)10 Gm: [eh]11 Ro: [it’s] very bright down ↓here12 (0.6)13 Gm: I can’t hear [you]14 Ro: [IT] (.) IS (.) VERY(.) BR::IGHT15 (0.2)16 Gm: it is very bright it’s called a watery sun17 (0.5)18 Ro: a watery [(laugh)]

Extract 3:

21 Gm: that’s very very very very br::ight22 (0.4)23 Ro: is it24 (0.6)25 Gm: ri[ght]?26 Ro: [it’s]:: bright yellow27 (0.5)28 Gm: what can I do >for you<

(note – see next slide for continuation)

Extract 3:

30 Ro: nothing I just wanted to ta::lk to you=

31 Gm: =oh 32 (0.3) 33 Gm: go on then (.) talk to me 34 (0.2)35 Ro: em 36 (0.9) 37 Ro: em:[::::]38 Gm: [listen] you you forgot your

orchid39 (0.5)40 Ro: oh 41 (0.5) 42 Ro: OH silly me 43 (1.0) 44 Ro: [silly me ]

Extract 4:

44 Ro: [silly me ] 45 Gm: [xxx without it]46 (1.0) 47 Ro: silly me48 (0.4)49 Gm: silly you yes that’s true 50 (0.8)51 Gm: you take after your Dad=52 Ro: =ha-ha (laughing noise)53 (0.4)54 Ro: em55 (1.0) 56 Ro: I’ll tell you about my homewo::rk57 (0.2)58 Gm: good59 (0.8)

Extract 5:

56 Ro: I’ll tell you about my homewo::rk57 (0.2)58 Gm: good59 (0.8)60 Ro: ehm I’ll read you (unintelligable) Weekend’s homework 61 that’s to be >handed in on Monday< 62 (0.5)63 Ro: write a poem or short description about baby joe 64 (0.5) 65 Ro: [em]66 Gm: [about] who?67 (0.2)

Extract 6:

Lines: 65 – 101 of extract 2

(from the ‘how to do CA’ guide)

Guide for the practical: • http://www.kent.ac.uk/psychology/department/people/forresterma/c8MFx.pdf

Turn-taking rules• RULE 1: This rule applies to the first transition relevant place of any turn • (a) If the current speaker selects the next speaker during the current turn then

the current speaker must stop speaking and the next speaker must speak next. And he/she must speak next at the first transition relevant place after this 'next speaker' selection

• (b) If the speaker does not select a next speaker during a current turn, then anybody else present (other parties) can self-select and the first person to do this will gain 'speaker rights' at the next turn.

• (c) If the current speaker has not selected the next speaker and nobody else self-selects then the speaker can continue (although this is not a requirement). In doing so he/she gains a right to have a further turn-constructional unit.

• RULE 2: When rule 1 (c) has been applied by the current speaker, then at the next transition relevant pause, rules 1 (a) to 1 (c) apply again, and keep reapplying until speaker change is accomplished.

• The set of rules and the elements used by people to indicate transition relevant places are conceived of as a system - a system which is designed to faciliate the 'turn-taking' organisation central to conversation.

• ‘How to do conversation analysis: a brief guide’

• A turn-taking ‘check-list’ (for observing and/or analysing recorded conversation). (Adapted from Sacks, Schlegoff and Jefferson, 1974).

• 1. Speaker-change recurs, or at least occurs• 2. Overwhelmingly, one party speaks at a time• 3. Occurrences of more than one speaker at a time are common, but

brief• 4. Transitions (from one turn to the next) with no gap and no overlap

are common. Together with transitions characterised by slight gap or slight overlap, they make up the vast majority of transitions.

• 5. Turn order is not fixed, but varies• 6. Turn size is not fixed, but varies• 7. Length of conversation is not specified in advance• 8. What parties say is not specified in advance• 9. Relative distribution of turns is not specified in advance• 10. Number of parties can vary• 11. Talk can be continuous or discontinuous• 12. Turn allocation techniques are obviously mixed (see rules above).• 13. Various ‘turn-constructional links’ are employed, e.g., turn can be

projected ‘one word long’ or they can be sentential in length• 14. Repair mechanisms exist for dealing with turn-taking errors and

violations, e.g., if two parties find themselves talking at the same time, one of them will stop prematurely, thus repairing the trouble.

Adjacency pairs

• 1.Telephone rings SUMMONS 1st PP*• 2. Dave:Hello? Answer 2nd PP to 1. • 3. Chris: Hello, there Greeting 1st PP• 4. is that Dave? Question 1st PP• 5. Dave: Yea, Answer 2nd PP to 4.• 6. hi Answer 2nd PP to 3.• 7. Chris: How are you? Question 1st PP• 8. Dave: Not bad, Answer 2nd PP to 7.• 9. how's yourself? Question 1st PP• 10. Chris: Good Answer 2nd PP to 9. • 11.The reason I'm calling is Topic initiation.

• *PP = pair part

• Qualitative methods & conversation analysis: comparing non-institutional (informal) talk with institutional talk– Informal talk = 3 friends chatting– Institutional talk:

• (a) doctor-patient interaction

• (b) courtroom talk

• (c) classroom talk

• (d) police-suspect talk

• (e) radio phone-in talk

• (f) job interview

What next?

• Week 1 – Introduction – [now!]

• Week 2 – Selecting your files to transcribe and getting used to using PRAAT

• Week 3 – Transcription

• Week 4 – Analysis

• Week 5 – Write up

Praat = Praat is a program for speech analysis and synthesis see http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/

Summary

(a) Read the guide!

(b) Think about talk!

(c) Listen to people around you and consider how they produce ‘talk-in-interaction’