After reviewing my textbook chapters and suggested resources in this unit, I was left with a new-found understanding of qualitative research and its specific characteristics. Though many examples of the different types of qualitative research were given in the textbook chapters, I wanted to test my understanding by reviewing a non-annotated study. A review of online qualitative research links brought me here.
This study looks at two published instances in which Grounded Theory was used to analyse interviews that were given to evaluate the usefulness of instructional systems development tools. That is, the study is a multiple case-report of Grounded Theory studies. It is interesting because it presents two different methods of qualitative research together, with the first evaluating the second.
The authors of the multiple case-study spent some time defining the purposes of the two Grounded Theory studies, but since their research interest was predominantly in the use of Grounded Theory in interview analysis, no more than a cursory review is given. They do, however, devote a good amount of space to the similarities and differences between the two study cases. Grounded theory was used to evaluate group-based interviews in one, and individual interviews in the second. In the first study, the purpose of the research was hidden from the participants; in the second, it was freely revealed. Interviews were analyzed differently between studies, with the first using keyword analysis and a multiple-coding system, and the second qualitatively analyzing all sentences of the interviews and coding the results based upon a single-category system.
The researchers found that, though there were differences (described above) between the methodologies of the two studies, the use of Grounded Theory to analyse interviews was an appropriate one in both cases, supporting its use in analyzing other types of interviews.
This was a fascinating read, first, because it helped me understand Grounded Theory better; second, that it showed me how qualitative methods can be used to analyse other qualitative studies; and, third, because it illustrated a specific use of Grounded Theory (ie. interview analysis). I look forward to learning more about these methods in the future.
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Reference
Calloway, L. J., & Knapp, C. A. (1995). Using Grounded Theory to Interpret Interviews. Paper
presented at the First AIS Americas Conference on Information Systems, Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved
from http://csis.pace.edu/~knapp/AIS95.htm
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