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Understanding and Qualitative Analysis

Understanding and Qualitative Analysis. GG2001 Module 5, Lecture 1 Tim Unwin. Lecture outline. Understanding “Understanding” Qualitative Data Analysing quality Geographers and the qualitative realm. By the end of the lecture, you should….

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Understanding and Qualitative Analysis

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  1. Understanding and Qualitative Analysis GG2001 Module 5, Lecture 1 Tim Unwin

  2. Lecture outline • Understanding “Understanding” • Qualitative Data • Analysing quality • Geographers and the qualitative realm

  3. By the end of the lecture,you should…. • Have recalled some of the work on qualitative methods you did in the first year • Appreciate the different contexts in which ‘explanation’ and ‘understanding’ might be appropriate • Be considering how we might analyse the qualitative realm

  4. Understanding “Understanding” • What do we mean by “understanding”? • Who does understanding benefit? • How do we understand something? • How does “understanding” differ from “explanation”.

  5. Understanding • Internal • It is about “me” • It deals with the subjective • Emotions • Feelings • A concern with quality rather than quantity • Putting back the human in human geography • Broadly humanistic traditions • The emergence of a strong cultural and social tradition within the discipline in the late 20th century

  6. Theory and philosophy • Qualitative methods have been applied across a range of philosophical underpinnings • Limb and Dwyer (2001) emphasise their use in many different contexts • But, qualitative methods are underpinned by a particular conception of the role of research • Emphasis on quality of lived experiences • Many different kinds of interest in research • Habermas • Empirical analytic sciences and explanation • Historical hermeneutic sciences and understanding • Critical sciences and practice

  7. Quantitative and Qualitative • Often described as being in opposition • Many decry the value of quantitative research • One of the ‘tensions’ between physical and human geography • Recent emphasis in human geography has been very much on qualitative methods • Geographers are not very good at mathematics! • A tendency for reduced emphasis on rigour • But this course wants to emphasise • The value of both quantitative and qualitative • Their appropriateness in different contexts

  8. Qualitative data • Examples of qualitative data? • What qualitative techniques did you learn in GG1011? • Interviewing • Focus Groups/discussions • Participant observation • Visual images • Texts • But how do we analyse these? • What indeed is qualitative analysis?

  9. Qualitative methods: frameworks • Limb and Dwyer (2001) - four main types of methods: • In-depth, open-ended interviews • Group discussions • Participant observation • Texts • Maps • Literature • Archival material • Landscapes • Visual materials: pictures and films

  10. Qualitative methods: frameworks • Limb and Dwyer (2001) - qualitative approaches share in common: • “Intersubjective understanding of knowledge” • “In-depth approach” • “Focus on positionality and power” • “Contextual and interpretative understanding” • But many texts focus on ‘methods’ to the exclusion of ‘analysis’ • “analysis” not in Limb and Dwyer’s (2001) index! • Focus in this course is on how we analyse the data resulting from qualitative methods • Analysis integral to the methodology

  11. Qualitative data: examples • Landscapes • How do these two riverscapes differ? • What is qualitative about these differences? • How do we analyse these differences? • How do we re-present them in our writings? • What do these riverscapes tell us about these societies?

  12. Qualitative data: examples • Banknotes • How do these banknotes differ? • What is qualitative about these differences? • How do we analyse these differences? • How do we re-present them in our writings? • What does this tell us about the culture and societies that created them?

  13. Qualitative data: examples • Advertisements • How do these two advertisements differ? • What is qualitative about these differences? • How do we analyse these differences? • How do we re-present them in our writings? • What do these advertisements tell us about the culture and society in which they are found?

  14. Analysing the Qualitative • An emphasis on meaning and significance • What is significant to people? • What gives objects meaning? • A focus on understanding • Getting ‘inside’ • Participant observation generating our own understanding • Individuals and groups • Can we draw generalisations about groups from individual understandings? • Re-presentation • How do we ‘re-present’ our data? • What analytical frameworks can we employ? • How to enable other voices to be expressed through our work?

  15. Geographers and the qualitative realm • Texts, images and participation • See Limb and Dwyer (2001); Rogers and Viles (2003) • Key themes in interpreting texts • Transcription • Coding • Drawing out themes • Importance of rigour • Baxter and Eyles (1997) • Maintaining diversity • Analysing images (next lecture) • Production • The image itself • Its consumption • Participation (final lecture) • And the importance of research diaries

  16. REMINDERnext week’s lecture is at 09.00 on Wednesday

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