Qualitative research: another way of knowledge production in environmental psychology

1. Qualitative research: another way of knowledge production in environmental psychology Dr. Esther Wiesenfeld Institute of Psychology Central University of Venezuela

2. OBJETIVE OF THE WORKSHOP: • PRESENT SOME BASIC NOTIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, CHARACTERISTICS AND DESIGN COMPONENTS OF QR • ILLUSTRATE THEM WITH AN EXAMPLE OF A QR RESEARCH

3. PARADIGM DIMENSIONS ONTOLOGY: WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE “KNOWAVLE”? OR, WHAT IS THE NATURE OF “REALITY”? EPISTEMOLOGY: WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE KNOWER (THE INQUIRER) AND THE KNOW (OR KNOWABLE)? METHODOLOGY: HOW SHOULD THE INQUIRER GO ABOUT FINDING OUT KNOWLEDGE?

4. BASIC BELIEFS OF ALTERNATIVE INQUIRY PARADIGMS Constructivism Item Positivism Ontology Naïve realism- “real” reality but apprehendable Relativism – local and specific constructed realities Epistemology Dualist/objetivist; findings true Transactional/ subjectivist; created findings Methodology Experimental/ manipulative; verification of hypotheses; chiefly quantitative methods Hermeneútical/ dialectical

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF SC • Denies objectivity of psychological theories. • Rejects existence of external reality, independent of our mode of accessing it • Rejects objectivity as a privileged way for studying reality • Acknowledges that experience is richer than words • Holistic approach to phenomena • Admits ambiguity versus certainty in understanding phenomena • Relativist ontology • Transactional subjectivist epistemology • Qualitative methodology (hermeneutic)

6. NOTION OF REALITY 1. SC which meanings are elaborated in social practice through interaction and discursive practices 2. Meaning: Social system that allows organizing experience, knowledge, social transactions and to interpret them by means of cultural symbols such as language, narratives, life patterns,. It articulates with particularities of the situation 3. Reality does not posses qualities of its own, but the ones we construct based on our experiences in it 4. The reading we make of reality incorporates in it its constitutive characteristics (we confer what we interpret , based on our social practices) 5. What we take as natural objects are objectivations derived from sociohistoric practices in a particular context 6. Interpretations (constructions) are historic 7. ................................ multiple 8. ................................ relative

7. OBJECTIVE OF CONSTRUCTIONISM • Deconstruct dominant discourses • Enrich constructions through dialog • Incorporate silent voices • Systematize knowledge of everyday life • Social emancipation

8. QR DEFINITIONS LINCOLN (1992) …qualitative methods are generally those nonquantitative methods that attempt to grasp phenomena in some holistic way or to understand a phenomenon within its own context or to emphasise the inmersion in and comprehension of human meaning ascribed to some set of circumstances or phenomena, or all these three (p.376). DENZIN & LINCOLN (1994) “Qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving a interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (p.2).

9. DEFINITIONS OF DESIGN DESIGN ITS THE LOGIC AND COHERENCE OF THE STUDY OF RESEARCH COMPONENTS AND WAYS THEY RELATE ARRANGEMENT OF ELEMENTS WHICH GOVERN FUNCTIONING OF RESEARCH STRUCTURE WHICH UNDERLIES AND INTERCONNECTS RESEARCH COMPONENTS AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF EACH COMPONENT FOR THE REST

10. QR DESIGN AS INTERACTION Conceptual context Purpose Personal context Research questions/topic Evaluation criteria Objectives Methods Adapted from Maxwell (1996).

11. EXAMPLE : When moving is more than changing homes: Relocation from the perspective of homeless due to Venezuelan 1999 landslides Esther Wiesenfeld (Central University of Venezuela) Anabel Amaro (National Fund for Urban Development) ewiesen@reacciun.ve

12. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : INTRODUCTION Every year during the rainy season, Venezuela undergoes landslides and floods, resulting in material and human losses, especially in squatter settlements. The 1999 tragedy, however, was unprecedented in the country’s history. The rain left tens of thousands of families homeless while a similar number of people were killed. Different agencies implemented, disorganized at first, actions to mobilize the victims to temporary shelters, and eventually, to a final relocation in housing complexes.

13. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : PERSONAL CONTEXT : • PROFESSIONAL DEMANDS OF COAUTHOR (AND MASTER STUDENT) AMARO FOR EVALUATING NEW SETTLEMENTS BUILT FOR HOMELESS DUE TO 1999 FLOODS • MY RESEARCH LINE FOR MANY YEARS • FAMILIARIZATION WITH AFFECTED POPULATION: EXPERIENCE OF BOTH AUTHORS WITH HOMELESS POPULATIONS, PARTICULARLY HAVING BEEN INVOLVED IN ATTENTION TO VICTIMS AND THEIR ORGANIZATION IN TEMPORARY SHELTERS, AS WELLL AS FUTURE RELOCATION. • FAMILARIZATION WITH RESEARCH TOPIC: PREVIOUS STUDIES WITH POPULATIONS SIMILAR TO MOST HOMELESS FAMILIES, LIVING IN SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS, PARTICULARLY ON THE MEANING OF BECOMING HOMELESS, WORKING TOGETHER WITH THEM IN SELF HELP BUILDING PROJECTS, ETC.

14. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : PERSONAL CONTEXT : • ACADEMIC DEMANDS: MASTER THESIS • SOCIAL DEMANDS • EVENTS: PROTEST AND DEMANDS TO GOVERNMENT FROM RELOCATED FAMILIES DUE TO INADEQUATE LIVING CONDITIONS IN NEW SETTLEMENTS

15. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Results of studies on housing post occupancy evaluation and on the meanings of home suggest that physical and environmental features of the house and the neighborhood are necessary –though not sufficient- conditions to guarantee residential satisfaction and the evolvement of a sense of home.

16. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY (cont.) Community participation (CP), has been a key factor for strengthening social bonds in the communities, through the inclusion of their members in different actions that, apart from solving their specific problems, promote their personal and social identity, their sense of belonging to a community, attachment, individual and group empowerment, and the development of sustainable communities.

17. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY (cont.) Several projects conducted in Venezuela in self-help built squatter settlements, like the neighborhoods most hit by the 1999 tragedy, support the notion that, parallel to the participation in the construction of housing and services, dwellers develop and grow stronger as persons and as communities, creating emotional bonds with their neighbors and their milieu. There is little information in our context on the experience of definite relocations, especially in circumstances as the 1999 natural disaster.

18. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM (SC) SC is a metatheoretical perspective that conceives of reality as constructions derived from experiences and exchanges of people interacting in a given historical context. The resulting knowledge is used to promote social change, with the leading role of groups or communities.

19. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT IN QR CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK SERVES TO LEARN HOW THE TOPIC HAS BEEN DEALT WITH IN THE LITERATURE: TO EXAMINE THE APPROACHES FROM WHICH KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. SEEKS TO OPEN THE RESEARCH TOPIC INCORPORATING ACTOR´S PERSPECTIVE

20. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : PURPOSE OF THE STUDY • Understand the experience lived by homeless, from 1999 Venezuelan landslides relocated in housing programs developed by FONDUR (National Fund for Urban Development), before, during and after the natural disaster, including the final relocation. The latter is the focus of this presentation.

21. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : PURPOSE OF THE STUDY (cont.) • Promote, alongside collecting information, processes of critical reflection, which trigger actions and eventual transformations in the adverse living conditions identified by the victims. • Derive recommendations for disaster victims´ care and relocation, compatible with their needs and lifestyles.

22. DESIGN OF QR Components in QR design Personal context w Knowledge about the topic w Experience with the topic w Doubts, fears, crises with the topic w History of relation with the topic ES/EW

23. DESIGN OF QR (Cont.): Who is talking? From which perspectives are they talking ? What is being dealt with ? Conversation on the topic What do they say ? What would you criticise about the conversation? Critical organization of concepts, project and research data, of conversations with other researchers or participants. Conceptual context is constructed; it is not an authority. ES/EW

24. DESIGN OF QR Components in QR design Purpose of the study (Justification of research guides design decisions) Understand meanings, interpret events, actions... (participants perspectives) Understand particular contexts Identify unanticipated phenomena and influences Understand processes

25. PURPOSES OF STUDY: 1 RESEARCH PURPOSES (Understand what is happening and why): • Understand the meaning for participants in the study, of the events, situations and actions they are involved with and the accounts that they give of their lives and experiences (meaning understood as affection, cognition, intentions and any other information related to participants´perspectives.) • Understanding the particular context within which the participants act, and the influence that this context has on their actions. • Identifying unanticipated phenomena and influences, and generating new grounded theories about the alter. (exploratory studies) • Understanding the process by which events and actions take place: • Developing causal explanations (local causality, events and processes which lead to specific results) 2 PRACTICAL PURPOSES (Fulfill goals, needs, change situations) • Generating results and theories that are understandable and experientially credible , both to the people you are studying and to others. • Conducting formative evaluations (helping improve practice, rather than evaluating the merit of a program or product) • Engaging in collaborative or action research with practitioners or research participants 3 PERSONAL PURPOSES (Understand personal processes and motivations in carrying out the study)

26. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : CONTEXT OF THE STUDY The study was conducted in three residential settlements built or purchased by FONDUR. NSV DA (Sector I) SA (Sector II) Number of houses 100 111 200 Plot 120 180 144.4 Sqm (House) 44.33 44.41 42

27. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : CONTEXT All the houses laid out in these sectors have two bedrooms, one bathroom, and one space combining living room, dining room and kitchen.

28. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : RELATION WITH PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY GETTING ACQUAINTED SEVERAL VISITS TO THE SETTLEMENTS, DONE WITH THE PURPOSE OF SUPERVISING HOUSING CONDITIONS AND NEIGHBORHOOD FACILITIES ALLOWED FAMILIARIZATION WITH THE RESIDENTS, DEVELOPMENT OF TRUST WITH THE RESEARCHERS. INFORMATION EXCHANGED IN THESE VISITS ORIENTED RESEARCHERS IN THE FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM.

29. Methods. 1) Relation with participants. DESIGN OF QR Components of QR Rapport and negotiation. Negotiation on anonymity, privacy, utility of research for participants, researcher´s involvement.

30. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : RESEARCH QUESTION WHAT ARE THE MEANINGS CONSTRUCTED BY THE VICTIMS OF THE 1999 VENEZUELAN FLOODS ON THEIR EXPERIENCE OF RELOCATION IN NEW SETTLEMENTS?

31. DESIGN OF QR Components to take into account in QR Research (or “problem”) questions Concept of research question w Does not refer to variables´ relations w Questions: Processes vs. Variance. Origin: In the field, experience, literature Start as general and then focus Molding : Purpose, conceptual context and personal context.

32. Research objectives (purpose specification). DESIGN OF QR Components in QR General statements on desired achievements Changes throughout research

33. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : Nº OF INFORMANTS BY SETTLEMENT Gender NSV DA SA Total Male 9 5 1 15 Female 2 5 7 14 Total 11 10 8 29

34. DESIGN OF QR Components in QR design Methods 2) Sampling. Decisions regarding units of analysis. Selected units: Sampling for context selection Sampling for participants selection.

35. QR DESIGN Components in QR design intentional sampling - Adequacy to diversity of constructions - It is emergent - Serial selection. - Periodic change of sample - Redundancy.

36. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : DATA GATHERING METHODS The information was collected through semi-structured interviews (i) and focus groups (fg). The main topic in the interview was the residential experience in the current settlement. In the three focus groups the theme was the description and discussion of the problems in their respective settlements and what it meant to them to be relocated.

37. NSV DA SA Total i 6 (6m) 5 (1m,4f) 3 (3f) 14 (7m, 7f) Fg (#inf) 5 (3m,2f) 5 (4m,1f) 5 (1m,4f) 15 (8m,7f) Total 11 (9m,2f) 10 (5m,5f) 8 (1m,7f) 29 (15m,14f) EXAMPLE (Cont.) : INFORMANTS OF THE STUDY

38. DESIGN IN QR Components in QR design Methods. 3) Information gathering. Related to research questions Related to context. Related to empowerment value in QR • Narrative way. Own vocabulary • Subject´s temporal sequence • New constructions • Documentation of group history for its diffusion

39. DESIGN OF QR Components in QR design Methods. Selection Related to questions • Interview (individual meaning of an experience or description of an event) • Focus group (group meaning of an experience, a decision to be made) • Life history (evolution of a process, an experience) • Observations (interactions in communication or others) • Analysis of documents (for identifying norms, politics, decisions) Related to context of study

40. DESIGN OF QR Components in QR design Methods Triangulation w In traditional research: hypothesis verification through different methods. w Denzin (1970/1978) introduces it in QR w Types of triangulation: data, researchers, theories, methods. w Alternative sense of triangulation: for increasing knowledge on the topic, various constructions of the topic.

41. EXAMPLE (Cont.) : RESULTS ANALYSIS Information was analyzed in accordance with general guidelines for inductive data analysis, suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985). To that end, we and systematized, categorized and interpreted the information units (words, phrases, concepts, paragraphs) identified in the participants’ report. These categories are illustrated by excerpts of information provided by participants.

42. DESIGN OF QR Components in QR design Methods 4) Data analysis Simultaneous data gathering and analysis Decision and general analysis strategy. Selected units of analysis - Relation between units and context- Relation context- results Description of analysis strategy

43. Qualitative Research Holistic Multiple reality Natural context Characteristics Reflexive Ideographic Congruence context/method/reality Interactive

44. Differentiating characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches Source: From Handbook of Racial/Ethnic Minority Counseling Research (2nd ed.), by J.G. Ponteroto and J.M. Casas, in preparation, Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

45. Some differences between quantitative and qualitative research Quantitative Qualitative Role of Qualitative Research Exploratory Means for exploring actors´ interpretations Relationship between Distant Close researcher and subject Researcher´s position External Internal vis the subject Relationship between theory/ Confirmation Emergent Concepts and research Research strategy Structured Unstructured Scope of findings Nomotetic Ideographic Image of social reality Static and external to actor Procesual and socially constructed by actor Nature of data Hard, Reliable Rich, deep. Source: A. Bryman (1998) Quantity and Quality in Social Research. London: Unwin Hyman, p.94

46. Contextual factors which influence research design Perceived Problems Personal Experience Existing Theory Personal and Political Goal Pilot and Prior Research Conceptual Context Purpose Participant´s Concern Thought Experiments Research Questions Funding Ethical Standards Data and Conclusions Methods Validity Setting Personal Style Researcher Skills Research Paradigm