Uwe Flick

Managing quality in qualitative research

1. How to manage and assess the quality of qualitative research 2. Standards in qualitative research 3. Criteria in qualitative research 4. Using CAQDAS for advancing the quality of qualitative research 5. Quality indicators of specific methods and approaches 6. Checklists and guidelines 7. Strategies for managing diversity in qualitative research 8. Relevance, evidence and quality of qualitative research 9. Quality, creativity and ethics: different ways to ask the question 10. Managing quality in qualitative research: process and transparency

Gütekriterien qualitativer Forschung

Der Ansatzpunkt und die Vorgabe fur diesen Beitrag sind Gutekriterien qualitativer Forschung in der Psychologie. In anderen Kontexten wird zwar mittlerweile ein breiterer Zugang zu der im Hintergrund virulenten Fragestellung gewahlt. So beschaftigt sich Seale (1999) explizit mit der Qualitat qualitativer Forschung, und diese wird auch im Fokus des Qualitatsmanagements in der Forschung weiterverfolgt (Flick 2008a). Im Kontext qualitativer Forschung in der Psychologie wird jedoch der Ansatzpunkt der Kriterien haufiger gewahlt (vgl. Steinke 1999, 2008). Dies und die nach wie vor im Raum stehende und auch von ausen an die qualitative Forschung herangetragene Frage nach Kriterien lassen es sinnvoll erscheinen, in diesem Beitrag die Problematik der Qualitat qualitativer Forschung unter der Uberschrift und mit dem Fokus „Kriterien“ zu behandeln.

Qualitative Research - State of the Art

The background of this article is the observation that the methodological discussions about qualitative research in German-speaking and Anglo-Saxon contexts are quite different. The article gives an overview of the state of the art of qualitative research in terms of its methodological development and its establishment in the broader field of social research. After some brief remarks about the history of the field, the major research perspectives and schools of qualitative research - grounded theory, ethnomethodology, narrative analysis, objective hermeneutics, life-world analysis, ethnography, cultural and gender studies - are outlined against the background of recent developments. The establishment of qualitative research is discussed with reference to the examples of the German and International Sociological Associations (DGS and ISA), to developments in the area of textbooks and handbooks, and to the founding of specialized journals. Methodological trends such as the move to visual and electronic data, triangulation of methods and the hybridization of qualitative procedures are discussed. In conclusion some perspectives are outlined which are expected to become more important in the future of qualitative research or which are seen as demands for further clarification. Beside the use of computers and further clarification on linking qualitative and quantitative research, and the limits and problems of such linkage, further suggestions concerning the ways of presenting appropriate and at the same time compulsory criteria for qualitative research are mentioned. Trends in building schools and developing research pragmatics, on the one hand, and a tendency towards elucidation and mystification of methodological procedures, on the other hand, are identified as tensional fields in methodological discussions in qualitative research. Finally a stronger internationalization in different directions and answering the question of indication are discussed as needs for the future of qualitative research.

Qualitative inquiries into social representations of health.

Concepts of health and illness have been a major topic for social representations research. Whereas studies on cognitive representations of health and illness develop a general, decontextualized schema of illness, social representations research focuses on the diversity of lay concepts of health and illness and how health and illness are socially constructed in different contexts. Two qualitative studies about the social representations of health are presented. The episodic interview and theoretical coding were used to study health concepts of nurses and clerks in East and West Germany and among Portuguese and German women. Results in both studies show different forms of awareness of health as the core of the health concepts in the various groups. Social representations theory connects these differences back to the political and cultural backgrounds of the study participants.

Health in the context of growing old: social representations of health.

Senior citizens have become a major part of the clientele of general practitioners and home care nurses due to a major demographic transition in most western countries. How do the health concepts in professional practice reflect these trends? Research has largely investigated the health concepts of lay people. This study is focused on the representations of health in old age held by two groups of professionals— general practitioners and nurses—both working in home care with elderly people in two German cities. The results show how health professionals use an extended concept of health, which focuses on the life situation of the old person, on autonomy, self-determination or independence and on how the elderly manage disease and physical restrictions.

“I Can’t Prescribe Something Just Because Someone Asks for It . . .” Using Mixed Methods in the Framework of Triangulation

This article demonstrates how a systematic triangulation of research perspectives can provide a methodological framework for the practice of mixed methods research. The authors illustrate the application of a “systematic approach” by focusing on an in-depth case study concerning the management of sleeping problems in nursing homes. Two sources of quantitative data (assessment of the status of residents and medication prescribed by physicians) and several contextualized qualitative approaches—one that focuses on physicians’ interpretive patterns concerning their prescription practices, and another that looks at nursing staff and nursing home residents’ attitudes toward sleep medication—are triangulated. The authors discuss the levels on which these perspectives can be linked, as well as the implications of their case study analysis for the methodological development of a mixed methods approach that is tied to the concept of triangulation.

Sleep disorders and activities in long term care facilities--a vicious cycle?

Sleep disorders are symptoms of many diseases. Persons suffering from multiple morbidities are affected most. We investigated the relationship between sleep and activities using assessment data of 2577 German nursing home residents. In total, 37.3 percent were affected by insomnia, 29.6 percent by non-restful sleep. We used SEM to analyze the relationship between sleep disorders and activities. Residents with sleep problems exhibited low levels of activities and social engagement and high levels of communication impairment and interpersonal conflicts. They received less activation than persons without sleep disorders. We found significant evidence that sleep disturbances and lack of activities influence each other negatively.

The social construction of individual and public health: contributions of social representations theory to a social science of health

The relevance of the theory of social representations to public health and a social science of health is discussed. Central issues for a social science of health (theory development, quality assessment, supply of appropriate methods and critical reflections on developments) are outlined for different levels: individual, single institution, community, society and professionalization of public health. Results of comparative studies of health conceptions are reported (different professional groups in Germany, women in Germany and Portugal), as well as analyses of institutions and communities. It is suggested that weaknesses in epidemiological research can be overcome by the development of an epidemiology of representations, resources and risks. The possible contributions of social psychology to the study of the professionalization of public health and its effects are discussed. These examples illustrate how both individual and public health are subjects of social constructive processes.

Social Representations of Health Held by Health Professionals: the Case of General Practitioners and Home-care Nurses

To date, social representations research in the field of health and illness has focused mainly on lay representations of health. In the context of the “New Public Health”, the more general concept of health (instead of the more reduced concept of curing illness) has become a major target for professional work. From this trend, the following research questions can be drawn: do health professionals hold a concept of health? If so, what is the major focus of such a concept? And does it include topics from the New Public Health discourse? Following a short review of the research into social representations of health, some preliminary results of a qualitative research study are presented. This study focused on representations of health held by two groups of professionals - general practitioners and nurses - both working in home care with elderly people in two German cities. The first results of this study found that, in both groups, different types of health concepts can be identified. In both groups, a strong reference was made to the World Health Organization definition. Among other concepts, a relative concept of health was held. The concepts are expressed with reference to the specific clientele of home-care work. The results are discussed with reference to the differences and overlaps with the other research on health concepts.

Entzauberung der Intuition

Mit dem folgenden Beitrag soll das Potential des Konzeptes der Triangulation fur die allgemeinere Diskussion um die Geltungsbegrundung qualitativer Daten und v. a. ihrer Interpretation skizziert werden. Die zentrale Frage bei der Triangulation verschiedener methodischer Zugange bei der Verfolgung einer Fragestellung war seit jeher die der Geltungsbegrundung der mit dem einzelnen Zugang jeweils erzielten Ergebnisse. Im folgenden wird nach einer etwas ausfuhrlicheren Diskussion der Geschichte und Anwendungsfelder dieses Konzeptes sowie der damit verbundenen Probleme zunachst mit der systematischen Perspektiven-Triangulation eine spezifische Strategie der Geltungsbegrundung bei qualitativer Forschung entwickelt. Deren Anwendung wird schlieslich am Beispiel eines Einzelfalles in der Triangulation der Konversationsanalyse eines Beratungsgesprachs mit der Rekonstruktion der subjektiven Theorie der beteiligten Beraterin — einer Arztin — demonstriert.