This presentation, presented to senior thesis students at UC Berkeley, reviews the uses of qualitative research methods such as ethnography in public health, walking students through methods, sampling, ensuring rigor, and analysis with CAQDAS software such as Atlas.ti

1. Why Qualitative Public Health?
WHEN AND HOW TO DO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN PUBLIC HEALTH
CELIA EMMELHAINZ – ANTHROPOLOGY LIBRARIAN – UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY – OCT 2016

2. ‘Real science’ does not begin with numbers,
quantification, and statistical analysis…
in medicine, scientists work with non-
numerical data… qualitative data are by no
means a weak form of data;
rather, they are a different form that requires
different, complex, and systematic analysis.
“
“
Kuckartz and McWhertor (2014) Qualitative Text Analysis, p.2

3. Qualitative research is an inquiry process of
understanding
based on distinct methodological traditions of
inquiry that explore a social or human problem.
The researcher builds a complex, holistic
picture, analyses words,
reports detailed views of informants, and
conducts the study in a natural setting.
“
“
- Creswell (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design.

4. In public health research…
•Impact
•Outcomes
•Generalize
Quant
•How?
•Why / not?
•Replicate
Qual
Aisha Tucker Brown (2011) Using Qualitative Methods to Evaluate Public Health Programs, CDC program

5. Uses of Qual. Research in Public Health
1. To study the social, cultural, economic, and political
factors that influence health and disease
2. To examine interactions between stakeholders
3. To capture the “whole person” in their lifeworld
4. To explore how people and communities interpret
health and disease
5. To explore unanticipated meanings and connections
1-2,4 from Isaacs (2014) “An Overview of Qualitative Research Methodology for Public Health Researchers,” 318

6. Image: contextualresearch.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/the-ethnographic-research-cycle.png

7. “Key Elements” of Qual Health Research
1. Full literature review of background information
2. Choose a conceptual framework
3. Choose a sampling strategy
4. Recruit participants ethically
5. Collect data in focus groups or interviews
6. Analyze data by immersion, coding, grouping, linking to theory
7. Present; publish; give feedback to community
Isaacs (2014) “An Overview of Qualitative Research Methodology for Public Health Researchers,” p. 318-21

8. Sampling in Qualitative Health Research
Not a goal of representative or fully generalizable;
instead, the goal is to interpret a particular context and
apply results to that or similar contexts.
1. Deviant sampling (study the extremes)
2. Maximum variation (most diverse views)
3. Homogenous sampling (study characteristics in depth)
4. Snowball sampling (hard to reach)
Isaacs (2014) “An Overview of Qualitative Research Methodology for Public Health Researchers,” 319-20

9. Interviews
Focus
Groups
Observation
Case Studies Images Video
Audio Surveys
Life
Histories

10. Daly et al 2007 A hierarchy of evidence for assessing qualitative health research, p. 45

11. Tips for Ensuring Qualitative Rigor
1. Prolonged engagement (multiple visits or interviews)
2. Method and analysis grounded in theory
3. Extensive and diverse sample
4. Multiple methods (interviews, observation, casual discussion)
5. Triangulation across different sources, perspectives
6. Negative case analysis; highlight what contradicts your theory
7. Diverse interviewers, peer debriefing, and multiple coders
8. Respondent validation (community reviews your findings and reports)
9. Clear documentation and data trail of all methodological decisions
Gilson 2011, adapted in Stoto ea 2012 … Using Qualitative Methods in Public Health Systems Research

12. Five Methodological Approaches
Phenomenology: studies how humans make sense and meaning
Ethnography: develop nuanced picture of social system or culture
Institutional Ethnography: explore relations between
organizations and human experience
Grounded Theory: build up from the data to theoretical insight
Discourse Analysis: what people are doing/building with language

13. Journals for qualitative health research

14. Books in the UCB Library:

16. What to know about qualitative
analysis with CAQDAS software
HOW DO I ACTUALLY ANALYZE MY INTERVIEWS AND OBSERVATIONS?
CELIA EMMELHAINZ - ANTHROPOLOGY LIBRARIAN – UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY

17. Data type and data analysis are not the same!
Kuckartz and McWhertor (2014) Qualitative Text Analysis, p.3; table from Bernard & Ryan 2010

18. Qualitative Data Analysis
a. Typically starts with individual cases and builds up to a
hypothesis or argument.
b. But depends on whether qualitative study is exploratory,
descriptive, hypothesis-testing, or evaluative (Diekmann 2007)
c. Often begins with a close reading, and moves on to building
themes, case studies, categories, or concepts, which are
shared along with descriptions and evocative quotations.
d. Most useful to provide a “rich understanding” for practitioners
or to develop ideas to be tested using representative sample.
Kuckartz and McWhertor (2014) Qualitative Text Analysis, p.5, 9

19. Paper methods of qualitative analysis:

20. Whether to use qualitative analysis software:
Reasons to use
•Build complex codes
•Test relationships
•Handle large data
•Good for teams
Reasons not to use
•Cost
•Learning curve
•Simple or few
interviews

21. Questions to ask before using software:
* How many interviews, observations, photos, news clippings,
or fieldnotes have I collected?
* How in depth does my analysis need to be?
* Does my advisor recommend a certain method of coding?
* Have I studied a given method of coding or analysis?
* Is software likely to help with this method for this project?
* Do you need software skills for the job market? 

22. Major CAQDAS software packages for students
Atlas.ti
• $99/2 yrs
• Flat codes
MaxQDA
• $115/2 yrs
• Hierarchy
NVIVO
• $120/1 yr
• Hierarchy
Dedoose
• $11/month
• Web based
• Big project
slows site

26. Most programs can:
Takes many
file types
Merge two
versions (not
Dedoose)
View codes in
margin
Import
demographics
from Excel
Print reports
Add
comments
and memos
Run searches
(X and Y, near)
Auto-code

27. Atlas.ti in Action
A WALKTHROUGH
CELIA EMMELHAINZ - ANTHROPOLOGY LIBRARIAN – UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY

28. Atlas.ti resources
Manual and sample projects: http://atlasti.com/manuals-docs/
Student licenses: http://atlasti.com/students/
Survey import instructions:
atlasti.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/survey-import.pdf

29. Questions
Email Celia Emmelhainz:
emmelhainz@berkeley.edu