by: jinah, kaishi, shivangi is it possible to generalize from qualitative studies?
TRANSCRIPT
What does generalizing entail?
Being able to generalize findings means that the results of a study are relevant outside the context of that particular study
Normally, scientists want their findings to apply to people than just those who partici-pated in that study
How relevant is generalization?
Some qualitative researchers do not find it relative
Others argue that it is important that results of a study can be generalized Lewis and Ritchie (2003) – distinguished between
three forms of generalization of qualitative data
Representational generalization Inferential generalization Theoretical generalizatoin
Representational Generalization
The findings from qualitative research stud-ies can be applied to populations outside the population of the study.
Qualitative research normally involves small samples that are not selected to be statisti-cally representative, and non-standardized methods may be used = difficult to generalize findings
However, if evidence from other studies con-firms the findings, generalization = possible (Hammersley, 1992)
Inferential Generalization
The findings of the study can be applied to settings outside the setting of the study (ex. design changes)
Also known as “transferability” or “external validity”
The “transferability” of the findings depends on the description of the researched context and phenomenon
Allows inferences but will rest as a hypothe-sis until supported or disproved by further research and analysis
To think what might happenUsually gives clues on what has or did hap-
pen
Theoretical Generalization
The notion that theoretical concepts derived from the study can be used to develop further theory
Ex: Findings from a study may lead to infer-ences about effective policies to help home-less people.
Thus, findings from a study may lead to wider social theory
Discussion Questions
Is generalisability important to qualitative re-search?
No Qualitative research represents a unique research
approach and does not need to be bound to the same conventions as quantitative research
Qualitative research usually aims to reflect diversity within a given population, rather than generalisability or representativness ( Kuzel, 1992)
Which types of generalisability apply?