Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Lecture Notes
Chapter 13: Qualitative Understanding of Communication Behavior:
Interviews, Focus Groups, and Ethnography
Learning Objectives
13-1 List the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research methods.
13-2 Compare and contrast qualitative methods with quantitative methods.
Chapter Summary
This chapter begins by listing the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research methods.
Next, the chapter compares qualitative methods with quantitative methods. Then, the chapter
Annotated Chapter Outline
I. Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Watching and Listening Methods
A. Advantages
1. Rewarded with insights, language, and unique logics and reasonings that surveys
and experiments may not uncover.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
B. Disadvantages
1. Variability of human behavior over time puts a question mark over the reliability
II. Qualitative and Quantitative: Similarities and Differences
A. Qualitative vs. quantitative
1. “Qualitative or quantitative” question is neither the first nor the most important
difference.
B. Differences between qualitative and quantitative
1. Quantitative researchers look for relationships among phenomena.
III. Researcher–Participant Relationships
A. Level of engagement
1. Closer we get to naturally occurring behaviors, the greater our understanding.
B. Possible researcher relationships with participants
1. Complete observer—no interaction with informants.
IV. Watching and Listening Methods
A. Interviews
1. An interview is a question-answer session between a researcher and informants.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4. Open-ended questions used when a researcher needs an open-minded,
exploratory approach.
5. Structure.
a. Unstructured interviews—broad, open-ended questions.
6. Sequence refers to the order in which questions occur.
7. Question types.
a. Descriptive questions—ask informants to describe phenomena.
8. Prompts are the follow-up questions that elicit more information and keep the
interview progressing.
9. Interviewee considerations.
10. Recording.
B. Focus groups
1. 6 to 12 people.
2. It is led by a moderator or facilitator.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
5. Weaknesses is reliability and the ability to generalize to a wider population.
8. Online Focus Groups.
a. Online groups offer the advantages of low cost, time-saving, and the ability to
link people internationally.
C. Ethnographic methods
1. Ethnography is basically the study of human social behavior or cultures.
2. Four principles of ethnographic research.
a. Conduct research primarily in natural settings.
3. Formal and informal gatekeepers provide access to a community or culture.
5. Types of notes
6. Ethnographic starting points.
a. Speech community—group of people who share common signs or language.
b. Speech situation—occasions when people within a speech community talk.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
7. Hymes’ SPEAKING items.
a. Situation—setting where the speech activities take place.
b. Participants—people present and their roles and relationships in the speech
8. Online ethnography
a. No direct observation of human behavior.
p. 1).
D. Observational studies
1. Record and interpret individual and group behaviors in their natural settings.
E. Unobtrusive measures
1. Document people’s behavior without them being aware of it.
F. Performance studies
1. Researchers look at behavior performatively, or as a performance.
2. Performance is a heuristic tool for examining practices of everyday life.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
V. Making Sense of Qualitative Data
A. Fixed coding
1. Fixed coding assigns items to specific non-changing, preassigned categories.
B. Flexible coding
1. Flexible coding allows for new categories to emerge rather than forcing every
piece of information into preconceived categories.
C. Qualitative analysis software
1. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) handles
qualitative data.