Qualitative Research Methods

Association football is the richest, most popular sport in history with a multicultural global following encompassing all religions. It is also riven with corruption, racism, homophobia and a violence that has for decades resisted all attempts to tame it. It is this Janus-faced quality that makes football so thrilling. Countless books have focused on the visibly glamorous, wholesome and admirable aspects of the sport. Cashmore and Cleland, by contrast, examine the unpleasant, sleazy and downright nasty aspects – football's dark side. Their approach is not to pontificate or judge, but to express the views of thousands of football fans on the game they love, but which they know has an unpleasant underside. Using their innovative topfan.co.uk research platform, Cashmore and Cleland have interviewed thousands of fans to present a matchless account of football from a new perspective. This is how fans view football's dark side.

This study examines how critical literacy read-alouds can be facilitated in an early childhood setting. More specifically, it describes how books allow young children to connect with experiences that help them identify and challenge inequality and envision social change. A classroom teacher and two university-based researchers collaborated to conduct this qualitative study that took place in one suburban Midwestern U.S. kindergarten class. Discussions and students’ responses to read-alouds over a seven month period of time were analyzed. The findings demonstrate that, with support, children can develop more nuanced understandings of social class within and across texts. This research holds significant implications for how young children might be guided to examine critical social issues through the literacy curriculum and how such instruction can deepen students’ engagement with texts.

"Shifting from representationally-oriented analysis of images to
analysis of practices—the production, circulation and consumption
of tourists’ images, and from photos created by tourists to photos
staged, produced and displayed by the industry, this article offers
a qualitative, ethnographic study of tourism’s visual culture.
Through observations conducted on a cruise ship, the author offers
up-close depiction of photo-taking routines, and of the public display
of multiple images of vacationing tourists. The article critically
accounts for tourists’ desire to be photographed and portrayed by
the industry in terms of visual surveillance (Foucault) under contemporary neoliberal visual regime. It is further argued that public displays of tourists’ images create, through collective mediation/mediatization, a commercially assembled touristic collective or public."

""RIASSUNTO -
Questo articolo è stato scritto con l’intenzione di illustrare alcuni dei vantaggi nell’uso dei software per l’analisi qualitativa nell’analisi di registrazioni audio e video, di Transana in particolare, condividere alcuni suggerimenti e proporre le riflessioni su digitalizzazione e gestione di archivi digitali accumulate in vari anni di attività. (Il testo risale al 2007)

The article was written with the intention to illustrate some of the advantages in the use of software for qualitative analysis on digital audio and video recordings, Transana in particular, and to share some tips and considerations on digitalization and management of digital archives accumulated over several years of fieldwork.  (The article was written in 2007, but published only in 2013)

Nota a pp. prima pagina.:
Il nucleo di questo testo nasce da una relazione da me presentata  alla conferenza Le Fonti Orali. Archivi, storie, passioni, competenze progetti - Poggibonsi (Siena) 2007 – dalla quale è stato elaborato il presente articolo.  Da allora la ‘rivoluzione digitale’ è diventata una realtà quotidiana e alcuni passaggi, in un momento in cui i registratori a cassette sono praticamente oggetti di modernariato, possono apparire ovvi o banali. Nonostante questa evoluzione, l’utilizzo dei software per l’analisi qualitativa non ha ancora raggiunto la diffusione sperata, per cui i temi trattati sono molto attuali e, credo, utili soprattutto a chi si voglia avvicinare a questo tipo di strumento che mi piace pensare come il microscopio della ricerca qualitativa.
""

"Background: Caregivers report early disturbances in social behavior among patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD); however, there are few direct observational studies of these social behavioral disturbances. This study aimed to identify social behavioral themes in bvFTD by direct observation in naturalistic interactions. The identification of these themes can help caregivers and clinicians manage the social behavioral disturbances of this disease.

Methods: Researchers observed 13 bvFTD patients in their homes and community-based settings and recorded field notes on their interpersonal interactions. A qualitative analysis of their social behavior was then conducted using ATLAS.ti application and a constant comparison method.

Results: Qualitative analysis revealed the following themes: (1) diminished relational interest and initiation, indicating failure to seek social interactions; (2) lack of social synchrony/intersubjectivity, indicating an inability to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships; and (3) poor awareness and adherence to social boundaries and norms. These themes corresponded with changes from caregiver reports and behavioral scales.

Conclusion: This analysis indicates that real-world observation validates the diagnostic
criteria for bvFTD and increases understanding of social behavioral disturbances in this
disorder. The results of this and future observational studies can highlight key areas for clinical assessment, caregiver education, and targeted interventions that enhance the
management of social behavioral disturbances in bvFTD."

Diego Vigil was critical of the methods I used in my book Crime and Immigrant Youth--apparently he doesn't like numbers!  This is the only time I've been accused of being too quantitative in my sociology.  Contemporary Psychology was kind enough to publish this brief rejoiner.