This presentation is intended for 3rd year media studies or social sciences. It gives a succinct introduction to what Qualitative Research is and how to position quotes gathered from interviews in a text. It is somewhat explicit about the necessity that students do not engage in statistical analysis or Quantitative Research

2. What I second what is that
word again?
Qualitative Research
It is concern with the how and why of decision making not
just the what, where and when as opposed to:
Quantitative Research
This deal with large data set, statistical analysis and can be
used to directly support hypothesis.

3. Run that by me again…
Qualitative research is
where you talk to just a few
people about something.
Qualitative research is
looking at a cases in depth.
Qualitative research can’t
be used on its own to
completely support an idea.

4. Why don’t we do that
Qualitative thing…
TIME
STATISTICS

5. WHO to interview?
Sample of opinion from the
people you are writing about.
Not academics (use their
writing)
Not punters or the public
(quote Qualitative Research
from other people)

6. HOW to interview
On phone (record it)
In person (record it)
Via email (not too many
questions please)

7. WHEN to Interview
NOW!
Set up any interview straight
away.
You need the material to work
with asap.

8. WHAT to ask
1)
Open questions
2)
Not leading
3)
Explore the subject thoroughly.
Don’t be satisfied with the first
answer.
4)
Ask questions about person and job
first.
5)
You can challenge but keep it
impersonal.
6)
Don’t ask about theory – you are
talking with practitioners.

9. IMPORTANT
As much possible
let your subject
talk… see what
they reveal and
where they take
things.

10. What to do after
interview…
You have to transcribe it.
Write out the whole thing
“warts and all”
This takes a long time so
don’t let interviews go on too
long.
Proof and check transcription
then include it with paper
It will be an appendix (doesn’t
count to word count).

11. HOW to use interview
Find quotes and use
to illustrate points.
One quote doesn’t
prove anything.
Together they can
show ways of
thinking or working.

12. HOW to quote from an
interview
Find a sentence or
passage you like.
You can remove ums, ers,
stammers and all that.
You can change the
speech to make the
person sound coherent.
You can’t change the
sense of what they are
saying

13. The only way is ETHICS
Make it clear (in e-mail) the purpose of the interview
At the end of interview ask subject if they would like to
clear the quotes you use.
You can then send them the paragraphs they appear in .
They can then ask for changes or re-writers.
You must follow these…

14. Example – before subject
saw quote…
“I do hate it when any producer to asks me to come up with
an issue play, even just to kick off generating an idea with
an issue makes my heart sink… A producer came to me a
couple of years ago and said, “how do you feel about sexual
violence and war?” I said, “Oh, I’m not that keen, actually.”
To which she replied, “Oh, well, how about abandoned
babies?” Well, if it’s a choice between sexual violence in
war and abandon babies, I’ll go for the abandon babies, but
it was actually a really difficult play to write because we
began with an issue so clearly”

15. Example – after subject
saw quote…
<Author’s name> details how a single, poetic image
(for instance “a woman sitting at a train station in a
wedding dress”) can speak to her imagination and
serve as the catalyst for her creative process:
“To begin creating a story with an issue initially
makes my heart sink. I can find an issue working
from a beautiful image much more easily than I can
find a beautiful image working from an issue”

16. Remember…
You’re not carrying out a
radio or TV interview
You can edit and
paraphrase the interview
Make sure you record it.
The material you gather
is evidence. .

17. And Please Remember…
You can’t use
your interviews
to create sets
of statistics!

18. And ALSO…
NO STATISTICS!

19. And FINALLY
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Don’t do surveys or use percentages or try to prove things by
getting six of your friends to watch a film or make a pie chart that
says 33% of producers don’t like working in a certain way when
you’ve only interviewed three producers and they were all your
mates mates so that doesn’t prove anything… and we haven’t
taught you to handle statistics or take a proper sample or
anything of these things…so please don’t do it!
I implore you… please!!!