Qualitative Social Science Methods Research Articles

Landsat Data Ecosystem Case Study: Actor Perceptions of the Use and Value of Landsat

It is well-known that Earth observation (EO) data plays a critical role in scientific understanding about the global environment. There is also growing support for the use of EO data to provide context-specific insights, with significant implications for their use in decision support systems. Technological development over recent years, including cloud computing infrastructure, machine learning techniques, and rapid expansion of the velocity, volume, and variety of space-borne data sources, offer huge potential to provide solutions to the myriad environmental problems facing society and the planet. The USGS/NASA Landsat Program, the longest continuously gathered source of land surface data, has played a central role in our understanding of environmental change, particularly for its contribution of longitudinal products that offer greater context for present research and decision support activities. The challenge facing the Landsat and EO data community, however, now lies in moving beyond context-specific knowledge generation to translating such knowledge into tangible value for society. Drawing from an open data ecosystem framework and qualitative social science methods, we map the Landsat data ecosystem (LDE) and the relationships linking multiple actors responsible for processing, indexing, analyzing, synthesizing, and translating raw Landsat data into information that is useful, useable, and used by end users in particular social-environmental contexts. Both the role of Big Data and associated technologies are discussed as they relate to the ultimate use of Landsat-derived information products to guide decision-making, and key data ecosystem characteristics that shape the likelihood of these products’ use are highlighted.

Bringing the social into vaccination research: Community-led ethnography and trust-building in immunization programs in Sierra Leone.

BackgroundVaccine hesitancy is a complex, contested social phenomenon and existing research highlights the multifaceted role of trust in strengthening vaccine confidence. However, understanding public engagement with vaccination through the lens of (mis)trust requires more contextual evidence on trust’s qualitative determinants. This includes expanding the geographic focus beyond current studies’ focus on High Income Countries. Furthermore, obstacles remain in effectively integrating social science findings in the design of vaccine deployment strategies, and in ensuring that those who implement interventions and are affected by them are directly involved in producing knowledge about vaccination challenges.MethodsWe piloted a community-led ethnographic approach, training Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Kambia District, Sierra Leone, in qualitative social science methods. Methods included participant observation, participatory power mapping and rumour tracking, focus group discussions and key stakeholder interviews. CHWs, with the support of public health officials and professional social scientists, conducted research on vaccination challenges, analysed data, tested new community engagement strategies based on their findings and elicited local perspectives on these approaches.ResultsOur findings on vaccine confidence in five border communities highlighted three key themes: the impact of prior experiences with the health system on (mis)trust; relevance of livelihood strategies and power dynamics for vaccine uptake and access; and the contextual nature of knowledge around vaccines. Across these themes, we show how expressions of trust centered on social proximity, reliability and respect and the role of structural issues affecting both vaccine access and confidence. The pilot also highlighted the value and practical challenges to meaningfully co-designed research.ConclusionThere is scope for broader application of a community-led ethnographic approach will help redesign programming that is responsive to local knowledge and experience. Involving communities and low-cadre service providers in generating knowledge and solutions can strengthen relationships and sustain dialogue to bolster vaccine confidence.

BİLİMSEL ÇALIŞMALARDA KARMA YÖNTEM NASIL KULLANILIR?

In recent years, a significant proliferation has been observed in the number of studies combining quantitative and qualitative methods in social sciences. This research strategy, defined as a mixed-method, requires a research design and theoretical framework that will enable the integration of different approaches in a single study, beyond the random use of qualitative and quantitative data. This article aims to put forward the principles of the application of mixed methods, which have an increasing weight in the literature and are accepted as the third main research method, with a comprehensive discussion. Following an introductory chapter on the definition, purpose, and advantages of the mixed method, different research designs on how the mixed method can be used will be discussed. These designs will be exemplified by studies from the field of political science and international relations. In the conclusion section, the criticisms directed to the mixed-method, and the difficulties that may be encountered in the application of the method will be emphasized. Thusly, a road map will be presented for researchers who are interested in the mixed method.

The Gnat and the Bull Do Climate Outlook Forums Make a Difference?

AbstractLittle has been documented about the benefits and impacts of the recent growth in climate services, despite a growing call to justify their value and stimulate investment. Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs), an integral part of the public and private enterprise of climate services, have been implemented over the last 20 years with the objectives of producing and disseminating seasonal climate forecasts to inform improved climate risk management and adaptation. In proposing guidance on how to measure the success of RCOFs, we offer three broad evaluative categories that are based on the primary stated goals of the RCOFs: 1) quality of the climate information used and developed at RCOFs; 2) legitimacy of RCOF processes focused on consensus forecasts, broad user engagement, and capacity building; and 3) usability of the climate information produced at RCOFs. Evaluating the quality of information relies largely on quantitative measures and statistical techniques that are standardized and transferrable, but assessing the RCOF processes and perceived usability of RCOF products will necessitate a combination of quantitative and qualitative social science methods that are sensitive to highly variable regional contexts. As RCOFs have taken up different formats and procedures to adapt to diverse institutional and political settings and varied technical and scientific capacities, objective evaluation methods adopted should align with the goals and intent of the evaluation and be performed in a participatory, coproduction manner where producers and users of climate services together design the evaluation metrics and processes. To fully capture the potential benefits of the RCOFs, it may be necessary to adjust or recalibrate the goals of these forums to better fit the evolving landscape of climate services development, needs, and provision.

Climate Ethics with an Ethnographic Sensibility

What responsibilities does each of us have to reduce or limit our greenhouse gas emissions? Advocates of individual emissions reductions acknowledge that there are limits to what we can reasonably demand from individuals. Climate ethics has not yet systematically explored those limits. Instead, it has become popular to suggest that such judgements should be ‘context-sensitive’ but this does not tell us what role different contextual factors should play in our moral thinking. The current approach to theory development in climate ethics is not likely to be the most effective way to fill this gap. In existing work, climate ethicists use hypothetical cases to consider what can be reasonably demanded of individuals in particular situations. In contrast, ‘climate ethics with an ethnographic sensibility’ uses qualitative social science methods to collect original data in which real individuals describe their own situations. These real-life cases are more realistic, more detailed and cover a broader range of circumstances than hypothetical cases. Normative analysis of real-life cases can help us to develop a more systematic understanding of the role that different contextual factors should play in determining individual climate responsibilities. It can also help us to avoid the twin dangers of ‘idealization’ and ‘special pleading’.

Recognitional Justice, Climate Engineering, and the Care Approach

ABSTRACTGiven the existing inequities in climate change, any proposed climate engineering strategy to solve the climate problem must meet a high threshold for justice. In contrast to an overly thin paradigm for justice that demands only a science-based assessment of potential temperature-related benefits and harms, we argue for the importance of attention to recognitional justice. Recognitional justice, we go on to claim, calls for a different type of assessment tool. Such an assessment would pay attention to neglected considerations such as relationships, context, power, vulnerability, narrative, and affect (amongst others). Here we develop a care-ethics related tool for assessing the justice (or injustice) of climate engineering with stratospheric aerosols, and suggest that qualitative social science methods may be required for its effective application. We illustrate the use of this tool with a case study involving interviews about stratospheric aerosol injection conducted in Kenya, the Solomon Islands, and the North American Arctic. Having shown through this case study the efficacy of the care approach for spotting recognitional injustice, we suggest that a care approach is not only sensitive to the considerations that count, it can also be powerfully normative.

Young adult conservation jobs and worker health

Decades of research studies demonstrate links between healthy environment, healthy lifestyles, and healthy people. This study evaluated the correlations between young adult conservation workers' perceived stress, personal effectiveness, and nature experience using quantitative and qualitative social science methods. The study cohort numbered nearly 300 individuals serving on small crews for an entire year, and were dispersed across Washington State (USA) to participate in conservation projects in rural to urban landscapes. Pre- and post-test surveys, using validated measures of perceived stress, health dimensions, and personal resiliency, were further informed by mid-year, field-based interviews. Overall, the young adults expressed fatigue with the physical work but were quite healthy when compared to national benchmarks. They indicated a reduction in perceived stress, and indicated social function influences based on the conservation work. Conclusions address the importance and implications of expanding this work opportunity to a more diverse cohort and future research needs.

From Data Analytics to Data Hermeneutics. Online Political Discussions, Digital Methods and the Continuing Relevance of Interpretive Approaches

Abstract To advance the study of digital politics it is urgent to complement data analytics with data hermeneutics to be understood as a methodological approach that focuses on the interpretation of the deep structures of meaning in social media conversations as they develop around various political phenomena, from digital protest movements to online election campaigns. The diffusion of Big Data techniques in recent scholarship on political behavior has led to a quantitative bias in the understanding of online political phenomena and a disregard for issues of content and meaning. To solve this problem it is necessary to adapt the hermeneutic approach to the conditions of social media communication, and shift its object of analysis from texts to datasets. On the one hand, this involves identifying procedures to select samples of social media posts out of datasets, so that they can be analysed in more depth. I describe three sampling strategies - top sampling, random sampling and zoom-in sampling - to attain this goal. On the other hand, “close reading” procedures used in hermeneutic analysis need to be adapted to the different quality of digital objects vis-à-vis traditional texts. This can be achieved by analysing posts not only as data-points in a dataset, but also as interventions in a collective conversation, and as utterances of broader “discourses”. The task of interpretation of social media data also requires an understanding of the political and social contexts in which digital political phenomena unfold, as well as taking into account the subjective viewpoints and motivations of those involved, which can be gained through in-depth interviews, and other qualitative social science methods. Data hermeneutics thus holds promise for a closing of the gap between quantitative and qualitative approaches in the study of digital politics, allowing for a deeper and more holistic understanding of online political phenomena.

If the shoe fits: development of an on-line tool to aid practitioner/patient discussions about 'healthy footwear'.

BackgroundA previous study highlighted the importance of footwear to individuals’ sense of their identity, demonstrating that shoes must ‘fit’ someone socially, as well as functionally. However, unhealthy shoes can have a detrimental effect on both foot health and mobility. This project utilises qualitative social science methods to enable podiatrists to understand the broader contribution of footwear to patients’ sense of themselves and from this an online toolkit was developed to aid footwear education.MethodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with six podiatrists/shoe-fitters and 13 people with foot pathologies, some of whom also completed shoe diaries. These were supplemented with some follow-up interviews and photographs of participants’ own shoes were taken to allow in-depth discussions.ResultsFour areas related to ‘fit’ were identified; practicalities, personal, purpose and pressures, all of which need to be considered when discussing changes in footwear. These were incorporated into an online toolkit which was further validated by service users and practitioners in a focus group.ConclusionThis toolkit can support podiatrists in partnership with patients to identify and address possible barriers to changing footwear towards a more suitable shoe. Enabling patients to make healthier shoe choices will help contribute to improvements in their foot health and mobility.

Gender perspective in migration studies

Research field of migration has been developing for a long time parallel to and outside mainstream institutional academic sociology and its theoretical foundation. In the last two decades, within the field of migration studies, one specific aspect of the phenomena came to the research focus: gender, as significant factor that influences on motivation for migration, shaping, at the same time, its characteristics and specific experiences. With decisive breakthrough of qualitative methods in social sciences and humanities, as well as with gradual development of postmodern philosophy and feminist theory, gender migration studies have been established as research sub-discipline, with its own theoretical and categorical scientific apparatus (as well as institutional-academic grounding), managing more or less successfully to explain and understand multidimensional character of migration processes. This text represents an attempt to make relatively concise overview of disciplines? historical, theoretical and research field development, as a first step in its broader affirmation within Serbian institutional sociology.

Beyond Blumer and Symbolic Interactionism: The Qualitative-Quantitative Issue in Social Theory and Methodology

The article analysis the views approaching quantitative and qualitative methods in social sciences as separable or irreconcilable. First, we characterize these views and show how they deal with this divide and how they view the aspects of the latter. Next, we identify the works of Herbert Blumer as the basis of that divide and subject them to an analysis. Finally, by means of categories like quantity, quality, and measure, we show that the qualitative-quantitative divide is based on a wrong approach to these categories and the quantitative and qualitative methods.

Addressing Organisational Issues in Requirements Engineering Practice: lessons from action cases

The requirements phase of information systems development is arguably the most organizationally dependent phase and as such it could be contended that the methods used in this phase ought to explicitly address organizational issues. However the authors would maintain that there is a weakness in many of the methods that are employed in requirements engineering in that they arc not explicitly embedded within any social scientific perspective. We argue that such a perspective would enable the systems developer to address organizational contexts and to engage with users (social actors) in such a way that it may be possible to find out about their social situations and as a consequence better inform the systems development process. In this paper we present the arguments for an explicit organizational perspective in the requirements phase of information systems development. We illustrate the argument through the presentation of action case studies in which one of the authors intervened in two situations with an explicit sociological perspective and analysis methods more commonly associated with qualitative social science methods. We conclude that there is an imperative need for those involved in the requirements phase to be explicit in their assumptions about organizations and critically reflective about the methods they use if they wish to understand the domain in which they operate.