Qualitative Social Research Methods Research Articles

Exploring food poverty experiences in the German Twitter-Sphere

BackgroundThis study investigates the subjective perceptions of food poverty in Germany by analysing Twitter discourse using the German-language hashtag #IchBinArmutsbetroffen (#IamPovertyAffected) and examines the extent to which various dimensions of a multidimensional theoretical model of food poverty are represented in the discourse.MethodsEmploying a combination of computational social science and qualitative social research methods, the research identifies, and analyses tweets related to nutrition by applying a hierarchical dictionary search and qualitative content analysis. By examining the narratives and statements of individuals affected by food poverty, the study also investigates the interplay among different subdimensions of this phenomenon.ResultsThe analysis of 1,112 tweets revealed that 57.96% focused on the material dimension and 42.04% on the social dimension of food poverty, suggesting a relatively balanced emphasis on material and social aspects of food poverty in the narratives of those affected. The findings reveal that tweets on material food poverty underscore economic challenges and resource scarcity for food. Social food poverty tweets demonstrate widespread deprivation in social participation, leading to isolation, exclusion, and social network loss. Overall, the results elucidate intricate interconnections among subdimensions and multidimensional manifestations of food poverty.ConclusionsThis study contributes methodologically by presenting an approach for extracting food-related textual social media data and empirically by providing novel insights into the perceptions and multifaceted manifestations of food poverty in Germany. The results can aid in a better understanding of the phenomenon of food poverty as it currently manifests in Germany, and in developing targeted social, health-promoting, and political measures that address more effectively the empirically evident multidimensionality of the phenomenon.

Social Media Use by Vietnamese Journalists: Current Status and Solutions

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate to contribute to more clarity on the current status and solutions of social media use by Vietnamese journalists. Theoretical Framwork: The study uses a survey research framework to collect detailed data. Method: Using qualitative and quantitative social research methods this study surveyed 55 Vietnamese journalists from all four media types: print, online, radio, and television. Results and Discussion: The study found that the majority of Vietnamese journalists use social media, but their use varies in terms of the content they share, their privacy settings, and their use of social media for professional purposes. The results of the survey show that 78.2% of Vietnamese journalists see social media platforms as journalistic tools, while 21.8% do not. Research Implications: This research is discussed, providing insights into how the results can be applied or influence practices in the field of Journalistic practices. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the novelty of Vietnamese journalists' approach to social media in practice (the surveyed group). The study sheds light on the impact of social media communication on journalistic practices. This study contributes to the research and understanding of how Vietnamese journalists use social media platforms in the current context.

Towards an integrative perspective on commercialised wild-gathered bamboo use: insights into the extraction of lung bamboo in the Vietnamese uplands

ABSTRACT Bamboo is a vital non-timber forest product (NTFP) and income source for rural communities in the Global South, including in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Due to the manifold goods and services it provides to society, bamboo has recently drawn considerable attention in the forest-development discourse. The potential that bamboo offers as a substitute for timber in the industrialised production of pulp, paper, charcoal and flooring is spurring bamboo commercialisation in light of nascent bamboo-processing industries. This is most apparent in Asia, where Viet Nam has some of the largest forest bamboo resources and ambitious government plans aim to boost sector development in the future. As is observable worldwide, the bulk of bamboo in Viet Nam grows naturally, often as a weakly regulated common-pool resource. Hence, as for many other wild-gathered NTFPs, the commercialisation of the harvesting, trading and processing of forest bamboo raises questions about balancing use and conservation to achieve long-term sustainability. Empirical studies that provide an integrative perspective on wild-gathered bamboo commercialisation are rare. To close the knowledge gap, this exploratory study investigates the social, economic and ecological dimensions of the commercialisation of lung bamboo (Bambusa longissima sp. nov.), a native bamboo species endemic to north-central Viet Nam. We combined quantitative and qualitative social science research methods with a forest inventory of selected lung bamboo exploitation sites in the Que Phong district (a mountainous region of Nghe An province), where lung bamboo use constitutes a vital element of local livelihoods. Our results highlight the need to consider the complex interplay of local livelihoods, harvesting regimes, institutional arrangements and value-chain configurations to understand the ecological outcomes of wild-gathered bamboo commercialisation. We call for the adoption of an integrative perspective when designing practical project interventions, sector plans and policies for forest bamboo commercialisation. Promoting alternative livelihood options, robust and clear institutional arrangements to regulate access and tenure, capacity building in management and harvesting and, not least, supportive commodity-chain governance are critical elements on the pathway to greater sustainability in wild-gathered bamboo commercialisation.

Henki Kleber on Bow and Strings

Abstract
 This article tries to analyse the representation of postcolonialism in Indonesian children's literary works in the form of a novel entitled Komponis Kecil by Soesilo Toer. Komponis Kecil tells a story about the friendship of two figures namely Henki and Meneer Kleber. Meneer Kleber taught Henki to play a violin which at that time was considered as a musical instrument of the European or upper-class society, which later influenced Henki in the process of finding his true identity. This article uses qualitative social research methods with Komponis Kecil novel as the main research object. This article analyses the postcolonial concepts of otherness, mimicry and hybridity under the concept of orientalism. This article will use inductive analysis as data analysis method and hermeneutics as a methodology for interpreting texts; with the main narrative theme of Henki's hybridity which makes it unable to separate his European influences. This article also examines the expression of postcolonialism which also signifies the emergence of the social realism genre in Komponis Kecil.

Narratives and images of the future for final disposal

Abstract. The search for a final repository in Germany lies in the field of tension between a past characterized by conflicts and a future-oriented process shaped by the repository site selection procedure. An examination of the history of social conflicts can be of assistance for the organization of participation concepts and positively influence the discourse. In this context, narratives play a special role in the discourse strategies. Over the course of the research project “Public participation in the search for a repository site: challenges of an intergenerational self-questioning and learning procedure” (Brohmann et al., 2021) narratives were analyzed by the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and future images for the repository were developed. Narratives consolidate very different discourse elements and therefore provide coherent tales. These are important narratives and temporally structured descriptions that refer to the past and can encroach upon the present. They are simultaneously open with respect to the future (Geiger, 2006), which makes them interesting for the development of future images. In turn, concrete perceptions, wishes and visions for aspects not yet experienced in the present are elucidated in future images. In the context of the search for a repository site, it is the “sociotechnical futures” (Lösch et al., 2019) that can be used with technical and political means for the accompanying construction of a social task. Sociotechnical futures designate different and possibly contrary futures, the sketching of which are usually related to larger public debates. Starting from a theoretical and conceptional classification of narratives and future images, an empirical examination is carried out in which qualitative social research methods and technology assessment concepts were applied. Using qualitative guideline-assisted interviews, experts were questioned about their present perspectives on the site selection procedure for a repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste. This also included the consideration of the context and reflections on futures to be expected. The interviews were evaluated by qualitative content analysis and the results consolidated in narratives. In a further step, the narratives were further developed in a reflection workshop with young adults and future images were conceptualized starting from various developmental pathways. The results and the recommendations for action derived from them for the participation process of the search for the repository site are the central subject of the presentation. Special emphasis is placed on the challenge of an intergenerational participation. Then, whereas (conflict afflicted) narratives encroach on the discourse in the present (and future) but “new” players without (conflict) experience participate in the discourse, this places a special challenge on the participation process as a whole, as interpretive patterns and expectations are also debated over and over again.

Some perspectives on qualitative research methods in social research

Most scientific publications make use of quantitative analysis, and for the majority of clinical researchers unfamiliar with medical education, the concept of qualitative research may be confusing. This brief article focuses on the difference between qualitative and quantitative research.

اتجاهات أعضـاء هیئة التدریـس نحـو استخـدام المنهج الکیفـی فـی بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعیة

أولا: مشکلة الدراسة لم ينل المنهج الکيفي في البحوث الإجتماعية عبر تاريخه الطويل اهتماما کالذي نالة خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية ليس فقط نتيجه لطبيعته المعقدة ومکوناته المتداخلة وإنما أيضا لشعور الباحثين في المجال الإجتماعى بأهميته في فهم الواقع الإجتماعى والظواهر الإنسانية بصورة عميقة وصادقة نسبة لما يوفره للباحث من وسائل تمکنه من استخدام مهاراته ومعارفه ووجهات نظره في استجلاء الحقائق وتفسير الواقع ، ولهذا تسعى الدراسة الراهنة إلى تعظيم الإستفادة من مزايا استخدام المنهج الکيفي في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية. ثانيا : مفاهيم الدراسة أ – مفهوم الإتجاه. ب- مفهوم المنهج الکيفي. ثالثا : الإجراءات المنهجية للدراسة: تنتمي هذه الدراسه وفقا لأهدافها إلى نمط الدراسات الوصفية التحليلية واستندت إلى المنهج الکمى والکيفي معا واعتمدت على طريقة المسح الإجتماعى بالعينة على عينة قوامها (78) مفردة من أعضاء هيئة التدريس (أستاذ – أستاذ مساعد – مدرس) بکليات الخدمة الإجتماعية. رابعا : نتائج الدراسة: أ‌- أکدت الدراسة على ضرورة زيادة معارف أعضاء هيئة التدريس حول فنيات ومزايا المنهج الکيفي في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية . ب‌- أشارت الدراسة إلى ضرورة الترکيز على إکساب أعضاء هيئة التدريس مهارات إستخدام مناهج البحث الکيفي في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية . ت‌- أکدت الدراسة على الإستفادة من المنهج الکيفي في تطوير بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية. ث‌- أوصت الدراسة بضرورة إجراء المزيد من الدراسات المستقبلية المعنية بتدعيم اتجاهات أعضاء هيئة التدريس نحو استخدام المنهج الکيفى في بحوث الخدمة الإجتماعية . Firstly: Study problem: The qualitative method in social research throughout its long history has not received attention such as that which it has gained during the past few years not only due to its complex nature and its intertwined components, but also to the researchers' sense in the social field of its importance in understanding the social reality and human phenomena in a deep and honest way in relation to what it provides the researcher with the means that enables him to use His skills, knowledge and views on clarifying facts and interpreting reality, and for this reason, the current study seeks to maximize the benefit from the advantages of using the qualitative approach in social work research. Secondly: The study concepts: A- Attitude. B- Qualitative Approach. Thirdly: Methodological procedures: According to its objectives, this study belongs to the pattern of descriptive analytical studies and was based on both a quantitative and qualitative approach and relied on the social survey method of the sample on a sample of (78) single faculty members (professor - Associate Professor - assistant professor) at the Faculties of Social Work. Fourthly: Study Results: A- The study emphasized the necessity of increasing the knowledge of faculty members about the techniques and advantages of the qualitative approach in social service research. B- The study indicated that it is necessary to focus on providing faculty members with the skills of using qualitative research methods in social service research. C- The study emphasized the utilization of the qualitative approach in developing social service research. D - The study recommended that more future studies concerned with supporting the faculty members' attitudes towards using the qualitative method in social service research should be conducted.

Exploring Motivators and Deterrents of Cycling Tourism Using Qualitative Social Research Methods and Participative Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Cycling tourism is an environmentally friendly way to explore a destination. Nowadays, it is becoming more and more popular worldwide, since it permits an in-depth communication both with nature and people. In this context, the aim of this paper is to explore, in detail, mainly the environmental motivators of cycling tourists, and their significance, in Greece, by using qualitative social research (in-depth interviews and focus groups) and participative analytical hierarchical process. The results show that regarding physical environment, the element which attracts cycle tourists the most is the variety of scenic views along their route. Existence of lakes, rivers and beaches were also valued. On the contrary, “Biodiversity” and “Untouched natural landscapes” were ranked low as a description of the quality of the natural environment. However, the rise of cycling tourism depends considerably on the appropriate infrastructure, namely roads with low slopes, appropriate quality of surfaces and cycling infrastructure. Planners, policy-makers, and competent authorities should give emphasis on the critical factors in order to enhance cycling tourism, thus resulting in positive multiplying effects such as environmental protection and economic growth.

John Levi Martin. Thinking through Methods: A Social Science Primer. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2017. 269p. Paper, $30.00 (ISBN 978-0-22-643172-7). LC 2016025207.

Thinking through Methods: A Social Science Primer , John Levi Martin’s new book on social science research, focuses on qualitative research methods as tools for thinking, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of social science research output. Martin, the Florence Borchert Bartling Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, undergirds his discussion of qualitative social sciences research methods with wide-ranging examples from the literature of the discipline, as he champions rigor in the work of social science research with humor and some snark.

Understanding Perceptions of the Bioeconomy in Austria—An Explorative Case Study

The bioeconomy provides new approaches to deal with environmental challenges by substituting fossil fuels for sustainable, renewable resources and fuels. In Europe, this process and discourse has mainly been driven from a strategic top-down level. This leads to a lack of inclusion of societal actors, which can consequently lead to reduced acceptance and engagement. Henceforth, in this study, we focus on exploring how the bioeconomy is perceived, understood and evaluated by a wider audience. Through convenience sampling, 456 interviews conducted with students, employees, farmers and pensioners living in Austria provide the database for the study. Due to the novelty of the study’s objective and the consequentially explorative research approach, qualitative and quantitative social science research methods are applied. The results indicate that the bioeconomy concept is associated with various themes and visions. These associated topics also have negative or positive implications. Furthermore, a division between two visions of the bioeconomy, a technology- and industry-driven vision and a vision defined by regional environmentalism, can be observed. The feasibility of a future bioeconomy identifies as the most critical aspect. Sustainable consumption was mentioned as an important topic of the bioeconomy by the participants, a result that could be of particular interest when creating an inclusive bioeconomy, since it calls for active involvement of consumers. The study also shows that responding farmers tend to believe that the bioeconomy will lead to more inequity.

Flächensparen zwischen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit. Zur Rolle von Akteuren und Steuerungsinstrumenten in Dorferneuerungsprozessen

Using the example of the Bavarian Village Renewal Programme, the article investigates which steps and instruments of the village renewal process are capable of steering actors towards a reduction of land take. Two case studies featuring different settlement pressures are analysed using methods of qualitative empirical social research. The continuing transformation of open spaces to built-up areas for settlement and transport is one of the core environmental and planning-related challenges of our time. The reduction of land take is a normative as well as a strategic goal. Particularly in rural areas, however, the divide between land take and population development continues to grow. This phenomenon is the result of decision-making processes of local and regional actors, who are actively zoning out new plots at low prices e.g. in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the intermunicipal struggle for residents and enterprises. Village renewal under the framework of the Federal Land Consolidation Act provides a broad range of instruments, including participation of local actors and landowners, expertise and planning concepts as well as funding and implementation of measures, among others through land readjustment. The article illustrates that while village-renewal processes provide various opportunities to reduce land take and to promote inner development, the objective to reduce land take is not incorporated in the instruments or existing instruments are not fully utilised to that end. The contrasting case studies illustrate how demographic, economic and institutional framework conditions are affecting the actors’ scope of action and rational. The aim of reducing land take is an aim that is desirable from a political and societal perspective. Yet when being weighed against other aims these perspectives often succumb to personal or political interests or to perspectives linked to the process of planning. Finally recommendations for the practice of village renewal and an outlook on future needs of research are given.

Linking research and practice: qualitative social science data collection at a UK comics convention

ABSTRACT The specific space of a comics convention has affected the design and methods of my qualitative social science research into readers’ readings of British comics. In this early-stage paper I first provide context to the comics convention (in this instance Thought Bubble in Leeds, UK) as a space not only for commerce and networking but also for research fieldwork. I then advance my comics-format questionnaire from my own intertwined identity as a researcher and practitioner, as an innovative data collection method that is well suited to the convention environment. Finally, in the context of the Prevent strategy’s reductive attempt to define Fundamental British Values I question whose voices are heard in defining ‘British comics’, a category for which there is no definitive list. Approaching the study of comics at the level of a medium goes beyond any single genre, format, or fandom affiliation, which have previously operated as constraints. Connecting the study of comics with sociocultural theories of language opens a connection between what readers read and how this influences their own understandings and constructions of national identity. As such I cautiously advance a critical social science approach to researching readers’ choices of what they read.

Validity issues in the application of selected qualitative social research methods

This paper investigated the validity concerns in the application of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and One-on-one Qualitative Interviews as forms of qualitative social research methods with the objective of unraveling the validity concerns embedded in their application.In order to reach this objective, theeffectiveness of qualitative social research methods – FGDs and One-on-one Qualitative Interviews– is put on the line by empirically comparing and contrasting data from two FGD sessions and one-on-one interviews to ascertain the consistency in terms of data retrieved from participants using these two data collection methods. The study is guided by the hypothesis that data obtained via FGDs may be influenced by groupthink rather than individual participant’s perspectives. A critical scrutiny of the data that emanated from the two organized FGDs departed quite significantly from the data that was elicited from the one-on-one qualitative interviews. The difference in responses confirms that FGDs are not fully insulated from the shackles of groupthink. It is recommended, among others,that though FGD can stand unilaterally as a research methodology for non-sensitive topics with no direct personal implications forparticipants; researchers should be encouraged to adopt FGD in league with other methods in a form of triangulation or mixed methodological approach for amore quality data, bearing in mind the central role occupied by data in the social scientific research process.Key Words: Focus Group Discussion, One-on-One Qualitative Interview, Social Research Methodology, Qualitative Data, and Groupthink.

Telling digital stories as feminist research and practice: A 2-day workshop with migrant women in London

In this article, we look at Digital Storytelling (DS) as a specifically feminist epistemology within qualitative social research methods. Digital Storytelling is a process allowing research participants to tell their stories in their own words through a guided creative workshop that includes the use of digital technology, participatory approaches, and co-production of personal stories. The article draws on a 2-day Digital Storytelling workshop with migrant women which was set up to understand the life stories and work trajectories of volunteers working in the women’s community and voluntary sector in London. By outlining this innovative approach, the article highlights its potential and makes a case for Digital Storytelling as a feminist approach to research while taking into account epistemological, practical, and ethical considerations.

Retorno al campamento: resistencia y melancolía en los márgenes de la ciudad formal

This paper presents the main findings of research whose objective was to explore the experience of some residents within the Chilean housing policy context. Based on previous studies, this research analyzes the processes of subjectivisation experienced by a group of residents who, despite being provided with social housing from 1980 to 2000, decided to return to their former settlements. Qualitative social research and ethnographic methods were used to compile data for two settlements located in the municipalities of Lampa and San Bernardo, Santiago, for the period 2014 to 2015. This data was analyzed from a perspective of discourse analysis. It is suggested that the repopulation of settlements is a counter-movement to subjectivation processes generated by the provision of social housing, the result being the disruption of the housing process, the idealization of the past and the yearning for different recognition and inhabiting experiences. This paper analyzes the concept of return in the two senses of resistance and failure determined by the search for an impossible place that reflects the different wishes, frustrations and conflicts common to the experience of inhabiting the borders of the formal city.

Qualitative Research for Social Workers or Social Work for Qualitative Researchers?

Deborah Padgett’s new edition of Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research significantly updates and expands her initial edition. This qualitative research text will be a welcomed addition to social work research courses. While becoming a more inclusive text with wide applicability for the research context today, the author only hints at some of the more contentious or evolving issues that continue to make the field of qualitative research challenging to traditional research approaches. Several places/issues of growth and evolution are suggested by this reviewer.

Qualitative Methods and Visualizations in the Study of Friendship Networks

One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce social relationships in a formal and comparable way. Relational matrices abstract from the hustle and bustle of everyday interaction, and systematise information in terms of presence or absence of ties expressing them in a directed or undirected, binary or valued form. While the formal approach represents an advantage of social network analysis, as it allows bracketing off the idiosyncratic and subjective content of social structures, the mathematization of the complex nature of social relationships has also been criticised for the lack of engagement with the subjective meaning and context of relationships. Such stream of critique has called for an increase of use of qualitative methods in social network research. The first goal of the paper is to address these critiques by rebalancing the argument and showing how social network analysis has always engaged with both formal and contextual aspects of social structures. The paper reviews some theoretical perspectives that discuss and systematise a mixed method approach, and explores the methodological advantages of using network visualizations together with qualitative interviews in the collection, analysis and interpretation of personal networks. The advantages of adopting a mixed method approach are illustrated over some examples of friendship networks of 23 single male and female people collected in Milan, Italy, in 2005. A classic name generator is used to reconstruct their egonets of friends, and the visualization is adopted as the input for in-depth interviews with specific attention devoted to the meaning of friendship relationships, the kind of resources they offer, the conflicts and constrains they entail, and how they have developed and evolved over time. By comparing information obtained respectively with name generators and in-depth interviews, the paper shows how the mix of data improves and specify the understanding of personal networks.

Exploration of domestic water demand attitudes using qualitative and quantitative social research methods

The sustainable evolution of the urban water system requires the recognition of uncertainty embedded in both climate and human behaviour. A challenge that water managers and policy makers need to tackle, is to understand the way the society’s water demand behaviour is affected. The inaccuracy between attitudes and behaviours and the cognitive association of water use to living standards, hinders the projection of society’s response to management’s measures. Thus, it is necessary to identify leverage points, where water demand management policies should aim their efforts. This work presents two parts of a social research held in Athens: quantitative questionnaire gathering information regarding the domestic water demand attitudes and behaviours; and a series of qualitative interviews aimed at exploring in-depth, the domestic water use attitudes, and behaviours. This work presents the design and results of both methods and the combination of the quantitative results with insights from the qualitative work.

Ideas in Action: Teaching Qualitative Analytic Methods in Social Work Research through the Analysis of Song Lyrics

This article describes the innovative use of a pop culture source-song lyrics to augment the teaching of qualitative methods in social work research. The use of pop culture sources as learning tools in the MSW curriculum has the potential to enhance the learning experience for students. These techniques have not been applied in the content of MSW research classes. This approach could be advantageous over other typical data sources because it is more accessible to students while also being reflective of a collective identity of people in society. Future work should assess student and educator responses to this pedagogical approach.

Spatial Citizenship education and digital geomedia: composing competences for teacher education and training

Based on the idea of Spatial Citizenship, which endeavours to promote individuals' maturity and participation in the geospatial society, we focus on teachers' competence in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) teaching and learning. By employing methods of qualitative social research, we have determined the dimensions and structures of Spatial Citizenship competence which, in turn, were used to create a Spatial Citizenship competence model for teacher education and training. In light of the derived competence framework, we argue for a shift in learning with GIS from the expert-based view to the everyday non-expert use of digital geomedia.