At 10:49 23-11-01 -0000, you (=Sarah Delaney) wrote:
>sometimes I wonder whether even using the term 'sampling' with all it's
>connotations can be construed as attempting to 'live up' to a quant
>standard, when really qual should be setting it's own. What does 'sampling'
>mean? How relevant is it to the qual endeavour when it is so associated
>with the positivistic tradition that you have explain for hours to someone
>why qualitative sampling is different?
>
>does this make any sense?
Yes, I think it does. 'Sampling' suggests a population of researchable
'objects' with variable 'properties' (i.e. variables) which is too large to
be studied in full, so one studies a sample from that population in order
to estimates of distributions of and statistical relationships between
those variables. Now a lot of 'qualitative' research uses this rather
'quantitative' language in whole or in part. For instance, in the 'grounded
theory' approach the language of variables is used without any discussion
of its specific features and limitations. Similarly for 'sampling' in other
qualitative contexts. For many qualitative studies, the 'population' that
is studied is made up of individuals, for others it is 'organizations' of a
specific type. But does it make sense to talk about a 'population' if the
object of study is 'a culture', or 'language use' or 'solving software
problems'?
To my mind, the conventional language of variables, samples etc. does not
fit all types of qualitative research. It depends on the concepts,
frameworks, etc. one uses. Ultimately, one's 'theoretical object' should be
the starting point for one's choice in these matters. Taking off from that
point, various kinds of data selection may be considered, for instance to
maximize variation within the set, or to limit variation to specific
contrastive subtypes. Furthermore, the treatment of deviant cases deserves
a well-reasoned choice of strategy.
Etc. !
My 2 euro cents...
Paul
Paul ten Have, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology,
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam.
O.Z. Achterburgwal 185, 1012 DK Amsterdam, the Netherlands
http://www.pscw.uva.nl/emca/index.htm
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