WEBVTT Kind: captions; language: en-us NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 72% (MEDIUM) 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:13.300 Hey, good morning everybody. Welcome to the second lecture about qualitative research. Today we will 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:22.299 talk about the fundament of doing qualitative research. The fundamental skill of every researcher: 00:00:22.299 --> 00:00:29.850 observation. Observing is not just seeing, it is not a neutral NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:39.500 action. Our gaze, our way of selecting part of reality to observe, is actually a socially and 00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:50.000 culturally guided act. The gaze, our look is not innocent. It is not naive and we 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:59.700 must be aware of it. So, what we will, you will find in Canvas for this lecture. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 88% (HØY) 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:09.400 This time, it will be not an excessive workload. And we hopefully will be also bit funny. First of 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:21.300 all, you will find a short video in which you can test your observation skills. Then you will find 00:01:21.300 --> 00:01:28.900 an article. My article called Caravaggio's the seven works of mercy and the art of generalization. You will 00:01:28.900 --> 00:01:29.850 probably find NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 73% (MEDIUM) 00:01:29.850 --> 00:01:43.200 a bit awkward this this article, because is not only about qualitative research, but I hope you 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:50.800 will enjoy the reading. And finally, you will find an optional video if you want to play a little 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:59.900 bit again on your observation skills. Okay, so it's kind of giving you some feedback. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 83% (HØY) 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:12.000 On your skill to observe. So first of all, what do we mean by observation? If you 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:21.600 look at the textbook definition of observation in social sciences, you will find similar definition 00:02:21.600 --> 00:02:28.400 similar to this. Observation is looking often systematically and noting systematically people, 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:29.850 events, behaviours, NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 80% (HØY) 00:02:29.850 --> 00:02:41.200 settings, artifacts, routine and so on. But I will add so on and so what. So what if we think 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:49.800 about this definition. The first thing that you'll notice is observation is looking. So the 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:59.750 idea is that when we observe we mainly use our gaze. Well, I will say that we use our self, so NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 87% (HØY) 00:02:59.750 --> 00:03:09.600 observation is not just about looking. If you remember the methodology lecture, I said that the 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:18.400 researcher is the first research tool. So observing means being immersed in a context. So you 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:26.400 only observe with your eyes, but with all the five senses and this is very important. The 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:30.800 second key word in this definition is systematically. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:03:31.700 --> 00:03:44.350 As the researcher starting point is educated intuition. Here the starting point is our educated 00:03:44.350 --> 00:03:54.100 capability to observe. Educated means that we are not naive observer. That observation is like a 00:03:54.100 --> 00:03:59.900 muscle. It must be trained systematically. The more you train NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 75% (MEDIUM) 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:07.900 it, the more it becomes powerful and more it becomes a tool in your hand for studying 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:17.899 the phenomena. Systematically and we will see in the following means also that 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:26.700 research establishes some specific procedures. And here we go to the method, observation as a 00:04:26.700 --> 00:04:29.799 method. We establish a specific procedures NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 83% (HØY) 00:04:29.799 --> 00:04:42.500 in order to provide reliability and validity to our observations. Then what we want to 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:52.700 observe. So, again, as you remember from the methodological cycle, the portion of phenomena that we 00:04:52.700 --> 00:04:59.850 select for our study is not a neutral choice. So again, what you observe is a NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 86% (HØY) 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:06.500 matter choice and it's a matter of choice concerning our research question, but also our theory 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:18.300 and our assumptions. Of course we can observe what is observable. So we can observe what we 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:28.700 can perceive through our senses, what can hear what we can see. But when we talk 00:05:28.700 --> 00:05:29.799 about observation NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 82% (HØY) 00:05:29.799 --> 00:05:37.700 systematically, well also what does not happen is important to be observed and depending on the 00:05:37.700 --> 00:05:46.400 approach, we can have different objects of observation, but people do something that happens 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:56.549 for instance, the frequency of the events, some behaviors, but also some practices, some routines, 00:05:56.549 --> 00:05:59.799 some specific places in some NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:05:59.799 --> 00:06:06.300 specific times of the day. Like for instance, imagine that you are observing a square, a public Square 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:14.700 in the town. What you will see in this public square would be completely different. The 00:06:14.700 --> 00:06:21.350 events, the people occupying the square will completely different in the different times 00:06:21.350 --> 00:06:29.750 of the day. So again, our our gaze, our observation is an active NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:06:29.750 --> 00:06:33.700 selection of portion of reality. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 80% (HØY) 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:47.400 Another important point about observation. Why do we observe? Let's try to make a little 00:06:47.400 --> 00:06:55.900 guess. What do you think this man is doing or thinking? We probably can guess different 00:06:55.900 --> 00:07:02.799 things. He's dying, is dreaming, is drunk, he's probably sick. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 89% (HØY) 00:07:02.799 --> 00:07:11.500 Why we cannot attribute one specific condition to this woman, to this man. What are we 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:22.100 missing? What are we missing is the context. So we observe in real life because we need to observe 00:07:22.100 --> 00:07:29.250 phenomena in there making, so in the context of they're making. If we take off. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:07:29.250 --> 00:07:40.100 human experience of the context, we cannot fully understand it. So what is the method of 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:51.200 observation? The method of observation is a construction. Since the very early times of painting 00:07:51.200 --> 00:07:58.600 painters have been using tools to constructor the field of observation. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 76% (HØY) 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:06.600 When we see a wonderful painting, we imagine the painter just in front of the canvas 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:13.700 painting free hand, but actually that's not true. The painters always have been using some 00:08:13.700 --> 00:08:22.550 instruments and tools to structure the field of observation. So, observation is the process of 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:29.600 selecting and structuring a phenomenological field in relation to our research objective. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 80% (HØY) 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:44.350 No, let's come to todays reading. What are the key points in in the article I gave you. The first 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:55.600 key concept is that again observation is a construction and that to, I use the example of painting to 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.400 show you that we don't just perceive reality as it is. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 75% (MEDIUM) 00:08:59.400 --> 00:09:08.150 Our perception is a construction of meaning. So when we observe, we are constructing 00:09:08.150 --> 00:09:19.000 some meaning that we generalize. So, from our observation, we also construct abstractions. And 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:27.400 then we will use this abstractions. This abstract concepts back to understand reality. So this is 00:09:27.400 --> 00:09:29.349 the first NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 83% (HØY) 00:09:29.349 --> 00:09:36.500 point and this is exactly what we do in qualitative research. Actually what we do in all kinds 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:48.200 of research, but in qualitative research, this process is explicit. And is self-reflexive. The 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:57.200 second key concept is what I call the zone of potential estrangement. There are a lot of parallels 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.300 between art and qualitative research. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 82% (HØY) 00:10:01.300 --> 00:10:11.350 The first point is that observing, as I said, is not neutral. It is construction of meaning, which is 00:10:11.350 --> 00:10:20.500 situated in a specific social and historical context. So our values, for instance, guide our 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:21.950 observation. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 90% (HØY) 00:10:21.950 --> 00:10:30.600 So, it's not just a perception of something of reality. It's not just merely an induction. But when 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:42.500 we observe, we put things into relationship. We observe patterns and patterns are construction of 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:51.500 systems of meaning. The second point is what is the second parallel point between 00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:52.300 art and research. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 79% (HØY) 00:10:52.300 --> 00:11:03.400 art is not just representing reality. What the artist does is to observe a part of 00:11:03.400 --> 00:11:11.900 reality to create a work of art, which is not just a representation. It's not just a photograph of 00:11:11.900 --> 00:11:21.900 the reality, but it is his own interpretation of reality, and sometimes also his own interpretation of NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 74% (MEDIUM) 00:11:22.300 --> 00:11:31.600 what is not visible in the reality, or his own interpretation of what people feel, experience in a 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:42.900 given situation. So the the artist is creating a meaning construction of what has been observing of 00:11:42.900 --> 00:11:52.349 his experience and is giving us his interpretation in the form of the work of art and this NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 76% (HØY) 00:11:52.349 --> 00:12:01.000 interpretation is some how creating a space between the phenomena reality and the interpretation. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:10.400 The space in between. So the reality seen through the eyes of the artist is giving us the potential 00:12:10.400 --> 00:12:17.100 to understand something new about the phenomenal. This is exactly what qualitative research 00:12:17.100 --> 00:12:22.300 does. Here research create the zone of potential estrangement. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:12:22.300 --> 00:12:30.400 So the zone in between reality and it's representation that gives us the possibility of 00:12:30.400 --> 00:12:38.200 understand something more and something new about the phenomenon. So these are the main points of 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:47.000 today reading. Just want you to remember please post your reflection and questions on the forum. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:52.300 And we will discuss them back in classroom. NOTE Treffsikkerhet: 91% (HØY) 00:12:52.300 --> 00:12:54.500 Thank you very much.