Qualitative data in demography

Abstract

Qualitative methods and insights from other disciplines are increasingly integrated into demography's traditionally quantitative toolkit. Whereas this is not problematic for multidisciplinary research projects difficulties may arise when quantitatively trained demographers diversify to use less familiar data collection tools. We review the scale of this recent trend and the choice of qualitative methods typically employed by demographic researchers. Using insights from a comparative qualitative study undertaken in Zimbabwe and Senegal, we discuss some problems inherent in qualitative data collection and analysis and propose ways in which such data should and should not be used. Focussing in particular on semi-structured in-depth interviews, we discuss issues of representativity, investigate respondents' silence on specific topics, and the role of interviewer characteristics in influencing the interview subject matter.

Childbearing in Italy and Spain: Postponement Narratives

“…Demographers have primarily addressed postponement by scrutinizing individuals' fertility ideals or desires and intentions looking at associations between these and their socioeconomic characteristics and circumstances, as well as the welfare regimes and cultural context of their societies. In much of the previous research, access to the voices of those who are postponing has often been limited to a small number of survey items, although there are notable exceptions (Randall and Koppenhaver 2004;White, Judd, and Poliandri 2012;Bernardi, Klärner, and Von der Lippe 2008;Brinton et al 2018) and renewed interest in combining qualitative research with quantitative demographic analysis (Randall and Koppenhaver 2004). Here, we take a different approach and analyze women's accounts derived from semistructured qualitative interviews with Italian and Spanish women aged 30-35 in well-established heterosexual relationships who are either sure that they want children but "not yet" or who are ambivalent and oscillate within their accounts between futures with and without children.…”

Measuring remittances through surveys

“…Thus, even if the researcher has no ambition to conduct a mixed-method project that includes qualitative data collection, he or she will often need to draw upon insights from qualitative research to design the surveys appropriately. (For comprehensive discussions on the integration of surveys and qualitative data in demography, see Coast, Hampshire, and Randall 2007;Randall and Koppenhaver 2004;and Schatz 2012. ) Conducting a survey is no guarantee that the researcher will reap the potential benefits of collecting individual-level information; it simply opens up opportunities.…”

Sektor Zaposlenosti Žena I Fertilitet U Hrvatskoj

“…U novije vrijeme u demografiji ovaj tip istraživanja dobiva na važnosti (Randall i Koppenhaver, 2004.). Dubinski intervjui imaju nekoliko korisnih osobina (Knodel, 1997.).…”