Close
Ideal-type analysis: A method for developing typologies from qualitative data
Seminar details
Emily Stapley gave our QHRN seminar on the 28th September 2022.
Title: Ideal-type analysis: A method for developing typologies from qualitative data.
Date: Wednesday 28th September 2022.
Time: 15:00-16:00 (UK time)
Abstract
Ideal-type analysis is a qualitative method for analysing data to construct typologies in research. Ideal-type analysis is a flexible method that can be used with a diverse range of qualitative data sources, including interviews/focus group transcripts, case notes, field notes and observations. This approach has also been used to make sense of complex datasets, including longitudinal qualitative data, data from multiple perspectives, and data collected with mixed methods. Ideal-type analysis involves sorting the cases (participants) in the dataset into clusters of similar cases, identifying ‘optimal’ cases that best represent those clusters, and then forming ideal-type descriptions. Each type, or cluster of similar cases, in an ideal-type analysis is formed through the systematic comparison of individual participants with each other. The approach is distinctive among qualitative methods, and offers something different to either case study or thematic approaches - it provides a means for the researcher to retain a focus on the individual participant’s experience, as well as on the patterns that exist across the dataset, and within and between groups in the dataset. In this workshop, we will present ideal-type analysis as an approach to constructing typologies in qualitative research.
Biography
Dr Emily Stapley is a Senior Research Fellow in the Evidence Based Practice Unit (EBPU; Anna Freud Centre and UCL). Emily’s research interests are in exploring young people and families’ lived experiences of mental health difficulties, coping, and receiving support. Emily has expertise in conducting qualitative and mixed methods research. Emily’s doctoral research at UCL examined the lived experiences of parents of adolescents diagnosed with and receiving therapy for depression at child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the UK. Emily’s current research focuses on evaluating preventive interventions seeking to promote mental health and wellbeing in young people and families.
Dr Sally O Keeffe is a Research Fellow in the School of Health Sciences at City, University of London. Sally has worked on clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of psychological interventions, including treatments for depression and self-harm. Sally is particularly interested in the use of mixed methods to explore how interventions work and what works for whom. Sally's PhD was a mixed methods investigation into psychotherapy dropout in adolescents with a diagnosis of depression. Sally is currently working on a research programme to develop a brief psychological intervention for people presenting to emergency departments having self-harmed.
Dr Nick Midgley is Professor of Psychological Therapies for Children and Young People at UCL. He is co-director of the Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit (ChAPTRe) at UCL / Anna Freud Centre, and has worked on a range of research projects focused on the development and evaluation of therapeutic interventions for young people, including treatments for depression in adolescence (the IMPACT study). Nick is currently leading an NIHR-funded evaluation of the Reflective Fostering Programme (2020-23), aimed at improving the emotional wellbeing of children in foster care.
Watch the recording