Jean talks about the importance of qualitative research and why he writes poetry
Jean Paul Ramírez Echavarría, our newest graduate research assistant, shares the power of qualitative research in understanding the human experience.
What work are you involved in with Hey Neighbour?
I’m working with a key partner of HNC, the Building Resilient Neighbourhoods team, to help them code qualitative data as part of their impact evaluation. In my undergraduate research, and in my current work with Aging In the Right Place (AIRP), I’ve done a lot of coding. I really like it because you can bring your own subjectivity to the research, categories of knowledge, and frameworks. The kind of coding I do is not web coding– in this type of qualitative coding, we take a chunk of data– i.e. an interview, report, or survey–and identify little pieces of analytical information that we can then analyze.
For example, if an interview participant made the statement, “I really like living here!” or, “I’m so lucky to live in this place,” you could code those for “gratitude” for being in the place and from that, you can create categories and identify themes. We might find, after interviewing several residents, that there’s a large density of gratitude, or an expressed desire to have more social space in the building.
Coding is the first step to filter analytical categories of data. As the researcher, you get to decide what those categories are, all while being faithful to what people say, so that it’s grounded in their experience. Some say that qualitative research isn’t as rigorous as quantitative, but it’s actually quite rigorous, systematic, and time-consuming. For me, it’s very worth the time!
Why is qualitative research so important?
Qualitative research is especially important in social sciences because most of the information you receive from people cannot be measured with numbers. You have to find other ways to explain a phenomenon or what something means to someone else. Qualitative analysis is a great way to “listen” to what people have to say. At the end of the day, it’s our work as researchers to show that to the world.
I’ve always tried to amplify the voices of people and be a soundboard for them. They are the ones with lived experience. As a researcher, we’re doing our work for them! The data comes from them and goes back to them in the form of policies or other decision-making, so it’s important that we listen carefully.
Where did your interest in qualitative research come from?
Since my time as a psychology undergraduate in Colombia, I’ve been interested in research and working with people. I’m very socially oriented! The psychology program was very focused on health science from a hard data point of view (spreadsheets, numbers), but I was more interested in psychology as a social science, from a human point of view. I found a research group focusing on environmental and social psychology that did a lot of qualitative research, so I started working with them and fell in love with the method. At my university, we were required to complete three internships and I always chose to work with community groups.
In one research group, we worked a lot with people to understand how the places they lived in affected who they are, what they do, how they think, what and how they feel. This was in the midst of COVID, which presented an interesting aspect to the research, because so many people in the area we were researching had to relocate due to the pandemic. The disruption of their physical spaces affected their identity. This is the what led me to the work I’m doing now with AIRP: understanding how the places people live in reflect who they are and how their built environment can support them to fully express their identity and sense of self.
Why is it important that we listen to what older adults have to say?
I think it’s important for older adults to be seen and heard; they are one of the largest unheard voices in society right now. For me, it’s important that we understand what helps keep their independence, be empowered to be themselves, and stay connected.
What’s been something surprising you’ve found through your research?
It’s still so surprising to me how much the places you live in and go to forge who you are. That might be a no-brainer for someone studying environmental science, but the extent to which that has been true in my research surprised me.
When people talk about themselves in relation to the places they live in or find meaningful, they talk about aspects of their identity in relation to it. Someone might say, “This cafe is great because I get to see my friends here and talk.” The physical space or some part of it is important, but often, it’s what that space symbolizes to a person and how that shapes their identity.
What is the work you’re doing with Aging In the Right Place?
We are conducting environmental assessments of different programs and practices to understand how they help folks age in the right place, particularly for those who may be lower income, housing insecure, or with past experiences of homelessness. It’s particularly important work because the percentage of people who have experienced homelessness grows each year, and is projected to grow in the coming years. We know older adults experience homelessness more than younger people, so it’s important that we investigate what helps people age well, in the right place. It’s a lot of evaluation and assessment work, both from a quantitative and qualitative standpoint. We’re also using photovoice to capture data.
Tell us more about photovoice, what is it?
Photo voice is a type of research technique where the interviewee or study participant takes pictures of things that are meaningful for them and then they tell us why. It’s one way for us to better understand what’s important to them and the data end up being so interesting.
It’s also highly valuable in participatory research because it encourages research participants to actively engage in the process. They have a central role in deciding what to explore and how to express their views, essentially co-researching. They have a say in what they want us to say, so I really think it empowers them and they own their perspective and opinions.
Why is all of this important to you?
I’ve always wanted to work with communities in general but I didn’t know where to focus. As I delved into qualitative research and got more involved with the environmental and social psychology group in my undergraduate program, I realized I wanted to do something that had to do with the places people lived in.
Colombia is also very intergenerational, and that has definitely shaped my interest in aging and older adults. We have big families and communities, households of 10 or more with grandparents, aunts, and uncles all living under one roof. There’s a culture of respecting our elders, they hold high positions within the family structure.
And I’ve always liked the idea of amplifying voices! Academia can be elitist, with a worldview that science is for the people who understand it. But science is for everybody and should be more accessible! Older adults in the aging community are a group that doesn’t have the best representation in the research. We don’t think of older adults as much as we should.
What are your interests outside of work?
I’ve been writing little things that I like to believe will be poetry someday! I have such respect for the genre, it’s very important to me. I love Latino poets! There’s one Mexican poet called Homero Aridjis and he writes great, simple poetry. I’m very inspired by his work. He talks a lot about Latin-American culture, the people he’s loved, and his family. I love writing poetry about love, and I love writing for people. I write a poem every week for my husband!
Art, for me, is a way to understand the real world. When I make art, I want to be faithful to the things I’m seeing, without copying it directly. It has to have a feeling and a sentiment. That’s why I love Vancouver so much! There are so many things happening at the same time. I love people-watching and observing the things they do. I enjoy writing stories about how people move and act and how the places around them look, the way the sun hits a building. It’s a little escape from work and research but also involves a bit of those areas of my life.
We have a big dancing culture in Latin America, you dance yes or yes! There is no option to withdraw from dancing. Dancing is very important to me and a great way to connect with people. In the suburbs of Medellín, especially around the holidays, the streets are closed for parties, so everyone is dancing and eating. It’s a large part of my culture. In Vancouver, it’s not as prevalent, but I’m still trying to find spaces for dance. Dance is a beautiful thing, you don’t have to speak the same language to do it: it crosses intersectionalities!
