Enhancing Description and Interpretation of Qualitative Interviews With People With Intellectual Disabilities Through Nonverbal and Paraverbal Data Collection and Analysis

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to enhance qualitative research with people with intellectual disabilities by analyzing nonverbal and paraverbal communication alongside verbal data.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel method for transcribing and analyzing nonverbal and paraverbal data to enrich qualitative research outcomes.

Findings

Nonverbal and paraverbal data added depth and accuracy to the interpretation of participants' experiences.

Triangulating verbal, nonverbal, and paraverbal data revealed new insights and expanded understanding.

Using symbols and descriptions to capture nonverbal communication improved the richness of research data.

Abstract

Qualitative research involving interviews typically includes transcribing verbal data. However, insights about meaning can also be ascertained from nonverbal and paraverbal communications. Transcribing nonverbal data allows researchers to include and analyze this additional data whilst ensuring participants' confidentiality.

Six participants with intellectual disabilities were interviewed using Talking Mats as a communication tool to support data collection. The verbal, nonverbal, and paraverbal data were transcribed using a notation system and analysed using triangulation.

Most of the nonverbal communications corroborated the spoken word; however, nonverbal and paraverbal communication also captured additional information, which added depth, shared understanding, and expanded the insights into the research process or refuted the spoken word, which in turn provided new insights.

This paper presents a method to analyse verbal, nonverbal and paraverbal data to provide depth and new or more accurate meaning and highlights benefits of including nonverbal communication in research.

As well as speech, body movements, facial expressions and the way that something is said (e.g., tone, pace and pauses) can provide important information about how people with intellectual disabilities feel about their past experiences and preferences for their future.Symbols and brief descriptions can be used to capture nonverbal communications.When nonverbal communication and the way something is said is merged with what is said, it can make data collected for research richer, more accurate, and more meaningful, thereby allowing the findings to accurately reflect the participant's experiences.

As well as speech, body movements, facial expressions and the way that something is said (e.g., tone, pace and pauses) can provide important information about how people with intellectual disabilities feel about their past experiences and preferences for their future.

Symbols and brief descriptions can be used to capture nonverbal communications.

When nonverbal communication and the way something is said is merged with what is said, it can make data collected for research richer, more accurate, and more meaningful, thereby allowing the findings to accurately reflect the participant's experiences.

Figures