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Primary data collection (A focus group is a panel of 6-10 respondents led…
Primary data collection
Qualitative Interviews-
if the objective of your study is to detect meanings respondents attach to a phenomenon. When conducted with an individual= in-depth interview, with a group of people = focus group interview.
Semi-structured interviews - start with rather specific questions but allows the interviewee to follow his or her own thoughts later on.
Unstructured interviews - start with the respondent’s narrative and may not have any specific question or topic list to be covered.
Both allows the respondent to turn the interview in different directions and to come up with new sub-topics that the researcher has not through about beforehand.
Learn the respondent's viewpoint regarding situations with a memory list or interview guide
Structured interviews - useful if the goal is to describe or explain, but they do not allow you to explore a topic as the Q&A choices for the respondents are predefined by the researcher.
Provide valid and reliable measurements of theoretical concepts using questionnaires
Unclear terms pose a more serious threat in structured interviews as some respondents will not report that terms are unclear and as interviewers often clarify terms in a way that differs from the researcher’s intention.
In an unstructured interview,
the interviewer has more demands
to be an expert in the field of study
1) The interviewer has to direct the interview if the respondents deviate from the interview topic. Need to decide when to let the respondent continue or stop to redirect the interview. You cannot make such a decision if you have no knowledge on the topic.
2) The interviewer needs to be able to probe further questions if needed, deciding if what you have heard is sufficient enough or not.
3) Respondents often expect you to be an expert. They do not like wasting time talking to people who do not know anything about the topic.
4) Need to be able to be an active listener and establish trust and a good atmosphere for respondents.
A focus group is a panel of 6-10 respondents led by a moderator who meet for 1-2 hours to exchange ideas, feelings or experiences on a specific topic.
next to individual contributions of participants’, the interaction and dynamics between them are important too.
organised for efficiency reasons, to get quick responses of various respondents.
Advantages: Enabling the researcher to observe interaction between respondents, helps in detecting different views on a topic and it is a cost-and-time effective approach to obtain information from a group of people.
Disadvantages : Requiring a well-trained moderator, individuals may dominate the group and some may be reluctant to speak up or remain in their role.
if members are too similar, discussions might not emerge and assumptions shared among them remain unsaid. Heterogenous groups lead to more argumentative interactions. It works best if participants are still open to each other and can find some common ground.
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Online focus groups- Synchronous meetings- participants meet at the same time
Asynchronous meetings do not require immediate interaction online at the same time. people can schedule their participating according to their own agenda.
Online focus groups automatically generate recordings and even transcripts.
The virtual environment provides a perceived anonymity, which creates a large openness.
However, it reduces communication to content only, leaving out facial expressions and vocal intonations.
Participant observation- researcher becomes a part of the participant’s world and can develop a feeling of how they understand and give meaning to it.
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Step 2: Secure and train observers and participants (Gain access to participants)
Usually using convenience and snowball sampling.
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The observer-participant relationship
1) does the observer takes an active part in the life of the participant or observes the participants actions distantly? Balancing the role of observation and participation is crucial to ensure that involvement does not drive the actions of others and that the researcher’s view and interpretation is not manipulated by the interests of the observed.
2) is the observer concealed or not (whether the participant knows or realizes that they are being observed).It becomes an ethical issue as often participants will not have given their consent and will not have knowledge of or access to findings.