Qualitative research methods

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS(primary)

  • interviewer is free to vary the questions, their wording or order as seems appropriate to the situation , can produce rich, detailed, qualitative data that give an insight into the meanings and life-world of the interviewee

PRACTICAL ISSUES:

  • informality allows interviewer to develop a rapport which helps put interviewee at ease & encourage them to open up
    • cost & time - training needs to be more thorough - needs to have a background in sociology to recognise important points and effectively probe with further questioning
    • time- take s several hours each which limits the number that can be carried out (small sample)
    • time- produce large amounts of data which takes time to transcribe
    • easy for interviewer and interviewee to check they have both understood each others meanings.

ETHICAL ISSUES:

  • harm- more in-depth data so harmful if it got into the wrong hands

THEORETICAL ISSUES: - valid data as it involves experiences and meanings. through rapport, we can see the world in their eyes

POSITIVISTS: argue they are not reliable as they aren't standardised measuring instruments as each interview is unique

OBSERVATIONS(primary)

NON-PARTICIPANT :researcher observes group without taking part


PARTICIPANT: researcher takes part in the life of the group while observing it


OVERT: researcher reveals their true identity and purpose to those being studied and asks their permission to observe


COVERT: researcher conceals their true identity and purpose, usually posing as a genuine member of the group.

PRACTICAL ISSUES:

  • insight- allows us to put ourselves in their place (allows to gain VERSTEHEN, empathy, through first hand experience)
  • ACCESS Sometimes participant observations may be the only suitable method for accessing and studying certain groups. EG Groups that engage in deviant activities may be suspicious of outsider who come asking questions, but more willing to cooperate with someone who seeks to share their way of life
  • FELIXIBLE
    -researcher needs to be sociologically trained so they recognise the aspects of a situation that are significant and worth investigating and requires observational skills
  • may be personally stressful and sometimes dangerous
    -Powerful groups may be able to prevent sociologists participating in them. This is one reason why participant observation often focuses on relatively powerless groups - they are less able to resist being studied

ETHICAL ISSUES: -

  • (COVERT) -unethical to deceive people in order to obtain information by pretending to be their friend or ‘in the same boat’ as them.
    -Covert observers may have to lie about why they are leaving the group at the end of the research. Others simply abandon the group without explanation.

OVERT:

  • Close personal attachments can lead to researchers going native resulting in condoning ethically unacceptable behaviour
  • As witnesses to immoral or illegal activities, both overt and covert researchers may have a moral or legal duty to intervene or to report them to the police, therefore blowing cover

THEORETICAL ISSUES:

  • participant observations = valid, insightful data obtained through high involvement levels.
  • flexibility of participant observation also helps to valid data
  • hawthorn effect

OVERT:

  • Because the researcher is known to be an outsider they do not need any special knowledge or personal characteristics to join
  • researcher can take notes openly and does not have to rely on memory
  • group may refuse to let an outsider join them, or may prevent them witnessing certain activities
  • risks creating the hawthorne effect, where those who know they are being observed behave differently as a result

COVERT:

  • researcher must keep up an act. This can be stressful, especially if it involves staying in role for long periods
  • researcher may need detailed knowledge of the group’s way of life before joining, and characteristics that allow them to fit in
  • researcher usually has to rely on memory and write notes in secret

When positivists use observational methods, they generally favour structured non-participant observation as its quicker, more representative and you can remain detached.

DOCUMENTS (secondary)

  • Documents include written texts - diaries, letters, e-mails, SMS texts, internet pages, novels etc and other texts - paintings, drawings, photographs, maps etc.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS: government documents that have been released e.g OFSTED reports


PERSONAL DOCUMENTS: first-person accounts of social events and personal experiences and often include the writer’s feelings and attitudes EG letters, diaries


HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS :simply personal or public documents created in the past

PRACTICAL ISSUES:

  • a free or cheap source of large amounts of data, because someone else has already gathered the information
  • using existing documents saves the sociologist time
  • not always possible to gain access to them
  • may not be relevant as created for their own purpose, not sociologists

ETHICAL ISSUES: - (personal & historical) : informed consent, invasion of privacy, confidentiality HOWEVER there may be an ethical defence of the use of such data if this can be justified as serving the public interest

THEORETICAL ISSUES:

  • Positivists regard documents as unreliable sources of data. Documents are not standardised. For example, every person's diary is unique, compiled in its own way according to the writer’s own meanings and concerns
    • Documents may be unrepresentative as some groups may not be represented in documents.
    • Validity - Interpretivists believe documents can give the researcher a valid picture of actors’ meanings