EK313 Week 17/unit 15 Inventing Adulthoods
chapter 13 & Interview
Was going to be 3 years but 16 years!!
4 studies
research questions changed as evolved
respect for moral authority? (1st study)
vilified in press
what is the real narrative?
how growing up (2nd study)
various aspects, home, leisure, work etc
ability to shape their own lives
2010 just NI
at time we thought no gaps. Hindsight, if known following same kids so long would have set some questions at start that could be revisited eg"how feel about adulthood'
limitation - didn't know be continuing. So just analysed the data they had.
limitations: technology not working; 5 researchers with different styles of interviewing...mars standardisation
anonymity/ privacy important yet challenging
'drown in data'
how store? how manage?
The Inventing Adulthoods project provides a rich and detailed insight into the day-to-day lives and experiences of young people across the UK over an extended period of time (10 to 14 years). As Henderson points out, the overall research project developed over time – initially, the team had funding to carry out a mixed-method study, using a quantitative approach (1,800 questionnaires) and following these up with a more qualitative approach (62 focus-group interviews and 57 one-to-one interviews). The first phase of the project focused on young peoples’ identities. It looked at how their moral world views were formed and how these differed according to age, gender, ethnicity, faith, social class, family formation and location. In Unit 13, Section 4, you learned more about the need for a set of 'clear, answerable, interconnected and relevant' (Punch, 2005) research questions. The way that this project evolved from one discreet project into three further projects prevented the research team from being able to identify a clear set of research questions early on.
mixed methods
qualitative
As with any large-scale research study involving a group of researchers, the Inventing Adulthoods team needed to take into account the different perspectives and experiences of all the members of the team and acknowledge the effect that these human differences could have on the data collected. A second, and important, consideration involved how the team actually managed the amount of data generated – as the number of completed interviews increased, the need for a reliable software programme to store and manage the data became more important.
Henderson also considers the extremely important issue of gaining consent from participants, and explains how consent was gained from all participants in the Inventing Adulthoods study every time a new research phase was begun. The research team offered anonymity to the participants but needed to renegotiate this with the individuals involved in the making of the film clip. In summary,ethical considerations within this longitudinal study were not viewed as a one-off process, but rather as a continual set of actions focusing on the well-being of the participants
important to consider the effect that participant drop-out might have on the data set and subsequent analysis. eg. Leanne, who dropped out of the study after a few interviews, but then came back in after a few years' break. Fortunately the study was sufficiently flexible to be able to allow for this break in involvement, but a research study with a smaller number of participants and a more rigid research design might not have been able to manage a drop-out or, indeed, a drop-back-in..
VIDEO of participants
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Only one hour every 9 months. I think that's OK.
Thicko (oops disabled) admits only did it to get out of lessons...will staff have picked the good kids? Or all invited.
Sheila PICKING 5...mmm?
negotiated consent at each interview...guaranteed anonymity but OU av their real names. They knew that.
Retention a problem. Leanne left, but returned.
Good/ important to hear their perspectives not just press narrative.
Matt & Elli both admit study has forced them to reflect on their lives (I think they're saying this is good)
Involvement in any research may force a research participant to confront potentially difficult issues but, in longitudinal research, a research team asks participants to confront these issues time and time again.
MM comment say it's good but also admits....
‘The qualitative longitudinal case history – practical, methodological and ethical reflections’
Rachel Thomson paper
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‘analysis of a wave of data’ = dissection one chunk of data
‘diachronic analysis’= comparing more than one set of data taken from various times/ longitudinal/over time (from the latin Chrono/ time, eg chronological and dia as in dialogue. I presumed dia=2 but means 'through/ across')
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"moving away from the idea of an illustrative case study towards the idea of an exploratory case history. Where the aim of the former is to summarise events and actions, the aim of the latter is to interrogate how and why events and actions took place as they did." p.573
". . .the individual becomes an object of enquiry in their own right and not simply illustrative material to flesh out findings established elsewhere." p.573
"The challenges associated with secondary analysis of qualitative data have begun to be debated with opinion dividing on a range of issues including the difficulties involved in recreating context, the role of the original researcher and the protection of participants. As Henderson and colleagues (2007b) point out, both the problems and possibilities of secondary analysis are amplified with a qualitative longitudinal data set." p.578/9
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"Some qualitative longitudinal researchers make a positive decision not to use individual case studies in published work (Wierenga, 2002), however we have been determined to find a way of doing so that was respectful to all concerned." p.579
challenge? forgo surely means OK to divulge identity? Or do they mean drop out???
"The possibility that participants may opt to forgo confidentiality is one of the most challenging aspects of the growing popularity of visual methods and sociologists are having to review their own ethical investments in the light of different approaches in other disciplines (Kemper and Royce, 2002; Pink, 2001)." p.579
The concept of ‘perspective’ was also seen as important in helping to understand the data, as it became apparent that peoples’ perspectives (be they a research participant or member of the research team) changed over time. That is not to say that this invalidated the emerging findings – rather, it helped to provide another layer of understanding and meaning making.
MM
reading Thomson’s analysis of her life story and situation was, in Karin’s eyes, 'cringe-worthy' and somewhat difficult. Had Karin known what Thomson would say about her, she may not have agreed to participate in the project. As Thomson says, 'consultation (with the participants) does not in itself solve all the ethical issues involved'.
part 2 of interview
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Mixed methods: SPSS a data software package.
Interviews- semi structured were coded to be put into the coding software.
Looking ACROSS the data.
Later identified diff ways to analyse...narrative analysis straight after interviews. To identify key themes.
Became more case histories. It became more focused on individuals and why/ what it means.
Appreciates the findings are influenced by the researcher's interpretations and as so involved in the process. Repeat visits mean more familiarity and changes in perspectives.
I think: proves research is pointless/ invalid. As entirely based on the researchers interpretation.
explore the data through established theoretical concepts including the categories of ‘fields of existence’ and ‘technologies of the self’ derived from the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault as well as more grounded understandings of ‘investments/identifications’ and ‘spatial and social horizons’. p.576
?
plus she swaps order of girls...& does not explain: 'struggled with the emotional losses that would be associated with social mobility'
bad writing !!
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Sheila Henderson
conversation . . .I have avoided using the terminology of comparison due to the impossibility of comparing like with like when working with biographical material.
conclusion: What is clear from this unit is that research is not a ‘clean’ and straightforward process – external events and human issues can often change a researcher’s approach to research or have an influence on the most well-considered research plan. What is important is that a researcher and/or research team is flexible enough to respond to the changing demands of a research project and react in a way which shows due respect to, and consideration of, the research participants.