Research Methodology

    Interviewing in qualitative research
    What can you do to reduce the time consuming nature of transcribing interviews?
    It is always worthwhile to have an accurate and detailed record of what interviewees have said, and this means transcribing the data. The disadvantage of this is that it is very time consuming, but it is an absolute must. Institutions often require physical proof of gathered data, in the forms of tapes and transcripts, to be attached as an “appendix” to a dissertation. The strategies listed here are designed to help reduce the scale of this task.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 479-483
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide
    How does quantification help the qualitative researcher avoid being accused of anecdotalism?
    One of the criticisms qualitative researchers often face when they have published their research is that the data that they cite are just the most extreme, striking examples that are anecdotal rather than representative of the whole dataset. One way of avoiding this criticism is to give some indication of the relative frequency with which these significant responses were given, perhaps through conducting searches with CAQDAS. However, the point of this quantification is to draw distinctions between different groups of participants rather than report the number as something meaningful in itself.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 631,632
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Sampling in qualitative research
    The two levels of sampling used by Savage et al. (2005) for the Manchester study were:
    Bryman reports (p409) on the study by Savage et al. (2005) in his discussion on sampling levels. The main point is that we may not get the information we want from a single attempt at sampling. The study’s authors picked Manchester as a typical case, then four residential areas within the Manchester area. Next they used a quasi-random method for selecting households within each area. Answer (d) is therefore correct. They did use the electoral register as a sampling frame, so there was an element of statistics and randomness in their approach. Were answers (a) and (c) inverted (to purposive and random, for example), they would not be totally inaccurate.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 409
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Interviewing in qualitative research
    What is a “probing question”?
    Obviously the researcher asks questions during an interview but of which type? Some questions will ask directly for information about the respondent’s attitudes or opinions, with some of these being more specific than others. It is often the case that ‘follow-up’ questions will lead to uncovering richer data, of which the “probing” question is a good example. The purpose is to find out more about a subject that the interviewee has referred to. When people mention something that sounds relevant but do not volunteer very much information, you can probe for more details by asking questions like, “Could you say a little more about that?”, for example.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 473
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Planning a research project and formulating research questions
    Which of the following should be included in a research proposal?
    Almost certainly, your own institution will require you to prepare a dissertation proposal, which is actually your proposal to conduct a specific research study. The focus is, therefore, on the specific topic you have selected and the precise methods you propose to use. You will, typically, be asked to indicate some readings in the field of the research, usually so that an appropriate supervisor can be allocated. The point of these readings is to show the basis for your research questions, so it is assumed you understand them pretty well. Previous experience may be considered if the research seems unorthodox or novel but the research proposal should be capable of “standing on its own feet”.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 83, 84
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Research designs
    Panel and cohort designs differ, in that:
    Both panel and cohort studies are types of longitudinal design, similar to cross-sectional research but conducted over a considerable period of time. Cohorts are groups of people sharing a characteristic, like age or unemployed status, whereas panels are typically random samples of the population as a whole. It follows that a panel study should be able to distinguish between age effects (for example in the Understanding Society study) and cohort effects (where being born in the same time period is the shared characteristic) but the cohort study would only be able to identify aging effects. Both types of study suffer from attrition, through death and emigration, for example. Both are quantitative in nature.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 57
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Ethnography and participant observation
    What is the difference between “scratch notes” and “full field notes”?
    We have already seen how covert research faces the difficulty of recording data on the spot. Actually, all ethnography has to deal with this kind of problem, particularly as the emphasis is more towards participation. It is probably impossible to record data fully (as in a structured interview, for example) at the moment of the data presentation. Consequently, ethnographers try to scribble something down immediately to capture the essence of an event, in the form of key words, phrases or quotations that will jog the memory later. These are “scratch notes” and are designed to aid the production of “full field notes”, made later that day, which should be as detailed as possible.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 440,441
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Mixed methods research: combining quantitative and qualitative research
    When might unplanned multi-stage research be described as a “salvage operation”?
    Sometimes a researcher intends to conduct only a quantitative study but finds that the results they expected have failed to materialize, or to be as convincing as they might have hoped. In these circumstances, they might choose to use a second, qualitative method to find out why these results have emerged, and so end up conducting a multi-strategy research project after all. This might be more time consuming, but it saves the researcher from having to either reformulate their “quantitative” hypothesis and start again or abandon the research altogether.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 650,651
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Self-administered questionnaires
    The ‘time-use’ diary can provide quantitative data about:
    The diary method can be used to gather qualitative data as well as quantitative data but it is not usually a good idea to mix these in a single diary. ‘Time-use’ is quantitative data, and the purpose of this type of structured diary is to find out how much time people spend on different activities day-by-day. (See “Plate 10.2” on page 240, in this regard.) Consequently answers (b) and (c) are inappropriate, although free-text diaries could be used to gather that kind of qualitative data. We don’t have enough time or space to comment on answer (d).
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 238-240
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Ethnography and participant observation
    Why does Stacey argue against the idea of a feminist ethnography?
    Stacey (1988) is in disagreement with Reinharz (1992) and Skeggs (2001), who had suggested that feminist ethnography is an empowering way of documenting women’s lives. Stacey argues that like any other fieldworker, the feminist ethnographer is in a position of inauthenticity and dissimilitude in relation to their participants, and that they will ultimately betray these women by imposing an academic interpretation on their lives. The debate centres around the role of the researcher and the lives of the women participants, highlighting the reporting role of the researcher based on their interpretation of events and relationships. This can seem to place the researcher “higher” than the women studied.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 446-447
    Author: rikazzz Comment