Using research instruments

Using research instruments

1. Merely asking about or reporting the activities people carry out in different social settings and situations will no doubt give you a flavour of what is involved, but in order to understand fully what these activities mean to people, how they themselves perceive them and what their perspective is on them, it is necessary to see those people in action, to experience what it is they do, even to wade in and have a go yourself.

   • Social researchers are interested in people and, in particular, the ways in which people act in, interpret and understand the complex world around them, whether that is the world of the classroom, the hospital, the factory floor, the head office, the local government department or wherever.

2. Before embarking on the planning stages of your observation you will find it helpful to be reasonably confident of two things: the focus of your study, i.e. the topic of your research, what it is you wish to explore and learn more about; and the research questions you intend to address. Of course, both your research focus and your research questions may change over the course of your inquiries in light of your experiences.

3. One of the most difficult decisions you will have to make concerns exactly what will comprise the social situation(s) which will be the observational focus of your research. This will inevitably (and obviously) come down to what it is that you intend to research.