methods - research methods

methods - research methods

1. questionares

   • positivist or interpretive
   • quantitive or qualitative
   • - can be quantitative data - quick and easy to fill out -cost efficient - scalability
   • -hard to convey feelings and emotions - can be difficult to analyse - may be affected by positive impression management
   • joined up texting - haste - 2005
   • lads and ladettes in school fear of failure - jackson
     • wanted to 'fit in'

2. interviews

   • structured
     • positivist
     • quantitative
     • -quicker than sending questionnaires out - can be completed quickly - many ethical issues can be reduced
     • -the information may be false - they are not flexible - unable to persue anything interesting
     • small scale
     • university is not for me I'm a Nike person - Hollingworth and halsall
       • London children have a strong connection to social class
   • unstuctured
     • interpretive
     • qualitative
     • primary
     • -can gain qualitive reaction - the main focus is the interviewer's idea - they are flexible - provide more of an insight to their lives
     • burdsey - one of the lads - 2004
     • -need to be sensitive with the published information - can be difficult to analyse - more expensive - always a gap between thoufghts and what is actually said - less representative
     • small scale
   • semi - stuctured
     • qualitative and quantitative
     • primary
     • interpretivist
     • -room for development - get content of answers -
     • -takes a long time - hard to only slightly structure - might miss key parts to develop
     • small scale

3. statistical data

   • positivist
   • qualititative
   • secondary
   • -cheep - generalisable - can be re-used - easy to follow patterns
   • -can be misunderstood - can be manipulated - unreliable if not from government - data can be hard to access

4. content analysis

   • interpretivist
   • qualitative
   • secondary
   • -can be statistically analysed - not time-consuming - easy to access - cheap data
   • -not deep meaning - lack of verstehen - no report created
   • large scale
   • jager
   • changes at work - Mccabe
     • power inequalities

5. obervations

   • participant
     • interpretivist
     • qualitative
     • primary
     • -it is valid - can gain insight and empathy - practical advantages - observation of natural behaviour - flexible - allows for interpretation
     • -time-consuming - lack of representativeness - can be bias - lack of objectivity - can have ethical problems
     • small scale
     • laurd humphrys and the tearoom sex study
       • covert
     • bursy - one of the lads - 2004
     • a Glasgow gang observed - James Patric
   • non- participant
     • interpretivist
     • qualititative
     • primary
     • -can allow the recercher to decide things himself - can be more open minded - more ethical if done overtly
     • - can be hard to gain accurate results - time consuming - can lead to hawthorne effect
     • small scale
     • the making of a mooie
     • burdsey - one of the lads
     • holden - happily ever after

6. ethnography

   • interpretive
   • qualitative
   • primary
   • - can understand different cultures - in-depth research - high validity
   • -limited representativeness - can take a long time - limited openness of people - can cause cultural bias - ethical considerations
   • small scale
   • meads study
   • investigating the attitudes of young people in poor neighbourhoods - Blundell and Griffiths - 2008
     • outlook and values of young people
     • aimed to test Murray's theory of the underclass - found people were keen to find work
       • disproved murreys theory

7. longitudinal studies

   • interpretivist
   • qualitative
   • primary
   • - develop rapport - large sample - validity - can deterimne patterns over time - they are flexible
   • -drop outs means less representive - objectivity effected fron emotional - expensive and time consuming
   • millennium cohort study
     • focused on the health and development of children who were born in 2000-1