qualitative methods

Question 1

ethnography?

Answer 1

depth study of a way of a social group, includes observations, in depths interviews, focus groups or analysis. its purpose is to describe culture and lifestyle of the group as faithfully as possible to the way group members see it themselves.

Question 2

participant observation?

Answer 2

involves researcher participating as an active member of the group being studied.

overt- researcher reveals identity to the group
covert - researcher conceals identity

used by interprevists

Question 3

unstructured interviews?

Answer 3

in depth informal interviews, guided conversation consisting of a series of open ended questions. Often used by feminist researchers and interprevists.

Question 4

semi-structured interviews?

Answer 4

halfway house between structured and unstructured. contains a set list of questions but usually are open questions and the researcher can probe for more detail after each question. usually used by interpretivists.

Question 5

personal documents?

Answer 5

data about a persons life, diaries, letters, photos these will often already exist created for another purpose so secondary data.

Question 6

focus groups?

Answer 6

group discussion usually around 6 participants facilitated by the researcher. focus group tend to be given themes and encouraged to discuss their views more freely. Widely used by government to test public reaction to different policy ideas.

Question 7

pilot study?

Answer 7

a trail run of a research method, usually with a very small sample in order to ensure the method will work as intended

Question 8

longitudinal study?

Answer 8

research done over a long period of time ranging from several years to even decades.