Methods for Research

Question 1

Observation

Answer 1

• Used to investigate how people act naturally in a setting
• Researcher is involved with the process of data generation
• Thus important to avoid researcher bias

Question 2

Naturalistic Observations

Answer 2

• Happen in natural settings
• Researchers go to specific places and wait for something to happen w/o influencing it
• Limitation: Can be time consuming

Question 3

Overt vs Covert Observations

Answer 3

• Overt: Participants are asked for consent before
  (Limitation: May cause change in behavior)
• Covert: Participants don’t know they’re being watched
  (Limitation: Ethical concerns)

Question 4

Participant Observations

Answer 4

• Observer becomes part of the group to observe
  (Advantage: 1st hand experience)
  (Limitation: Observer could lose focus, ethical concerns)

Question 5

Structure vs Unstructured Observations

Answer 5

• Structured: Information is recorded systematically, in a standard way
• Unstructured: Do not have a predefined structure

Question 6

Indepth Interview

Answer 6

• Most common method of interview
  -Conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of respondents
• Used when the topic too sensitive for group interviews
• Interviewer is main research instrument

Question 7

Structured Interview

Answer 7

• Involves fixed questions in a fixed order

Question 8

Unstructured Interview

Answer 8

• Mostly participant driven
• Questions dependent on previous answers
• Researchers need to keep research in mind and stay focused

Question 9

Semi Structured Interview

Answer 9

• No specific order, researchers know what questions need to be asked and will do so when it fits the interview

Question 10

Focus Group

Answer 10

• Special type of semi-structured interview, carried out in groups of 6-10 people
• Participants encouraged to interact with each other

Question 11

Content Analysis

Answer 11

• Research method based on studying documents + communication artifacts
• Goal is to identify a recurrent theme
• Interpretation needs to be backed up with evidence from test

Question 12

Case Study

Answer 12

• Indepth investigation of a certain individual or group
• Normally longitudinal (done over a long period of time)
• Researchers are only interested in 1 case

Question 13

Advantages of Focus Groups

Answer 13

• Quick way of getting information from several people
• Multiple perspectives discussed
• Comfortable environment, meaning sensitive topics may be easier to discuss

Question 14

Disadvantages of Focus Groups

Answer 14

• Researchers should look out for dominant responder bias
• Harder to maintain anonymity and confidentiality

Question 15

Limitations of Case Study

Answer 15

• As they are longitudinal, researchers may become biased and participants may develop social desirability effect
• Generalization is impossible
• Harder to maintain anonymity and confidentiality