: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS Flashcards
What are the key features of unstructured interviews?
Open ended questions, close rapport built between interviewer and interviewee, qualitative data mainly.
What are the practical issues associated with unstructured interviews?
Time consuming and expensive due to the need for proper training of interviewers; produce large amounts of data that are time consuming to categorize.
What ethical issues arise in unstructured interviews?
May have problems with sensitive topics that require the subjects’ true experiences and feelings.
What are the theoretical issues of unstructured interviews?
High validity due to flexibility and depth of answers; low representativeness due to small sample sizes; low reliability as open questions cannot be easily replicated.
What do positivists argue about unstructured interviews?
They argue that unstructured interviews are unscientific and lack objectivity, reliability, and generalizability.
What do feminists favor about unstructured interviews?
They see it as value committed, giving women a voice, requiring involvement rather than detachment, and aiming for equality and collaboration.
What did Oakley find about unstructured interviews?
Her intimate relationship with subjects improved the quality of her research.
What are the key features of participant observations?
There are two types: participant and non-participant; can be covert or overt; allows insight into actors’ meanings.
What are the practical issues with participant observations?
Issues may arise in gaining access to the group or leaving; could be a long-term project, making it time consuming.
What ethical issues are associated with participant observations?
Covert observations lack informed consent; anonymity may be hard to ensure; may cause harm to the researcher.
What are the theoretical issues of participant observations?
High validity as behavior is observed in natural settings; low reliability due to lack of standardized measures; low representativeness as studies often involve small groups.
What do positivists think about participant observations?
They reject it due to lack of objectivity and potential bias from researcher involvement.
What do action theorists believe about participant observations?
They find it valuable for examining micro-level interactions and meanings through the actor’s perspective.
What are the key features of documents as a research method?
Secondary source of data, can be written or in other forms; includes public, personal, and historical documents.
What are the practical issues with using documents?
They are cheap and easy to obtain but may be hard to access.
What ethical issues are present with documents?
No subjects involved, so no ethical issues to consider.
What are the theoretical issues of using documents?
High validity for gaining insight into the writer’s worldview; low reliability due to uniqueness and non-standardization; low representativeness as some groups may not be represented.
What do interpretivists favor about documents?
They provide a valid picture of actors’ meanings.
What is content analysis?
It is used to analyze the contents of documents, with two main types: formal content analysis and thematic analysis.
What is formal content analysis?
It produces quantitative data from qualitative data, favored by positivists for its objectivity and replicability.
What is thematic analysis?
It aims to reveal underlying meanings in documents, criticized for being unscientific and lacking generalizability.
What example did Sylvia Walby provide in thematic analysis?
She conducted an analysis on how newspapers reported rape cases.
