Research Methods Examples Flashcards
Structured Interviews - Young and Wilmott
Young and Wilmott (1962) - “Importance of the extended family” - was based on structured interviews. They wanted to focus on the whole of London, so structured interviews were a good choice in terms of time efficiency. Structured interviews also provided high generalisability in their research on the extended family.
Strengths: 987 people approached, only 54 refused to be interviewed. The higher response rate may be due to people finding it harder to turn down a face-to-face request and some may welcome the opportunity to talk.
Weaknesses: Structured interviews rarely provide in-depth information, especially on sensitive topics. And therefore it can be argued they don’t obtain Verstehen (Weber).
Semi-structured Interviews - Fuchs
Fuchs (2008) conducted 27 semi-structured interviews with full-time undergraduate students in Thailand.
Findings
All of the participants reported that they engaged in the use of social media at least once per day. There’s difference between instant messaging with their peers and their lecturer Accessing the learning space or learning management system (LMS) was the second most common type of social media usage reported by the respondents.
> All interviews were conducted in English; however, none of the participants (or the principal investigator) were native English speakers. Communicative problems similar to that you would see when interviewing children.
Unstructured Interviews - Oakley
Oakley (1981), in her studies of first-time motherhood and the experience of becoming a mother in British society, used informal, unstructured conversational interviews, involving two-way interaction, with a close and equal relationship with the mothers concerned. Oakley shared her own experiences of motherhood and offered advice to first-time mothers to help them overcome anxieties. By sharing her own experiences and feelings, Oakley was able to establish more equal relations with the mothers, and draw out their feelings, opinions and confidences, and produce valid and detailed information about the lives of women, which could be shared to improve their lives.
Group Interviews - Wright et al.
Wright et al. (2005) used group interviews to research the educational experience of African-Caribbean boys. The students felt more comfortable among their friends and gave fuller answers to the questions. Wright et al. found out that the boys felt excluded and discriminated against in school.
Participant Covert Observation - Laud Humphries
Laud Humphries used participant covert observation to research the ‘tea room trade’ (gay sex in public bathrooms). He later covertly followed them home acting as a health inspector and asked intrusive questions in their families
Non-participant Overt Observation - FIAC
Flanders System of Interaction Analysis (FIAC) (1978) which has been used to measure pupil and teacher interaction quantitatively. The researcher uses a standard chart to record interactions at three second intervals, placing each observation in one of three overall pre-defined behaviour categories: Teacher Talk, Pupil talk and silence. Findings=American classroom is taken up by teacher talk 68% of the time, pupil talk 20% of the time with 12% spent in silence or confusion.
Strengths: This has increased reliability as if a rigorous observation framework has been used, this is precise and repeatable.
Weaknesses: This is subject to the Hawthorne effect as coined by Elton Mayo, as teacher and pupils are likely to act differently when an observer is in the room.
Field Experiment - Rosenthal and Jacobson
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) used the field experiment method to research self-fulfilling prophecies. Students were randomly labelled as ‘spurters’. They found that those labelled as bright would go on to achieve more.
Laboratory Experiment - Bandura’s bobo dolls
Bandura’s bobo doll experiment (1961) showed groups of children violent acts committed against the bobo dolls. The group who saw the violence replicated it themselves, whereas the group who did not witness violence towards the dolls did not act violently towards it.
Questionnaire - Reay et al.
According to a questionnaire by Reay et al. (2005) many working-class students intended to apply to their nearest university because they felt they could not afford the costs of travel and accommodation away from home.
Statistical Research - Webber and Butler
Large-scale statistical research by Webber and Butler (2007), involving more than a million pupils, found that the best predictor of achievement was the type of neighbourhood that pupils lived in. The more middle-class and affluent the area, the more successful the school tended to be.
Content Analysis - Cumberbatch
Cumberbatch (2004) used content analysis to look at over 3500 research studies into the effects of screen violence, encompassing film, television, video and more recently, computer and video games. He concluded that there is still no conclusive evidence that violence shown in the media influences or changes people’s behaviour.
Semiotic Analysis - GUMG
GUMG (1981) - Semiotic research -They found that the language and images used by the media are more sympathetic to the interests of the powerful and often devalue the points of view of less powerful groups. Protestors vs Business owners.
Ethnomethodology - Garfinkel
One of Garfinkel’s experiments involved asking students to behave as visitors or lodgers in their own homes, and to record how their parents reacted to the sudden change in the taken-for-granted relationship they had with their children. Their reactions of concern, bewilderment, anger and confusion revealed not only how people create social order through assumptions and meanings shared with others, but also how fragile the social order they create around these shared assumptions really is.
Observations and Interviews - Evans
Qualitative research by Gillian Evans (2007) who carried out observations and interviews on a working-class council estate in London found that most working-class parents placed a very high value on education and did encourage their children to do well.
Through the use of both observations and interviews, Evans discovered that the stereotype that working-class parents do not care about their child’s education was untrue.
