research methods interpretivism Flashcards
1
Q
What is interpretivism?
A
- Methodological approach based upon understanding the interpretations and meanings people give to actions
- Interpretitvists focus on trying to gain an insight into the experiences of individuals and groups
- Researcher need to develop empathy with their subject (verstehen)
2
Q
What are the key ideas of interpretivism?
A
- Society is constructed of individuals who have free will
- Looks at individual meanings- micro sociology
- Looks to obtain qualitative data and is more subjective
- Individuals are unique in their interpretations of events and cannot be studied scientfically
3
Q
What are the interprevist observation methods?
A
- Participant observations
- Non participant observations
4
Q
What are the secondary methods for interpretivism?
A
- Personal documents
- Historical documents
- Journals
- Diaries
- Media reports
5
Q
What surveys does interpretivism use?
A
- Open questionnaires
- Unstructured interviews
6
Q
What methods does interpretivism use?
A
- Observations
- Secondary methods
- Surveys
7
Q
What are the strengths of interprevitism?
A
- Higher validity than positivist methods as they uncover meanings and motivates people of actions
- Produces high quality qualitative data which reveals hidden meanings
- Champions the ‘underdog’ in society which gives a voice to the unheard
- Gains an insight into hard to reach groups in society
8
Q
What are the limitations of interprevitism?
A
- Difficult to replicate methods such as participant observations and structured interviews which loses reliability
- Can be overly influenced by researchers interpretations of actions which lacks objectivity
- Small scale nature of methods means unable to generalize to a wider population
- Seen as unscientific which means its difficult to falsify the conclusions of research
9
Q
What examples are there of interprevist research?
A
- Willis- Learning to Labour: Has an interprevisit methodology to investigate working class boys’ experiences of school
- Jock Young: Research into marijuana users in Notting Hill
- Pupil and Teacher interactions: Fuller, Mac an Ghail, Archer and other used interprevist views
