1) Quantitative research methods

• Practical issues:

  • Time and money
  • requirements of funding bodies
  • personal skills and characteristics of researchers
  • subject matter of the study
  • research opportunity
• Ethical issues:

  • informed consent
  • confidentiality and privacy
  • harmful effects
  • vulnerable groups
  • covert methods
• Theoretical issues:

  • reliability
  • validity
  • representativeness
• Interpretivist perspective:

  Prefer qualitative data - something that gives us a 'feel' for what something is like.
• Interpretivist perspective:

  Unstructured interviews, participant observation and the analysis of personal documents.