qualitative.

• qualitative approach

  • focuses less on quantifying data and finding correlations between variables, but instead focuses on more micro, unique and complex ideas and relationships
  • provide deep, subjective and meaningful insight on social behaviour
  • eg. unstructured interviews, participant observation, personal documents
• ✅unstructured interview

  • the informal nature of the interview allows for a rapport to be established more easier
  • produces highly valid data, people are more likely to be truthful when a rapport is established
  • highly flexible as the interview is not constrained to a fixed set of pre-set questions
• ❌unstructured interview

  • time-consuming because it is unstructured, it is likely to consume more time
  • it is costly to train interviewers on how to navigate sensitivity
  • data obtained is not representative, and so cannot be applied to a larger population
  • difficult to collect data, the respondent’s ability to respond any way they want can make it difficult to clarify points
  • unreliable, due to the complex and unique nature of each respondent’s interview, it is extremely difficult for another researcher to replicate the interview
• ✅ participant observation

  • highly valid, as the group is likely to be observed in an authentic & comfortable setting, giving a true account of their behaviour
  • data is very rich and in-depth, offering insight on social behaviour
• ❌disadvantages of participant observation;

  • the open-ended and subjective nature of the research make it impossible for another researcher to replicate
  • not representative, its usually small-scale groups that are investigated
  • hawthorne effect; decreases the validity, people may alter aspects of their behaviour as they gain an awareness of the fact that they are being observed
  • ethical weakness is that its difficult to ensure anonymity
• ✅ personal document

  • personal first-hand account, so it guarantees a high degree of validity
  • saves time, cheap
  • can be used to substantiate other interpretations and accounts
• ❌personal documents

  • may not always contain the truth
  • written with an audience in mind, this can cause interpretational bias when interpreting , in which the ambiguous content of the document is inappropriately analysed
• ✅historical documents

  • they allow comparisons over time to be made
  • useful when assessing the outcome of social policies or changes
• ❌historical documents

  • unrepresentative, some documents may have been lost or damaged
  • validity is open to question, as they may have been written selectively
  • authenticity is open to question, may not be written by the person its attributed to, so it undermines reliability
• ✅non-participant observation

  • if done discretely, it can uncover some hidden norms of behaviour
  • first-hand observation of behaviour, allows them to foster a holistic understanding of behaviour
  • can be more open-minded, less subjectivity as they are an outsider looking in
• ❌Non-Participant Observation

  • can lead to Hawthorne effect, in which individuals gain an awareness that they are under surveillance and so alter their behaviour
  • if conducted covertly, it can make the group uncomfortable that they are being scrutinised by an outsider