qualitative research methods

• unstructured interviews

  • free-flowing conversation between researcher and interviewee
  • no fixed, standardised format
  • produce rich, detailed qualitative data that gives a real insight into meanings and world of interviewee
• practical advantages

  • informality allows raport - puts interviewee at ease
  • make it easier to check eachothers meanings
  • they are flexible, interviewer are not restricted to fixed set of questions and can form new hypotheses and put them to to the test as they arise
  • useful on a subject little is known - open ended and explorative
• practical disadvantages

  • training needs to be more thorough so they can recognise a sociologically important point - adds to the cost
  • take a long time - may limit the sample because they take so long
  • produce large amounts of data which can take time to transcribe - no pre-coded answers, making categorisation of data difficult
• theoretical issues: validity

  • valid data can only be attained by understanding people's experiences and meanings
  • by becoming involved during interview, we see world through their eyes and appreciate what is important to them and why they act the way they do
• grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1968)

  • reject the positivist idea that research involves beginning with a fixed hypothesis that we test by collecting data
  • important to approach the research with an open mind to discover truth about actors' meanings
  • devolop grounded theory - we build up and modify our hypothesis during actual course of research itself
  • unstructured interviews are unideal tool to pursue lines of questioning
• interviewee's view

  • absence of a pre-set structure of fixed questions gives them freedom to raise issues and bring fresh insights
• theoretical issues: positivism

  • lacks objectivity and reliability, fails to produce represenative data that can be generalised
  • not reliable - not standardised measuring instrument as each interview is unique, impossible to replicate or find meanings
  • can be quantified - open ended questions cannot be easily categorised, less useful for correlating variables,
  • hard to test hypothesis and establish cause effect relationships
• lack of validity

  • positivist argue that rapport and freeflowing coversation may distort infomation obtained e.g. interviewee may want to please researcher
  • not all sociologists used rapport - becker used aggression, disbelief and 'playing dumb' to get teachers to reveal how they classified pupils
  • interviews yeild qualititative data which may undermine validity as answers are not precoded and sociologists has to analyse data as they see fit - positivists argue inevitably involves researcher making value judgements
• feminism

  • Oakley argues that research should:
  • be value committed - takes womens side and gives voice
  • requires the researcher's involvement rather than detachment
  • aims for equality and collaboration
• interpretivism and qualitative methods

  • interpretivists reject the idea that sociology should model itself on science
  • reject that social reality as a set of objective facts - see it as subjective meanings internal to peoples success
  • can only understand society by interpreting the meanings people give to their actions
• practical issues in participant observation (getting in)

  • access is hard as researcher must gain groups trust and adopt particular role
  • hard to access groups who engage in deviant activities
  • must be involved in group and activities but also detached
  • researcher may develop loyalty to the group
• practical advantages

  • it gives insight into peoples lives by allowing us to put ourselves in their place - process known as verstehen (empathy or subjective understanding)
  • produces rich, detailed qualitative data
  • flexibility - form new hypotheses and research questions, gain answers to questions you dont even know
• practical disadvantages

  • fieldwork = time consuming and take years to complete
  • researcher must be sociologically trained - recognise aspects, significant and worth investigating
  • personally stressful or dangerous
  • powerful groups may be able to resist sociologists studying them