Research methods

• case studies


  studies that involve extensive, in-depth interviews with a particular individual or small group of individuals
• content analysis


  A research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce, for example, in texts, emails, TV, film and other media.
• Thematic analysis


  An inductive and qualitative approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data. Themes will often emerge once the data has been coded.
• Evaluation of case studies

  +lots of data

  +use many other research methods

  -time consuming

  -expensive

  -cannot determine cause & effect

  -findings may be subjective
• Evaluation of content analysis

  +No ethical issues, as no people are directly involved

  +High external validity

  +Can produce both qualitative and quantitative data

  -Coding of materials is subjective so may be biased
• how to conduct a content analysis

  choose sampling method, how the data should be recorded, who is going to collect the data, how the material should be categorised or coded