QUALITATIVE METHODS

• UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

  • The interpretivist-favoured method of unstructured interviews mainly ask open-ended questions that produce qualitative data rich in meaning. There is a strong relationship built between the interviewer and interviewee, which means the data is more likely to be valid.
• ADVANTAGES- UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

  • Rapport - The informality allows the interviewer to develop a relationship with the interviewee.
  • Flexibility - the interviewer is not restricted to a fixed set of questions.
  • Valid - they are flexible, due to how the conversation is not constrained by fixed questions. People can therefore be more truthful.
• DISADVANTAGES UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS (1)

  
  

  Impractical due to being longer, consuming more time, and having a smaller research sample

  
  

  Costly to train interviewers in sensitivity

  
  

  Interviewers need specific, interpersonal skills, which may be more costly and time-consuming to get
• UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS (2)

  
  

  Unrepresentative due to small research sample, data obtained is not representative of the wider population

  
  

  Unreliable due to open questions that cannot easily be repeated by another researcher, and respondent's ability to respond in a way they wish makes it impossible to clarify their responses
• PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

  • The researcher joins in the activities of the group they are researching.
• PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION ADVANTAGES

  • Valid - Groups are observed in a natural and authentic setting, therefore the data is more likely to be a true account of the group’s behaviour.
  • Valid Data generated is richly detailed and offers insight into social behaviour.
• Participant Observation Disadvantages

  • Unreliable - Being open-ended and subjective research, there is no fixed procedure or standardised system of measurement and cannot be replicated
  • Unrepresentative - Most participant observations investigate small-scale groups that are not representative of the wider population
  • Invalid - The hawthorne effect may occur, due to how the observer is likely to affect the group's behaviour
  • Invalid - The researcher is at risk of 'going native', meaning the researcher over-identifies with the group
  • Unethical - It is difficult to ensure the anonymity of the participants
  • Practical issues - There are issues with getting into the group, staying in the group and/or leaving the group
• PERSONAL DOCUMENTS

  • These can take the form of diaries, memoirs, autobiographies and letters.
• PERSONAL DOCUMENTS ADVANTAGES

  • Valid - Written for personal purposes so will have a high degree of validity and provide an in-depth and genuine insight into people’s attitudes.
  • Practical - They are cheap and save researcher’s time.
  • Illuminates many areas of social life.
  • Can be used to confirm or question other interpretations and accounts.
• PERSONAL DOCUMENTS- DISADVANTAGES

  • Some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as letters and diaries and so their views aren't represented while those with time and literacy skills may be over-represented. ​ 
  • Personal documents such as letters are written with an audience in mind and may affect what is being recorded. Personal bias is likely to be present.
• HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS- ADVANTAGES

  • They allow comparisons overtime (e.g birth, death and marriage rates)
  • They are useful when assessing outcomes of various social policies (e.g raising the school leaving age
• HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS- DISADVANTAGES

  • Unrepresentative some documents may be lost or destroyed.
  • Invalid - May have been written selectively.
  • Authenticity Open to question as it may not have been written by the person it is attributed to, therefore undermining its reliability.
• FIELD EXPERIMENTS

  • Take place in the real social world, whereby the sociologist either creates a situation or adapts a real-life situation to their research purpose.  They are often unaware of the research taking place.
• FIELD EXPERIMENTS- ADVANTAGES

  • Less artificiality - the field experiments are set in real-world situations.

  Validity - People are often unaware of the experimental situation (no Hawthorne effect) and are in their usual social environment, thus will act normally.
• FIELD EXPERIMENTS- DISADVANTAGES

  • Unethical - involves carrying out an experiment on people without their informed consent.
  • Less control over variables.
  • Limited application - field experiments can only be applied to a limited number of social situations.

  Unreliable - Less replicable as it’s done in a setting where the researcher cannot control the variables.