Interpretivist Research Methods

Question 1

What are the interpretivist research methods?

Answer 1

• unstructured interviews
• focus groups/ group interviews
• field experiments
• observations
• documents

Question 2

What are the practical issues of unstructured interviews?

Answer 2

Pros
- very flexible
Cons
- need a facility
- need trained staff

Question 3

What are the ethical issues of unstructured interviews?

Answer 3

Pros
- people can withdraw if they feel a bit uncomfortable
Cons
- sensitivity
- could ask a harmful question

Question 4

What are the theoretical issues of unstructured interviews?

Answer 4

Pros
- more valid that structured
- qualitative data
Cons
- lack of objectivity

Question 5

What was Willis’ focus group research?

Answer 5

• Willis interviewed a group of w/c boys (the lads) who had formed an antischool subculture
• these boys rejected schools and all of its values and instead focused on they day they would eventually be able to leave to work working class jobs

Question 6

What are the practical issues of focus groups?

Answer 6

Cons
- need funding
- need a sample

Question 7

What are the ethical issues of focus groups?

Answer 7

Pros
- consent can be given
Cons
- harm
- no detachment or anonymity

Question 8

What are the theoretical issues of focus groups?

Answer 8

Pros
- validity
- qualitative
Cons
- not reliable
-

Question 9

What was sharpes unstructured interviews?

Answer 9

Sharpe conducted interviews with young women about their aspirations and careers, she found that girls aspirations had changed from love and marriage to education, jobs and being able to suport themselves

Question 10

What was Oakleys unstructured interviews?

Answer 10

Oakley conducted interviews with women to understand the split in gender roles in a relationship

Question 11

What was rosenthal and jacobsons field experiment?

Answer 11

Test for what extent could teachers expectations affect students grades. 20% of students were picked out of a hat and teachers were told that these students were ‘spurters’ or ‘late bloomers’ and would make significant progress. This resulted in teachers asking these students more questions (response opportunity factor) and they were given more feedback. Students were tested at the beginning and end of the year to see progress made. 47% of those ‘late bloomers’ made significant progress compared to their peers

Question 12

What was wood et al file experiment

Answer 12

Test for racial discrimination in recruitment process. Job applications were sent out with different names that stereotypically signified race. Non British sounding names receives significantly less call backs than British sounding names

Question 13

What are the practical issues of field experiments?

Answer 13

Pros
- dont have to hire anyone
Cons
- lots of planning

Question 14

What are the ethical issues of field experiments?

Answer 14

Pros
- possible post hoc consent
Cons
- no informed consent can be given before hand

Question 15

What are the theoretical issues of field experiments?

Answer 15

Pros
- ecological validity
Cons
- can’t control anything so less reliable
- might not be representative as it depends on the sample

Question 16

What was Humphrey’s participant observation?

Answer 16

• tea room sex study
• Aimed to understand the behaviour of men who engaged in sexual acts in public restrooms/tearooms
  -Humphrey’s went undercover and recorded interactions of men in the tearooms and even sometimes following them out to their everyday lives
• Identified and interviewed some of the men

Question 17

What was Malinowskis participant observation?

Answer 17

• Malinowski wanted to transform anthropology by having more of an insight
• Saw that natives were not that interested in ancient spirits as were reported everywhere
• People say one thing and do another, Malinowski should not listen to everyone else like anthropology suggests and instead should conduct his own research
• Pitched a tent among the natives to immerse himself in their native culture and learn their point of view
• Isolated because of war which helped him to really understand

Question 18

What was venkateshs participant observation?

Answer 18

• Venkatesh tried to ask questions to gang members and instead got held hostage as they were convinced he was a rival trying to gain information
• This led him to hang out with a gang leader - JT
• Study is about the difficult place that people are in when they turn to a gang in order to survive
• Venkatesh became a gang leader for a day- walked around with a gang leader looked at what he did on a daily basis
• Saw how gang leaders live and how different the classes are

Question 19

What are the practical issues of participant observations?

Answer 19

Cons
- hard to get in and get out
- takes lots of time

Question 20

What are the ethical issues of participant observations?

Answer 20

Pros
- informed consent or post hoc consent
Cons
- deception can happen

Question 21

What are the theoretical issues of participant observations?

Answer 21

Pros
- full immersion
- high validity
Cons
- Hawthorne effect

Question 22

What is Flanders non participant observation?

Answer 22

Structured observation of teacher pupil interaction
Teacher Talk
1. Accepts pupil’s feelings
2. Praises or encourages pupils
3. Accepts of uses ideas of pupils
4. Ask questions
5. Lectures
6. Gives directions
7. Criticises pupils
Students Talk
8. Pupils respond to teacher
9. Pupil initiate talk
Silence
10. Silence or confusion

Question 23

What is OFSTEDS non participant observation?

Answer 23

• Education inspection framework focuses on curriculum
  
  • 4 main judgements:quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal developments, leadership and management
  • Make sure that judgements are valid and reliable

Question 24

What are the practical issues of non participant observation?

Answer 24

Pros
- can be cheap
-easy to conduct
Cons
- time consuming
-difficult to plan
- need access

Question 25

What are the ethical issues of non participant observation?

Answer 25

Pros - overt- know they’re being included - can give informed consent Cons - coverst have no idea and can’t give consent - harm -deception

Question 26

What are the theoretical issues of non participant observations?

Question 27

What was Thomas and Znaniecki document research

Answer 27

A study of polish immigrants to the United States and their families, based on personal documents The relation between individuals in society, focusing on groups such as families and neighbourhoods and community ties which they believed were key to social change They found that polish community was shaped more by its own culture and social ties

Question 28

What are the practical issues of documents?

Answer 28

Pros - free - saves time - already exiting Cons - can be time consuming to analyse - may be difficult to access - may not contain the right information

Question 29

What are the ethical issues of documents?

Answer 29

Pros - not harming anyone, document already exists Cons - respondent doesn’t know what their answers are being used for

Question 30

What are the theoretical issues of documents?

Answer 30

Pros - give valid picture - good for content analysis Cons - may lack validity - not reliable - unrepresentative