POLSCI 3N06 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Proxemics, Group Dynamics, Nonverbal Communication
5 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
There are different types of interview (e. g. differences in the mechanics of delivery) Different types of people can also provide different types of data. Example of one type of unstructured interview: focus group interviews. A good focus group interview is not a series of one-on-one interviews of the people sitting in a room. Instead, the group (a group that is relevant to the topic that you want to explore) discusses, debates, disagrees, agrees with respect to the introduced topic. These group dynamics are the object of analysis. The goal is to identify group norms and beliefs. Advantages: the discussions, beliefs and opinions recorded are more ecologically valid, since the bulk of discussion is between group members (rather than structured for the scientific researcher) Allows participants to explore issues in the vernacular of the group and using the epistemic frameworks appropriate to the group: the answers produced can be more fully developed (deeper) than one-on-one interviews.
