POLS 208 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Qualitative Research, Participant Observation, Content Analysis
5 Dec 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Involve open ended questions - allow people to respond in their own words and that encourage detailed an in depth answers. Unstructured interviews - no predetermined set of questions, but researcher directs participant to the topics that matter to the study. Semistructured interviews - follow a semistructured interview guide with less than 20 questions on it. Focus groups - sit around a table with a moderator who asks questions and guides group discussion with an audio and sometimes video recording. 2 or 3 diff groups with multiple discussions to allow for confirming or replicating findings. Help reveal what people think about important issues, like congestion pricing. But does not work when its an uncomfy or sensitive topic. Qualitative observation - video recordings of practices ex) videos of heroin injections. Participant observation - joining a group or social situation to understand it better. Ethnography - the scientific description of people and cultures. Researcher interacting with the setting to a certain extent.
