OPTION 1: Qualitative Interview StudyFor this activity, you are tasked with designing a qualitative interview studying one of
the following social phenomenon (which you can think of as a variable in the way we
have talked about):
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Relationship closeness
Narcissism
Academic success
Social media
You must choose one of the social phenomena listed above to study. In addition to
this phenomenon/variable, you will need to decide on a specific context for studying it.
Give some thought to your context and why you chose it: You will be asked to
provide a rationale and justification for your choice of context in the assignment.
Remember your goal is to study one of these four phenomena/variables so you can be
as creative as you want when deciding what a useful context would be in which to
study it.
For instance, if you choose to study “narcissism,” you might choose to study the 40
top earning CEOs of corporations as your “context.” You will then provide a rationale
for why the 40 top earning CEOs is a good/appropriate context in which to
specifically study your phenomenon of interest: narcissism.
Step 1: Introduction
Once you’ve chosen your phenomenon/variable of interest, you should begin your
assignment by providing a conceptual definition for the phenomenon/variable you’ve
chosen, and articulate at least one research question you have regarding your chosen
topic. You should also explain the context (see example above) in which you plan to
study your chosen variable and explain why this context is an appropriate place to
study your phenomenon/variable of interest and an appropriate context to answer your
research question. You should also outline a justification for why your topic is
relevant and interesting for research (remember—this justification should be rooted in
course concepts such as novelty, contributions to an ongoing discussion, development
of theory, impact, etc. which we discussed in Unit 1).
Step 2: Methods
Discuss your proposed interview design by walking through all six stages of the
interview process and how you will approach them (thematizing, designing, etc). Be
sure to identify your participants. Discuss how you will gather your sample, and
whether you need to consider any inclusion criteria (who you will purposely include
in your sample) or exclusion criteria (who you will purposely exclude) for your
participants (be sure to state why these criteria are important for identifying your
sample). Be sure to clearly identify a sampling method and outline how you plan to
use that method to gather your sample. You should justify your choice of sampling
method and discuss at least one benefit and one drawbackinherent with your sampling
method choice.
You should also outline which qualitative interview design you would choose
(structured, semi-structured, unstructured, focus group) and then explain, based on
your chosen design, what your interview would look like. In an appendix included at
the end of your assignment, you should create an interview protocol (a list of
interview questions) with at least 8 questions. These questions should follow your
chosen interview design and adhere to the principles of a positive interview as
discussed in class. You should also discuss how you, as an interviewer/ moderator,
will create a comfortable interview environment and identify a location that is
appropriate (e.g., will you interview them at their home or at work and why). Identify
at least 3 key principles to a successful interview that you will keep in mind, and 3
things you will avoid doing in your interview. Be sure to ground these principles in
your specific study context.
Step 3: Critique
What are the overall weaknesses in your design? What are its strengths? Discuss the
merits of your study based on concepts from class (such as validity, reliability,
generalizability, representativeness, etc.). Outline at least two reasons why this design
is superior to a quantitative research design (e.g., survey or experimental design) for
answering your specific research question.
Using the criteria and format suggested above, write your assignment. Your
assignment should be 4-5 pages long, double-spaced with an additional 1-page
appendix at the end (this is where you will outline your interview protocol/questions).
Your assignment should address all of the questions raised above and it is essential
that you connect your answers to the questions detailed above to concepts discussed
in class. Be sure to proof and correct your work.
OPTION 2: Ethnographic Field Research Study
For this activity, you are tasked with designing a field research or ethnographic study
examining one of the following:
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Group membership/group dynamics in substance use/abuse support groups
Computer usage among elderly adults
Educational access among rural children
Work experiences among low-income/hourly wage workers
You must choose to include one of the phenomena listed above for your study.
Step 1: Introduction
Once you’ve chosen your topic of study, you should begin your assignment by
identifying your context of interest and present a rationale or justification for this
context. You should also provide a conceptual definition for your variable (group
membership, computer usage, educational access, or work experiences) in this context.
In other words, what does it mean to you and how do you want to approach it for
study in your field research?
For example, if you choose to study work experiences of low-income workers, you
might identify your context of interest as “Walmart” and you should provide
a rationale for why Walmart is a useful context in which to study work experiences of
low-income workers. You should also provide a conceptual definition of “work
experiences” as it relates to studying Walmart employees. Does work experiences
constitute experiences that take place only inside the store or do you want to have a
more expansive understanding of how work experiences are observed to impact
people’s relationships with their spouses (or children), etc?
You should articulate at least one research question you have regarding your chosen
topic. You should also outline a justification for why your topic is relevant and
interesting for research (remember—this justification should be rooted in course
concepts such as novelty, contributions to an ongoing discussion, impact, etc which
we discussed in Unit 1).
Step 2: Methods
Discuss your proposed field research. Identify your specific field site (the specific site
that you will actually visit to collect your data – for example, which specific
Walmart(s) will you conduct field research in?) as well as your plan for
gathering participants. You should discuss how you will identify your informants.
You should also articulate the level of access you hope to attain.
For example, if you are studying low-income workers at Walmart, do you plan to
study how the formalized rules of Walmart influence workers’ experiences at work?
Or do you plan to study how workers’ work experiences impact areas of their home
life outside of work? These two goals are quite different and will likely require a
different level of access to the organization: the first goal may require some access to
Walmart managers and administrative staff while the second may not.
Discuss at length what your approach will be regarding the researcher/
participant relationship. In this discussion, make sure to address any issues
of deception that might be relevant. You should also discuss issues
of objectivity and power as they relate to your research context: How will you attempt
to remain objective when describing what you observe (and developing possible
explanations) and how will you identify and address issues of power? Identify at least
three essential questions you will ask yourself as a researcher in this context (these
questions should reflect issues of reflexivity common to ethnographic research), and
explain how you will work to acknowledge your own perspective and bias in the
research. These questions should be grounded in the specifics of your study context
and who you and your participants are. Additionally, you should discuss at least two
criteria for how you will know you have spent enough time in the community/context
to successfully complete your ethnography.
Step 3: Critique
What are the overall weaknesses in your design? What are its strengths? Discuss the
merits of your study based in concepts from class (such as validity, reliability,
generalizability, representativeness, etc.). Outline at least two reasons why this design
is superior to a quantitative research design (e.g., survey or experimental design) for
answering your specific research question.
Using the criteria and format suggested above, write your assignment.
Your assignment should be 5-6 pages long, double-spaced. Your assignment should
address all of the questions raised above and it is essential that you connect your
answers to the questions detailed above to concepts discussed in class.
QUALITATIVE METHODS:
AN INTRODUCTION
Quant Question
Alpha (α) ≠ p-value
0-1(so
both α and p-values are probabilities)
α= level of significance (.05, .01) or threshold value
that we measure p-values against
◼ p