ATPS lecture notes
Fall 2010, week 4
6:00pm
Announcements--- Touch on assignment they just turned in:
How many of you talked with friends or family about your research project over the break? What did you say? What story is your research already telling? Keep track of it, remember the chapters of your story. It is your story to tell on behalf of your research subjects.
Right now, how many of you can remember ----verbatim--- your research question? This is important, you should have it memorized within the next two weeks. This is your guide.
Explain our process of selecting which projects we will advise, e-mail them seminar/advisor groups by Monday evening, they will receive feedback from one of us on their assignment #2 by Wednesday evening, because we will be really diving into your specific projects from here forward we’ve made some changes to syllabus.
Go over agenda on board
Review where we are going--- get out team work plan handout, discuss aerial timeline---walk it out through winter---, show course website with resources that may help them with their annotated bibliography (assignment #3).---keep track of your search words and data bases you use and the dates you access them. We’ll go over lit reviews in more detail over the next couple weeks.
Ask them what they have learned so far in this class.
Synthesis: what connects the past 3 weeks? We've moved from how we “think” about research into how we “do” research. The key connector here is observation. Everything we do in social science research requires some element of observation. Translating the world of ideas into the world of behaviors.
Relate White to Herzog---- practitioner held theory based on narrative, relate Herzog to Kirlin--- how can we ask big questions without being practitioner focused?, relate Herzog to Locke---- what formal structures do we have in academia for critiquing practitioner work?
The word "research" comes from the French word "recerche"= to go about seeking…. think about it…. “re” - “search” you searching again and again to collect information about a particular subject.
Just as there are many ways to seek information to make an informed decision….. we need to recognize that there are many ways of approaching and conducting research. None are necessarily right or wrong- they each have pros and cons related to the purposes and contexts of your research. I can produce a table or graph for anything……. but is it meaningful for that research project?
By attending to the context of the situation as central, researchers can choose methodologies and methods that will best represent situations and experiences. The situation should guide the methodological choices, instead of having a trust in the method as appropriate for every context and situation. Sometimes, not being able to generalize or run certain statistical tests is the point.
Observation (good science= good observation: Avatar)----but our roles as the observer can change--------- what are the roles of the researcher?
There are almost endless types of researchers out there. Take me for example, I've been called a management researcher, religions researcher, feminist researcher, post-colonialist researcher, American Government researcher, and a political scientist. These are all accurate at different times, but depend upon how I observe, what I observe, and who I observe.
Most social research involves some interaction with the people under study, but how much interaction is your decision as the researcher.
There are two umbrella terms for our roles as researchers: participant observer and non-participant observer.
A non-participant observer would behave how?...................... expert on the outskirts, one degree removed from the situation and people
A participant observer would behave how?...................... community buy-in, take part in activities
What paradigm might you be coming from if you are a non-participant observer? Why would this be important to that paradigm?---positivism-- interpretive (refer to objects of study as subjects or respondents)
What paradigm might you be coming from if you are a participant observer? Why would this be important to that paradigm?--critical-- native science (refer to objects of study as participants, collaborators, key informants)
pros and cons of participant and non-participant observer=
• involvement of the research has an impact on the study's participants, people react to seeing you, hearing you, and your actions. You may “mess with the field” and not even realize it. By changing the field of study you may change the results you observe. Participant observation requires that the researcher be physically present. This can lead the respondents to alter their behavior. An interview is an interruption in the natural stream of behavior. Respondents can get tired of responding to questions or resentful of the questions asked.
• The act of research may influence the subject of study itself. By asking people about their voting intentions, we probably influence those intentions to some degree: maybe respondents become more definite in their choices by committing to them out loud.
• By being a non-participant researcher you lack the ability to ask for clarification if the subject does or says something you don't understand.
• insider vs. outsider, access, authentic voice/authority to speak for the group of people being researched, concept that you just might not have a right to know something--- if you are not invited to be a participant there is probably a reason for that---
• “going native” why this used to be thought of as a negative and now it seems to be revered (ex. “Living with the Mek”). Affect on the observer . You may become very empathetic with who you are observing and want to change what you are “testing.”
• At a point, the researcher may become the one being observed. Be mindful about how you interact whether you are a participant or non-participant researcher. You could quickly become the subject of study. This is why it is crucial to be very clear about what you are observing up front. Make sure all members of your research team agree upon and understand what you are observing (body language, direct quotes, nuances of speech, environment/room, interactions between participants, etc.)
• Participant observation can be very unsafe for the researcher, but necessary--- prison or gang research---- it may also be unethical if the researcher does not reveal why he or she is there----
---Change Agent?--- both could lend themselves to a research embracing what White referred to as “action research.” It depends on the goals of your research project.
BREAK
7:15pm
Within these two umbrella terms of participant observer and non-participant observer for our “roles” as researchers, there are another two big ways to classify how we actually “do” research: obtrusive and unobtrusive.
Classifications of doing research:--DO WE ALL REMEMBER THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN METHODOLOGY & METHOD?
Methodologies: (general principles about the formation of knowledge) quantitative, qualitative, mixed mode.
Methods: how we start to operationalize the study- translate the world of ideas into the world of behaviors. Methods such as surveys or focus groups are tools and can be designed as either quantitative or qualitative or mixed mode.
Quantitative: (hear “quantity”) The numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations reflect. Raw data must be converted into numerical equivalents before analysis can occur.
Qualitative: (hear “quality”) The non-numerical examination and interpretation of observations for the purpose of exploring underlying meanings and patterns of relationships. Data is collected from notes, observations, interviews, in-depth, and is not summarized by numbers or analyzed with statistics. Words, pictures, narratives are used as data.
Mixed Mode: Both- use of numbers & words to provide meaning to data.
THE NEXT POINTS ARE ALL ABOUT METHODS.
Obtrusive research and unobtrusive research.
Unobtrusive Measures :
Observation without participant knowledge (trash in trashcans outside a business or agency, social movement--WTO witnesses, erosion of wear and tear in stairwell, accretion of flyers in stairwell)
Ex. Historical/document/archival data- content analysis
Data already collected for another purpose: secondary sources, secondary data analysis
Unobtrusive measures are measures that don't require the researcher to intrude in the research context. Unobtrusive measurement presumably reduces the biases that result from the intrusion of the researcher or measurement instrument .
However, unobtrusive measures reduce the degree the researcher has control over the type of data collected. THIS IS A MAJOR PITFALL OF USING EXISTING DATA! You can get stuck with the poor research design or bad data collection or bad data cleaning or bad data entry of others.
* A research technique is considered unobtrusive when they have no impact on what/who is being studied.
An indirect measure is an unobtrusive measure that occurs naturally in a research context.
Examples: The types of indirect measures that may be available are limited only by the researcher's imagination and inventiveness. For instance, let's say you would like to measure the popularity of various exhibits in a museum .
• It may be possible to set up some type of mechanical measurement system that is invisible to the museum patrons. We could, for instance, construct an electrical device that senses movement in front of an exhibit. Or we could place hidden cameras and code patron interest based on videotaped evidence.
• In one study, the system was simple. The museum installed new floor tiles in front of each exhibit they wanted a measurement on and, after a period of time, measured the wear-and-tear of the tiles as an indirect measure of patron traffic and interest.
In a similar manner, if you want to know magazine preferences at TESC, you might rummage through the trash on campus.
These examples illustrate one of the most important points about indirect measures -- you have to be very careful about the ethics of this type of measurement . In an indirect measure you are, by definition, collecting information without the respondent's knowledge . In doing so, you may be violating their right to privacy and you are certainly not using informed consent. Of course, some types of information may be public and therefore not involve an invasion of privacy.
Obtrusive Measures :
Observations of behavior with participant knowledge
Perceptions, opinions and attitudes gathered through interviews, surveys, focus groups
For some issues there may simply not be any available unobtrusive measures.
Questions? -------
How do you assess the 'fit' BETWEEN methodology & method with your problem & research question?---Ask yourself….is this approach and tool going to yield data that will best assist me in responding to my research question and addressing my research problem? Sometimes you have to walk it out. Mentally walk through collecting the data to see if it will give you what you need.
EACH DECISION YOU MAKE WILL IMPACT THE END RESULT. YOU ARE THE DESIGNER OF YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT. Next, we are going to discuss 2 methods that may or may not be a good fit for your research project.
Interview Handout--- there are many ways to carry out research interviews. show Kinsey clip--stop at squirrel drawing--- de-brief: is race obvious? does movie also show you that your respondent is having an experience separate from you (his memories)?,
go over handout-- best way to test for internal reliability and validity is to pre-test or pilot your instrument
BREAK
8:30pm
Focus Groups Handout-- used heavily in market research, talk about how a focus group is set up with a facilitator and at least two note takers, what’s the role of the facilitator?,--AVOID FOCUS GROUP THERAPY--- why two note takers?, note takers should draw configuration of the room and who is seated where so they can track who says what, SHOW VIDEO CLIPS, go over handout ---explain “probes” or prompts---
45 minute workshop COUNT OFF BY 5-----ask them to have a rep come to me when they are done with the focus group, but stay in groups. I will have instructions for note takers---- report out to group--- see if what they took notes on is what others agree was discussed--- how do the notes differ between the two note takers and did they agree upon the same things to observe?