SOCI 3700 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Participant Observation, Focus Group, Inductive Reasoning

• School: University of Georgia
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCI 3700
• Professor: Edgemon

Document Summary

Allows us to better understand the lived experiences of individuals. Through observing and participating in natural settings and listening to the words of others and engaging with them, qualitative researchers are able to contribute to understanding the social world. There are several different types of qualitative methods including intensive interviews, participant observation, focus groups, content analysis, and fieldwork/ethnographies. Like survey and experiments, proper qualitative research is systematic and can thus be evaluated in terms of its validity. Most types of qualitative research techniques share some common features: Collection primarily of qualitative rather than quantitative data. Focus on previously unstudied processes and unanticipated phenomena. Sensitivity to the subjective role of the researcher (reflexivity) Because qualitative research is typically interpretative research, the researcher is typically involved in a sustained and intensive experience with participants. There are a few key issues to keep in mind here: Researcher"s biases, values, and personal background shape their interpretations formed in the study.