CRIM 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Demand Characteristics, Insitu
4 Feb 2020
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Lecture 4 with(out) a trace: unobtrusive measures. Unobtrusive research methods can be quantitative or qualitative. These methods allow researchers to study things from afar without influencing the process: contrasted with interviews and questionnaires. Archival method: any information that is contained in hard copy records or documents, data previously collected for other records or scholarly purposes including birth, marriage and death certificates. Physical trace: any physical deposits that may be collected and analyzed to understand our current and past events. Non-reactive because: data usually produced without expectation of scrutiny from social scientists, researcher usually arrives on the scene after the participants have left. Allow us to address concerns of: demand characteristics, expectancy/interviewer effects, access to group. Anonymous: argued that more anonymous methods foster likelihood that participants admit undesirable behaviour. Allow assessment of actual rather than self-reported behaviour. Extend range of social phenomena to be researched or might provide additional data in a study that also uses direct methods of research.
