social science

PAPER / RESEARCH PROPOSAL (will be covered in more detail in class)

 For this paper you will propose a

research

project to study some aspect of human – animal interactions

taking a perspective from one of the following disciplines: sociology, economics, political science,

psychology, criminal justice, social work, or communications (the study must involve humans – it cannot

be strictly on animal behavior).

 NOTE: You are only writing a proposal – you do not have to conduct the actual study!

 Your paper will be 10-15 double spaced numbered pages, Times-Roman 12 point font, one inch

margins, and stapled together (no clips, folders, or plastic covers

 Your paper should include the following six sections with BOLDED section headings:

 1 page: Overview

o A research question that should be clearly stated (as a question!) and bolded.

o A brief discussion on why you think this is an important question

o What is the social science discipline you’re focusing on and why you think that is the best

framework to consider your question

 1-2 pages: Methods

o A discussion of which research methodology you would use to collect your data

o Why you think that would be the best way to collect data to answer your research

question.

o How you would recruit subjects. For example, if you were conducting a study on zoos (a

topic you CANNOT use) you may say you would:

 interview all of the directors of AZA accredited zoos in the U.S.

 have the first 50 people, who were at least 13 years old, that were entering the

Columbus Zoo on a given date complete your survey.

 prepare an email letter, with a link to an online survey, that would be sent to all

members of the Toledo Zoo

 invite teachers K-12 to participate in focus groups on how they use the Cleveland

Zoo, or resources from the zoo, in teaching their students

 4-7 pages: Literature Review

o Should include 7-10 sources with a minimum of 6 peer reviewed journal articles. Please

note: one of the most consistent reasons for points being deducted is for doing an

Annotated Bibliography instead of a Lit Review. There are guides to Lit Reviews, as

well as a sample Lit Review (though you can skip the running head!), on Isidore.

 1-2 pages: Challenges

o What are potential problems or challenges you may run into if you were to conduct this

research

o You can include ethical issues, subject recruitment, etc.

 1 page: Role of Theory

o This will be a generic discussion of the role that theory plays in research (it will have

nothing to do with your topic)

o In addition to class discussions, the role of theory in research is covered in the pdf of

powerpoints, and some of the readings, for exam #1

o You should think of this part of your proposal as addressing the 4th learning objectives on

page one of the syllabus.

 1-2 pages: Future Research

o Pick two of the following four categories: Race, Gender, Social Class, and Location

(where you live – for example, suburban, urban, rural) and in 1-2 paragraphs for each

category address the following

 Identify a research question that connects how the category may influence your

topic in general (you should also bold the text of the research question).

 For example, if the overall topic is exotic pets and the category is

Location, you could ask: Are people who live in countries where tigers are

native less likely to keep them as pets?

 In a paragraph explain what you think the answer may be and why.

 You should also include

 A title page with: you name, your research question, the disciple you are using, and the

format/style you are using (APA, ASA, or MLA – if you want to use another style, check with

me first)

 A bibliography page at the end of the paper

 Stapled to the end of your paper, the outline for the proposal. The outline is due no later than

class on on Tuesday, March 13th (you may turn it in earlier if you wish). The outline should

include the following:

 Your research question

 The field of study you will be focusing on (sociology, psychology, economics, etc.)

 Your methodology

 Citations for at least 2 peer-reviewed journal articles for you Lit Review

 The grading rubric for the proposal should be inserted loosely into the paper (you can print it

back to back or staple together the 2 pages)

 Page numbers, beginning with 1, after the title page

 There is a folder under Isidore titled “Paper Assist.” Here you will find resources as well as the paper

rubric which you must print out and insert loosely into your paper.

 Papers are due Tuesday, April 10th

 If your paper is not turned in by the time I dismiss class on the day they are due, they are

officially late

 Late papers may be turned in by the end of the next class period with a 15 point deduction

 I will not accept papers by email

 Late papers must be put in my mailbox and must be signed by someone in the Sociology office

with the date and time the paper was being turned in

SSC200 – Research Proposal Rubric

Your Name ____________________________

Below are the criteria that your paper will be based on. Not all of these

categories are given equal weight, but will be taken together to determine your

point total. A score of 73-80 will be only given for exceptional work – A good

paper will get you a 72 (A-) at best.

Directions Followed

1 page: Overview

– Topic must include human-animal interactions (can’t be strictly
on animal behavior)

– Appropriate social science discipline
– Quality of research question and it is clearly stated

1-2 pages: Methods / Data

– Appropriate methods selected for topic

– Why you choose that methodology

– How would subjects be recruited or sources of data identified

5-7 pages: Literature Review

– The quality of the essay / readability
– Material is integrated rather than summarizing each source
– Minimum number of academic sources from appropriate journals

1-2 pages: Challenges

1-2 pages: Role of Theory

1-2 pages: Future Research

1-2 pages: Bibliography

POINT TOTAL (OUT OF 80)

(see next page for deductions)

The following four problems will result

in significant point deductions (15-30 pts) for EACH one checked

____ Topic doesn’t connect enough to the Social Sciences

____ Not enough peer reviewed sources. You should not just list a database –

If I don’t see an academic journal listed in the bibliography citation, the

source will not be counted as an academic source

____ Your Lit Review is more of an annotated bibliography

____ No completing all six sections of the paper: Overview, Methods, Lit

Review, Challenges, Theory, Future

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

OTHER DEDUCTIONS

____ Topic doesn’t really connect to the discipline you’ve identified

____ You have not clearly stated your Research Question

____ You do not have enough sources for your Lit Review

Paper is too short

____ The methods you have chosen will not provide the data needed to

answer your research question

Writing a Literature Review in the Social Sciences

Dr. Christopher N. Lawrence
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Virginia Tech*

October

1, 2011

Writing a literature review is one of the more mysterious parts of writing in the social sciences. This brief
guide is designed to help explain the process of writing a literature review—and explain what a literature
review is, and what it isn’t.

What is a Literature Review?

A literature review is designed to demonstrate your familiarity with past research on the topic you are
studying and closely-related topics. It also helps show how your research improves our understanding of
the topic you are studying, and thus can indicate the importance of your topic—by showing that other
scholars have had an interest in researching the question you are studying, that helps show others that your
topic is worthwhile.

A literature review should not be confused with an annotated bibliography. Annotated bibliographies are
typically organized by presenting a single paragraph per “chunk” of knowledge1 that is being reviewed in
the bibliography, and each paragraph is treated as a single distinct unit from the next. A literature review, on
the other hand, is written in a more continuous style, with proper transitions between ideas and paragraphs.

How Should I Organize It?

A literature review is typically either organized thematically or chronologically. If you are reviewing the
literature on a single topic, you will find that current knowledge is a culmination of past knowledge, and
thus a chronological approach will tend to make the most sense.

On the other hand, if you are dealing with multiple topics or streams of research, a thematic discussion is
probably best. Within each theme, however, you will often find that using a chronological approach makes
the most sense.

It may at times make sense to revisit previously-discussed “chunks” when talking about new ones; e.g., one
might write the following to introduce a discussion of another work, several paragraphs after first
discussing The American Voter:

*I appreciate the helpful suggestions received on previous drafts of this document by Chris Chiego (U.C.S.D.). All errors and
omissions, alas, remain my own.

1Each “chunk” is typically an article, a book chapter, a whole book, or a research paper—in other words, a single work by an
author or set of authors that presents an argument.

mailto:cnlawren@vt.edu

In contrast to Campbell et al.’s (1960) finding of widespread political apathy among
citizens, Verba, Nie and Petrocik (1979) argue that voters have become increasingly interested
in politics since the 1950s.

As discussed above, the literature review should flow with transitions between the discussion of each
“chunk” of knowledge that is being reviewed, and there should also be transitions between each distinct
topic.

What Should I Include?

A common issue students have is that they cannot find very many “chunks” that do exactly what they are
doing in their papers. Overcoming this problem requires a bit of creativity: you should also locate
“chunks” that employ similar techniques to analyze related questions.

For example, if you are researching why women are more likely than men to vote for Democrats, you could
include articles and books in your literature review that look at other differences in voting, attitudes, and
opinions between men and women; you could also include books and articles that look at other reasons
why some people prefer the Democrats to the Republicans (and vice versa). Similarly, you are unlikely to
find much existing research on why students drop out of school in Laredo, but if you broaden your search
you’ll find ample research on factors that lead to dropping out of school in other settings.

Finding Good Sources

Many social science journals publish issues focused on a particular theme on a semi-regular basis; these
issues of the journal will have multiple articles on related topics, often with contributions from the leading
experts on those topics.

In addition, many books in the social sciences are known as “edited volumes” (you can usually identify
these because they will be listed in the library database, or in the book, as having “editors” rather than
authors). These are similar to theme issues of journals, but typically are larger and have more chapters.
Textbooks called “readers” can often be used as well, although you will usually find that the chapters in the
reader have been abridged (edited) to cut content; you may want to find the original source (usually listed
at the beginning) instead.

Google has a separate index of scholarly sources, called Google Scholar, at http://scholar.google.com/,
including full-text indexing of most recent social science journals of note, as well as direct links to the
articles in JSTOR and other databases that TAMIU subscribes to.

In political science, you may also find the Annual Review of Political Science to be a great help in locating
good sources; the same publisher also produces annual reviews in anthropology, economics, law and social
science, and sociology, that may be helpful for papers touching on those subjects.

Note: When citing chapters from an edited volume or articles from theme issue of a journal, make sure you
cite the authors of the chapters/articles, not the editors of the book or journal, and make sure each article or
chapter you cite is listed separately in your list of works cited.

Lawrence, “Writing a Literature Review,” October 11, 2011 2

http://scholar.google.com/

Where Can I Find Examples of a Literature Review?

The short answer to this question is that virtually all good research includes a literature review as part of
the book or article. It may not necessarily be labeled as a “literature review,” but by convention the
literature review is usually at the beginning of the piece, immediately after any introduction. In a book or
dissertation, the literature review may be an entire chapter (or more!); in an edited volume, you’ll typically
find a literature review in each chapter.

Books on writing in the social sciences, such as The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual (Scott and
Garrison 2008), will often include a sample literature review as well.

Works Cited

• Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. 1960. The American
Voter. New York: Wiley.

• Nie, Norman H., Sidney Verba, and John R. Petrocik. 1979. The Changing American Voter, enlarged
edition. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

• Scott, Gregory M. and Steve M. Garrison. 2008. The Political Science Writer’s Manual, 6th edition.
New York: Longman.

This document is Copyright © 2010 Christopher N. Lawrence. You may modify, reuse, and redistribute this document
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or later. The text of this
license is available at the Creative Commons website, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, or by mail from
Creative Commons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. If you do distribute a modified
version of this document, you should replace or supplement the authorship information at the beginning the document
with your own and include this copyright notice (including the original author’s name) in the modified document.

Lawrence, “Writing a Literature Review,” October 11, 2011 3

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Writing A Literature Review and
Using a Synthesis Matrix

My professor says I have to write a literature review, what do I do?

Well, to begin, you have to know that when writing a literature review, the goal of the researcher is to determine the current

state of knowledge about a particular topic by asking, “What do we know or not know about this issue?” In conducting this type of

research, it is imperative to examine several different sources to determine where the knowledge overlaps and where it falls short.

literature review requires a synthesis of different subtopics to come to a greater understanding of the state of knowledge on a larger

issue. It works very much like a jigsaw puzzle. The individual pieces (arguments) must be put together in order to reveal the whole

(state of knowledge).

So basically I just read the articles and summarize each one separately?
No, a literature review is not a summary. Rather than merely presenting a summary of each source, a literature review should

be organized according to each subtopic discussed about the larger topic. For example, one section of a literature review might read

“Researcher A suggests that X is true. Researcher B also argues that X is true, but points out that the effects of X may be different

from those suggested by Researcher A.” It is clear that subtopic X is the main idea covered in these sentences. Researchers A and

agree that X is true, but they disagree on X’s effects. There is both agreement and disagreement, but what links the two arguments is

the fact that they both concern X.

This sounds like a lot of information, how can I keep it organized?

Because a literature review is NOT a summary of these different sources, it can be very difficult to keep your research

organized. It is especially difficult to organize the information in a way that makes the writing process simpler. One way that seems

particularly helpful in organizing literature reviews is the synthesis matrix. The synthesis matrix is a chart that allows a researcher to

sort and categorize the different arguments presented on an issue. Across the top of the chart are the spaces to record sources,

and

along the side of the chart are the spaces to record the main points of argument on the topic at hand. As you examine your first source,

you will work vertically in the column belonging to that source, recording as much information as possible about each significant idea

presented in the work. Follow a similar pattern for your following sources. As you find information that relates to your already

identified main points, put it in the pertaining row. In your new sources, you will also probably find new main ideas that you need to

add to your list at the left. You now have a completed matrix!

As you write your review, you will work horizontally in the row belonging to each point discussed. As you combine the

information presented in each row, you will begin to see each section of your paper taking shape. Remember, some of the sources

may not cover all of the main ideas listed on the left, but that can be useful also. The gaps on your chart could provide clues about the

gaps in the current state of knowledge on your topic.

CREATING YOUR SYNTHESIS MATRIX

It is probably best to begin your chart by labeling the columns both horizontally and vertically. The sample chart below

illustrates how to do this.

Topic: ______________________________________

Source #1 Source #2 Source #3 Source #4

Main Idea

Main Idea
B

Label the columns across the top of your chart with the author’s last name or with a few keywords from the title of the work. Then

label the sides of the chart with the main ideas that your sources discuss about your topic. As you read each source, make notes in the

appropriate column about the information discussed in the work, as shown in the following chart.

Topic: Women in

WWII

Cornelsen Stewart Bruley Scott

Alteration of

women’s

roles

because of

WWII

– Women accredited the

WASP program for opening

new doors, challenging

stereotypes, and proving that

women were as capable as

men (p. 113)

– Women could compete with

men as equals in the sky

because of their exemplary

performance (p. 116)

– WASP created opportunities

for women that had never

previously existed (p.

112)

– Women’s success at flying

aircrafts “marked a pivotal

step towards breaking the

existing gender barrier” (p.

112)

– WAAC (Women’s Army

Auxiliary Corp) was 1
st

chance for women to serve in

army, given full army status in

1943 as WAC (p. 28)

– Needs of the war were so

great that women’s traditional

social roles were ignored (p.

30)

– Military women paid well

for the time period and given

benefits if they became

pregnant (p. 32)

– The 1940’s brought more

opportunities to women than

ever before (p. 26)

-Women given equal

opportunities (p. 223)

– Women joined workforce as

a break from the ordinary to

help the war (p. 220)

– Unconscious decision to

cross into male-dominated

roles (p. 221)

– Seized these new

opportunities to bring about

change (p.

230)

– Women born in the 1920’s

found new doors open to them

where they once would have

encountered brick walls (p.

526)

-Even women not directly

involved in the war were

changing mentally by being

challenged to expand their

horizons because of the

changing world around them

(p. 562)

– War also brought intellectual

expansion to many people (p.

557)

Hardships

and

oppositions

women

faced

– “From the outset male pilots

resented women’s presence in

a traditionally male military

setting” (p. 1113-4)

– “The WASP were routinely

assigned inferior planes that

were later found to have been

improperly maintained” (p.

114)

– discrimination against

WASP at every level of

military service, women were

only paid 2/3 of what men

were for doing identical tasks

(p. 114)

– Women in the military given

extensive physical and mental

tests, but still discriminated

against, ridiculed, and

considered inferior to men (p.

29)

– Women given unskilled

labor positions by government

because only seen as

temporary workers, therefore

no reason to train them (p.

221-2)

– Women given less

significant work and viewed

as less intelligent and

physically able (p. 224)

-“The Church-Bliss diary

reveals how dilution

arrangements…ensured that

women working in male

preserves were prevented

Cornelsen Stewart Bruley Scott

– “In the belief that women

were emotionally and

physically fragile, the military

questioned women’s

capabilities to fly an aircraft”

(p. 114-5), regardless of their

training or aptitude

– WASP’s not granted veteran

status until 1979 (p. 115)

from achieving any sort of

equality” (p. 230)

– more traditionally male jobs

resisted the integration of

women workers, while other

industries were less

resistant… but in most all

cases women were considered

temporary workers (p. 221)

– Equal pay rarely given to

women, even though women

did the same work (p. 221)

– Women occasionally found

their way to positions of

importance, but were always

treated as inferior (p. 226-8)

– After the war, women were

the first to be let go because

of their temporary status (p.

230)

– Women in the workforce

also faced discrimination from

labor unions (p. 226)

Opposition:

WWII did

NOT effect

women

– Women put in untraditional

roles during/because of the

war, but back to previous

subservient roles after the war

(p. 35)

– Women were not affected

because they still remained in

subordinate positions after the

war (p. 217)

After your chart is complete, notice patterns of information. You may find that your sources, at times, discuss very similar

material, or that they sometimes deal with completely different aspects of your topic. These patterns can be useful in creating a thesis

statement that can guide your writing and keep you focused as you begin your draft.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW

Here is an example from the literature review: “World War Two and its Effect on Women.” This excerpt synthesizes

information without summarizing.

While the articles used in this research agree that women made many advances during the Word War II period, it is crucial to

realize that not all these changes were welcomed. In most cases women faced discrimination from just about everyone around

them. Women in the workplace were often placed in positions of inferiority or treated as being less physically able to do the

same work the men did. Many women were often not trained because they were viewed as temporary employees who were

only there for the duration of the war (Bruley, 2003, pp.221-222). Women were very rarely given equal pay as men, even

though some of them did the same work. Women in the military faced not only mental abuse but also physical harm from their

male counterparts. According to Cornelsen (2005), there were many instances where female aviators were injured or killed due

to being made to fly ill-maintained aircrafts or aircrafts that had been sabotaged. (p.114)

The sample above is an excellent example of how to synthesize information adequately. Notice how when transitioning from

Bruley to Cornelsen the writer notes not only that the two articles are similar, but also how they are similar. The writer goes into detail

about Bruley’s discussion of women in industry facing discrimination while noting that Stewart deals with prejudice in the military.

The author also transitions well between the Bruley article and the Cornelsen article; rather than summarizing, the author draws

comparisons between the two articles, giving relevant information and at the same time synthesizing the two works.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This document was created by NC State University Writing and Speaking Tutorial Service Tutors during Fall 2006. Contributors were Laura

Ingram, James Hussey, Michelle Tigani, and Mary Hemmelgarn. Special thanks to Stephanie Huneycutt for providing the sample matrix and

paragraph. http://www.ncsu.edu/tutorial_center/writespeak

Cayla Buttram, David MacMillan III, & Dr. R.T. Koch, Jr.

Updated November 2012
UNA Center for Writing Excellence

Comparing the Annotated Bibliography to the Literature Review

Annotated bibliographies and literature reviews are both comprehensive collections of relevant sources,
but that is where the similarity ends. Their purposes, structures, and components are very different.

Annotated Bibliography Literature Review

Purpose

Provides the reader with an
ordered list of sources for
additional reading. Usually also
provides brief explanations of
why each source is credible and
relevant to the topic.

Provides an overview of a
particular topic or problem by
summarizing and explaining the
most significant sources in the
field.

Structure

Sources are separated from each
other and are arranged
alphabetically, so they will be
easy to locate.

Sources are integrated into
paragraphs based on the
progression of the topical
overview, and they may be
mentioned more than once.

Components

Each item in the list uses the
formal citation style (usually APA,
MLA, or Chicago) to cite a single
source and includes a short
paragraph with a summary
explaining its credibility and
relevancy.

Uses an introduction to explain
the topic, synthesizes sources
progressively as the topic is
explained through the body, and
then concludes by summarizing
the overall background
presented.

Additional differences:

• In the case of an annotated bibliography, there is a separate paragraph for each source cited. In
a literature review, each body paragraph should include several sources, and sources may be
repeated as necessary.

• An annotated bibliography examines each source based on its relationship to the topic; a
literature review draws together multiple sources to examine where they agree or disagree.

• An annotated bibliography must organize sources alphabetically, but a literature review is likely to
use problem/solution, cause/effect, comparison/contrast, classification/division, or process to
organize sources.

• An annotated bibliography allows the reader to choose whether to explore the available sources
or not on their own while a literature review directs the reader to a particular understanding of
the available sources;

The following illustration provides an example of the differences in layout between an annotated
bibliography and a literature review. The sources that are arranged alphabetically in the annotated
bibliography are integrated throughout the paragraphs of the literature review. The order of sources
shown in the literature review is just an example; any appropriate sources can be used wherever they fit.

Cayla Buttram, David MacMillan III, & Dr. R.T. Koch, Jr.
Updated November 2012
UNA Center for Writing Excellence

Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 200

Crafting the Literature Crafting the Literature
ReviewReview

This presentation overviews the basics of writing a literature review. This
presentation has been designed for those carrying out research where they are
required to write-up as part of their research a chapter, which reviews the
literature. It begins by focusing on the actual purpose for writing a literature
review, including an explicit definition of what the concept means. Three
examples are provided from different research projects demonstrating how to
organise the literature using different strategies. The talk then moves into specific
details to include in relation to a study. A final section focuses on ways of
critiquing research, which is an important component of writing a literature review.

Purpose of a literature reviewPurpose of a literature review

• Helps map and define your research topic
• Presents a balanced view
• Justifies your research question
• Provides literature for you to compare your

findings with at the end.

Literature reviews can be one of the most difficult writing tasks. There may be a sense of mystery
surrounding what exactly is a literature review. Hence, pinning down the purpose is key.

Four purposes of a literature review
1. Helps map and define research topic:

highlights scope & boundaries,
shows where the study fits into the broad picture,
shares with reader studies closely resembling proposed study,
provides evidence that your topic is building onto an established body of knowledge.

2. Presents a balanced view of the area you are interested in.

3. Justifies and makes a case for your research question, problem, issue:
provides a framework for establishing the importance of your study;
argues that not enough is yet known about the topic.

4. Provides literature for you to compare your findings with at the end

A literature review builds on, but is neither, an annotated bibliography nor an historical overview.

A common error made when writing A common error made when writing
a literature review is toa literature review is to

In fact this sums up what you should do when writing a literature reviewIn fact this sums up what you should do when writing a literature reviewYes you are correct. Often people only report on what has happened , which leaves out a critique
Yes you are correct. Often people only report on what has happened , which

leaves out a critique
This is the very activity that provides a solution to the common error made

when writing a literature review
This is the very activity that provides a solution to the common error made

when writing a literature review
So far this is not a common error, however you may feel like engaging in

this activity once your literature review is completed

So far this is not a common error, however you may feel like engaging in

this activity once your literature review is completed

Correct – Click anywhere to
continue

Correct Correct — Click anywhere to Click anywhere to
continuecontinue

Incorrect – Click anywhere to
continue

Incorrect Incorrect — Click anywhere to Click anywhere to
continuecontinue

You answered this correctly!You answered this correctly!You answered this correctly!

Your answer:Your answer:Your answer:

The correct answer is:The correct answer is:The correct answer is:
You did not answer this

question completely
You did not answer this You did not answer this

question completelyquestion completely
SubmitSubmit ClearClear

A) Provide a comprehensive description and evaluation of the
literature

B) Report on events that have happened in the past that lead up to
your research topic or question

C) Provide a critique of the literature to justify your research area.

D) Open a bottle of wine

Winston
2003

Nettle
2002c

Nettle
2002b

Nettle
2002a

Little &
Scott 2002

Engels
2001

Dickens
2000

Smart
199

Johansen
199

Frankens
1996

Solomon
1995

Bush &
Thomson
1995

Jones
1994

Smith &
Kettle
1992

Bleet
1992

Johnson
1991

McDonald
& Bundt
1990

Christians
1990

Fieldman
& Roberts
1989

Anders
1988

Jacqet
1988

Kevinstan
1985

Morgan &
Tuffin
1981

Billet &
Ouster
1980

Smith
1979

Walking your path – title

The purpose of this diagram is to highlight the importance of being selective in
your review. It is impossible to cover every study that has ever existed on your
topic. Moreover, it is impossible to cover every study in detail within your review.
Hence, one of the key characteristics of writing a review is to ensure that you
highlight ‘in bright lights’ (signalled metaphorically by the red line) the studies that
are most relevant in building towards your research rationale. Certainly, you can
mention the other studies, but in less detail, perhaps to indicate their distance
away from the core of the research topic.

6
Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 2006

Difference between a review and Difference between a review and
an essayan essay

Smyth (2004, pp. 113-114) defines a literature review:

Although conceptually similar to an essay, a literature
review differs in that it is written to address some
specific research problem or question. It does not
present a thesis. Rather, a literature review should
reach some conclusion on the current state of
knowledge in an area, and suggest the next step in the
investigation of the problem or question of interest.
The conclusion reached is not final in the same sense
as is a thesis. Moreover, because of its nature, a
literature review will be largely based on research
findings.

At a very basic, rudimentary level, it can be helpful to conceptualise a
literature review as a discussion of the research area on a particular topic
that is arranged by key themes or findings, which lead up to or link in with
your question.

Social science exampleSocial science example

Online Identity, Social
Experience Online

Online Access &
Disability Disability Identity

“Social psychological impact of the online medium on the lives of people
with disabilities”

Disability Studies

Social
PsychologyCMC

Social science example – title

The purpose of these concentric circles is to demonstrate diagramatically the
development of a literature review in conjunction with supporting a research area.
One of the difficulties with creating your review, as a task preceding the research,
is that there is no or very little research explicitly exploring your area of interest,
hence the reason for your research inquiry. Consequently, you are often left with
the studies around the periphery of your topic.

In the case of the topic in the diagram, it was interdisciplinary and so the studies
of interest were located at the margins of the disciplines and sub-disciplines. In
fact, there was not always research available within these margins and so there
was a need to find the next closest study of relevance to the research area. The
space where the three concentric circles all overlap was the location of the
research to be carried out. Any research remotely linked to this area, involving
connections across all three disciplines (CMC, social psychology, and disability
studies) became integral to the literature review.

8
Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 2006

ToingToing and and froingfroing
Potentially empowering outcomes for people with disabilities (pro)
Freedom and autonomy (pro)
Inequity and prejudice remain (anti)
Accentuating bodily forms (anti)
Maintaining the status quo (anti)
Reconstituting bodily constraints (anti)
Challenging oppressions (pro)
Unprecedented possibilities for reconstructing norms of identity (pro)
Ethical practices languish (anti)
Losing social contact (anti)
Creating further dependency for people with disabilities (anti)
Collective empowerment for disabled identities (pro)
Webs of power (anti)

The lit review provided the resources for critical reflection on whether there
were empowering and disempowering online experiences available to
people with disabilities. Justified exploring their online experiences.

Cont.

The list of headings formed the section titles within the literature review. One way
of creating a sense of comparison and evaluation of the ideas and findings within
the literature was to vary the order of arguments ‘for’ (pro) and ‘against’ (anti) the
topic, namely, the value of being online for people with disabilities. This leads to a
constant ‘toing’ and ‘froing’ between evidence.

9
Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 2006

Topic: Developing natural treatments to replace antiobiotic
use in pig farming

“Antibiotics are used to cure diseases in pigs and increase
performance. Their use, however, has come under attack by
consumers and political groups due to allergies and bacterial
resistance in pork consumers. Since antibiotics increase
performance, the ban [on antibiotics] would increase mortality and
reduce performance in pigs. To avoid a decrease in performance,
there is a need to develop natural treatments to replace antibiotic
use” (Nkamba, 2006).

1. Antibiotic use in curing pig diseases
• Studies supporting this
• Increases pig’s performance – growth rate

However, concerns raised by consumers and political groups have
drawn attention to the problems of antibiotic use.

Science exampleScience example

Science example – title

Here is another example of the development of a literature review. However, this
example is from the sciences, namely veterinary science and food, nutrition, and
human health. This example comes from a student, Richard Nkamba, whose
research focused on developing natural treatments to replace antibiotic use in pig
farming. The quoted paragraph from his draft literature review chapter
summarises the development and rationale for his research topic. Consequently,
it functions as a summary of the areas that need to be covered in the literature
review. These areas are numbered from 1-4.

2. Health problems with antibiotic use
• Health – allergies, bacterial resistance in pork consumers
• Political concerns

• Banning antibiotics

3. Consequences of banning antibiotics
• Mortality increase, reduced pig performance, growth rate

4. Developing natural treatments to replace antibiotics
• Different treatments

• Benefits
• Disadvantages
• End with closest resembling treatment to your study and / or technique

used in your study

All this justifies the validity & value of your research question.

Cont.

Business exampleBusiness example
Do Management Consultants Create Knowledge?

Research conducted by Elisa Peirano Vejo, Management department,
2005. Her topic occurred in opposition to criticism of consultants for not
creating substantive ideas, and their lack of measurement and
evaluation of management developments.

Vejo’s diagram of the literature review

Vejo used grounded theory methodology
Data collected from interviews with management consultants.
•Issues

– Academics vs practitioners
– Management consultants already part of media industry – distributing

knowledge business.
– What is knowledge? – Foucault
– How does knowledge become science?

Business Studies example

Interdisciplinary area spanning management theory, philosophy and science.
The hyperlink will take you to a mind map/flow chart representation of the
literature covered in the review and how sense was made out of different groups
of literature.

Managers
(Faust, 2002;
Kieser,

2002)

1., 2., 3.
(Kipping &

Engwall, 2002)

Difficulty
to measure

results

Politics
(Alvesson &
Johansson,

2002)

3. CONSULTING
PROJECT

Affected by National Context (Wood, 2002):
France (Henry, 2002*1)
Sweden (Engwall, Furusten & Wallersted, 2002*)
The Netherlands (Karsten & Van Keen, 2002*)
Finland (Ainamo & Tienari, 2002*)
Italy (Crucini, 2002), Australia (Wright, 2002)

Knowledge
(Faust, 2002;
Legge, 2002;
Armbruster &
Kipping, 2002)

‘Otherness
’ (Kipping &
Armbruster,

2002)

Application
(Gammelsaeter,

2002)

1. CONSULTING
INDUSTRY

2. CONSULTING
FIRM

Expansion &
Growth

(Ernst & Keiser,
2002)

Professionalism
(Ruef, 2002)

Interaction with
other Carriers of
Mgmt Knowledge

History &
Development

(*) (Kipping,
2002b)

Low
Barriers of

Entry

Media Press,
(Mazza & Alvarez, 2000,

Faust, 2002)
Academia,

(*1; Kieser, 2002b)
Management Gurus

(Clark & Greatbatch,
2002, 2002b; Jackson,

2002)

Experience
(Werr, 2002)

(Sahlin-Andersson &
Engwall, 2002)

Fashion
(Abrahamson,
1996; Kieser,

2002)
Rhetoric

(Case, 2002;
Fincham, 2002)

Technology
(Bloomfield et al., 2002)

Initial organisationInitial organisation
1. Use EndNote

2. After reading a handful of research papers, consider
keywords that may be used to categorise the work
under.

• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Social factors
• Biological factors

3. Use these as headings to group summaries of
research papers.

4. Try to suspend the need for absolute conclusion,
completeness, and finality.

Building your storyBuilding your story
• Identify areas of consensus: Hence, it seems that there is

agreement among researchers of the 80s regarding
Thomson’s theory.

• Identify areas of divergence: Much debate exists on the
issue of… Try to explain why.

• Consider the need for summary paragraphs dispersed
throughout the review.
In summary, the evidence laid out demonstrates that
operating online does not challenge the online medium’s
ability to… . Rather, this literature supports a continuation
of… . Consequently, people with disabilities may
experience social stigma online… . However, alternative
ideas and findings suggest… .

Referring to othersReferring to others’’ workwork
A study by Smith (1998) showed that gender differences exist
online.

How?
Why?

Smith (1998) investigated the existence of gender
differences in chatroom participation. By measuring the
proportion of responses made by male and female
participants, taking into account the amount of time spent
accessing the chatroom, findings showed that males were
more likely than females to post messages (67% and 33%
respectively). This evidence supports the view…

Try to explain the logic behind what the study found, rather than simply stating
what they found.
Try to be specific when explaining findings

Features to include
• Participants’ characteristics, criteria for inclusion
• Sample size
• Location of study
• Type of study – expt, interviews, survey
• Nature of task – what was done, details of tests used
• Findings – numerical, descriptive
• How the findings relate to your research question

Summarising
Based on the findings of Brown (1989) and Jones
(1997), Smith (1998) hypothesised that gender
differences are prevalent online.

Specific detailsSpecific details

Cont.
You need these details to convince the reader of the validity of the assertion that
the study has made an accurate conclusion or demonstration. Obviously, the
amount of detail included will depend on the importance of the work to your
research and whether it is likely to be accepted on face value as valid evidence.

At times, you will need to summarise outcomes/predictions, etc. It is reasonable
to need to rely on the findings of others to justify the predictions of other
investigations.

1. Cover seminal work, leading theories, concepts in the area
For theories, try to refer to the original research, rather than a textbook
reference. Einstein’s (1923) theory of relativity…

2. Multiple authors
Use when your assertion is particularly important, or may be
questioned.

A plethora of literature exists about men and women masquerading as the opposite
gender online (Curtis, 1997; Dickel, 1995; Kendall, 1996; McRae, 1996, 1997; Reid,
1995, 1996a, 1996b; Turkle, 1995; Van Gelder, 1991; Whitty, 2002).

3. Discernment in use of verbs
Just because an author suggests an idea, this does not
make it so.

Smith (1998) suggests that gender
differences exist online.

Suggest is not the same as demonstrate, conclude,
argue…

Being selectiveBeing selective

As long as you have mentioned Brown and Jones’ work to demonstrate the link in
reasoning.
Think about the verb forms you are using and their impact on your review of the
literature.

Smyth (2004) highlights the importance of referring
to authors in different ways: their ‘name’,
‘pronouns’, ‘investigators’, ‘researchers’…

Brown (1999) conducted a study on gender differences.
She demonstrated how… . Brown concluded that…/It
was concluded that…Similarly, another researcher
looked at…

Similarly, instead of relying on the word ‘research’,
also use ‘investigation’, ‘study’, ‘project’, ‘work’…

Avoiding repetitionAvoiding repetition

Use their ‘name’, ‘pronouns’, ‘investigators’, ‘researchers’…

Beginning your critiqueBeginning your critique
• Is the author knowledgeable in the area? • Objective and balanced discussion

• Recent publications are up-to-date, although may omit older
material which is still relevant.

• Journal articles typically have more up-to-date info because
less time taken to publish, compared to books published at
the same time.

• Not all conference proceedings exercise peer-review. If the
info is valuable, it may be published as a journal article.

Evaluating sources used in your review.
You can be critical at the very level of which works you choose to cover
Is the author knowledgeable in the area? – Have they published other articles on
the topic, are they cited frequently in the literature?
Objective and balanced discussion – govt reports may be influenced by political
agendas, favouring public attitudes.

• Be cautious of claims made based on cited sources or authors who
only mention others’ findings and suggestions.
Based on the findings of Brown (1989) and Jones (1997), Smith
(1998) concludes that gender differences are prevalent online.
The earth is the centre of the universe (Brown, 1974, as cited in
McDonald, 1975).

• Inconsistencies with a vast number of other sources.

• Broad, generalisable statements, which are unsubstantiated.

• Omission of counter evidence you are aware of through your review.

• Omission of alternative explanations for findings.

Being critical of outcomes, Being critical of outcomes,
explanationsexplanations……

Cont. – Title
To assess Brown (1989) and Jones’ (1997) claims accurately, you need to
evaluate Brown and Jones work.

Methodological critiqueMethodological critique

• Sample size
• Randomized trials
• Reliable control – confounding variables
• Validity

Lack of alternative methodologies used to
understand the issue.

Other strategiesOther strategies
• Identify gaps in knowledge that relate to your

research question.
– Lack of New Zealand context

• Identify strengths, advantages.

• Draw on others’ critiques of the literature.

Things I learnt along the wayThings I learnt along the way

• Don’t let the literature control you!
• Your story
• Ensure that the information you provide

backs up your research question (and
approach).

• Suspend the need for finality.

– it is impossible to cover the entirety of literature on your topic.
– you need to highlight the important steps that have led to the development of
your work (picture yourself as a tour guide).
Suspend the need for finality at each stage of developing your literature review.

ReferencesReferences

Smyth, T.R. (2004). The principles of writing
in psychology. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan

For more informationFor more information……

• Please email the Student Learning Centre,
Palmerston North campus.

Themost common research methodologies are listed below (I have cut and pasted these from

various sources to give you a simple list!) – if you want to use some other method, check with

me first! Also Reading 02b is a methods text that provides more details for your information.

1) Questioning subjects: asking individuals, or small groups, a series of questions; can be
both open-ended (without specific questions) or more structured

a. Surveys: can be done in written form or online (see the webpage Survey Monkey)
b. Interviews: one-one discussions (need to think about note taking or recording)
c. Focus groups: talk with 1-2 researchers and a small group of subjects

2) Ethnography, Fieldwork: Observations of a social space. You are studying subject on
their territory while taking notes on what you observe.

3) Participant Observation: Typically coupled with interviewing and/or ethnographic
observation—you participate in the group that you wish to study to gain more insight into

the processes of that group

a. Jeff Ferrell became a graffiti artist in order to gain access to his subjects and to

interact with them on ‘their territory’

4) Experiments: Experiments involve comparing the outcomes of a treatment group and
control group. You might have participants read a statement and respond to it,

randomly varying a key word in the prompt.

5) Content Analysis: The researcher looks for key words, phrases, or subject matter in
written or video media that already exists and assesses how they vary on key dimensions

a. newsletters, webpages, online forums, song lyrics, visual images, TV shows,

movies, government testimony

6) Sometime Content Analysis is described as – Historical /Archival: The researcher use
content analysis of primary source documents (bills, laws, newspapers, letters, etc.) and

interviews with key social actors to piece together how a historical event occurred.

a. I wrote my dissertation on the creation of Ohio’s Ethnic Intimidation Law by
reviewing written testimony, media coverage, and interviews with the person who

wrote the bill as well as supporters and opponents of the proposed legislation.

7) In secondary analysis, researchers analyze data that others have collected.

a. There are a number of data sets available where researchers can use a statistical

program, such as SPSS, to extract variables they are interested in and run analysis

Practical Research Methods

Practical books that inspire

Exams are Easy When You Know How

Change your attitude, thinking and technique and ne

er fail an
exam

Essay to Write?

Make it good, make it easy, make it fun!

Writing an Assignment

Effective ways to improve your research and presentation skills

Critical Thinking for Students

Learn the skills of critical assessment and effective argument

Writing Your Dissertation

How to plan, prepare and present successful work

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Practical Research Methods
A user-friendly guide to mastering

research techniques and projects

DR CATHERINE DAWSON

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For my Dad

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# 2002

Dr Catherine Dawson

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Contents

Preface

1 How to Define Your Project

Asking questions 1
The five ‘Ws’

Summary 1

2 How to Decide Upon a Methodology

Understanding the difference between qualitative and
quantitative research 14
Summary 2

FURTHER READING

The theoretical and philosophical issues raised in this

chapter are detailed and complex and cannot be discussed

in depth in this book. However, if you wish to pursue any

of these topics, some of the useful publications are listed

below under the relevant topics.

Qualitative research
Over recent years there has been a great deal of innova-

tion in the use of qualitative methodologies. Listed below

are some of the more traditional texts and a selection of

the newer, innovative texts.

Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.) (2000) Handbook of

Qualitative Re

search, 2
nd

edition, Thousand Oaks, CA:

Sage.

Higgs, J., Armstrong, H. and Horsfall, D. (2001) Critical

Moments in Qualitative Research, Oxford: Butterworth-

Heinemann.

Hollway, W. and Jefferson, T. (2000) Doing Qualitative Re-

search Differently: Free Association, Narrative and the

Interview Method,

London: Sage.

Schwandt, T. (1997) Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of

Terms,

Thousand

Oaks,

CA: Sage.

Van Maanen, J. (ed.) (1983) Qualitative Methodology,

Beverly Hells, CA: Sage.

Quantitative research
De Vaus, D.A. (1991) Surveys in Social Research, 3rd

edi-

tion,

London: UCL

Press.

Fowler, F. (2001) Survey Research Methods, 3
rd

edition,

Thou

sand

Oaks, CA: Sage.

Marsh, C. (1982) The Survey Method: The Contribution of

Surveys to Sociological Explanation, London: George

Allen and Unwin.

Sapsford, R. (1999) Survey Research, London: Sage.

Action research
Alvesson, M. and Sköldberg, K. (2000) Reflexive Metho-

dology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research, Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage.

Brooks, A. and Watkins, E. (eds.) (1994) The Emerging

Power of Action Inquiry Technologies, San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Dadds, M. and Hart, S. (eds.) (2001) Doing Practitioner

Research Differently, London: Routledge Falmer.

McNiff, J. (2000) Action Research in Organisations, Lon-

don:

Routledge.

Reason, P. and Bradbury H. (eds.) (2000) Handbook of

24 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E AR C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O D E C I D E U P O N A ME T H O D O L O G Y / 25

Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice,

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ethnography
Atkinson, P. (1992) The Ethnographic Imagination, Lon-

don: Routledge.

Davies, C.A. (1999) Reflexive Ethnography: a guide to re-

searching selves and others, London: Routledge.

Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (1995) Ethnography:

Principles in Practice, 2
nd

edition, London: Routledge.

Thomas, J. (1993) Doing Critical Ethnography, Newbury

Park, CA: Sage.

Van Maanen, J. (1988) Tales of the Field: On Writing Eth-

nography, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wolcott, H.F. (1999) Ethnography: a way of seeing, Wal-

nut Creek, CA: Altamira.

Feminist research
Alcoff, L. and Potter, E. (eds.) (1993) Feminist Epistemol-

ogies, London: Routledge.

Fonow, M.M. and Cook, J.A. (eds.) (1991) Beyond Meth-

odology: Feminist Scholarship as Lived Research, Bloo-

mington: Indiana

University Press.

Harding, S. (ed.) (1987) Feminism and Methodology, Mil-

ton Keynes: Open University Press.

Harding, S. (1991) Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?

Thinking From Women’s Lives, Milton Keynes: Open

University Press.

Stanley, L. and Wise, S. (1983) Breaking Out: Feminist

Consciousness and Feminist Research, London: Routle-

dge and Kegan Paul.

Stanley, L. and Wise, S. (1993) Breaking Out Again: Fem-

inist Ontology and Epistemology, London: Routledge.

Grounded theory
Dey, I. (1998) Grounding Grounded Theory: Guidelines for

Qualitative Inquiry, San Diego: Academic Press.

Glaser, B. and Strauss, A. (1967) The Discovery of

Grounded Theory, Chicago: Aldine.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Re-

search: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques,

Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

26 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

How to ChooseYour
Research Methods

As we have seen in the previous chapter, research methods

are the tools you use to collect your data. Before you de-

cide which would be the most appropriate methods for

your research, you need to find out a little more about

these tools. This chapter gives a description of the meth-

ods of interviewing, focus groups, questionnaires and par-

ticipant observation. Chapters 7–10 will go on to describe

in detail how to use each of these

methods.

INTERVIEWING
In social research there are many types of interview. The

most common of these are unstructured, semi-structured

and structured interviews. If you want to find out about

other types of interview, relevant references are given at

the end of this chapter.

Unstructured interviews
Unstructured or in-depth interviews are sometimes called

life history interviews. This is because they are the fa-

voured approach for life history research. In this type of

interview, the researcher attempts to achieve a holistic un-

derstanding of the interviewees’ point of view or situation.

For example, if you want to find out about a Polish man’s

experiences of a concentration camp during the war,

you’re delving into his life history. Because you are unsure

of what has happened in his life, you want to enable him

to talk freely and ask as few questions as possible. It is for

this reason that this type of interview is called unstruc-

tured – the participant is free to talk about what he or

she deems important, with little directional influence from

the researcher. This type of interview can only be used for

qualitative research.

As the researcher tries to ask as few questions as possible,

people often assume that this type of interviewing is the

easiest. However, this is not necessarily the case. Re-

searchers have to be able to establish rapport with the par-

ticipant – they have to be trusted if someone is to reveal

intimate life information. This can be difficult and takes

tact, diplomacy and perseverance. Also, some people find

it very difficult to remain quiet while another person talks,

sometimes for hours on end. Researchers need to remain

alert, recognising important information and probing for

more detail. They need to know how to tactfully steer

someone back from totally irrelevant digressions. Also,

it is important to realise that unstructured interviewing

can produce a great deal of data which can be difficult

to analyse.

Semi-structured interviews
Semi-structured interviewing is perhaps the most com-

mon type of interview used in qualitative social research.

In this type of interview, the researcher wants to know

specific information which can be compared and con-

trasted with information gained in other interviews. To

do this, the same questions need to be asked in each inter-

28 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C H O O S E Y O U R R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S / 29

view. However, the researcher also wants the interview to

remain flexible so that other important information can

still arise.

For this type of interview, the researcher produces an in-

terview schedule (see Chapter 7). This may be a list of spe-

cific questions or a list of topics to be discussed. This is

taken to each interview to ensure continuity. In some re-

search, such as a grounded theory study, the schedule is

updated and revised after each interview to include more

topics which have arisen as a result of the previous inter-

view.

Structured interviews
Structured interviews are used frequently in market re-

search. Have you ever been stopped in the street and

asked about washing powder or which magazines you

read? Or have you been invited into a hall to taste cider

or smell washing-up liquid? The interviewer asks you a

series of questions and ticks boxes with your re

sponse.

This research method is highly structured – hence the

name. Structured interviews are used in quantitative re-

search and can be conducted face-to-face or over the tele-

phone, sometimes with the aid of lap-top computers.

FOCUS GROUPS
Focus groups may be called discussion groups or group in-

terviews. A number of people are asked to come together

in a group to discuss a certain issue. For example, in mar-

ket research this could be a discussion centred on new

packaging for a breakfast cereal, or in social research this

could be to discuss adults’ experiences of school.

ADVANTAGES

Can receive a wide range of
responses during one meeting.

Participants can ask questions of
each other, lessoning impact of

researcher

bias.

Helps people to remember issues

they might otherwise have
forgotten.

Helps participants to overcome
inhibitions, especially if they
know other people in the group.

The group effect is a useful
resource in data

analysis.

Participant interaction is useful
to analyse.

DISADVANTAGES

Some people may be
uncomfortable in a group setting
and nervous about speaking in

front of others.

Not everyone may contribute.

Other people may contaminate

an individual’s views.

Some researchers may find it
difficult or intimidating to
moderate a focus group.

Venues and equipment can be
expensive.

Difficult to extract individual
views during the analysis.

The discussion is led by a moderator or facilitator who in-

troduces the topic, asks specific questions, controls di-

gressions and stops break-away conversations. She

makes sure that no one person dominates the discussion

whilst trying to ensure that each of the participants makes

a contribution. Focus groups may be video-recorded or

tape-recorded.

TABLE 1. THE FOCUS GROUP METHOD:

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

QUESTIONNAIRES
There are three basic types of questionnaire – closed-

ended, open-ended or a

combination of both.

30 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C H O O S E Y O U R R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S / 31

1. Closed-ended questionnaires
Closed-ended questionnaires are probably the type with

which you are most familiar. Most people have experience

of lengthy consumer surveys which ask about your shop-

ping habits and promise entry into a prize draw. This type

of questionnaire is used to generate statistics in quantita-

tive research. As these questionnaires follow a set format,

and as most can be scanned straight into a computer for

ease of analysis, greater numbers can be produced.

2. Open-ended questionnaires
Open-ended questionnaires are used in qualitative re-

search, although some researchers will quantify the an-

swers during the analysis stage. The questionnaire does

not contain boxes to tick, but instead leaves a blank sec-

tion for the respondent to write in an answer. Whereas

closed-ended questionnaires might be used to find out

how many people use a service, open-ended question-

naires might be used to find out what people think about

a service. As there are no standard answers to these ques-

tions, data analysis is more complex. Also, as it is opi-

nions which are sought rather than numbers, fewer

questionnaires need to be distributed.

3. Combination of both
Many researchers tend to use a combination of both open

and closed questions. That way, it is possible to find out

how many people use a service and what they think about

that service on the same form. Many questionnaires begin

with a series of closed questions, with boxes to tick or

scales to rank, and then finish with a section of open-

questions for more detailed response.

Recently, some market research companies have started

to distribute their questionnaires via the internet. This

suggests that soon there might be a new category of ques-

tionnaire – the interactive questionnaire, which allows re-

spondents to work with the researcher in both the

development and completion of the question

naire.

PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
There are two main ways in which researchers observe –

direct observation and participant observation. Direct ob-

servation tends to be used in areas such as health and psy-

chology. It involves the observation of a ‘subject’ in a

certain situation and often uses technology such as video

cameras or one-way mirrors. For example, the interaction

of mother, father and child in a specially prepared play

room may be watched by psychologists through a one-

way mirror in an attempt to understand more about fa-

mily relationships. In participant observation, however,

the researcher becomes much more involved in the lives

of the people being observed.

Participant observation can be viewed as both a method

and a methodology (see Chapter 10). It is popular

amongst anthropologists and sociologists who wish to

study and understand another community, culture or con-

text. They do this by immersing themselves within that

culture. This may take months or years, as they need to

build up a lasting and trusting relationship with those

people being studied. Through participation within their

chosen culture and through careful observation, they

hope to gain a deeper understanding into the behaviour,

motivation and attitudes of the people under study.

32 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C H O O S E Y O U R R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S / 33

Participant observation, as a research method, received

bad press when a number of researchers became covert

participant observers; entering organisations and partici-

pating in their activities without anyone knowing that

they were conducting research (see Chapter 13). Overt

participant observation, where everyone knows who the

researcher is and what she is doing, however, can be a va-

luable and rewarding method for qualitative inquiry.

CHOOSING YOUR METHODS
By now you should have thought quite seriously about

your research methodology. This will help you to decide

upon the most appropriate methods for your research.

For example, if you’re leaning towards quantitative re-

search, survey work in the form of a questionnaire or

structured interviews may be appropriate. If you’re inter-

ested in action research, it might be useful to find out

more about semi-structured interviewing or focus groups.

In quantitative research you can define your research

methods early in the planning stage. You know what

you want to find out and you can decide upon the best

way to obtain the information. Also, you will be able to

decide early on how many people you need to contact

(see Chapter 5). However, in some types of qualitative re-

search it may be difficult to define your methods specifi-

cally. You may decide that semi-structured interviews

would be useful, although you’re not sure, in the planning

stages, how many you will need to conduct. You may find

also that you need to use other methods as the research

progresses. Maybe you want to run a focus group to see

what people think about the hypotheses you have gener-

ated from the interviews. Or perhaps you need to spend

some time in the field observing something which has aris-

en during the interview stage.

De¢ning needs and means
It is not necessary to use only one research method,

although many projects do this. A combination of meth-

ods can be desirable as it enables you to overcome the dif-

ferent weaknesses inherent in all methods. What you must

be aware of, however, when deciding upon your methods,

are the constraints under which you will have to

work.

What is your time scale? What is your budget? Are you

the only researcher, or will you have others to help you?

There’s no point deciding that a large scale, national post-

al survey is the best way to do your research if you only

have a budget of £50 and two months in which to com-

plete your work.

Also, you need to think about the purpose of your re-

search as this will help point to the most appropriate

methods to use. For example, if you want to describe in

detail the experiences of a group of women trying to set

up and run a charity, you wouldn’t send them a closed-

ended questionnaire. Instead, you might ask to become

involved and set up a piece of action research in which

you can decide to use interviews and focus groups. Or

you might decide to hold two semi-structured interviews

with each of the women involved, one at the beginning of

their project and one at the end. If your goal is detailed

description, you do not need to try to contact as many

people as

possible.

34 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C H OO S E Y OU R R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S / 35

Let us return to the three examples in the exercises given

in the previous two chapters to find out which would be

the most appropriate methods for the research.

EXAMPLE 3: APPROPRIATE METHODS

Revised Statement 1: This research aims to find out what
primary school teachers think about the educational value
of ‘The Teletubbies’ television programme.

This researcher is interested in attitude and opinion.

She thinks about running a series of semi-structured in-

terviews with a small sample of primary school tea-

chers. However, the researcher is concerned that some

of the teachers may not have seen the programme and

might be unable to comment, or might comment purely

on ‘hearsay’. So she decides to gather together a group

of teachers and show them one episode of The Teletub-

bies. Then she discusses the programme with the tea-

chers in a focus group setting. This method works

well and the researcher decides to hold five more focus

groups with other primary school teachers.

Revised Statement 2: The aim of this research is to

find out how many relatives of Alzheimer’s patients use
the Maple Day Centre, and to ascertain whether the ser-
vice is meeting their needs.

This researcher decides to produce a questionnaire

with a combination of closed and open-ended ques-

tions. The first part of the questionnaire is designed

to generate statistics and the second part asks people

for a more in-depth opinion. He has approached mem-

bers of staff at the Maple Day Centre who are happy to

distribute his questionnaire over a period of one month.

Revised Statement 3: This research aims to find out how
many people from our estate are interested in, and would

use, a children’s play scheme in the school summer holi-

day.

.Members of the tenants’ association approach the

local school and ask the head teacher if a questionnaire

could be distributed through the school. The head tea-

cher feels that it is not appropriate so the tenants’ asso-

ciation have to revise their plans. They’re worried that

if they distribute a questionnaire through the post they

won’t receive back many responses. Eventually, they de-

cide to knock on each door on the estate and ask some

simple, standard questions. They’re able to conduct this

type of door-to-door, structured interview as they are a

large group and are able to divide the work amongst

everybody on the committee.

If, at this stage, you are still unsure of the most appropri-

ate methods for your research, read the following chapters

as these explain in more detail how to go about using each

method. This will give you more of an insight into what

would be required of you if you were to choose that meth-

od. As I stressed earlier, you need to think about your own

personality, your strengths and weaknesses, your likes and

dislikes. If you’re a nervous person who finds it difficult to

talk to strangers, face-to-face interviewing might not be

the best method for you. If you love working with groups,

you might like to find out more about focus group re-

search. If a particular culture has fascinated you for years

and you know you could immerse yourself within that cul-

36 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

HO W TO CH O O S E Y O U R R E S E A R C H M E T HO D S / 37

ture, perhaps participant observation would interest

you.

If you love number crunching or using statistical software,

a closed-ended questionnaire may be the best method for

you.

Remember to think about choosing a method or meth-

od(s) with which you are happy as this is important to

keep your motivation levels high.

SUMMARY
Research methods are the tools that are used to gather

data.

Three types of interview are used in social research:

– Unstructured or life history interviews.

– Semi-structured interviews.

– Structured interviews.

Interviews can be conducted face-to-face or over the

telephone.

Focus groups are held with a number of people to ob-

tain a group opinion.

Focus groups are run by a moderator who asks ques-

tions and makes sure the discussion does not digress.

Questionnaires can be closed-ended, open-ended or a

combination of both.

Participant observation is used when a researcher

wants to immerse herself in a specific culture to gain

a deeper un

derstanding.

The chosen research methodology should help to indi-

cate the most appropriate research tools.

Research methods must be chosen within budget and

time constraints.

The purpose of the research will provide an indicator

to the most appropriate methods.

You should think about your personality, strengths

and weakness, likes and dislikes when choosing re-

search methods.

FURTHER READING
Balnaves, M. and Caputi, P. (2001) Introduction to Quan-

titative Research Methods: An Investigative Approach,

London: Sage.

Bernard, H.R. (2000) Social Research Methods: Qualita-

tive and Quantitative Approaches, Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.

Bryman, A. (2001) Social Research Methods, Oxford: Ox-

ford University Press.

Burgess, R.G. (1985) Issues in Educational Research: Qua-

litative Methods, London: The Falmer Press.

Burns, R.B. (2000) Introduction to Research Methods, 4
th

edi

tion, London: Sage.

Denscombe, M. (1998) The Good Research Guide: for

small-scale social research projects, Buckingham: Open

University Press.

Eichler, M. (1988) Non-sexist Research Methods, Boston:

Allen & Unwin.

Fowler, F. (2001) Survey Research Methods, 3
rd
edition,
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mason, J (1996) Qualitative Researching, London: Sage.

McNeill, P. (1990) Research Methods, 2
nd

edition, Lon-

don: Routledge.

38 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C H OO S E Y OU R R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S / 39

Nielson, J.M. (1990) Feminist Research Methods, Boulder:

Westview Press.

Robson, C. (1993) Real World Research, Oxford: Black-

well.

How to Conduct
Background Research

Once you have decided upon a research project and you’re

able to sum up your proposed research in one sentence,

it’s time to start planning your project. The first thing

you need to do is your background research. This will help

you to become more familiar with your topic and intro-

duce you to any other research which will be of benefit

to you when you begin your own project.

PRIMARY RESEARCH AND SECONDARY RESEARCH
There are two types of background research – primary re-

search and secondary research (see Table 2). Primary re-

search involves the study of a subject through firsthand

observation and investigation. This is what you will be

doing with your main project, but you may also need to

conduct primary research for your background work,

especially if you’re unable to find any previously pub-

lished material about your topic. Primary research may

come from your own observations or experience, or from

the information you gather personally from other people,

as the following example illustrates.

H O W T O C O N D U C T B A C K GR OU N D R E S E A R C H / 41

EXAMPLE 4: JENNY

I was interested in looking at truancy in schools. The

idea came about from my own personal experience as

a teacher. I had noticed how some children didn’t fit

the classic description of a truant and I wanted to find

out more as I thought it might help me to deal with

some of the problems children were experiencing. So I

guess you’d say my own experience provided me with

some initial data. Then I decided to go and have a dis-

cussion with some of my colleagues and see if they’d

noticed anything like me. It was really useful to do this

because they helped me to think about other things I

hadn’t even thought of. One of them told me about a

new report which had just come out and it was useful

for me to go and have a look at it as it raised some

of the issues I was already thinking about. Actually this

made me change the focus of my work a little because I

soon found out that there had been a lot of work on one

area of what I was doing, but not so much on another

area. It was really useful to have done this before I

rushed into my research as I think I might have wasted

quite a bit of time.

In the above example, Jenny mentions a recently pub-

lished report which she has read. This is secondary re-

search and it involves the collection of information from

studies that other researchers have made of a subject. The

two easiest and most accessible places to find this informa-

tion are libraries and the internet. However, you must re-

member that anybody can publish information over the

internet and you should be aware that some of this infor-

mation can be misleading or incorrect. Of course this is

the case for any published information and as you develop

your research skills so you should also develop your criti-

cal thinking and reasoning skills. Do not believe every-

thing you’re told. Think about the information you are

being given. How was it collected? Were the methods

sound? What motives did the publishers have for making

sure their information had reached the public domain?

Using web sites
By developing these skills early in your work, you will

start to think about your own research and any personal

bias in your methods and reporting which may be present.

The web sites of many universities now carry information

about how to use the web carefully and sensibly for your

research and it is worth accessing these before you begin

your background work.

When you’re surfing the net, there are some extra precau-

tions you can take to check the reliability and quality of

the information you have found:

Try to use websites run by organisations you know and

trust.

Check the About Us section on the web page for more

information about the creator and organisation.

Use another source, if possible, to check any informa-

tion of which you are unsure. For example, if you’re

interested in medical information you can check the

42 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H OW TO CO N D U C T B A C K G R O U N D R E S E AR CH / 43

credentials of UK doctors by phoning the General

Medical Council.

Look for a stamp of approval such as the Which? logo

which will appear on sites that have received the re-

quired level of approval from Which?

You should check the national source of the data as in-

formation may differ between countries.

For some topics specific websites have been set up that

contain details of questionable products, services and

theories. For example, in medical research you could

visit www.quackwatch.com, which contains non-recom-

mended sources of health advice, questionable theories

and details of money-making scams.

Interlibraryloans
If you are a student your institutional library will prob-

ably offer an interlibrary loan service which means that

you can access books from other university libraries if

they are not available in your library. A useful website

is www.copac.ac.uk which provides free access to the on-

line catalogues of 21 of the largest university research li-

braries in the UK and Ireland. This is a useful service if,

when referencing, you find that a small amount of infor-

mation is missing (see Example 5 below).

EXAMPLE 5: GILLIAN

Nobody told me the importance of keeping careful re-

cords of my background research. I just thought it was

something you did and then that was it, you got on with

your own research and forgot about what you’d done.

Of course then I had to write my report and in the

‘background’ section I wanted to include loads of things

I’d read when I first started the work. I found my notes,

but I didn’t know where they’d come from. It was so

frustrating. Basically I had to start all over again. Even

then I still forgot to write down the name and location

of the publisher, so I had to go back to them again. My

advice would be to look at how bibliographies are

structured and imprint that in your brain so you don’t

forget anything.

Keeping records
When you begin your background research, keep accurate

records of what data was gathered from which source as

this will save you plenty of time and frustration later,

especially when you come to write your research proposal,

or final report. A useful way to organise your background

research is to have two files – one for primary research

and one for secondary research. Each file can be divided

into topics with the relevant notes slotted into each.

Primary research

For the primary research file, notes from each contact can

be separated by a contact sheet which gives the name of

the person, the date and time you met and a contact num-

ber or address.

Secondary research

In the secondary research file, each page of notes can be

headed by details of the publication in the same format

that will be used in the bibliography – author and initials;

date of publication; title of publication; place of publica-

44 / PRACT ICAL RESEARCH MET HODS

HOW TO C ON D UC T BACKGROUND RE SEARCH / 45

tion and publisher. If it is a journal article, remember to

include the name of the journal; the page numbers of the

article and the volume and number of the journal. It is

also useful to include the location of this publication so

that it can be found easily if needed again (website or li-

brary shelf location).

TABLE 2: SOURCES OF BACKGROUND

INFORMATION

PRIMARY SECONDARY

Relevant people Research books

Researcher observation Research reports

Researcher experience Journal articles

Historical records/texts Articles reproduced online

Company/organisation records Scientific debates

Personal documents (diaries, etc) Critiques of literary works

Statistical data Critiques of art

Works of literature Analyses of historical events

Works of art

Film/video

Laboratory experiments

SUMMARY
There are two types of background research – primary

and secondary research.

Primary research involves the study of a subject

through firsthand observation and investigation.

Secondary research involves the collection of informa-

tion from studies that other researchers have made of a

subject.

For most research, the easiest and quickest way to ac-

cess secondary sources are libraries or the in

ternet.

Any information obtained from secondary sources

must be carefully assessed for its relevance and accu-

racy.

Notes from primary and secondary sources should be

carefully filed and labelled so that the source can be

found again, if required.

When noting details for books, reports or articles

which may appear in the final report, include all the

details which would be needed for the bibliography.

FURTHER READING
Gash, S. (1999) Effective Literature Searching for Re-

search, 2
nd

edition, Aldershot: Gower.

Hart, C. (2001) Doing a Literature Search, London: Sage.

Spence, G. (2001) A Simple Guide to Internet Research,

Harlow: Prentice Hall.

46 / PRACT ICAL RESEARCH MET HODS

How to ChooseYour
Participants

As you continue planning your research project you need

to think about how you’re going to choose your partici-

pants. By now you should have decided what type of peo-

ple you need to contact. For some research projects, there

will be only a small number of people within your research

population, in which case it might be possible to contact

everyone. This is called a census. However, for most pro-

jects, unless you have a huge budget, limitless timescale

and large team of interviewers, it will be difficult to speak

to every person within your research population.

SAMPLING
Researchers overcome this problem by choosing a smaller,

more manageable number of people to take part in their

research. This is called sampling. In quantitative research,

it is believed that if this sample is chosen carefully using the

correct procedure, it is then possible to generalise the re-

sults to the whole of the research population. For many

qualitative researchers however, the ability to generalise

their work to the whole research population is not the

goal.

Instead, they might seek to describe or explain what is hap-

pening within a smaller group of people. This, they believe,

might provide insights into the behaviour of the wider re-

search population, but they accept that everyone is different

and that if the research were to be conducted with another

group of people the results might not be the same.

Sampling procedures are used everyday. Market research-

ers use them to find out what the general population think

about a new product or new advertisement. When they re-

port that 87% of the population like the smell of a new

brand of washing powder, they haven’t spoken to the

whole population, but instead have contacted only a sam-

ple of people which they believe are able to represent the

whole population. When we hear that 42% of the popula-

tion intend to vote Labour at the next General Election,

only a sample of people have been asked about their voting

intentions. If the sample has not been chosen very care-

fully, the results of such surveys can be misleading. Imagine

how misleading the results of a ‘national’ survey on voting

habits would be if the interviews were conducted only in

the leafy suburbs of an English southern city.

Probabilitysamples and purposive samples
There are many different ways to choose a sample, and the

method used will depend upon the area of research, re-

search methodology and preference of the researcher. Ba-

sically there are two main types of sample:

probability samples

purposive samples.

In probability samples, all people within the research po-

pulation have a specifiable chance of being selected. These

types of sample are used if the researcher wishes to ex-

plain, predict or generalise to the whole research popula-

tion. On the other hand, purposive samples are used if

48 / PRACT ICAL RESEARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C H O O S E Y O U R P A R T I C I P A N T S / 49

description rather than generalisation is the goal. In this

type of sample it is not possible to specify the possibility

of one person being included in the sample. Within the

probability and purposive categories there are several dif-

ferent sampling methods.

The best way to illustrate these sampling methods is to

take one issue and show how the focus of the research

and the methodology leads to the use of different sam-

pling methods. The area of research is ‘school detention’

and in Table 3 you can see that the focus and sampling

techniques within this topic can be very different, depend-

ing on the preferences of the researcher, the purpose of

the research and the available resources.

SAMPLE SIZE
The first question new researchers tend to ask is ‘how

many people should I speak to?’ This obviously depends

on the type of research. For large scale, quantitative sur-

veys you will need to contact many more people than you

would for a small, qualitative piece of research. The sam-

ple size will also depend on what you want to do with your

results. If you intend to produce large amounts of cross

tabulations, the more people you contact the better.

It tends to be a general rule in quantitative research that

the larger the sample the more accurate your results.

However, you have to remember that you are probably re-

stricted by time and money – you have to make sure that

you construct a sample which will be manageable. Also,

you have to account for non-response and you may need

to choose a higher proportion of your research population

PROBABILITY SAMPLES

The researcher is interested in

finding out about national detention

rates. He wants to make sure that

every school in the country has an

equal chance of being chosen

because he hopes to be able to make

generalisations from his findings. He

decides to use a simple random

sample. Using this method the

researcher needs to obtain the name

of every school in the country.

Numbers are assigned to each name

and a random sample generated by

computer. He then sends a

questionnaire to each of the selected

schools. The researcher would have

to make sure that he obtained the

name of every school in the country

for this method to work properly.

The researcher wants to find out

about national detention rates, but is

interested also in finding out about

school policy concerning detention.

He decides that to do this he needs to

visit each selected school. To cut

down on travel costs, he decides to

use a cluster sample. Using this

method, geographical ‘clusters’ are

chosen and a random sample of

schools from each cluster is

generated using random number

tables found at the back of some

statistics books. Using this method

the researcher only needs to travel to

schools within the selected

geographical regions. The researcher

would have to make sure that he

chose his clusters very carefully,

especially as policy concerning

detention might vary between

regions.

PURPOSIVE SAMPLES

The researcher decides that he wants

to interview a sample of all pupils

within a school, regardless of whether

they have been on detention or not.

He decides to use a quota sample to

make sure that all groups within the

school are represented. He decides to

interview a specified number of

female and male school pupils, a

specified number of arts, sciences and

social science pupils and a specified

number within different age

categories. He continues approaching

students and interviewing them until

his quota is complete. By using this

method only those pupils present at

the same time and in the same place

as the researcher have a chance of

being selected.

The researcher is interested in

carrying out semi-structured

interviews with pupils who have been

on detention over the past year.

However, he finds that the school has

not kept accurate records of these

pupils. Also, he doesn’t want to

approach the school because he will

be seen by the pupils as an authority

figure attached to the school. He

decides that a snowball sample would

be the most appropriate method. He

happens to know a pupil who has

been on detention recently and so

speaks to her, asking for names of

other pupils who might be willing to

talk to him. The researcher should

obtain permission and have a

chaperone or guardian present at the

interviews. He needs to be aware also

that friends tend to recommend

friends, which could lead to sampling

bias.

TABLE 3: SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

50 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

PROBABILITY SAMPLES

The researcher has decided that he

wishes to conduct a structured

interview with all the children who

have been on detention within a year

at one school. With the head

teacher’s permission, he obtains a

list of all these pupils. He decides to

use a quasi-random sample or

systematic sample. Using this method

he chooses a random point on the

list and then every third pupil is

selected. The problem with this

method is that it depends upon how

the list has been organised. If, for

example, the list has been organised

alphabetically, the researcher needs

to be aware that some cultures and

nationalities may have family names

which start with the same letters.

This means that these children would

be grouped together in the list and

may, therefore, be underrepresented

in the sample.

The researcher has decided that he

wishes to concentrate on the

detention rates of pupils by GCSE

subject choice and so decides upon a

stratified random sample. Using this

method the researcher stratifies his

sample by subject area and then

chooses a random sample of pupils

from each subject area. However, if

he found that there were many more

pupils in the arts than the sciences,

he could decide to choose a

disproportionate stratified sample

and increase the sample size of the

science pupils to make sure that his

data are meaningful. The researcher

would have to plan this sample very

carefully and would need accurate

records of subjects and pupils.

PURPOSIVE SAMPLES

The researcher has heard of a local

school which has very few detentions,

despite that school having a

detention policy. He decides to find

out why and visits the school to speak

to the head teacher. Many interesting

points arise from the interview and

the researcher decides to use a

theoretical sampling technique. Using

this method the emerging theory

helps the researcher to choose the

sample. For example, he might decide

to visit a school that has a high

detention rate and a school that has

no detention policy, all of which will

help to explain differing detention

rates and attitudes towards them.

Within this sampling procedure, he

might choose to sample extreme cases

which help to explain something, or

he might choose heterogeneous

samples where there is a deliberate

strategy to select people who are alike

in some relevant detail. Again the

researcher has to be aware of

sampling bias.

The researcher is a teacher himself

and decides to interview colleagues,

as he has limited time and resources

available to him. This is a

convenience sample. Also, at a

conference he unexpectedly gets to

interview other teachers. This might

be termed haphazard or accidental

sampling. The ability to generalise

from this type of sample is not the

goal, and, as with other sampling

procedures, the researcher has to be

aware of bias which could enter the

process. However, the insider status

of the teacher may help him to

obtain information or access which

might not be available to other

researchers.

H O W T O C H O O S E Y O U R P A R T I C I P A N T S / 51

TABLE 4: SAMPLING DOS AND DON’TS

Take time and effort to work
out your sample correctly if
you’re conducting a large
scale survey. Read the
relevant literature suggested
in this book. Time taken at
the beginning will save
much wasted time later.

Discuss your proposed
sampling procedure and size
with your tutor, boss or
other researchers.

Be realistic about the size of
sample possible on your
budget and within your time
scale.

Be open and up front about
your sample. What are your
concerns? Could anything
have been done differently?
How might you improve
upon your methods?

Use a combination of
sampling procedures if it is
appropriate for your work.

DON’T

Rush into your work
without thinking very
carefully about sampling
issues. If you get it wrong it
could invalidate your whole
research.

Ignore advice from those
who know what they’re
talking ab

out.

Take on more than you can
cope with. A badly worked
out, large sample may not
produce as much useful data
as a well-worked out, small
sample.

Make claims which cannot
be justified nor generalised
to the whole population.

Stick rigorously to a
sampling technique that is
not working. Admit your
mistakes, learn by them and
change to something more
appropriate

52 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

HO W TO CH O O S E Y O U R P A R T I C I P AN T S / 53

as your sample to overcome this problem. If you’re inter-

ested in large-scale quantitative research, statistical meth-

ods can be used to choose the size of sample required for

a given level of accuracy and the ability to make general-

isations. These methods and procedures are described in

the statistics books listed at the end of this chapter.

If your research requires the use of purposive sampling

techniques, it may be difficult to specify at the beginning

of your research how many people you intend to contact.

Instead you continue using your chosen procedure such as

snowballing or theoretical sampling until a ‘saturation

point’ is reached. This was a term used by Glaser and

Strauss (1967) to describe that time of your research when

you really do think that everything is complete and that

you’re not obtaining any new information by continuing.

In your written report you can then describe your sam-

pling procedure, including a description of how many

people were contacted.

SUMMARY
If it is not possible to contact everyone in the research

population, researchers select a number of people to

contact. This is called sampling.

There are two main types of sampling category – prob-

ability samples and purposive samples.

In probability samples, all people within the research

population have a specifiable chance of being selected.

Only within random samples do participants have an

equal chance of being selected.

Purposive samples are used if generalisation is not the

goal.

The size of sample will depend upon the type and pur-

pose of the research.

Sample sizes should take into account issues of non-re-

sponse.

Remember that with postal surveys it might be difficult

to control and know who has filled in a questionnaire.

Will this affect your sample?

In some purposive samples it is difficult to specify at

the beginning of the research how many people will

be contacted.

It is possible to use a mixture of sampling techniques

within one project which may help to overcome some

of the disadvantages found within different procedures.

FURTHER READING
Bryman, A. and Cramer, D. (1990) Quantitative Data

Analysis for Social Scientists, London: Routledge.

Clegg, F. (1989) Simple Statistics, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

De Vaus, D. (1991) Surveys in Social Research, 3rd edition,

London: UCL Press.

Henry, G. (1990) Practical Sampling, Newbury Park, CA:

Sage.

Huff, D. (1994) How to Lie With Statistics, NY: Nor

ton.

Field, A. (2000) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS for

Win-

dows: Advanced Techniques for Beginners, London: Sage.

Owen, F. and Jones, R. (1994) Statistics, 4
th
edition, Lon-

don: Pitman.

54 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

How to Prepare a
Research Proposal

For most types of research you will need to produce a re-

search proposal. This is a document which sets out your

ideas in an easily accessible way. Even if you have not been

asked specifically to produce a research proposal by your

boss or tutor, it is a good idea to do so, as it helps you

to focus your ideas and provides a useful document for

you to reference, should your research wander off track a

little.

Before you start work on your research proposal, find out

whether you’re required to produce the document in a

specific format. For college and university students, you

might be given a general outline and a guide as to how

many pages to produce. For those of you who are produ-

cing a proposal to send to a funding organisation you

might have to produce something much more specific.

Many funding organisations provide their own forms for

you to complete. Some provide advice and guidance about

what they would like to see in your proposal. The larger

funding bodies produce their proposal forms on-line so

that they can be filled in and sent electronically, which

makes the process a lot quicker and easier.

THE CONTENTS OFA PROPOSAL
All research proposals should contain the following infor-

mation:

T|tle
This should be short and explanatory.

Background
This section should contain a rationale for your research.

Why are you undertaking the project? Why is the research

needed? This rationale should be placed within the con-

text of existing research or within your own experience

and/or observation. You need to demonstrate that you

know what you’re talking about and that you have knowl-

edge of the literature surrounding this topic. If you’re un-

able to find any other research which deals specifically

with your proposed project, you need to say so, illustrat-

ing how your proposed research will fill this gap. If there is

other work which has covered this area, you need to show

how your work will build on and add to the existing

knowledge. Basically, you have to convince people that

you know what you’re talking about and that the research

is important.

Aims and objectives
Many research proposal formats will ask for only one or

two aims and may not require objectives. However, for

some research these will need to be broken down in more

depth to also include the objectives (see Example 6). The

aim is the overall driving force of the research and the ob-

jectives are the means by which you intend to achieve the

aims. These must be clear and succinct.

56 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

EXAMPLE 6: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Aim

To identify, describe and produce an analysis of the interact-

ing factors which influence the learning choices of adult re-

turners, and to develop associated theory.

Objectives

The research seeks to determine:

1. The nature, extent and effect of psychological influences on

choices, including a desire to achieve personal goals or meet

individual needs.

2. The nature, extent and effect of sociological influences on

choices, including background, personal and social expecta-

tions, previous educational experience and social role.

3. The nature and influence of individual perceptions of

courses, institutions and subject, and how these relate to

self-perception and concept of self.

4. The influence on choice of a number of variables such as

age, gender, ethnicity and social class.

5. The role and possible influence of significant others on

choice, such as advice and guidance workers, peers, relatives

and employers.

6. The nature and extent of possible influences on choice of

available provision, institutional advertising and marketing.

7. The nature and extent of possible influences on choice of

mode of study, teaching methods and type of course.

8. How and to what extent influencing factors change as

adults re-enter and progress through their chosen route.

H O W T O P R E P A R E A R E S E A R C H P R O P O S A L / 57

Methodology/methods
For research at postgraduate level you may need to split

the methodology and methods section into two. However,

for most projects they can be combined. In this section

you need to describe your proposed research methodology

and methods and justify their use. Why have you decided

upon your methodology? Why have you decided to use

those particular methods? Why are other methods not ap-

propriate? This section needs to include details about

samples, numbers of people to be contacted, method of

data collection, methods of data analysis and ethical con-

siderations. If you have chosen a less well known metho-

dology, you may need to spend more time justifying your

choice than you would need to if you had chosen a more

traditional methodology. This section should be quite de-

tailed – many funding organisations find that the most

common reason for proposal failure is the lack of metho-

dological detail.

T|metable
A detailed timetable scheduling all aspects of the research

should be produced. This will include time taken to con-

duct background research, questionnaire or interview

schedule development, data collection, data analysis and

report writing (see Table 5). Research almost always takes

longer than you anticipate. Allow for this and add a few

extra weeks on to each section of your timetable. If you

finish earlier than you anticipated, that’s fine as you have

more time to spend on your report. However, finishing

late can create problems especially if you have to meet

deadlines.

58 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

TABLE 5: SURVEY TIMETABLE

DATE

5 January – 5 February

6 February – 7 March

8 March – 9 April

10 April – 21 April

21 April – 1 May

1 May – 1 July

2 July – 3 August

ACTION

Literature search
Primary research (talk to relevant

people)

Develop and pilot questionnaire
Continue literature search

Analyse pilot work and revise
questionnaire
Ask relevant people for comments

Send out questionnaire

Categorise returned questionnaires

Send out reminder letter for non-
responses. Continue to categorise

returned questionnaires.

Data input
Data analysis

Write report
Prepare oral presentation

Budget and resources
If you’re applying to a funding body you need to think

about what you will need for your research and how much

this is likely to cost (see Table 6). You need to do this so

that you apply for the right amount of money and are not

left out of pocket if you have under-budgeted. Funding

bodies also need to know that you have not over-budgeted

and expect more money than you’re going to use. If you

are a student you may not have to include this section in

your proposal, although some tutors will want to know

that you have thought carefully about what resources

are needed and from where you expect to obtain these.

Some types of research are more expensive than others

and if you’re on a limited budget you will have to think

about this when deciding upon your research method.

H O W T O P R E P AR E A R E S E A R C H P R O P O S A L / 59

TABLE 6: RESEARCH BUDGET

RESOURCE

1 good quality personal recorder
with battery indicator light, self-

turning mechanism and headphones

10 90-minute audio cassette tapes

20 long-life batteries

40 second class postage stamps

Stationery – paper, envelopes, paper
clips, ring binder, scissors

Travel expenses – petrol, overnight

stay at five locations

Advert in local paper

Leaflets (1000)

Total Expenditure

COST

£109.99

£6.99

£8.99

£7.60

£8.76

Petrol to be notified at

usual college mileage
allowance
Total accommodation
£199.95

£3.70

£21.90

£367.88 + petrol (to be

notified)

Dissemination
What do you expect to do with the results of your re-

search? How are you going to let people know about what

you have found out? For students it will suffice to say that

the results will be produced in an undergraduate disserta-

tion which will be made available in the institution li-

brary. For other researchers you may want to produce a

written report, make oral presentations to relevant

bodies, produce a web site or write a journal article.

WHAT MAKES AGOODPROPOSAL?
Relevance, either to the work of the funding body or to

the student’s course.

60 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H O W T O P R E P A R E A RE S E A R C H P R O P O S A L / 61

The research is unique, or offers new insight or devel-

opment.

The title, aims and objectives are all clear and succinct.

Comprehensive and thorough background research

and literature review has been undertaken.

There is a good match between the issues to be ad-

dressed and the approach being adopted.

The researcher demonstrates relevant background

knowledge and/or experience.

Timetable, resources and budget have all been worked

out thoroughly, with most eventualities covered.

Useful policy and practice implications.

REASONS WHY RESEARCHPROPOSALS FAIL
Aims and objectives are unclear or vague.

There is a mismatch between the approach being

adopted and the issues to be addressed.

The overall plan is too ambitious and difficult to

achieve in the timescale.

The researcher does not seem to have conducted en-

ough in-depth background research.

Problem is of insufficient importance.

Information about the data collection is insufficiently

detailed.

Information about the data analysis method is insuffi-

ciently detailed.

Timescale is inappropriate or unrealistic.

Resources and budget have not been carefully thought

out.

This topic has been done too many times before – in-

dicates a lack in background research.

SUMMARY
Most research projects will require the production of a

research proposal which sets out clearly and succinctly

your proposed project.

Before you write your proposal, check whether you

need to produce it in a specific format.

The standard research proposal should include the fol-

lowing:

– title

– background (including literature search)

– aims and objectives

– methodology/methods

– timetable

– budget and resources

– dissemination.

Research proposals stand a better chance of being ac-

cepted if you’re able to prove that you have the re-

quired knowledge and/or experience to carry out the

research effectively.

It is important to make sure that your proposed meth-

ods will address the problem you have identified and

that you are able to display an understanding of these

methods.

62 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O P R E P AR E A R E S E A R C H P R O P O S A L / 63

FURTHER READING
Locke, L.F., Spirduso, W.W. and Silverman, S.J. (1999)

Proposals That Work: a guide for planning dissertations

and grant proposals, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Punch, K.F. (2000) Developing Effective Research Propo-

sals, London: Sage.

How to Conduct Interviews

As we have seen in Chapter 3, there are three main types of

interview which tend to be used in social research – un-

structured interviews, semi-structured interviews and

structured interviews. For each type you will need to think

about how you are going to record the interview, what type

of questions you need to ask, how you intend to establish

rapport and how you can probe for more information.

METHODS OFRECORDING
If you’ve decided that interviewing is the most appropriate

method for your research, you need to think about what

sort of recording equipment you’re going to use. You

should think about this early on in your research as you

need to become familiar with its use through practice.

Even if you decide not to use tape-recording equipment,

and instead use pen and paper, you should practice taking

notes in an interview situation, making sure that you can

maintain eye contact and write at the same time. If, how-

ever, you’re conducting a structured interview, you will

probably develop a questionnaire with boxes to tick as

your method of recording (see Chapter 9). This is perhaps

the simplest form of recording, although you will have to

be familiar with your questionnaire, to make sure you can

do it quickly and efficiently.

HOW TO C ON D UC T I NTE RVIEWS / 65

Using atape recorder
A suitable tape recorder is one of personal stereo size

which uses normal size cassettes and has a built-in micro-

phone. A battery indicator light is crucial – it enables you

to check that the recording continues throughout the inter-

view without drawing attention to the machine. A recorder

which automatically turns at the end of the tape is useful as

you can have twice as long uninterrupted interviewing.

Tape-Recording Checklist

Are you familiar with your equipment? Do you know

how it works? Have you spent time practising?

Is your equipment working properly? Test it prior to

the interview.

Have you checked the batteries? They can run out very

quickly and this will have an influence on the quality of

recording.

Do you have two spare cassettes?

Do you have spare batteries?

Is the room free from background noise, such as traf-

fic, noisy central heating systems and drink machines?

If not, how will these noises affect the recording? Are

you prepared to take notes?

Is the recorder placed on a smooth, non-vibratory surface?

Is the recorder close enough to pick up both voices? It

is important to hear your own voice as well as that of

the interviewee so that you know what answers have

been given to which questions.

TABLE 7: RECORDING METHODS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

RECORDING
METHOD

Tape recorder

Video recorder

Note-taking

Box-ticking

ADVANTAGES

Can concentrate on listening to what they
say.

Able to maintain eye contact.

Have a complete record of interview for
analysis, including what is said and
interaction between interviewer and
interviewee.

Have plenty of useful quotations for report.

Produces the most comprehensive recording
of an interview.

Gives a permanent record of what is said
and includes a record of body language,
facial expressions and interaction.

Don’t have to rely on recording equipment
which could fail.

Is the cheapest method if on a very limited
budget.

Interviewees may think they have something
important to say if they see you taking notes
– while you write they may add more
information.

Simple to use.

Easy to analyse.

Easy to compare information with that
obtained from other interviews.

DISADVANTAGES

Rely on equipment – if it fails you have no
record of interview.

Can become complacent – don’t listen as much
as you should because it’s being recorded.

Some interviewees may be nervous of tape-
recorders.

The more equipment you use the more chances
there are that something will go wrong.

This method can be expensive and the
equipment hard to transport.

Cannot maintain eye contact all the time.

Can be hard to concentrate on what they’re
saying and to probe for more information.

Can be tiring.

Will not have many verbatim quotations for
final report.

Inflexible – no scope for additional
information.

Forces interviewees to answer in a certain

way.

May leave interviewees feeling that they have
not answered in the way they would have liked
to have done.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Overcome equipment failure by practice
beforehand and checking throughout
interview, without drawing attention to
machine.

Could take a few notes as well – helps you
to write down important issues and you
will have some record if equipment fails.

If you want to use video equipment it is
preferable to obtain the help of someone
experienced in the use of the equipment.
That way you can concentrate on the
interview while someone else makes sure
that it is recorded correctly.

Need to make sure that you have a
suitable venue for this type of recording.

You will need to develop a type of
shorthand which you can understand and
you will need to learn to write very
quickly.

You have to make sure that the
questionnaire is very carefully designed so
that you cover as many types of answer as
possible.

66
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R
A
C
T
IC

A
L

R
E
S
E
A
R
C
H

M
E
T
H
O
D
S

H O W T O C O N D U C T I N T E R V I E W S / 67

Does the recorder continue to run throughout the in-

terview? Try not to draw attention to the machine, but

check the battery indicator light every now and again.

Be aware of when the tape is about to finish.

It is useful to take a pen and notepad with you to the in-

terview, even if you intend to use a recorder. You might

find it useful to jot down pertinent points to which you

want to return later, or use it to remind yourself of what

you haven’t yet asked. Also, you might encounter some-

one who doesn’t want to be recorded. This could be be-

cause the research is on a sensitive issue, or it might be

that the interviewee has a fear of being recorded.

Taking notes
If you intend to take notes, buy yourself a shorthand no-

tepad and develop a shorthand style which you’ll be able

to understand later (see Chapter 10). It is advisable to

write up all notes into a longer report as soon as possible

after the interview while it’s still fresh in your mind. It can

be tiring taking notes in long interviews, so only arrange

one or two per day. You must learn to try and maintain

some eye contact while you’re writing, and make sure that

you nod every now and again to indicate that you’re still

listening. Try also to get one or two verbatim quotations

as these will be useful for

your final report.

THE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
For most types of interview you need to construct an in-

terview schedule. For structured interviews you will need

to construct a list of questions which is asked in the same

order and format to each participant (see Chapter 9). For

semi-structured interviews the schedule may be in the

form of a list of questions or a list of topics. If you’re

new to research, you might prefer a list of questions that

you can ask in a standard way, thus ensuring that you do

not ask leading questions or struggle for something to

ask. However, a list of topics tends to offer more flexibil-

ity, especially in unstructured interviews where the inter-

viewee is left to discuss issues she deems to be important.

By ticking off each topic from your list as it is discussed,

you can ensure that all topics have been covered. Often

interviewees will raise issues without being asked and a

list of topics ensures that they do not have to repeat them-

selves. Also, it allows the interviewee to raise pertinent is-

sues which you may not have thought about. These can

then be added to the schedule for the next interview.

If you’re nervous about working with a list of topics rather

than a list of questions, a good way to overcome this is to

ask a few set questions first and then, once you and the

interviewee have both relaxed, move on to a set of topics.

With practice, you will feel comfortable interviewing and

will choose the method which suits you best.

If you take time to produce a detailed interview schedule,

it helps you to focus your mind on your research topic,

enabling you to think about all the areas which need to

be covered. It should also alert you to any sensitive or con-

troversial issues which could arise. When developing an

interview schedule for any type of interview, begin with

easy to answer, general questions which will help the in-

terviewee feel at ease. Don’t expect in-depth, personal dis-

closure immediately.

68 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

HOW TO DEVELOP AN INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Brainstorm your research topic – write down every

area you can think of without analysis or judgement.

Work through your list carefully, discarding irrele-

vant topics and grouping similar suggestions.

Categorise each suggestion under a list of more gen-

eral topics.

Order these general topics into a logical sequence,

leaving sensitive or controversial issues until the

end – ask about experience and behaviour before

asking about opinion and feelings. Move from gen-

eral to specific.

Think of questions you will want to ask relating to

each of these areas. If you’re new to research you

might find it useful to include these questions on

your schedule. However, you do not have to adhere

rigidly to these during your interview.

When developing questions, make sure they are

open rather than closed. Keep them neutral, short

and to the point. Use language which will be under-

stood. Avoid jargon and double-barrelled questions

(see Chapter 9).

If you need to, revise your schedule after each inter-

view.

Become familiar with your schedule so that you do

not have to keep referring to it during the interview.

HOW TO C ON D UC T I NTE RVIEWS / 69

ESTABLISHINGRAPPORT
A researcher has to establish rapport before a participant

will share personal information. There are a number of

ways to do this.

Treat interviewees with respect. Make sure you arrive

on time. Don’t rush straight into the interview unless

the interviewee pushes to do so. Accept a cup of tea, if

offered, and make polite conversation to help put both

of you at ease.

Think about your appearance and the expectations of

the person you’re about to interview. If the interviewee

is a smartly turned out business person who expects to

be interviewed by a professional looking researcher,

make sure you try to fulfil those expectations with your

appearance and beha

viour.

Think about body language. Try not to come across as

nervous or shy. Maintain appropriate eye-contact and

smile in a natural, unforced manner. Remember that

the eyes and smile account for more than 50% of the

total communication in a greeting situation. If you es-

tablish rapid and clear eye-contact, you’ll be more ea-

sily trusted.

During the interview, firm eye contact with little move-

ment indicates that you’re interested in what is being

said. Also, it indicates honesty and high self-esteem.

On the other hand, if your eyes wander all over the

place and only briefly make contact with the eyes of

the interviewee, low self-esteem, deceit or boredom

70 / PRACT ICAL RE SEARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C O N D U C T I N T E R V I E W S / 71

can be indicated. Don’t rub your eyes as this could in-

dicate you’re tired or bored. Conversely, watch the eyes

of your interviewees which will tell you a lot about how

the interview is progressing.

Don’t invade their space. Try not to sit directly opposite

them – at an angle is better, but not by their side as you

will have to keep turning your heads which will be un-

comfortable in a long interview.

By watching the eye movements and body language of the

interviewees, and by listening to what they’re saying,

you’ll soon know when you’ve established rapport. This

is when you can move on to more personal or sensitive

issues. If, however, you notice the interviewees becoming

uncomfortable in any way, respect their feelings and move

on to a more general topic. Sometimes you might need to

offer to turn off the recorder or stop taking notes if you

touch upon a particularly sensitive issue.

Negotiate a length of time for the interviews and stick to

it, unless the interviewees are happy to continue. Make

sure you thank them for their help and leave a contact

number in case they wish to speak to you at a later date.

You might find it useful to send a transcript to the inter-

viewees – it is good for them to have a record of what has

been said and they might wish to add further information.

Do not disclose information to third parties unless you

have received permission to do so

(see Chapter 13).

ASKING QUESTIONS ANDPROBING FOR INFORMATION
As the interview progresses, ask questions, listen carefully

PROBING FOR MORE DETAIL

That’s interesting; can you explain that in more de-

tail?

I’m not quite sure I understand. You were saying?

Can you elaborate a little more?

Could you clarify that?

Could you expand upon that a little?

When you say ‘ . . . . . . ’, what do you mean?

to responses and probe for more information. You should

probe in a way which doesn’t influence the interviewee.

When you probe, you need to think about obtaining clar-

ification, elaboration, explanation and understanding.

There are several ways to probe for more detail, as the fol-

lowing list illustrates. It’s useful to learn a few of these

before you begin your interviews.

Pauses work well – don’t be afraid of silence. You’ll find

that most people are uncomfortable during silences and

will elaborate on what they’ve said rather than experience

discomfort. Also, you may find it helpful to summarise

what people have said as a way of finding out if you have

understood them and to determine whether they wish to

add any further information.

Another useful tactic is to repeat the last few words a per-

son has said, turning it into a question. The following

piece of dialogue from an interview illustrates how these

techniques can be used so that the researcher does not in-

fluence what is being said.

72 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E AR C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C O N D U C T I N T E R V I E W S / 73

Janet: ‘Well, often I find it really difficult because I just

don’t think the information’s available.’

Interviewer ‘The information isn’t available?’

Janet: ‘No, well I suppose it is available, but I find it really

difficult to read so it makes me think it isn’t available.’

Interviewer ‘In what way do you find it difficult to read?’

Janet: ‘Well, the language is a bit beyond me, but also the

writing’s too small and it’s a funny colour.’

Interviewer: ‘You say the language is a bit beyond you?’

Janet ‘Yes, I suppose really that’s why I need to do this,

so that it won’t be beyond me anymore.’ [laughs]

Interviewer ‘Why do you laugh about that?’

Janet: ‘Well, I don’t know, I suppose maybe I’m embar-

rassed, you know, about not being able to read and write

so well, you know, I always blame my eyesight and things

being a funny colour and everything, but I suppose the

bottom line is I just can’t read proper. That’s why I’m

doing this, you know, going to college and all that. I wer-

en’t exactly naughty at school, I just didn’t really bother,

you know, I didn’t really like it that much, if I’m honest

with you.’

This piece of dialogue illustrates how, with careful prob-

ing, the researcher can discover a greater depth of infor-

mation which wasn’t initially offered by the interviewee.

SUMMARY
Practise with the recording equipment before the inter-

view takes place. It might be useful to conduct some

pilot interviews so that you can become familiar with

the recording equipment.

Develop an interview schedule, starting with general,

non-personal issues.

Check the recording equipment works and make sure

you have enough tapes, batteries, paper, pens, etc.

Check that you have a suitable venue in which to carry

out the interview, free from noise and interruptions.

Make sure you know how to get to the interview and

arrive in good time.

Dress and behave appropriately.

Establish rapport.

Negotiate a length of time for the interview and stick

to it, unless the interviewee is happy to continue.

Ask open questions, listen to responses and probe

where necessary.

Keep questions short and to the point.

Avoid jargon, double-barrelled questions and leading

questions.

Listen carefully and acknowledge that you are listen-

ing.

Check recording equipment is working without draw-

ing attention to it.

Repeat and summarise answers to aid clarity and un-

derstanding.

Achieve closure, thank them and leave a contact num-

ber in case they wish to get in touch with you about

anything that has arisen.

74 / PR A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C O N D U C T I N T E R V I E W S / 75

Respect their confidentiality – do not pass on what has

been said to third parties unless you have requested

permission to do so.

FURTHER READING
Arksey, H. and Knight, P. (1999) Interviewing for Social

Scientists: An Introductory Resource with Examples,

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Keats, D. (2000) Interviewing: A Practical Guide for Stu-

dents and Professionals, Buckingham: Open University

Press.

Kvale, S. (1996) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative

Research Interviewing, London: Sage.

Minichello, V., Aroni, R., Timewell, E. and Alexander, L.

(1990) In-depth Interviewing: Researching People, Mel-

bourne: Longman Cheshire.

Mishler, E. (1986) Research Interviewing, Harvard: Har-

vard University Press.

Rubin, H.J. and Rubin, I.S. (1995) Qualitative Interview-

ing: The Art of Hearing Data, Thousand Oaks, C.A.:

Sage.

Wengraf, T. (2001) Qualitative Research Interviewing: Bio-

graphic Narrative and Semi-Structured Methods, Thou-

sand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Yow, V.R. (1994) Recording Oral History: A Practical

Guide for Social Scientists, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

How to Conduct Focus Groups

As we saw in Chapter 3, a focus group is where a number

of people are asked to come together in order to discuss a

certain issue for the purpose of research. They are popular

within the fields of market research, political research and

educational research. The focus group is facilitated by a

moderator who asks questions, probes for more detail,

makes sure the discussion does not digress and tries to

ensure that everyone has an input and that no one person

dominates the discussion.

If you are interested in running focus groups for your re-

search you will need to acquire a basic understanding of

how people interact in a group setting and learn how to deal

with awkward situations (see Table 8). However, the best

way to become a successful moderator is through experience

and practice. If possible, try to sit in on a focus group run

by an experienced moderator. Once you have done this,

hold your own pilot focus group, either with friends or ac-

tual research participants. You might find it useful to video

tape this focus group so that you can assess your body lan-

guage, see how you deal with awkward situations, analyse

how you ask questions, and so on. Don’t be disappointed

if your first few groups do not go according to plan. Even

the most experienced moderators have bad days.

H O W T O C ON D UC T F OC US G R O U P S / 77

THE ROLE OF THE MODERATOR
As moderator you must spend some time helping partici-

pants to relax. In all focus groups you need to explain the

purpose of the group, what is expected of participants

and what will happen to the results. Negotiate a length

for the discussion and ask that everyone respects this as

it can be very disruptive having people come in late, or

leave early. Usually one and a half hours is an ideal

length, although some focus groups may last a lot longer.

Assure the participants about anonymity and confidenti-

ality, asking also that they respect this and do not pass on

what has been said in the group to third parties. You may

find it useful to produce and distribute a Code of Ethics

(see Chapter 13).

Asking questions
General, easy to answer questions should be asked first.

Don’t expect any type of personal disclosure early in

the group. As moderator, listen carefully to everything

people say, acknowledging that you are listening by mak-

ing good eye contact and taking notes regarding issues to

which you may return later. Make sure that no one person

dominates the discussion as this will influence your data.

Some moderators prefer to use a list of questions as their

interview schedule, whereas others prefer to use a list of

topics (see Chapter 7 for more information on developing

an interview schedule). The overall aim is a free-flowing

discussion within the subject area, and once this happens

the input from the moderator may be considerably less

than it would be in a one-to-one interview.

Seeking responses
In focus groups you need to try to get as many opinions as

possible. You will find that in most focus groups, most

people will talk some of the time, although to varying de-

grees. In some groups, some people may need gentle per-

suasion to make a contribution. You have to use your

discretion about how much you do this as there might

be occasions when somebody is unwilling or too nervous

to contribute. You often find that, even though you have

negotiated a time, people enjoy the discussion and want to

continue, although at this stage you must make it clear

that people can leave, if they wish. Often, some of the

most useful and pertinent information is given once the

‘official’ time is over. Also, you will find that people talk

to you on an individual basis after the group has finished,

especially those who might have been nervous contribut-

ing in a group setting. It is useful to take a notepad and

jot down these conversations as soon as possible after the

contact as the information might be relevant to your re-

search.

Finishing the focus group
When you have finished your focus group, thank the par-

ticipants for taking part and leave a contact name and

number in case they wish to follow up any of the issues

that have been raised during the discussion. It’s good

practice to offer a copy of the report to anybody who

wants one. However, this might not be practical if the final

report is to be an undergraduate dissertation. You could

explain this to the participants and hope that they under-

stand, or you could offer to produce a summary report

which you can send to them.

78 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E AR C H M E T H O D S

TABLE 8: STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH

AWKWARD SITUATIONS

SITUATION

Break-away
conversations

Digressions

Silences

Dominance

Leadership

Disruption by
participants

Defensiveness

STRATEGY

Say: ‘I’m sorry, would you mind rejoining the group as this
is really interesting?’

Say: ‘That’s interesting, what do the rest of you think
about . . . ’ (back to the topic)

Remain silent. Someone will speak as they will begin to
feel uncomfortable. If no one does, ask the question again.

First of all stop making eye-contact and look at other
people expectantly. If this fails, say: ‘Thank you for your
contribution. Can we get some opinions from the rest of
you please?’ Or ‘What do the rest of you think about that?’
(This should counteract the one dominant argument by
receiving other views on the same issue.)

If it is obvious from the start that you have a clear leader
who will influence the rest of the group, try to give them
another role which takes them away from the discussion,
such as handing out refreshments or taking notes. If,
however, leadership tendencies aren’t immediately
obvious, but manifest themselves during the discussion, try
to deal with them as with ‘dominance’, above. If this still
fails, as a last resort you might have to be blunt: ‘Can you
let others express their opinions as I need to get as wide a
variety as possible?’ I’ve actually had to cut short one
group and rearrange it when that person wasn’t present.
The other members were happy to do this as they were free
to express themselves and their opinions were quite
different from those of their self-appointed ‘leader’.

On rare occasions I have come across individuals who want
to disrupt the discussion as much as possible. They will do
this in a number of ways, from laughing to getting up and
walking around. I try to overcome these from the start by
discussing and reaching an agreement on how participants
should behave. Usually I will find that if someone does
become disruptive, I can ask them to adhere to what we all
agreed at the beginning. Sometimes, the other participants
will ask them to behave which often has a greater
influence.

Make sure that nobody has been forced to attend and that
they have all come by their own free will. Be empathetic –
understand what questions or topics could upset people
and make them defensive. Try to avoid these if possible, or
leave them until the end of the discussion when people are
more relaxed.

H O W T O C O N D U C T F O C U S G R O UP S / 79

RECORDING EQUIPMENT
Some market research organisations have purpose built

viewing facilities with one-way mirrors and built in video

recorders. These facilities can be hired at a price which,

unfortunately, tends to be beyond the budgets of most stu-

dents and community groups.

Your local college or university might have a room which

can be set up with video recording equipment and the in-

stitution may provide an experienced person to operate

the machinery. If your institution doesn’t provide this fa-

cility, think about whether you actually need to video your

focus group as the more equipment you use, the more po-

tential there is for things to go wrong. Most social re-

searchers find that a tape recording of the discussion

supplemented by a few handwritten notes is adequate

(see Chapter 7 for further discussion on different methods

of recording).

Your tape recorder needs to be powerful enough to pick

up every voice. Ideally, it needs to be small and unobtru-

sive with an inbuilt microphone and a battery indicator

light so that you can check it is still working throughout

the discussion, without drawing attention to the machine.

A self-turning facility is useful as you get twice as much

recording without having to turn over the tape.

The recorder should be placed on a non-vibratory surface

at equal distance from each participant so that every voice

can be heard. Before the participants arrive, place it in the

80 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C O N D U C T F O C U S G R O U P S / 81

centre of the room and test your voice from each seat,

varying your pitch and tone. Participants in focus groups

tend to speak quietly at the beginning, but once they be-

gin to relax, they tend to raise their voices. Be aware of

any noise which could disrupt the recorder, such as tick-

ing clocks or traffic outside.

CHOOSING A VENUE
It is extremely important to make sure you choose the

right venue for your focus group as this will affect parti-

cipation levels, the level of discussion and the standard of

recording. You should ask yourself the following ques-

tions when considering a venue:

Is the venue accessible in terms of physical access for

those with mobility difficulties?

Is it accessible in terms of ‘mental’ access, that is,

would the type of people you intend to recruit feel

comfortable entering that building?

Is the building easy to find and the room easy to locate?

Is free parking available close by?

Is it accessible by public transport?

Is the room big enough to accommodate the number of

people you intend to recruit?

Are there enough chairs and are they comfortable?

Is there anything which could distract the participants

(loud noises, telephones, doorbells, people entering the

room, people walking past windows, etc)?

Is there anything which could disrupt the recording

(ticking clocks, drink machines, traffic outside, etc)?

Once you have chosen your venue, you need to arrive early

to make sure that the seating is arranged in an appropri-

ate manner. There is no set rule for this – think about

your participants and arrange it accordingly. For exam-

ple, business people might prefer a boardroom style seat-

ing arrangement, whereas adult learners may prefer an

informal seminar style arrangement.

RECRUITING YOUR PARTICIPANTS
Without participants you have no focus group. It is essen-

tial, therefore, that you take time to ensure that you

achieve a high turn out for your focus group. Think about

the following points when recruiting your participants:

The ideal number of participants is nine or eleven. Odd

numbers work better than even numbers as it is harder

for people to pair up in breakaway conversations.

Over-recruit by between three and five people as some

participants, despite reassurances to the contrary, will

not attend.

Offer incentives. If you cannot afford to pay partici-

pants, offer refreshments such as wine, soft drinks

and nibbles. Do not provide too much wine as a drun-

ken discussion is not productive.

The goal is to achieve a free-flowing, useful and inter-

esting discussion. Think about whether the people you

are recruiting would be able to chat to each other in

everyday life. People must have some sort of common

82 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H OW TO CO N D U C T F O C U S G R OU P S / 83

bond to be able to feel comfortable in a group and this

will probably be the focus of your research.

When someone has agreed to take part in a focus

group, contact them a week in advance to let them

know about the venue, date and time. Telephone them

the day before to make sure they have remembered

and are still able to attend.

Never force, bully or cajole someone into taking part.

If someone else is arranging the focus group for you,

make sure they do nor force or cajole people into par-

ticipating. Someone who does not want to attend

usually makes it clear during the discussion. This can

have a detrimental effect on the whole group.

If someone is in a position of power they should not be

included in the group as it may stop others airing their

opinions, although this is not always possible, as Ex-

ample 7 illustrates.

EXAMPLE 7: SIMON

I was conducting a focus group with workers in a toy

factory. Everyone in the group worked on a production

line, but unfortunately their supervisor, who’d arranged

for me to run the group, insisted on sitting in on the

group. I’d worked in that factory as a temp over the

summer holidays and I knew that the supervisor was

viewed as a bit of tyrant. I’d tried desperately to make

sure she didn’t come to the discussion, but there was

nothing I could do. Sure enough, throughout the discus-

sion if someone said something which was against com-

pany policy she would contradict them or say that it

simply wasn’t true. In the end people just stopped talk-

ing. I had to go and see each person after the group and

I got some really interesting information when the

supervisor wasn’t present. But of course it wasn’t re-

corded properly and I was unsure of how I could use

that information in my research. I wanted to arrange

another group, but I just knew it would be impossible

without the supervisor present. In the end I had to for-

get about that place and hold another focus group in

another factory.

SUMMARY
Find a suitable venue and check availability. Is it acces-

sible physically and mentally?

Visit the venue and check it is free from background

noises, distractions and interruptions.

Obtain appropriate recording equipment and practise.

Try your recording equipment in the venue to test suit-

ability.

Contact participants and check availability for time

and place.

Over-recruit to ensure enough participants.

Telephone participants the day before the focus group

to check they’re still intending to participate.

Arrive at the venue early and arrange the seating in a

way which will suit the group.

Test the recording equipment from each seat.

84 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H OW TO CO N D U C T F O C U S G R OU P S / 85

Lay out refreshments away from the recorder.

Greet participants with drinks and nibbles.

Introduce yourself; explain what the group is about,

what is expected of the participants, who the research

is for and

what will happen to the results.

Negotiate a discussion length and ask that no one

leaves early.

Discuss issues of confidentiality, anonymity and perso-

nal disclosure.

Start recorder and begin with general, easy to answer

questions.

Watch for group dynamics and deal with them accord-

ingly.

Listen and take notes.

Ask questions and probe for more detail.

Wind up within negotiated time, unless participants

wish to continue.

Thank participants and give them your name and con-

tact number in case they wish to follow up any of the

issues with you.

Send a summary report to anyone interested.

FURTHER READING
Greenbaum, T.L. (2000) Moderating Focus Groups: A

Practical Guide for Group Facilitation, Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.

Krueger, R.A. (1994) Focus Groups: a Practical Guide for

Applied Research, (2nd edition) Thousand Oaks, CA:

Sage.

Krueger, R.A. (1998) Developing Questions for Focus

Groups, Focus Group Kit, volume 3, Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.

Krueger, R.A. (1998) Moderating Focus Groups, Focus

Group Kit, volume 4, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Krueger, R.A. and King, J.A. (1998) Involving Community

Members in Focus Groups, Focus Group Kit, volume 5,

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Krueger, R.A. (1998) Analyzing and Reporting Focus

Group Results, Focus Group Kit, volume 6, Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage.

Morgan, D.L. (ed.) (1993) Successful Focus Groups: Ad-

vancing the State of the Art, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Morgan, D.L. (1997) Focus Groups as Qualitative Re-

search, (2nd edition) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Morgan, D.L. (1998) The Focus Group Guidebook, Focus

Group Kit, volume 1, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

86 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

How to Construct
Questionnaires

Once you have decided that a questionnaire is the most

appropriate data collection method for your research, be-

fore you go on to construct the questionnaire you need to

think about what, exactly, you want from your research.

Too often researchers rush into designing a questionnaire

only to find that it is not yielding the type of information

they require.

DECIDING WHICHQUESTIONNAIRE TOUSE
If you’re sure that a questionnaire is the most appropriate

method for your research, you need to decide whether you

intend to construct a closed-ended, open-ended or combi-

nation questionnaire. In open questions respondents use

their own words to answer a question, whereas in closed

questions prewritten response categories are provided (see

Table 9) Also, you need to think about whether your ques-

tionnaire is to be self-administered, that is, the respondent

fills it in on his own, away from the researcher, or whether

it is to be interviewer administered. Self-administered ques-

tionnaires could be sent through the post, delivered in per-

son or distributed via the internet. It is also important to

think about the analysis of your questionnaire at this stage

as this could influence its design (see Chapter 11).

TABLE 9: OPEN AND CLOSED QUESTIONS:

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

OPEN QUESTIONS

Tend to be slower to
administer.

Can be harder to record
responses.

May be difficult to code,
especially if multiple answers
are given.

Do not stifle response.

Enable respondents to raise
new issues.

Respondents tend to feel that
they have been able to speak
their mind.

In self-administered
questionnaires, respondents
might not be willing to write
a long answer and decide to
leave the question blank.
How do you know the
meaning of a blank answer
when you come to the
analysis?

Can use open questions to
find out all the possible
responses before designing a
closed-ended questionnaire.

CLOSED QUESTIONS

Tend to be quicker to
administer.

Often easier and quicker for
the researcher to record
responses.

Tend to be easy to code.

Respondents can only answer
in a predefined way.

New issues cannot be raised.

Respondents can only answer
in a way which may not
match their actual opinion
and may, therefore, become
frustrated.

Is quick and easy for
respondents to tick boxes –
might be more likely to
answer all the questions.

Can include a section at the
end of a closed-ended
questionnaire for people to
write in a longer response if
they wish.

88 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C O N S T R U C T Q U E S T I O N N A I R E S / 89

WORDING AND STRUCTURE OF QUESTIONS
When constructing each question think about the words

you use. Avoid jargon and technical terms whenever possi-

ble. Try not to use words which may have a double mean-

ing or be misinterpreted, as some words have different

meanings for different groups of people. Don’t use emotive

words. Make sure the question is not ambiguous. And,

above all, avoid questions which will cause annoyance,

frustration, offence, embarrassment or sadness. You

should never make someone feel uncomfortable, for what-

ever reason, as a result of filling in your questionnaire.

Questions should be kept short and simple. This will

avoid many of the problems outlined above. Check that

a question is not double-barrelled, that is, two ques-

tions in one. If it is, ask two questions rather than

one. Also, avoid negative questions – the type which

have ‘not’ in them as this can be confusing, especially

when a respondent is asked to agree or disagree.

Make sure that your questions don’t contain some type

of prestige bias. This phrase refers to questions which

could embarrass or force respondents into giving a

false answer. They might do this if they do not want

to look ‘bad’ in front of the researcher, or they might

do it because it is expected behaviour. Questions about

income or educational qualifications might illicit this

type of response, so you need to be careful about

how you try to obtain this information.

Some issues may be very sensitive and you might be bet-

ter asking an indirect question rather than a direct ques-

tion. Promising confidentiality and anonymity may

help, but many respondents can, understandably, be

sceptical about these promises. If you ask an indirect

question in which respondents can relate their answer

to other people, they may be more willing to answer

the question.

Using closed-ended questions
If you are constructing a closed-ended question, try to

make sure that all possible answers are covered. This is

particularly important for time and frequency questions

such as ‘how often do you . . .’ You need to make sure that

all the frequencies are covered so that respondents aren’t

constrained in their answers and tick a box which isn’t

right for them. Also, you want to make sure that you

don’t artificially create opinions by asking someone a

question about which they don’t know, or don’t care.

You need to make sure that you include a ‘don’t know’

category in this case.

Avoiding leading questions
Don’t asking leading questions. The question ‘How often

do you wash your car?’ might seem innocuous enough.

However, it makes two assumptions. Firstly, it assumes

that the respondent has a car and secondly, it assumes

the respondent washes his car. It could be considered a

prestige bias question. Would a respondent feel bad if they

didn’t have a car and therefore would tick ‘four times a

week’ anyway? Would they feel bad if they don’t ever wash

their car but feel the researcher expects them to? If you

need to ask this question, you should ask a filter question

first to find out whether the respondent actually owned a

car. Then you would need to ask: ‘If you wash your car,

90 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

EXERCISE 2

Read the following questions and decide what is wrong

with them. Think about how you might overcome the

problems you have identified.

1. Do you go swimming?

Never &
Rarely &
Frequently &
Sometimes &

2. What do you think about the Green Peace attempt to

blackmail the Government?

3. What is wrong with the young people of today and

what can we do about it?

4. How many books have you read in the last year?

None &
1 – 10 &
10 – 20 &
20 – 30 &
Over 30 &

5. What is the profit of your company, to the nearest

one hundred pounds?

H OW TO CO N S T R UC T QU E S T I O N N AI R E S / 91

how many times a year?’ By wording the question in this

way and by being careful about the frequency list, you’re

not leading the respondent into answering in a certain

way.

Have a look at Exercise 2 which will help you to think

about some of the issues involved in the wording and

structuring of questions.

6. What do you think should be done about global

warming?

Points to Consider

1. The problem with this question is in the categories

supplied for the answer. Everybody has a different

idea as to what words such as ‘sometimes’ and ‘fre-

quently’ mean. Instead, give specific time frames

such as ‘twice a year’ or ‘once a month’. Also, the

order of answers should follow a logical sequence –

in the example above, they do not.

2. This is a very leading question which uses an emotive

word – blackmail. It assumes that Green Peace is

blackmailing the Government and assumes that

someone knows about the issues and would be able

to answer. A filter question would have to be used

in this case and the word ‘blackmail’ changed.

3. This question is double-barrelled, leading and am-

biguous. It asks two questions in one and so needs

to be split up. The word ‘wrong’ is emotive and sug-

gests there is something not normal about the young

people of today. It asks the respondent to distance

themselves and comment from the moral high

ground.

4. This question may contain prestige bias – would peo-

ple be more likely to say they have read plenty of

books when they might not have read any? Also,

the categories for the answers need modification –

which box would you tick for someone who answered

‘20’?

92 / PRACT ICAL RE SEARCH MET HODS

6. This question assumes knowledge and could only be

asked of someone who has the figures to hand. It also

asks for what could be confidential information

which a respondent might be reluctant to give. The

word ‘profit’ has different meanings for different

people, especially if the question is asked by an inter-

viewer, rather than read by the respondent. In an of-

ten quoted case, when this question was used, the

respondent took it to mean ‘prophet’ and as such

was unable to answer the question.

6. In this question it is assumed that the respondent

thinks something should be done about global warn-

ing and that they are able to comment on the issue.

Indeed, global warming in itself is a contested issue.

This question leads the respondent into having an

opinion about something on which they might not

otherwise have one.

HOW T O CONS TRUCT QUESTI ON NAIRES/ 93

LENGTH AND ORDERING OF QUESTIONS
When you’re constructing a questionnaire, keep it as

short as possible. If it has to be longer because of the nat-

ure of your research, think about whether your respon-

dents will actually take the time to fill it in. Some

people will do so if they feel there is some personal benefit

to be gained. This is why long consumer behaviour sur-

veys offer entry into large prize draws for completed ques-

tionnaires. If your budget is limited, you might be able to

offer a copy of the final report or other information which

may be of use to the respondent as an incentive.

Be realistic about how long a questionnaire will take to fill

in. Saying it will take a ‘moment’ is not helpful. Include

filter questions with answers such as ‘If no, go to question

28’. Psychologically it’s good for respondents to be able

to jump sections as it stops people becoming frustrated by

unnecessary or irrelevant questions.

As with interviewing or focus groups, when designing a

questionnaire start with easy questions which respondents

will enjoy answering, thus encouraging them to continue

filling in the questionnaire. If you begin with complex

questions which need long responses, your respondents

will be less likely to fill in the form. If you’re constructing

a combined questionnaire, keep your open-ended ques-

tions for the end as, once someone has spent time com-

pleting the rest of the questionnaire, they are more

likely to continue with those questions which take a little

more effort to complete.

When constructing a questionnaire, you need to make it

as interesting as possible and easy to follow. Try to vary

the type and length of questions as variety provides inter-

est. Group the questions into specific topics as this makes

it easier to understand and follow. Layout and spacing are

extremely important. If your questionnaire looks clut-

tered, respondents will be less likely to fill it in.

Collecting personalinformation
Opinion is divided about where personal information

should be included on a questionnaire. I tend to include

it at the end, as I believe people are more likely to fill in

this information when they have already invested time

94 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C O N S T R U C T Q U E S T I O N N A I R E S / 95

and energy in completing the rest of the form. As the re-

searcher, you need to think about collecting only that type

of personal information which is completely relevant to

your research. Be sensitive to the type of information peo-

ple will be reluctant to give. An example of a personal

profile section is provided in Fig.1. This form may seem

short, but it is important not to ask for too much personal

information as respondents will become suspicious and

want to know why you want the information. You also

need to assure them that you understand and will comply

with the Data Protection Act (see Chapter 13).

PILOTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Once you have constructed your questionnaire, you must

pilot it. This means that you must test it out to see if it is

obtaining the results you require. First of all, ask people

who have not been involved in its construction to read it

through and see if there are any ambiguities which you

have not noticed. Once this has been done, alter the ques-

tions accordingly, then send out a number of question-

naires to the type of people who will be taking part in

the main survey. Make sure they know it is a pilot test

and ask them to forward any comments they may have

about the length, structure and wording of the question-

naire. Go through each response very carefully, noting

comments and looking at the answers to the questions

as this will help you to discover whether there are still am-

biguities present. Alter the questionnaire again. If you

have had to undertake major alterations, you may need

to pilot the questionnaire again.

1. Are you: Female &
Male &

2. What is your age?

under 26 & 56 – 55 &
26 – 35 & 56 – 65 &
36 – 45 & Over 65 &

3. What do you consider to be your ethnic origin?

(These categories were used in the 1991 Census and

have been reproduced here for ease of comparison.)

White & Pakistani &
Black – Caribbean & Bangladeshi &
Black – African & Chinese &
Black – Other & Other Ethnic Group &
Indian &

4. Which of the following categories apply to you?

(Tick all those which apply)

Housewife/husband &
Full-time student &
Self-employed &
In part-time, paid employment &
In full-time, paid employment &
Other (please specify) _________ &

Fig. 1. Personal profile form

96 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O C O N S T R U C T Q U E S T I O N N A I R E S / 97

This may seem a rather long and laborious process, but it

is incredibly important, especially if you’re intending to

send out a large number of questionnaires.

OBTAINING A HIGHRESPONSE
Questionnaires are big business and as more and more

fall through our letterboxes we become less willing to

spend the time completing them. You need to make yours

stand out so that all your careful planning and construc-

tion is not wasted. There are many simple measures you

can take to try to ensure a high response rate.

Is the questionnaire relevant to the lives, attitudes and

beliefs of the respondents?

Can the respondents read if they are to be given a self-

administered questionnaire?

Are there any language issues? Do you need to trans-

late the questionnaire into another language?

Are your intended respondents likely to co-operate?

For example, illegal immigrants may be less likely to

fill in a questionnaire than legal immigrants.

Is the questionnaire well constructed and well laid out?

Is it clear, concise and uncluttered?

Are the instructions straightforward and realistic

about how long it will take to complete?

Has the respondent been told who the research is for

and what will happen to the results?

Has the respondent been reassured that you under-

stand and will comply with the Data Protection Act?

Has the questionnaire been piloted to iron out any pro-

blems?

Can your respondents see some personal benefit to be

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN CHECKLIST

Make your questionnaire as short as possible.

Make sure people will be able to answer your ques-

tions.

Don’t assume knowledge or make it seem that you

expect a certain level of knowledge by the way your

questions are worded.

Start with easy to answer questions. Keep complex

questions for the end.

Ask for personal information at the end.

Use a mix of question formats.

Don’t cause offence, frustration, sadness or anger.

Avoid double-barrelled questions.

Avoid words with emotional connotations.

Avoid negative questions.

Avoid jargon and technical words.

Avoid words with multiple meanings.

Avoid leading questions.

Avoid vague words such as ‘often’ and ‘sometimes’.

Provide all possible responses in a closed question.

Consider as many alternatives as possible.

Use specific time frames when asking about beha-

viour.

Use specific place frames, e.g. ‘In which country

were you born?’

gained by completing the questionnaire?

Is return postage included?

Has a follow-up letter and duplicate questionnaire

been sent in cases of none response?

98 / PRACT ICAL R ESE ARCH MET HODS

H O W T O C O N S T R U C T Q U E S T I O N N A I R E S / 99

SUMMARY
Think about how you’re going to analyse your survey

prior to constructing your questionnaire.

Decide whether you’re interested in behaviour, beliefs,

attitudes or characteristics or a combination of the

above.

Make sure you have made the right decisions concern-

ing open-ended questions, closed-ended questions or a

combination of both.

Decide whether your questionnaire is to be self-admi-

nistered or interviewer administered.

Think about how you intend to distribute your ques-

tionnaire, e.g. by hand, through the post or via the in-

ternet.

Construct the questionnaire adhering to the checklist

produced above.

Include a covering letter with information about who

the research is for and what will happen to the results.

Include instructions on how to complete the question-

naire.

Include details about how the questionnaire is to be re-

turned (making sure you enclose a pre-paid envelope if

you need the respondent to return the form to you).

Make sure you include a date by which time you would

like the questionnaire returned.

Pilot the questionnaire and instructions to check that

all can be understood.

Amend accordingly and re-pilot.

Send out/administer questionnaire.

Send out follow-up letters and questionnaires to non-

responders.

FURTHER READING
Hague, P.N. (1993) Questionnaire Design, London: Ko-

gan Page.

Nesbary, D. (1999) Survey Research World Wide Web,

Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Oppenheim, A.N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interview-

ing and Attitude Measurement, London: Pinter.

Salant, P. and Dillman, D.A. (1995) How to Conduct Your

Own Survey, New York: Wiley.

Tourangeau, R., Rips, L.J. and Rasinski, K. (2000) The

Psychology of Survey Response, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

100 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E AR C H M E T H O D S

How to Carry Out
Participant Observation

Participant observation can be viewed as a methodology,

rather than a method, as it took shape within particular

historical and social circumstances within anthropology

and sociology. It is a procedure for generating under-

standing about the way of life of others. However, as there

are many practical ‘how to’ issues involved in the use of

participant observation, I am going to discuss it as a re-

search method. But as you will see, there are several meth-

odological issues which are raised in the following

discussion, especially concerning ethics and the personal

role of the researcher.

Participant observation can be carried out within any

community, culture or context which is different to the

usual community and/or culture of the researcher. It

may be carried out within a remote African tribe or in

hospitals, factories, schools, prisons and so on, within

your own country. The researcher immerses herself into

the community – the action is deliberate and intended

to add to knowledge.

The researcher participates in the community while obser-

ving others within that community, and as such she must

101

be a researcher 24 hours a day. In practice most research-

ers find that they play more of a role as observer, than

they do as a participant.

GAINING ACCESS
Participant observation, as a research method, cannot

work unless you’re able to gain access to the community

that you wish to study. Before you spend a lot of time plan-

ning your project you need to find out whether you can ob-

tain this access. The level of negotiation required will

depend upon the community, culture or context. If it is a

culture with which you already have a certain amount of

familiarity, and vice versa, you should find it easier to gain

access. However, if it is a secret or suspicious community,

you may find it much harder to gain access.

If you do expect to encounter difficulties, one way to over-

come this problem is to befriend a member of that com-

munity who could act as a gatekeeper and help you to get

to know other people. Obviously, it is important to spend

time building up the required level of trust before you can

expect someone to introduce you into their community. If

it is not possible to befriend a member of the community,

you may have to approach the person or committee in

charge, firstly by letter and then in person. You have to

be persuasive. First impressions are important and you

need to make sure that you dress and act appropriately

within the community. You must not appear threatening

in any way. Some people will be suspicious of the motives

of a researcher, especially if they’re not familiar with the

research process. In the early stages it is better to answer

any questions or suspicions directly and honestly rather

102 / PRACTICAL RES EARCH METHODS

HOW TO CARRY OUT PARTIC IPANT OBSER V AT IO N/ 103

than try to avoid them or shrug them off.

ETHICS
Because of the nature of participant observation, there

tends to be more issues involving ethics and morals to

consider. As you intend to become part of a specific

group, will you be expected to undertake anything illegal?

This could happen with research into drug use or crime

syndicates where people may not trust you until you be-

come one of them and join in their activities. Would you

be prepared to do this and put up with any consequences

which could arise as a result of your activities?

If the group is suspicious, do you intend to be completely

honest about who you are and what you’re doing? Are you

prepared to lie if it means you can gain access? How would

you deal with any problems which may arise as a conse-

quence of your deception?

What if your participation within a group causes pro-

blems, anxiety or argument amongst other members?

Would you know how to deal with the situation? Would

you be prepared to withdraw and ruin all your hard work

for the sake of your informants? These issues and others

are covered in more depth in Chapter 13. Also, there are

many personal considerations and dilemmas which you

need to think about before undertaking participant obser-

vation, as illustrated below:

PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN

ENTERING THE FIELD

Some people will not accept you. Are you prepared for

rejection and can you handle it when it happens? Are

you able to banish rejection anxieties from the outset?

Are you prepared to spend many months studying

others and not indulging in talk about yourself? Some

researchers overcome this problem by making sure that

they have someone outside the community who they

can talk to if they need to.

Will your contact be traumatic or upsetting? If so,

can you handle this?

If you’re going to come across people with very different

social and political beliefs, can you remain neutral and

keep your opinions to yourself? Some researchers may

try arguing their point in the hope that they will get

more information and it will deepen their understand-

ing. However, you must be careful not to compromise

your position.

Are you prepared for the emergence of as yet uncon-

scious emotional factors? You may find out things

about yourself which you do not like, especially in terms

of your own prejudices.

Are you prepared to be used as a scapegoat if things go

wrong within the community under study? Often it is

easier for the community to blame an outsider and

104 / PR A C T I C AL R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

HOW TO CARRY OUT PARTIC IPANT OBSER V AT IO N/ 105

many researchers are happy to go along with this be-

cause they know they will be leaving the community

at some point.

Can you handle the feelings of guilt which may arise as

a result of the roles you’ve got to play?

Are you prepared to pretend to have feelings which may

not be real? Some researchers would argue that you

should not do this because it is being dishonest. The le-

vel to which you are prepared to do this has to be your

own choice.

Are you aware of your own likes and dislikes? Can you

put stereotypes and prejudices aside?

COLLECTING AND ANALYSING INFORMATION
At the beginning of a participant observation study it is

hard to understand what everything means. At first some-

thing may appear very significant, but later it might be-

come a minor detail. However, you will not know this

until you have started to analyse what is going on. So it

is important from the outset to start taking copious notes.

You need to have a good memory as in many situations it

is not possible to take notes at the time. You need to have

a notepad with you at all times so that you can write down

your thoughts as soon as possible after the encounter.

All researchers ask questions. However, in the beginning

stages of a participant observation study, it is better to

seek information by not asking questions. This is because

it is hard for you to know what to ask at this stage. In-

stead, you will find that people come to you and ask ques-

tions. This in itself is valuable information and can tell

you a lot about those people, so all questions should be

noted and analysed.

Field notes
Field notes are your main way of recording data. These

might be practical details about events, times, dates and

places. Or they might be methodological notes concerning

your role, your influence on the encounter, your relation-

ship with the informants, sampling procedures and so on.

As time moves on your notes will be to do with a prelimin-

ary analysis and the forming of hypotheses which you can

go on to check out with your informants. They may be

observations on what a specific encounter might mean.

Also, as your research progresses you will start to code

and classify your notes (see Chapter 11).

Taking notes is a very personal process and you need to

find a method which will suit you. Many researchers de-

velop their own form of shorthand, but if you do this keep

it simple because, if your contact is over a long period of

time, you may not understand the shorthand you used at

the beginning. Most researchers keep a day-to-day diary

in addition to all the other field notes. You will also need

to keep all transcripts of interviews, photographs, maps,

tapes, video recordings, diagrams and plans. Everything

needs to be recorded and stored systematically so good or-

ganisational skills are important if you wish to undertake

participant observation.

106 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E AR C H M E T H O D S

HOW T O CARRY OUT PART ICIPANT OBSE RVA TI ON / 107

Most of your analysis takes place in the field so that you

can cross check and verify your hypotheses. At this stage

you will find that you will have a number of key infor-

mants who will be able to help you with this process. This

is very useful as they will tell you if you’re on the wrong

track.

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE FIELD
When you have been immersed in a particular culture for

a long period of time, it can be hard to break away. In-

deed, some researchers have found that they do not want

to break away, although this only happens rarely. If, how-

ever, you have remained connected to your role as re-

searcher, you will know when it is time to break away,

write up your results and pass on what you have learnt.

It is important to leave your community on good terms.

Many researchers find that it is helpful to stay in touch

with their contacts – these people will want to see what

is written about them. They will be interested and may

still have comments to make. You may also wish to return

to your community several years later and conduct a fol-

low-up study.

Finally, you must make sure that you try not to do any-

thing which will give researchers a bad name and cause

problems for other researchers who may wish to follow

in your footsteps (see Chapter 13).

SUMMARY
In participant observation, the researcher immerses

herself into a community, culture or context. The ac-

tion is deliberate and intended to add to knowledge.

A participant observer is a researcher 24 hours a day.

To gain access a researcher must be non-threatening,

displaying appropriate behaviour and body language

and wearing appropriate dress.

A useful way of gaining access is to find a gatekeeper

who can introduce you to other members of the com-

munity.

A researcher needs to do much soul-searching before

going into the field as the experience can raise many

ethical, moral and personal dilemmas.

It is sometimes quicker and more economical to wait

for questions to come to the researcher, rather than

ask questions of informants in the early stages of a

study.

Field notes may record practical details, methodologi-

cal issues, personal thoughts, preliminary analyses and

working hypotheses.

Data analysis takes place in the field so that hypotheses

can be discussed with key informants.

The community should be left on good terms and any

written reports should be given back to the people for

their interest and personal comments.

FURTHER READING
Bulmer, M. (ed.) (1982) Social Research Ethics, London:

Macmillan.

Burgess, R.G. (ed.) (1986) Field Research: A Sourcebook

108 / PR A C T I C AL R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

HOW TO CARRY OUT PARTIC IPANT OBSER V AT IO N/ 109

and Field Manual, London: Allen and Unwin.

Crabtree, B.F. and Miller, W.L. (eds.) (1992) Doing Qua-

litative Research, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Golde, P. (ed.) (1970) Women in the Field: Anthropological

Experiences, Chicago: Aldine.

Jorgenson, D. (1989) Participant Observation: A Metho-

dology for Human Studies, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Whyte, W.F. (1997) Creative Problem-Solving in the Field:

Reflections on a Career, Walnut Creek: Alta Mira.

How toAnalyseYour Data

The methods you use to analyse your data will depend on

whether you have chosen to conduct qualitative or quanti-

tative research, and this choice will be influenced by per-

sonal and methodological preference and educational

background. It could be influenced also by the methodo-

logical standpoint of the person who teaches on your re-

search methods course.

DECIDING WHICH APPROACH TOUSE
For quantitative data analysis, issues of validity and relia-

bility are important. Quantitative researchers endeavour

to show that their chosen methods succeed in measuring

what they purport to measure. They want to make sure

that their measurements are stable and consistent and that

there are no errors or bias present, either from the respon-

dents or from the researcher.

Qualitative researchers, on the other hand, might ac-

knowledge that participants are influenced by taking part

in the research process. They might also acknowledge that

researchers bring their own preferences and experience to

the project. Qualitative data analysis is a very personal

process. Ask two researchers to analyse a transcript and

they

will probably come up with very different results.

This may be because they have studied different subjects,

110

H O W T O A N A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 111

or because they come from different political or methodo-

logical standpoints. It is for this reason that some re-

searchers criticise qualitative methods as ‘unscientific’ or

‘unreliable’. This is often because people who come from

quantitative backgrounds try to ascribe their methods and

processes to qualitative research. This is a fruitless exer-

cise. The two approaches are very different and should

be treated as such.

Analysing data
Also, the two are analysed in quite different ways. For

qualitative data, the researcher might analyse as the re-

search progresses, continually refining and reorganising

in light of the emerging results. For quantitative data,

the analysis can be left until the end of the data collection

process, and if it is a large survey, statistical software is the

easiest and most efficient method to use. For this type of

analysis time has to be put aside for the data input process

which can be long and laborious. However, once this has

been done the analysis is quick and efficient, with most

software packages producing well presented graphs, pie

charts and tables which can be used for the final report.

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
To help you with the analysis of qualitative data, it is use-

ful to produce an interview summary form or a focus group

summary form which you complete as soon as possible

after each interview or focus group has taken place. This

includes practical details about the time and place, the

participants, the duration of the interview or focus group,

and details about the content and emerging themes (see

Figures 2 and 3). It is useful to complete these forms as

soon as possible after the interview and attach them to

your transcripts. The forms help to remind you about

the contact and are useful when you come to analyse

the data.

There are many different types of qualitative data analysis.

The method you use will depend on your research topic,

your personal preferences and the time, equipment and fi-

nances available to you. Also, qualitative data analysis is a

very personal process, with few rigid rules and procedures.

It is for this reason that each type of analysis is best illu-

strated through examples (see Examples 8–11 below).

Formats for analysis
However, to be able to analyse your data you must first of

all produce it in a format that can be easily analysed. This

might be a transcript from an interview or focus group, a

series of written answers on an open-ended questionnaire,

or field notes or memos written by the researcher. It is

useful to write memos and notes as soon as you begin

to collect data as these help to focus your mind and alert

you to significant points which may be coming from the

data. These memos and notes can be analysed along with

your transcripts or questionnaires.

You can think of the different types of qualitative data

analysis as positioned on a continuum (see Fig.4) At the

one end are the highly qualitative, reflective types of ana-

lysis, whereas on the other end are those which treat the

qualitative data in a quantitative way, by counting and

coding data.

112 / PRACT ICAL RE SEARCH MET HODS

Interviewee: ________________ Date of Interview:________________

Place: ________________________ Time of Interview:________________

Duration of Interview: __________

Where did the interview take place? Was the venue sui-

table? Does anything need to be changed for future in-

terviews?

How easy was it to establish rapport? Were there any

problems and how can this be improved for next time?

Did the interview schedule work well? Does it need to

be altered or improved?

What were the main themes which arose in the inter-

view? Did any issues arise which need to be added to

the interview schedule for next time?

Is the interviewee willing to be contaced again? Have I

promised to send any information or supply them with

the results or a copy of the transcript?

Fig. 2. Interview summary form

H O W T O A N A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 113

Date: ________________________ Time:_________________________________

Venue: ______________________ Duration: ___________________________

Group: ______________________

Diagram of seating plan with participant codes:

Where did the focus group take place? Was the venue

suitable? Does anything need to be changed for future

focus groups?

How many people took part and who were they? Did

they work well as a group or were there any adverse

group dynamics? What can I learn from this for the

next group?

Did the interview schedule work well? Does it need to
be altered or improved?

What were the main themes which arose during the fo-

cus group? Does anything need to be added to the in-

terview schedule for the next focus group?

Are any of the participants willing to be contacted

again? Have I promised to send any further informa-

tion or the final report to anyone?

Fig. 3: Focus group summary form

114 / PRACT ICAL R ESEARCH MET HODS

Highly Almost

Qualitative Quantitative

eg thematic and eg discourse and eg content analysis

comparative conversational

analysis analysis

reflexive uses a combination code and count

intuitive of reflexivity and mechanical

takes place counting can be left until

throughout end of data

data collection collection

Fig. 4. Qualititative data analysis continuum

H O W T O A N A L Y S E YO UR D A T A / 115

For those at the highly qualitative end of the continuum,

data analysis tends to be an on-going process, taking place

throughout the data collection process. The researcher

thinks about and reflects upon the emerging themes, adapt-

ing and changing the methods if required. For example, a

researcher might conduct three interviews using an inter-

view schedule she has developed beforehand. However,

during the three interviews she finds that the participants

are raising issues that she has not thought about pre-

viously. So she refines her interview schedule to include

these issues for the next few interviews. This is data analy-

sis. She has thought about what has been said, analysed the

words and refined her schedule

accordingly.

Thematic analysis
When data is analysed by theme, it is called thematic ana-

lysis. This type of analysis is highly inductive, that is, the

themes emerge from the data and are not imposed upon it

by the researcher. In this type of analysis, the data collec-

tion and analysis take place simultaneously. Even back-

ground reading can form part of the analysis process,

especially if it can help to explain an emerging theme.

This process is illustrated in Example 8.

EXAMPLE 8: RICHARD

Richard was interested in finding out what members of

the public thought about higher education. During a fo-

cus group with some library workers, he noticed that

some people had very clear ideas about higher educa-

tion, whereas others had very little idea. This was im-

mediate, on the spot analysis. He asked the group

why they thought this was the case and it emerged that

the people who had clear ideas about higher education

had either been to college or university themselves, or

knew someone close to them who had been through

higher education. This theme had emerged from one

group. Richard decided to follow it up by interviewing

people who had never been to college or university to

see how different their perceptions might be.

Closely connected to thematic analysis is comparative ana-

lysis. Using this method, data from different people is com-

pared and contrasted and the process continues until the

researcher is satisfied that no new issues are arising. Com-

parative and thematic analyses are often used in the same

project, with the researcher moving backwards and for-

wards between transcripts, memos, notes and the research

literature. This process is illustrated in Example 9.

116 / PRACTICAL RES EARCH METHODS

H O W T O AN A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A/ 117

EXAMPLE 9: RICHARD

Once Richard had discovered that members of the pub-

lic who had close contact with higher educational insti-

tutions had clearer perceptions than those who had no

contact, he felt two issues were important. First, he

wanted to find out how close the contact had to be

for people to have very clear perceptions of university,

and second, he wanted to find out where perceptions

came from for those people who had no contact with

higher education. Through careful choice of intervie-

wee, and through comparing and contrasting the data

from each transcript, he was able to develop a sliding

scale of contact with higher education. This ranged

from no contact, ever, for any member of the family

or friends, through to personal contact by the intervie-

wee attending higher education.

Having placed each interviewee somewhere on the scale,

he then went back to the transcripts to look for hints

about how their perceptions had been formed. At the

same time he consulted existing research literature

which addressed the issue of influences on personal per-

ception to see if this would give him further insight into

what was arising from his data. After this process, if

data was missing or he was unable to understand some-

thing which had been said, he would conduct another

interview until he felt that his analysis, and his under-

standing, were complete.

Content analysis
For those types of analyses at the other end of the quali-

tative data continuum, the process is much more mechan-

ical with the analysis being left until the data has been

collected. Perhaps the most common method of doing this

is to code by content. This is called content analysis. Using

this method the researcher systematically works through

each transcript assigning codes, which may be numbers

or words, to specific characteristics within the text. The

researcher may already have a list of categories or she

may read through each transcript and let the categories

emerge from the data. Some researchers may adopt both

approaches, as Example 10 illustrates. This type of analy-

sis can be used for open-ended questions which have been

added to questionnaires in large quantitative surveys, thus

enabling the researcher to quantify the answers.

EXAMPLE 10: TINA

In her research on students’ attitudes towards alcohol,

Tina, from her own experience, felt that money, social

life, halls of residence and campus bars would all be sig-

nificant. She assigned code numbers to these issues and

then went through each transcript, writing the code

number above the relevant section when any of these is-

sues were mentioned. Sure enough, they did appear to

be important and were discussed in every interview, even

with non-students. However, she also found that many

other issues were being discussed which she had not

thought about previously, such as peer pressure and dis-

tance from home. As each new issue was mentioned, she

ascribed another code and went back to previous tran-

118 / PRACT ICAL R ESEARCH MET HODS

H OW TO A N A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 119

scripts to see if it had arisen but had been missed during

the initial analysis. Although she had to return to the

transcripts many times, this meant that by the end of

the process Tina had completed a thorough analysis of

her data.

Discourse analysis
Falling in the middle of the qualitative analysis continuum

is discourse analysis, which some researchers have named

conversational analysis, although others would argue that

the two are quite different. These methods look at patterns

of speech, such as how people talk about a particular sub-

ject, what metaphors they use, how they take turns in con-

versation, and so on. These analysts see speech as a

performance; it performs an action rather than describes

a specific state of affairs or specific state of mind. Much

of this analysis is intuitive and reflective, but it may also

involve some form of counting, such as counting instances

of turn-taking and their influence on the conversation and

the way in which people speak to others.

EXAMPLE 11: JULIE

Julie wanted to find out about women’s experiences of

premenstrual tension (PMT). As PMT is a relatively

new phrase to describe this condition, Julie was inter-

ested in finding out how women spoke about the pro-

blems they were experiencing, both in the present day

and in the past. She wanted to look closely at what wo-

men from different generations said about themselves

and how they talked to each other about their problems.

She decided to conduct five interviews and one focus

group, and then analyse them using discourse analysis,

which meant that she would break down each transcript

into tiny parts. In the interview transcripts she looked

for cultural, social and historical clues. In the focus

group transcript she was interested in looking at how

the women took turns to talk about the subject, espe-

cially amongst the different age groups. She thought

about her own position as a female researcher and

how this might affect both what was being said and

her interpretation of the data. Her final report con-

tained large amounts of transcript to illustrate the

points she had raised.

Processing the data
These examples show that there are different processes in-

volved in qualitative data analysis.

You need to think about the data from the moment you

start to collect the information.

You need to judge the value of your data, especially

that which may come from dubious sources.

As your research progresses you need to interpret the

data so that you, and others, can gain an understand-

ing of what is going on.

Finally, you need to undertake the mechanical process

of analysing the data.

120 / PRACT ICAL R ESEARCH MET HODS

H O W T O A N A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 121

It is possible to undertake the mechanical process using

computing software which can save you a lot of time,

although it may stop you becoming really familiar with

the data. There are many dedicated qualitative analysis

programs of various kinds available to social researchers

that can be used for a variety of different tasks. For exam-

ple, software could locate particular words or phrases;

make lists of words and put them into alphabetical order;

insert key words or comments; count occurrences of

words or phrases or attach numeric codes. Some software

will retrieve text, some will analyse text and some will help

to build theory. Although a computer can undertake these

mechanical processes, it cannot think about, judge or inter-

pret qualitative data (see Table 10).

QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
If you have decided that a large survey is the most appro-

priate method to use for your research, by now you should

have thought about how you’re going to analyse your

data. You will have checked that your questionnaire is

properly constructed and worded, you will have made

sure that there are no variations in the way the forms

are administered and you will have checked over and over

again that there is no missing or ambiguous information.

If you have a well-designed and well-executed survey, you

will minimise problems during the analysis.

Computing software
If you have computing software available for you to use

you should find this the easiest and quickest way to ana-

lyse your data. The most common package used by social

scientists at this present time is SPSS for windows, which

TABLE 10: USING COMPUTERS FOR QUALITATIVE DATA

ANALYSIS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES

Using computers helps to
alleviate time-consuming and

monotonous tasks of cutting,
pasting and retrieval of field
notes and/or interview

transcripts.

Computers are a useful aid to

those who have to work to tight
deadlines.

Programs can cope with both
multiple codes and over-lapping
codes which would be very
difficult for the researcher to

cope with without the aid of a
computer.

Some software can conduct
multiple searches in which more
than one code is searched much

more quickly and efficiently than
by the researcher.

Programs can combine codes in
complex searches.

Programs can pick out instances

of pre-defined categories which
have been missed by the
researcher during the initial

analysis.

Computers can be used to help

the researcher overcome
‘analysis block’.

DISADVANTAGES

In focus groups the group moves
through a different sequence of

events which is important in the
analysis but which cannot be
recognised by a computer.

Programs cannot understand

the meaning of text.

Software can only support the
intellectual processes of the
researcher – they cannot be a
substitute for these processes.

Participants can change their
opinions and contradict
themselves during an interview.

A computer will not recognise
this.

The software might be beyond
an individual’s budget.

User-error can lead to

undetected mistakes or
misleading results.

Using computers can lead to an

over-emphasis on mechanical
procedures.

122 / PRACT ICAL R ESEARCH MET HODS

H OW TO A N A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 123

has become increasingly user-friendly over the last few

years. However, data input can be a long and laborious

process, especially for those who are slow on the key-

board, and, if any data is entered incorrectly, it will influ-

ence your results. Large scale surveys conducted by

research companies tend to use questionnaires which

can be scanned, saving much time and money, but this op-

tion might not be open to you. If you are a student, how-

ever, spend some time getting to know what equipment is

available for your use as you could save yourself a lot of

time and energy by adopting this approach. Also, many

software packages at the push of a key produce profes-

sional graphs, tables and pie charts which can be used

in your final report, again saving a lot of time and effort.

Most colleges and universities provide some sort of statis-

tics course and data analysis course. Or the computing de-

partment will provide information leaflets and training

sessions on data analysis software. If you have chosen this

route, try to get onto one of these courses, especially those

which have a ‘hands-on’ approach as you might be able to

analyse your data as part of your course work. This will

enable you to acquire new skills and complete your re-

search at the same time.

Statisticl techniques
For those who do not have access to data analysis soft-

ware, a basic knowledge of statistical techniques is needed

to analyse your data. If your goal is to describe what you

have found, all you need to do is count your responses and

reproduce them. This is called a frequency count or uni-

variate analysis. Table 11 shows a frequency count of age.

TABLE 11: AGE OF RESPONDENTS

AGE GROUP

Under 20

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

Over 59

FREQUENCY

345

621

198

154
121

From this table you would be able to see clearly that the

20-29 age group was most highly represented in your sur-

vey. This type of frequency count is usually the first step in

any analysis of a large scale survey, and forms the base for

many other statistical techniques that you might decide to

conduct on your data (see Example 12).

However, there is a problem with missing answers in this

type of count. For example, someone might be unwilling

to let a researcher know their age, or someone else could

have accidentally missed out a question. If there are any

missing answers, a separate ‘no answer’ category needs to

be included in any frequency count table. In the final re-

port, some researchers overcome this problem by convert-

ing frequency counts to percentages which are calculated

after excluding missing data. However, percentages can be

misleading if the total number of respondents is fewer

than 40.

124 / P RACTICAL RESE ARCH ME THODS

H O W T O A N AL Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 125

EXAMPLE 12: TOM

Tom works part-time for a charity which provides infor-

mation and services for blind and partially sighted peo-

ple in the town. He was asked to find out how many

people use the service and provide a few details about

who these people are and what they do in life. Tom de-

signed a short questionnaire which could be adminis-

tered face-to-face and over the telephone by the

receptionist. Anyone who called in person or telephoned

the centre over a period of a month was asked these ques-

tions. If they had already completed a questionnaire they

did not have to do so again.

Tom did not have access to any computing facilities,

so he decided to analyse the questionnaires by hand. He

conducted a count of gender, age, occupation, postcode

area of residence and reason for attending or telephon-

ing the centre. From this information, members of staff

at the centre were able to find out that their main custo-

mers were women over the age of retirement. This meant

that they were able to arrange more activities which sui-

ted this age group. Tom found out also that one of the

main reasons for contacting the centre was for more in-

formation on disability benefits. A Braille booklet and a

cassette recording containing all the relevant informa-

tion was produced and advertised locally.

It took Tom one month to design and pilot the question-

naire, another month to administer the questionnaire

and two months to analyse the results and write the re-

port.

Finding aconnection
Although frequency counts are a useful starting point in

quantitative data analysis, you may find that you need to

do more than merely describe your findings. Often you

will need to find out if there is a connection between

one variable and a number of other variables. For exam-

ple, a researcher might want to find out whether there is a

connection between watching violent films and aggressive

behaviour. This is called bivariate analysis.

In multivariate analysis the researcher is interested in ex-

ploring the connections among more than two variables.

For example, a researcher might be interested in finding

out whether women aged 40-50, in professional occupa-

tions, are more likely to try complementary therapies

than younger, non-professional women and men from

all categories.

MEASURINGDATA

Nominal scales
To move beyond frequency counts, it is important to un-

derstand how data is measured. In nominal scales the re-

spondent answers a question in one particular way,

choosing from a number of mutually exclusive answers.

Answers to questions about marital status, religious af-

filiation and gender are examples of nominal scales of

measurement. The categories include everyone in the sam-

ple, no one should fit into more than one category and the

implication is that no one category is better than another.

Ordinal scales
Some questions offer a choice but from the categories gi-

126 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O A N A L Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 127

ven it is obvious that the answers form a scale. They can

be placed on a continuum, with the implication being that

some categories are better than others. These are called

ordinal scales. The occupationally based social scale

which runs from ‘professional’ to ‘unskilled manual’ is

a good example of this type of scale. In this type of scale

it is not possible to measure the difference between the

specific categories.

Interval scales
Interval scales, on the other hand, come in the form of

numbers with precisely defined intervals. Examples in-

cluded in this type of scale are the answers from questions

about age, number of children and household income.

Precise comparisons can be made between these scales.

Arithmetic mean
In mathematics, if you want to find a simple average of the

data, you would add up the values and divide by the num-

ber of items. This is called an arithmetic mean. This is a

straightforward calculation used with interval scales where

specific figures can be added together and then divided.

However, it is possible to mislead with averages, especially

when the range of the values may be great. Researchers,

therefore, also describe the mode which is the most fre-

quently occurring value, and the median which is the mid-

dle value of the range. The mode is used when dealing with

nominal scales, for example it can show that most respon-

dents in your survey are Catholics. The median is used

when dealing with both ordinal and interval scales.

Quantitative data analysis can involve many complex sta-

tistical techniques which cannot be covered in this book.

If you wish to follow this route you should read some of

the data analysis books recommended below.

SUMMARY
The methods you use to analyse your data will depend

upon whether you have chosen to conduct qualitative

or quantitative research.

For quantitative data analysis, issues of validity and re-

liability are important.

Qualitative data analysis is a very personal process.

Ask two researchers to analyse a transcript and they

will probably come up with very different results.

After having conducted an interview or a focus group,

it is useful to complete a summary form which con-

tains details about the interview. This can be attached

to the transcript and can be used to help the analysis.

Qualitative data analysis methods can be viewed as

forming a continuum from highly qualitative methods

to almost quantitative methods, which involve an ele-

ment of counting.

Examples of qualitative data analysis include thematic

analysis, comparative analysis, discourse analysis and

content analysis.

The analysis of large-scale surveys is best done with the

use of statistical software, although simple frequency

counts can be undertaken manually.

Data can be measured using nominal scales, ordinal

scales or interval scales.

128 / P R A C T I C A L R E S E A R C H M E T H O D S

H O W T O A N AL Y S E Y O U R D A T A / 129

A simple average is called an arithmetic mean; the

middle value of a range is called the median; the most

frequently occurring value is called the mode.

social science

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