'Try something new to-day': the range of research methods ...

Try something new to-day The range of qualitative research methods available for use in projects Graham Crow [email protected] Try something new to-day Try something new to-day

Sociologists gravitate towards two research methods: surveys and qualitative interviews There is nothing wrong with these methods, but many other methods are available, including some that may be just as appropriate to use for your research question, and sometimes more appropriate. This may involve using more than one method. Being innovative comes with some risks, but it also has some advantages

Try something new to-day Types of qualitative research included in research methods textbooks Method Gilbert 2008 Mason 2002 Mason & Dale Bryman 2012

2012 Interviewing Focus groups Ethnography Documents Narrative Visual Discourse Analysis + Conversation Analysis Internet

Psychoanalytic Participatory Longitudinal * * * * * *

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* * * Try something new to-day A list of the main types of qualitative research would be likely to include: Qualitative interviewing Ethnography (including ethnographic observation)

Narrative analysis (may be used to analyse interview data) Discourse analysis Documentary analysis Visual analysis Try something new to-day NCRM Typology of Research Methods within the Social Sciences http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/3721/1/research_methods_typology_2015.pdf Qualitative Data Handling and Data Analysis section includes: Discourse Analysis, Interaction Analysis, Conversation Analysis, Content

Analysis, Narrative Methods, Analysis of Composite Data, Corpus Analysis, Documentary Analysis, Biographical Methods/Oral History, Grounded Theory, Ethnography, Phenomenology, Visual Methods, Thematic Analysis, Framework Analysis, Qualitative Longitudinal Analysis, Multimodal Analysis, Attributional Analysis, Actor Network Theory, Textual Analysis, Qualitative Comparative Analysis Try something new to-day There is a large range of tools to choose from in the methods toolbox

The choice should be made with your research question in mind. Its not a matter of I would like to use method X, let me look for a topic to apply it to! But your choice of methods will be easier to justify if it is made having considered the range of possibilities Projects that are theoretical will also need a method (which may be quantitative or qualitative) Try something new to-day The library is well-stocked with resources on research methods,

including access to SAGE research methods online http://methods.sagepub.com/ Try something new to-day The National Centre for Research Methods has a range of resources on its website including 440 videos https://www.ncrm.ac.uk/resources/video/ These include short, filmed What is? presentations on Diary method; Qualitative interviewing; Action research; Biosocial research; Policy evaluation; Citizens juries..

Some of these are qualitative, some quantitative, and some are hard to classify (e.g. social network analysis) Try something new to-day The library has some of the What Is? book series, e.g.: What is Diary Method? by Ruth Bartlett & Christine Milligan What is Social Network Analysis? by John Scott What is Discourse Analysis? by Stephanie Taylor What is Inclusive Research? by Melanie Nind What is On-line Research? by Tristram Hooley et al.

These include discussion of criticisms made of the method, as well as the case for using them, and exemplars Try something new to-day NCRM also has a long list of resources http://www.ncrm.ac.uk/publications/top100.php Includes most popular How many qualitative interviews is enough? viewed 3897 times in the last 30 days (average 130 times every day!) What is qualitative comparative analysis? has also been popular recently

Plus resources on specific aspects of the research process such as anonymization and confidentiality Several resources about mixing methods, including by Jennifer Mason Try something new to-day The Scottish Graduate School of Social Science has a collection of When Methods Meet resources, conversations about unusual mixed methods combinations captured on film and transcribed: https:// www.sgsss.ac.uk/training/methods-and-methodologies/when-methods-meet/

including Biographical interviewing and imagined futures essay writing Surveys and citizens juries Experiments and ethnography Social network analysis and multi-level modelling Diary method and photovoice Try something new to-day Bryman, A. (2012) Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn

Gilbert, N. (ed.) (2008) Researching Social Life. London: Sage, 3rd edn Mason, J. (2002) Qualitative Researching. London: Sage, 2nd edn Mason, J. and Dale, A. (eds) (2012) Understanding Social Research. London: Sage