Collaborate

1 Collaborate – Think Critically: Learn from researchers who have been in your shoes – use their examples and experiences to explore how their ‘lessons learned’ can improve your own research approach. Take it one step further with additional thought-provoking questions online.

13.1 Using interviews to gather facts

Is your research intended to use interviews to get at facts (like these students)? If so, how can you justify not doing a survey?

If you’re still unsure, try asking yourself the following questions:

  • Can you provide a list of potential answers to each question you would like to ask your audience? Do you think you know most of the important potential answers?
  • Is there a story you are looking for, or a narrative to a set of circumstances or events?
  • Are you seeking to describe behaviour across a large population? Is ‘statistical significance’ an essential requirement of the research?

13.2 Running a focus group

If you are planning to run a focus group how would you respond to Amy and Eleanor’s questions?. In particular:

  • How should you set it up, e.g., by asking questions, by showing images, etc.?
  • How much should you intervene?

If you’re still unsure, consider the research questions, the number of participants, the type of discussion you want to have, and how you plan to collect data.

13.3 Ethnography after covid

If you are planning to do an ethnography, how would you respond to Harini’s questions in his final paragraph?

If you’re still unsure, consider changes in access, technology and surrounding context around relevant socioeconomic, behavioural or political circumstances.