Autoethnography
Autoethnography is a method where a researcher draws on personal experiences and narratives to form larger conclusions about a group, culture, or some aspect of a society.
Advantages: Autoethnography can validate personal experiences, especially feelings of marginalization.
Disadvantages: Some researchers interpret autoethnography as self-indulgent, as not rigorous, and as not generalizable to a larger group or cultural context.
Handbook of Autoethnography by Call Number: GN307.7 .H65 2013ISBN: 9781611327120Publication Date: Left Coast Press, 2013.
Evocative Autoethnography by Call Number: GN346.6 .B64 2016ISBN: 9781629582153Publication Date: Routledge, 2016.
Sweetwater: Black Women and Narratives of Resilience by Call Number: E185.86 .B6496 2017ISBN: 9781433134937Publication Date: Peter Lang, 2017.
Handbook of Autoethnography by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9780429431760Publication Date: Routledge, 2021.
A Body, Undone: Living On After Great Pain by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9781479853168Publication Date: New York University Press, 2017.
Case Study
A Case Study is an in-depth and close investigation of one object and its context. A case study can focus on an individual, an event, or a group.
Advantages: Allows you to perform a detailed and thorough analysis.
Disadvantages: Raises questions about whether you can make larger and more generalizable points based on one example. Case studies often have less scope than other forms of qualitative research.
The Anatomy of the Case Study by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9781446248645Publication Date: SAGE, 2015.
Case Study Research in Practice by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9780761964247Publication Date: SAGE, 2009.
When AIDS Began: San Francisco and the Making of an Epidemic by Call Number: WC 503.4 AC2 C661 2004ISBN: 9780415924290Publication Date: Routledge, 2003.
Content Analysis
Content Analysis is the counting, coding, contextualizing, and interpreting of textual material.
Advantages: Content Analysis is low cost and doesn’t involve obtaining IRB approval.
Disadvantages: Analysis can be limited and sometimes there is not enough evidence to perform a detailed qualitative analysis.
- Andrew M. Lindne. 2012. “An Old Tool with New Promise.” Contexts. 11(1): 70–72.
- Michelle Hannah Smirnova. 2012. “A Will to Youth: The Woman’s Anti-Aging Elixir.” Social Science & Medicine. 75:1236-43.
- Katrina Kimport. 2012. “Remaking the White Wedding? Same-Sex Wedding Photographs’ Challenge to Symbolic Heteronormativity.” Gender & Society. 26(6): 874–899.
- Timothy Clark. 2017. “Who Would Eat Such a Fish?” Contexts. 16(3): 26–33.
The Content Analysis Guidebook by Call Number: HM529 .N47 2002ISBN: 9780761919773Publication Date: SAGE, 2001.
Interviews
An Interview is a guided and structured conversation that attempts to get at the intimate thoughts, feelings, behaviors, motivations, and experiences of an individual. Interviews can be semi-structured or structured. Semi-structured interviews are more fluid and changeable in the order and content of the questions than structured interviews.
Advantages: Interviews allow the researcher to collect in-depth and detailed information.
Disadvantages: The interviewer's self presentation, attitude, or the way that the questions are worded can bias subjects’ answers.
Interviewing and Representation in Qualitative Research by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9780335212408Publication Date: Open University Press, 2005.
InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research by Call Number: HM526 .K83 2015ISBN: 9781452275727Publication Date: SAGE, 2014.
The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9781412981644Publication Date: SAGE, 2012.
Growing God's Family: The Global Orphan Care Movement and the Limits of Evangelical Activism by Call Number: BR1640 .P47 2017ISBN: 9781479800384Publication Date: New York University Press, 2017.
Transnational Reproduction: Race, Kinship, and Commercial Surrogacy in India by Call Number: HQ759.5 .D46 2016 or e-bookISBN: 9781479804214Publication Date: New York University Press, 2016.
The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members by Call Number: HV6439.U5 P36 2017ISBN: 9781479805204Publication Date: New York University Press, 2017.
Focus Groups
A Focus Group is a group interview that is facilitated by a moderator on a pre-determined topic. The interaction between group members is an important part of the data collected.
Advantages: Researchers can collect a large amount of data quickly.
Disadvantages: A persuasive or louder person can have a significant effect on the group interaction and the data collected.
- Jill K. Walls & Scott S. Hall. 2018. "A Focus Group Study of African American Students’ Experiences with Classroom Discussions about Race at a Predominantly White University." Teaching in Higher Education. 23(1): 47-62.
- Greg Guest, Emily Namey, Jamilah Taylor, Natalie Eley & Kevin McKenna. 2017. "Comparing Focus Groups and Individual Interviews: Findings from a Randomized Study." International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 20(6): 693-708.
- Daine Shammas. 2017. "Underreporting Discrimination Among Arab American and Muslim American Community College Students: Using Focus Groups to Unravel the Ambiguities Within the Survey Data." Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 11(1): 99–123.
- Nancy Bates and Theresa Damaio. 2013. “Measuring Same-Sex Relationships.” Contexts. 12(1):66-69 ·
Focus Groups in Social Research by Call Number: H61.28 .F634 2001 or e-bookISBN: 9780761957423Publication Date: SAGE, 2001.
Focus Group Methodology: Principles and Practice by Call Number: e-bookISBN: 9781847879097Publication Date: SAGE, 2016.
Participant-Observation
Participant-Observation is a method where a researcher works closely, usually over some length of time, with a group to collect data on daily life, community, and interpersonal experiences. The researcher not only observes but participates to get at the how’s and why’s of social life.
Advantages: The researcher can intimately learn about the practices and nuances of daily life.
Disadvantages: The researcher can lose sight of the big picture, become too focused on details, and not be able to generalize on social phenomena. This method is time and cost intensive and data collection can become biased based on the internal politics of the field-site.
Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers by Call Number: GN346.4 .D48 2011 or e-book versionISBN: 9780759119277Publication Date: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011.
On Ethnography by Call Number: GN345 .D39 2018ISBN: 9780745685595Publication Date: Polity Press, 2018.
Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars by Call Number: HV8738 .S84 2017ISBN: 9780520288669Publication Date: University of California Press, 2017.
Maturing Masculinities: Aging, Chronic Illness, and Viagra in Mexico by Call Number: BF692.5 .W46 2013ISBN: 9780822355069Publication Date: Duke University Press, 2013.
Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes by Call Number: GN307.7 .E44 2011ISBN: 9780226206837Publication Date: 2011, University of Chicago Press.
The Making of a Teenage Service Class: Poverty and Mobility in an American City by Call Number: HV1431 .R39 2018ISBN: 9780520292055Publication Date: University of California Press, 2017.
Mixed Methods Research
Mixed Methods research combines qualitative and quantitative methods.
Methods That Matter: Integrating Mixed Methods for More Effective Social Science Research by Call Number: H61 .M492644 2016ISBN: 9780226328522Publication Date: The University of Chicago Press, 2016.
Qualitative Networks: Mixed Methods in Sociological Research by Call Number: HM741 .B457 2015ISBN: 9780415600866Publication Date: Routledge , 2014.
