Methods of Qualitative Social Research

Qualitative Research, Qualitative Social Surveys Link to the book

• Definition of Sociology

  • Vagueness, similarity to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) creating a sense of familiarity (blu3mo)

• Gathering data is essential to study society

  • Various methodologies have been developed to study ambiguous subjects
    • Qualitative, quantitative

• Quite an easy-to-read book (blu3mo)

  • Want to read through quickly to grasp the overall picture

• Broad Fieldwork

  • Associated with Anthropology, Ethnology
  • “Comprehensive field survey”

  • Fieldwork is a method to comprehensively understand and analyze a subject by mixing various methods.

  • Unlike life history methods, participant observation methods, or methods like conversation analysis and Ethnomethodology which are not mentioned in this book, fieldwork does not have clear targets or methods. However, numerous important works have emerged from fieldwork as a comprehensive survey of groups, organizations, and societies.

• Participant Observation

  • Involves “immersing” oneself in a specific organization, group, or region, living and working among the people there, and recording the conversations and interactions (or “interactions”) taking place.

  • Observing from within

• Life History Survey

  • Life history, simply put, is an individual’s “life story.” This term includes not only the story of one’s upbringing but also various elements such as the words, emotions, memories, consciousness, beliefs, and values that individuals express. In any case, the method of examining social issues based on the narratives of one or a few individuals with extensive life experiences is called “life history method.”

  • Eliminating memory errors seems difficult (blu3mo)
    • It seems interesting to observe how individuals recall facts after backing them up to a certain extent

• Qualitative research is not an alternative method used just because quantitative research cannot be conducted. The data obtained through qualitative research has its unique high value. Therefore, sociologists have been developing the method of “qualitative research” since the inception of sociology. “Life history method” is one of them, dealing with the “most qualitative data” of individual narratives.

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Different ways of posing questions

• Seems important (blu3mo)

• Quantitative

  • Simplifying questions to broaden the universality/scope of assertions

• Qualitative

  • Individualizing questions to deepen while narrowing the universality/scope of assertions

• Such trade-offs

• Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research does not progress in a linear manner of narrowing down questions, creating questionnaires for responses, and then analyzing the data. Instead, the research progresses by thinking about questions while conducting research, conducting research again, and reconsidering the questions repeatedly.

Through qualitative research, we can only “obtain specific data on a specific problem in a specific situation” and “interpret it within a limited scope.” However, the knowledge obtained in this way becomes extremely valuable and useful.

• Difficult to compare

== For what purpose?> In this context, I would like to express the rationality and valid reasons behind the seemingly irrational choices of people with whom we have little connection as ”Rationality of Others”. The primary goal of sociology, especially qualitative sociology, is to describe, explain, and interpret the “Rationality of Others” behind the seemingly irrational actions of people who we are not familiar with in a way that is understandable to everyone.

• Understanding the rationality of others

  • What is understanding?

• Categories of Understanding Sociology Weber Weber

  • Wanting to understand the meaning of objectively performed actions subjectively thought out

    • For interpretive sociology, acts with the following characteristics are particularly important. 1. When the act is related to the actions of others, it is carried out according to the meaning subjectively thought out by the actor. 2. In the course of the act, it is also determined by the way in which the meaning it carries is related. Therefore, 3. It is about acts that can be explained in a way that is understandable from the (subjectively) thought out meaning. (.

  • Not by enumerating the physiological or mental symptoms of these phenomena,

    • Are they trying to differentiate from psychology?
      • The era of Weber, Gestalt Psychology or something like that?

• However,

  • Trying to understand others lightly is violence. For example, we cannot fathom how much pain people who have suffered from serious discrimination, violence, or major incidents or accidents have endured, how “difficult” their daily lives are. Saying “I understand” easily is very violent.

• We cannot become the parties involved, nor can we easily understand their hardships. However, through understanding the situation, we may become a “neighbor” to those people. Being silently present may be possible. The ultimate goal of sociology based on qualitative research is for us to become neighbors to each other through understanding the rationality of others.

• Fieldwork

  • It vividly illustrates the conflicts and challenging points in interacting with actual people, environments, and communities.
  • It seems like the success of the research heavily relies on the researcher’s human qualities, ability to empathize, and emotional capacity.

• Participant Observation

  • It’s interesting how questions take shape during the research process.

• When supervising thesis projects, there are a certain number of students who present case studies based on what is “interesting to them = gossip-wise interesting to them.” However, even if detailed data is collected under this premise, it is difficult to produce a substantial paper. This is because interpreting the “unknown” data that should be in the paper within the framework of the “known” leads to difficulties. For a student who enthusiastically talks about a family with eight children, the novel data is reinterpreted and explained within the known framework of “a large impoverished family.” However, in participant observation, it is crucial to let go of the known framework. Efforts are required to release the unknown data towards acquiring an understanding of the unknown, rather than explaining the unknown data in the framework of the known.

• How to write field notes

  • ① Notes on events that caught your attention (rough notes)- Sociological ideas that emerged from incidents (notes on topics)

• Diary entries

• Writing unrelated information in section 3 can be helpful for memory retrieval

  • Especially emotions

• Some insights can be visualized by converting them into charts and diagrams

• Further observation is then needed to deepen understanding