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Mada438

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A guide for research methodologies in your PIP
« on: December 26, 2017, 10:54:53 am »
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A guide for research methodologies in your PIP
If you’re reading this, then congratulations! Chances are you’ve selected a topic for your PIP
If you haven’t picked one yet, then backtrack to this awesome guide written by beatroot here     Or maybe this big one here that she also wrote! Then come back here with a topic in mind!
So this is a guide that beatroot (Shoutout to her, she is amazing!) and I have put together to help you (Our fellow society and culture students) with conducting research methodologies in your PIP.

So from now on, we're gonna assume that you've come to read this with a PIP topic that you can use to base all our information around to suit what you want to do: You might’ve written a rough intro, maybe started your log and have a general outline about what you want to research. But you have no idea HOW to research. If that's the case, then you’ve come to the right place.
You’ve got to do some research methodologies somewhere in your pip, they’re a vital piece of your central material (and some of them are actually quite fun to conduct!). So it’s vital to know how each methodology actually works before you dive in headfirst and get stuck.

So what are the methodologies? They’re split into Quantitative and Qualitative methods. For the pip, you’re probably mostly going to be focusing on Qualitative methods, but you may develop charts and graphs where you are looking at quantitative data, or questionnaires with [yes/no] close-ended questions.

Quantitative methods are when Researchers collect data that can be measured, counted or quantified, resulting in a statistical report. The focus of this research is on questions involving WHAT and HOW MANY
Qualitative methods are when Researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of an issue by using open-ended questioning, non-statistical research techniques,or observations based on value. Qualitative investigations focus on questions involving WHY and HOW
In these two categories, they can be organised like so:



So yeah, there’s quite a few of them…. But don’t fear, you don’t have to do all of them! You only have to do a few-pick the ones you think would be the most enjoyable that you're comfortable with doing. If you don’t feel confident in doing a focus group or interview for example, THEN DON’T DO IT. There is no requirement to do specific methodologies, it’s totally up to you!

Some General info about all of the research methodologies in society and culture

Questionnaire (open and close ended questions): You’ve pretty much seen this everywhere. On ATAR Notes, On your Facebook feed, Or maybe even your mailbox (I mailed everyone a link to my questionnaire and can I just say that did not go too well). Unlike a close ended questionnaire, open ended questionnaires are super flexible. However, you have to ensure that your questions are too biased that you only get one set of answers or not too broad that the answers are all over the place that you can’t find a common trend. A common mistake that people do when creating their questionnaire is that people name their title as a question. Try and avoid doing this. For example, I’ve seen questionnaires such as ‘How does social media impact a teenager’s wellbeing’ or ‘What is the impact of eating disorders on society?’. Don’t get me wrong, they are good topics but by having a question as your questionnaire title, you’re already presenting a biased point of view and setting an agenda. Rather than having a question as a title, just do your topic as its title. Which title sounds less biased: “What is the impact of having separated parents on an individual’s emotional well being” or “Separated parents and their impact”.

As for the questions, imagine you’re the one answering the questionnaire. Would you prefer to answer fifteen questions that requires you to write an entire paragraph for your answers or a variety of question styles? People are more likely to answer a mixture of questions such as yes/no, checklist, multiple choice and a couple of short answer/paragraph style questions. That way, people won’t get bored. The questions in your questionnaire shouldn’t be too vague where there’s a mixture of completely random answers. But rather try and create questions that make a common trend. The questions must freely flow into each other. For example, ‘List Asian stereotypes that you are aware of’ should flow into ‘Do you believe stereotypes can be harmful? Yes or no?’ and eventually flow into ‘Why do you think racist attitudes haven’t been challenged or questioned?’. This will easily help with your chapters, create trends and connect with secondary information. Furthermore, ensure you ask people for their permission at the start of each questionnaire (this is part of ethical research). A simple ‘Do you consent? Yes or no’ should do it. You can also ask people what their ethnic background is, age group and gender. It’s interesting to find common trends and answers within ethnic, age and gender groups.
Lastly, who should answer your survey? Well this all depends on your topic. However, the more diverse the better! Avoid emailing your survey to your ENTIRE school. All answers will be similar. Try posting it on ATAR Notes ;), or any HSC Discussion groups on Facebook or send copies to everyone you know. If possible, if you happen to know psychologists or experts, send it to them! You need a range of answers. That’s how you get the marks.

Interview: The big question is: who do you interview and how many do you interview. My answer to that is simply... it all depends on your PIP topic, what your aim is and how many transcripts you’re bothered to make (seriously, transcripts suck to write). Your PIP topic’s primary research can depend on a university professor’s answer, a psychologist’s insight or the personal story of your next door neighbor. Whoever you’re interviewing, ensure that they are comfortable with being interviewed, are confident with their answers and will give you answers that will help you prove your point. What’s the point of interviewing a Maths teacher when they don’t know anything about injustice in the criminal justice system. Unless they happen to own a degree in law or are aware of the topic. Interview someone you are fully confident will give great answers. Answers that will exceed your expectations and limits. I interviewed a science teacher from my school who is aware of casual racism towards Asians and is aware of their privilege. The science teacher provided me answers that went beyond racist jokes and went on to talk about politics, society and cultural differences. Interview someone who you want to secretly investigate. I interviewed another teacher at my school and asked questions regarding their childhood, background and lifestyle choices which provided insight how an individual’s upbringing can further normalize casual racism. I was able to deduce down the factors that contributed to their behavior just from asking questions about their childhood alone.

Now what questions do you ask? Don’t ask too little that you barely get anything. But don’t ask too many that you get overwhelmed doing your transcript/s. Trust me on this. My interviews added up to 1.5hrs and took me about three weeks just to make the transcripts. When interviewing, start off with the basics. Their name. Their background. Their knowledge on the matter. Then just like a questionnaire, the questions must flow into each other. The interview is just exactly like a questionnaire but the main difference is that you actually see your interviewee in real life and they’re somewhat special and unique. You did pick that person for an interview. Their relationship with your PIP has to determine your questions. The same science teacher I mentioned earlier previously lived in areas such as Glenfield and Hurstville. I created my questions based on how his lifestyle choices had affected his opinions on Asians. Lastly, make sure you have a recording device for the interview. I would recommend doing a voice recording as you are only interviewing one person, not a group of people. Making a transcript should be straightforward.

Focus group: Who do you pick, what do you ask and how do you do it?
When creating your focus group, I’ll recommend choosing individuals who are NOT in your Society & Culture class and your friends. Why? First of all, people in your SAC class already know what topic you’re doing. They know what a PIP involves. They know what your SAC teacher expects. This creates a very biased agenda. They will throw in random and technical SAC concepts which can confuse the other individuals in your focus group. As for your friends, unless they are an expert on the matter, do not pick them. Similarly, your friends will be biased and manipulate their answers to what they think is best for you and might go off track at times. I was in my fellow SAC classmate’s focus group and everything I just said comes from the experience. Seeing that I was a SAC student too, I found myself accidentally referring to concepts that made the other individuals confused. Majority of the individuals in the group were friends with the researcher and went off topic at times which was a huge time waster. Choose your focus group members wisely. Pick the academic ones from your year group. Pick a sociology student from the nearby university. Pick your socially aware protester from down the street. Your focus group members can make or break your primary research.

What do you ask in a focus group? Well the thing is... you don’t ask anything. Rather you pose a statement, allowing for the individuals to dispute and/or agree with. It’s interesting how passionate or aggressive people get. Preferably it’s better to not ask questions in a focus group as this can only provide a black and white perspective on the matter. What you definitely need is a reaction to a statement, not an answer to a question. But how do you present the statements? Get your group members together and get them to face a whiteboard, the projector or a piece of paper. The statement can be presented anywhere when you think about it. Ensure you use a video recording device so that it’s easier to distinguish your focus group members when creating your transcript.

Content Analysis: So this can be done in terms of both types of research. In terms of quantitative, it is done to detect and account. This data can then be collected in a way that can be quantified. For example, you could look at a particular topic e.g racism and see how it is portrayed in different pieces of media over a period of time.
In terms of a qualitative  method is used to analyse and interpret themes, and words and images from film, art, music and other media. After analysing these responses you (the researcher) make QUALITATIVE judgements about meanings of your selected content. For example, look at a specific event like say ANZAC day, and look at different media that addresses that event. Be aware that for content analysis, there can be a degree of bias as the articles you select to analyse (regardless of whether you’re doing quantitative or qualitative research) will always be influenced by your unique contextual situation and perspective (extension history students-you’d know what i’m talking about here). I did an assignment regarding content analysis in year 11, and i was one of the only ones who made mention of this potential bias due to context and perspective n their research (funnily enough all the people who included this potential bias “disclaimer” are the ones who got an A). So it should add a bit of snazzzzzzzz to your research and it does make your research sound more like some dude with a phd is doing it. (It sounds a bit more formal)

Statistical Analysis: This one is pretty self explanatory. Using statistics you garner from both primary and secondary research to make generalisations and assumptions about certain topics. There’s not much else to it. Usually, this methodology can be integrated within another one as a small section of analysis.  Statistical analysis would commonly pop up when doing questionnaires, when looking at ethnicity, gender, age etc of participants and with close ended questions, as you try and make generalisations and establish why certain people would’ve answered a common way. Obviously this would be alot easier in close ended questions, but its still possible with open ended ones. This is just one example of when statistical analysis is used. It can be an important component in your research in your PIP.

Observation/Participant Observation: Observation, (quantitative research), that detects and counts where the collected data can be quantified in some sort of way. In a quantitative observational study, you are counting specific actions and how many times they occur and then basing your research off the specific number of occurrences of an action
However, in qualitative research it takes two different meanings. Participant observation is where you (the researcher) immerse yourself in the action being observed. For example, i went to a workshop where a speaker talked about her pip topic ‘religion in sport’. She used participant observation in the sense that she went to sports games to witness first hand the religiousness of some fans at those games. Participant observation is a double success. For one, it gives you an excuse to go to events that may be out of your comfort zone, to really immerse yourself and have new experiences and secondly, it gives you some really great research that you can talk about.
Observation can also be “non-participant” observation. If you don’t feel entirely comfortable with the concept of participant observation, then this is for you. “Non-participant” observation is where you (the researcher) observe interactions without actively involving yourself in them. To put it a different way, you are observing from a distance. You then draw meaning from what you observe. Why and How is it happening?
Observation in any context can be either covert (not openly acknowledged or displayed) or overt (done or shown openly).

Personal Reflection:  This one is always a good one to do. But only do this if you have experience your topic personally. Your primary research should not solely depend on a personal reflection because your opinion is biased. You need other primary and secondary sources to backup your personal reflection. You can pretty much insert your personal reflection anywhere in your PIP (preferably some chapters, log and introduction) as long as you back it up with another source (preferably secondary). When writing your personal reflection, try and say how your personal life affected your choice in picking your PIP topic. For example, “I have experienced X in the past, which is why I’m proving point Y in this chapter”. Your personal reflection should be short and sweet.

Secondary Research: So in your pip, you’re going to have both primary and secondary research. Secondary research is accessing data and research already produced by other researchers. You (the researcher) must make a thorough and subjective judgement about what material you find is actually relevant and what is not. Compare and Contrast it to what primary research you have conducted. Does it validate your hypothesis? Or does it challenge it?
Does it echo your findings in your primary research? Or does it take a completely different route to what you have found?
It is okay for it to go either way, you are still conducting research to test your hypothesis. Remember, you have a word limit that you kinda sort of have to adhere to with your central material (i know, if you find a good topic you could probably write heaps and heaps, so it kinda sucks). So any secondary research you include really has to be carefully selected. Make sure you also make notes of secondary research you incorporate in both your footnotes/endnotes and your annotated resource list.

Case Study: This ones a bit vague as an actual methodology. Nevertheless it can be used. Pretty much, a case study is an in-depth study of a cultural group. This cultural group can be any group of indiviuduals who share a common social experience and/or location.
However, a case study is only really considered a methodology when you combine two or more research methods. E.g ‘observation and interview’ to gather your data.

So thats all of the methodologies covered!
But wait! We’re not done yet!
The methodologies may have been explained, but you need to know about how you conduct these methodologies in a certain way. A little (actually, its pretty damn big) thing called:

Ethical Research
Okay, so this is pretty important. In your pip, and generally whenever conducting research in social and cultural manner, you are expected to do so ethically. It is important because:
  • This promotes trust with your participants (in surveys, interviews, focus groups etc) that the information you collect will be used in a responsible manner and will always be treated with the utmost respect and confidentiality throughout your process of research and analysis.
  • If the respondents feel comfortable with how you’re conducting ethical research, they are much more likely to offer quality responses to questions and therefore genuine knowledge can be gained by the you (the researcher).

In practice it pretty much means:
  • Participants must be fully informed about the procedures and risks involved in the research, after they know everything, they must give their consent before you can continue. If they do not consent, then that's okay, don’t worry too much. There is more than one person you can ask always. But from experience, most people should be fine about it, but you must always do it regardless
  • As a researcher you must never put participants in awkward situations or ask them about topics that may be very sensitive them and thus make them feel uncomfortable
  • You, as a ethical researcher are open and honest about your research topic and its scope at all times along with the information or participation that you expect from participants
  • Protection of participants rights to confidentiality and privacy are always ensured
I know ethics sounds annoying, but trust me its worth it and necessary for you as a researcher; both for the purposes of your research and your participants. There is much more to worry about regarding ethical practices in research, for a more in depth explanation, please refer to the society and culture syllabus (if you don’t have one, then google it). Trust me, its crucial that you follow it. It’s worth the read!

On the behalf of beatroot and I, i hope you found this guide useful. Good luck on completing your PIP
Remember, it can sometimes seem daunting and not worth it, but the end product is extremely satisfying to complete and can have a positive impact on you as a person :)
Keep on grinding!  8)
« Last Edit: December 27, 2017, 09:12:02 pm by Mada438 »
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rasha25

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Re: A guide for research methodologies in your PIP
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2017, 08:24:51 pm »
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Hey Mada438,
thanks for your guide, its really helpful. I'm working on my PIP and yes it can be daunting  :( but in the end its worth it  :). Once again thank you for your advice, have a lovely day.   :)
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