I loved the notecard exercise.
Specifically, the "Method" notecard. That is something that I have been wondering about as I have thought about my project. I want to find out how Tibetans parent their children, yet I'm not exactly sure the best way is to find this out.
Here are some thoughts concerning this:
Observation- I could observe families in different settings such as the following:
- On errands (in the market, etc)
- In the home... Now how will I do this? Ask families to let me observe them in the home? Make friends and hope someone invites me over? Primarily observe the host family (and what if they don't have kids?)
- Where else?
Interviews
- Should I make friends and conduct surveys? How would this affect their answers to me (more trust = more honesty or other way around?)
- Should I do interviews or written surveys? Both? What about an interpreter?
Should I only do one of these methods or a mixture of both?
Luckily, I am in 3 classes that are helping me learn more about research. My professors all seem very approachable, and I plan on e-mailing one or some of them for a little guidance.
Hey dearest wife :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of questions, and sadly I don't have the answers for you, but I think it's cool that you've thought up so many different methods you could try. I think it would be great if you could make friends and observe people in their homes, but I also really liked the idea of just observing in public. Of course, that probably won't get you ALL of what you want to know about parenting because most parenting happens in the home, but I think maybe a mixture of these two would be nice.
When it comes to all those other things, like observation VS surveys, I really don't know. But it's good that you're taking all the classes you are because that should really help you to figure things out.
Love you!
- Matt
Sounds like someone has got a good handle on methods (even though you are not sure specifically what you are going to use yet). You are in a much better place than I was in the prep class, that is for sure!
ReplyDeleteIt really just depends on what kind of information you want. To do interviews you will need to gain more rapport and build friendships with the people you are interviewing. Usually the more time you spent with that person the more honest your answers will be. The downside is that it requires more work and more time, meaning you get less information from other potential resources.
Surveys, however, can be done without as much rapport in my experience. In my Ghana group people would just bring them to the clinic and just have their friends pass them out sometimes. The tricky thing about surveys though is just making sure they are translated correctly, which can be tricky. Finding a good translator in the field will be something we talk about later in the prep class, but maybe try talking to TJ and see if he would translate the survey for you. Just make sure you have it back translated too. :)
Oh methods. Fun times.