Brie Meadows
Social Research Design
Dr. Humphries
11 December, 2014
Final Examination 1. What are the differences between obtrusive and unobtrusive research methodologies? Please use examples. Give examples of content analysis and life histories. What are the data sources for this type of research?
Obtrusive research methods are those methods of studying where the object of study is aware they are the focus of a study. Examples of obtrusive research methods would be surveys, interviews, and questionnaires, etc. Unobtrusive research methods are those methods of studying social behavior without affecting it. There are many different types of unobtrusive research methods. However, the three dominant methods are through content analysis, analysis of existing statistics, and historical comparative analysis. These factors are all extremely important when considering what constitutes as good research methodologies. Content analysis is when researchers examine a class of social artifacts such as newspaper editorials and articles, but moreover, we find that it is the study of recorded human communications. Web pages, magazines, books, speeches, letters, and other forms of communication are all possible venues for content analysis, and these types of media have much further reaching effects than one might think. These data sources provide every day examples of the information that a researcher is looking for without being too obtrusive, which can skew data. Looking at the trends over an extended period of time is also a good way to get this kind of data with a statistical approach to not getting involved or getting in the way.
Life histories have the central assumption that human conduct is best to be studied from the perspective of the person involved. Life histories are gathered to record the unfolding history of one’s person, group, or organization’s experience. There