Technique
0Saturday, November 10, 2012 by Unknown
What I’ve learned since undergoing the Peer Review process
and reading Yin’s article is that it’s not just about what method(s) you choose
but also about your technique – which is integral. A couple of weeks ago I posted about focus
groups and how I thought I would approach the paper I was reviewing. After doing further research into focus
groups, however, I gained a completely different perspective and ended up going
in a completely different direction in writing my peer review then I had
initially thought.
Technique within your chosen method can enhance the
reliability of your findings. With focus
groups, for example, an approach which can increase the reliability of your
findings is by running multiple groups. The
rationale here is that there are only so many stories, and with each group you
will hear the same stories repeated with bits and pieces of new information
until the last group has nothing new to say.
Furthermore, the systematic coding of transcripts using content analysis
along with focus groups can strengthen the validity of the findings as well
(Lunt and Livingstone, 1996).
Yin in his article, The Case Study Crisis: Some Answers, similarly discusses approaches to case studies which can enhance its reliability as a methodological tool. He discusses techniques in which to analyze within-case evidence, cross-case evidence and the reporting of case studies. There are so many elements to think about and it’s daunting to know that you can choose an appropriate method but if your technique is off then your research can be unproductive.
