“Asses the view that interpretivist methods are the most appropriate methods for researching society”
Bryman argued that Interpretive Sociology, also known as phenomenological approaches, is set out to understand varieties of human behaviour by being able to emphasize with it. In order to do this, interpretive sociologist use interpretivist methods. This essay will assess whether these methods are the most appropriate ones for researching society, focusing on Ethnographic research, Focus groups and Sampling.
Firstly, it is important to understand why interpretive researchers prefer qualitative methods. Qualitative methods are any type of methods that aim to undercover the meaning of social action rather than measuring it. Qualitative research allows to search for the meaning for participants of events, situations and actions. Interpretivist argue that a full understanding of society can only be presented by understanding how individuals build up their patterns of interactions. This type of research usually studies small scale groups in specific situations, which allows the researchers to preserve the individuality of each in their analyses. This provides them with a detailed understanding of the events, actions and meaning. In contrast to positivist research, qualitative researches don’t necessarily have an idea of what they are looking for in a research, but instead, start with a particular area of interest and follow the lead, which leaves them much more open for the unexpected and fresh ideas; This is refer to as “grounded theory”. Lastly, interpretivist researchers are interested in the actual dynamics of the situation, the process, rather than patterns that could be generalized.
The first interpretivist method to be analyse is Ethnographic research, also known as observational research. In order for it to take place, the researcher must face two key decisions. The first one is the extent of involvement with the group. A researcher can choose to have no...