I am planning to conduct a mixed methods study in which gender is a main variable. I want to do a focus group and because of the gender segregation the focus group with female students is not possible as they do not favor to have their answers recorded. My inquiry is that can I do a focus group to male students and administer an open-ended questionnaire to female students for the same objective and compare their answers where the same questions and themes will be asked? I have also another quantitative questionnaire for both male and female students. Thanks
In qualitative research is correct. You can use as many as you deem necessary., like surveys, interviews, observation diaries, etc. In fact it would be very interesting to messure and compare the results of such research to see if they vary in any way. Good luck with your research professor.
In qualitative research is correct. You can use as many as you deem necessary., like surveys, interviews, observation diaries, etc. In fact it would be very interesting to messure and compare the results of such research to see if they vary in any way. Good luck with your research professor.
This kind of comparison has many limitations. If your main research goal is to compare both genders, I would use open-ended questionnaire to both genders.
Yes it is provided the instrument is standardized and measure what you intend to achieve
As long as you have comparable quantitative data you can compare the two sets of responses with additional insight from FGD of men.
You may try in-depth interview of both boys and girls and take take note that could be developed into detailed interview soon after the interview. This way you will have compare able qualitative data also . If possible you can plan for more that one setting . You can also try to keep a note taker during your informal discussion/ interview. The key challenge will be taking brief note during discussion and developing it soon into a detailed manuscript . If you delay the transition of filed note into manuscript , you will loss many things .
Thanks a lot for your fruitful answers. I think it'd be better to unify the tools for both genders, so I can have comparable views.
I favor individual interviews over focus groups. In groups, a participant may not be as candid as when speaking with the interviewer alone.
But yes, to compare the two groups, you should use the same methodology for both.
I think it is better to use standardized measures so that the comparisons are clear and credible regardless of the gender difference that you can explain in the context of the results.
I have used similar approach for my study on contraception as Dr. M E Khan described. Detailed semi-structured schedule for women and in depth interviews for husbands. The qualitative information from husbands give more insight to interpret findings.
Dear Sumani,
Whatever you think can be done can be done, once you have enough strong points to defend at appropriate time what you have done. Appearing vulnerable gives food to many who are characterstically predators. Take care and best wishes,
AM
This definitely can be done and even one should do such experiments for better understanding of the issue. However, you need to be careful that the instruments used in both the approaches answer the main research question. While focus group discussion will give you perspective of a group on the issue, where individual thoughts of each member of the group may/may not reflect. On the other hand, the in-depth interview will give an individuals perspective. So, be careful while interpreting the results.
How do you come to the conclusion that FGD is not possible with female students while it can be done for the males? But the same female students are ready to record their answers in a open-ended interview! What is your topic? Once with CWDS we had very interesting focus group discussion with village women in Jhargram and they even opined very boldly when we read out our texts on them and finally with their interventions a book was published by CWDS. Please see the attached articles. Initially, the book was published in Bengali.
I don't think it is the correct way to find the the same objective between two groups with different methods. How could you compare the results? While FGD is not possible for female then go for Open ended questionnaire for both male and female. The main point is whatever method you are going to administrate it must be same for both groups.
Please, use in-depth interview instead where participants may not talk openly within a group
pen ended questionnaire on both. Maybe later you can use the focus groups on both or in a mixed group
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Instrumentation Engineering
- Instruments