This chapter about research methods is something I have studied in classes such as qualitative research and quantitative research methods. I was happy that this communications book had a little bit about ethnography. Ethnography is a form of qualitative research that puts the researcher among its subjects. I find it to be the most interesting form of methodology because I feel that you gain some of the most valuable information through participant observation and interviews compared to a piece of paper with a questionnaire. Actually speaking with another individual gives the researcher an advantage to pick up on nonverbal cues as well as voice inflection as well as open ended answers. Instead of someone having to check agree or disagree on a survey, researchers get to hear the answers that interviewees or subject of their research have to say outside of a checked box.
A research question that I would use ethnographic methodology to study about deception could be "How do wives communicate suspicions of deceit with their husbands of over 5 years?" I would choose ethnography to answer this research question because I feel I would get the best answers. If I went to interview people who have been married over 5 years, and asked them questions about what happens when they feel like they are being lied to or cheated on, I am going to get thorough answers that could not be answered as in depth with other research methods.
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I found your research question very interesting. Taking it one step further would be maybe asking the cheater how they deceived their husband/wife. It would be interesting to know if the deception affected them as well as the person they were deceiving. I find deception very interesting because you can study so many different aspects of it.
ReplyDeleteI also chose ethnography as the most interesting method and used surveys as an unreliable source in my post. I too believe that nonverbal cues are important in finding out information. This class has really given me a lot of useful information that I feel I can apply to my everyday life.
I also found your research question very interesting. I'm curious why this topic was chosen. I had not thought about the advantages that interviewing or surveying had. Voice inflections, facial expressions, and other non-verbal cues are extremely telling, especially in the field of deception. To add to the complexity you ask the question about a married couple of over 5 years. This lends one to believe that they would likely know the normal cues, so the deception would either require more complex lies or more planning. Either way it somehow seems worse. It sounds as though you appreciate research, and I would love to hear more of your ideas.
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