Sampling

Purpose of these readings? They should start sounding ‘familiar’ Evidence that you are learning! Several places to draw from in justifying your own methodological strategies..

Where are we now? Research question: Epistemology mechanical, developmental or comparative* Critical or symbolic interactionism/constructivist Data Collection: naturalist ontology Unobtrusive observations (ethnography/visual sociology) Content/framing/discourse analysis Case study (mixed qualitative methods) SAMPLING your data (validity & reliability)  Purposive/judgement  Convenience  Theoretical * UP NEXT WEEK… ANALYSIS: coding your data (rigor – validity & reliability)

Sample Purpose Qualitative Research: (naturalism): we are not looking to generalize to a population (statistical/quantitative) we are looking for the most effective way to develop an understanding of complex issues related to culture and human behaviour Small samples Let your literature guide how much is typical 65 news articles 12 hours of TV/observation/movies 1 to 5 years of magazine covers*

Judgement/Purposive Sampling …actively selects data that contains conceptual elements Moral Panic Initial incident Mediated reaction Response from: key stakeholder, moral entrepreneurs, Development of scapegoats Escalation (policy?) ‘real’ problems in ‘false’ panics

Relevant to theoretical conceptual framework & research questions. Should generate rich data about the social phenomena ('thick description') Should enhance theoretical generalizability Should produce believable descriptions & explanations (cultural relevance) Ethical: informed consent? relationship between researcher & informant… Feasible: cost, practicality (location), work style of researchers, linguistic competencies, moral/coping, communication skills…. SAMPLING

Emergence & Reflexivity Sometimes the best laid plans….