Interpretive/Ethnographic approach

  Choose ONE of these 3 options of social science research approaches to compare/contrast  Option 1: Experimental approach and Qualitative approach  Option 2: Experimental approach and Interpretive/Ethnographic approach  Option 3: Quantitative approach and Interpretive/Ethnographic approach  Do NOT compare Experimental to Quantitative, Quantitative to Qualitative, or Qualitative to Interpretive/Ethnographic (you will lose 20% of your grade for comparing either of these pairs) Goal of Essay: demonstrate knowledge of course material, theories, concepts, and examples as provided in readings, lectures, videos, etc. Compare 2 research approaches in the option you chose with respect to BOTH the following issues: 1. Compare and contrast which kinds of research questions are best answered by each approach in your pair: For EACH of your selected research approaches, identify which types of research questions and which types of explanations they do particularly well and which they do not do particularly well. Explain WHAT makes one approach better for providing satisfying explanations of certain types of questions and the other approach is better for providing satisfying explanations of other types of research questions. Illustrate argument with EXAMPLES and citations. o For example, you might note that one research approach explains patterns of correlation across people well because it collects information about large numbers of people and so can see patterns that would not emerge if only a few people are studied. By contrast, the other research approach does less well at seeing such patterns but does better at showing why that pattern of correlation exists because it does detailed analysis of a few cases that trace the causal process by which a cause led to an effect. 2. Compare and contrast the steps that are taken to conduct research by each approach in your pair: Identify at least one research task that is required for BOTH research approaches. ALSO identify at least one research task required by one of your research approaches but NOT the other. Explain how research tasks help build convincing answers to research questions. Illustrate argument with EXAMPLES and citations. o For example, consider which of the following research tasks is needed in both of your research approaches and which are needed by one but not the other: a) select cases that are similar in important ways, b) collect similar data on a large number of cases, c) collect detailed information about how things happened in a particular case, d) build relationships with people involved so they will report the truth, e) manipulate the independent variable, or f) review prior literature on the research question. NOTE: these are some of the research tasks we have discussed but not necessarily all of them. Other points