Faiz (2015) explores the experiences of Pakistani working women who have to work in quite an oppressive working environment and balance their work with domestic responsibilities. The focus of the study is the females’ views and attitudes towards their work and home life. The researcher chose the case study methodology to obtain insights into the experiences of a particular cohort.
Faiz (2015) carried out surveys and face-to-face interviews. This methodology enabled the researcher to collect a significant bulk of data that unveiled different perspectives and various facets of the issue. The qualitative methodology is appropriate as the researcher is interested in people’s opinions rather than numerical data revealing some trends (Mertens, 2014). The researcher did not want to estimate the number of working women who had families but focused on the way women see their lives and strategies they use to balance their work and family.
The data collection procedures are also quite effective. The questionnaires allow the researcher to reveal major trends as regards females’ perception of the work/family balance. The face-to-face interviews provide insights into the way women feel. The participants can share their ideas and emotions, as well as their experience. The opportunity to extract in-depth data is the major strength of this data collection procedure. However, the primary limitation is the complexity of analysis and the time needed to collect and analyze the data.
The survey allows the researcher to cover a significant number of samples. This method also requires less time compared to the interviews. The data obtained through the survey can be analyzed more easily. At the same time, the limitation of this procedure is its rigidity. The participants have only a limited number of questions and options to answer. Therefore, they are not able to share as many experiences and ideas as they can during face-to-face interviews.
Unit 5 Discussion 2
The focus of this study is females’ attitudes toward gender stereotypes. Therefore, the qualitative research methodology will enable the researcher to address the research question. Hennink, Hutter, and Bailey (2010) claim that interviews allow researchers to obtain insightful data concerning people’s opinions, beliefs, attitudes, fears, and so on. At the same time, researchers often utilize focus group discussions to unveil more themes and opinions (Levers, 2011). These two data collection procedures will be employed to address the research question.
First, face-to-face conversational interviews will be held. The participants will answer open-ended questions concerning such issues as work/family balance, social roles distribution, power distribution, and so on. The participants will be encouraged to assess the extent to which their family (parents or other relatives), education, job, or their psychological traits affected the way they think about gender roles in contemporary US society. Importantly, the researcher will have a set of prepared questions, but they can be adjusted during the interviews. Additional questions can also be asked. The major goal is to elicit as much information on the matter as possible.
The focus groups will be based on the information obtained during the interviews. The participants with opposing and similar views will be encouraged to discuss the way experiences affect the development of stereotypes in women. Some questions asked during the interviews will be discussed. The most recurrent themes identified during the analysis of the participants’ answers will appear during the focus group discussions. The researcher will encourage the participants to evaluate the degree to which each of the experiences can shape a female perception of gender roles.
Reference List
Hennink, M., Hutter, I., & Bailey, A. (2010). Qualitative research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Levers, L. (2011). Focus groups and related rapid assessment methods: Identifying psychoeducational HIV/AIDS interventions in Botswana. In C.T. Fischer (Ed.), Qualitative research methods for psychologists: Introduction through empirical studies (pp. 377-411). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Faiz, R. (2015). Work-family conflict: A case study of women in Pakistani banks (Doctoral thesis, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK). Web.
Mertens, D.M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.