Reflection 6: Qualitative and case study research

We had two seminars this week, where we discussed two different topics. The topic for the Monday seminar was about qualitative methods. I choose a study where they used a focus group because

I had never done any studies with focus groups but I have been a part of focus groups in different studies. I sometimes felt like the people who moderated the discussion on the focus groups was in a hurry or had the result in their mind. Therefore the most interesting part for me was to see, what a researcher needs to have in mind when dealing with a focus group.

In the seminar group we talked about how you need to approach the people in the focus group to get the most honest answers and how to deal for example with youths. On my selected paper, they discussed about how important it was to not act as an authority. By acting as a non-investigating person, you make the people in the focus groups more relaxed.

The topic for the Wednesday seminar was case studies and how we could define them. Even though I had knowledge about different methods, I never really understood what a case study was. The seminar really gave me a better insight about what a case study was. People in the seminar groups had different forms of case studies, which showed how broad of an area a case study could be used on. Another advantage with case study is that you use numerous sources of data, which can help covering different aspects. I now feel that a case study can definitely be a form I can use on my future thesis. It would be interesting to study a phenomenon, person or an event more deeply to understand the core factors.

This is the last blog post we will do so I would like to write a short note about the course. I thought that the course in general was really good and gave a better understanding of different methods. The knowledge from this course will definitely help me on my future thesis.