I choose the paper, “Us teenagers’ perceptions and awareness of digital technology: a focus
group approach” by Heather L. Hundley and Leonard Shyles. It is published
in the New Media & Society journal with an impact factor of 1.824 and a
5-year impact factor of 2.2298. The research paper investigates teenagers’
perception of digital devices and their awareness of the functions they provide
in their lives.
1. The research paper is using a qualitative method in
form of a focus group. To investigate teenagers’ use of digital devices a focus
group with 80 middle- and high school teenagers is created.
Focus group is a research method in which a group of
people are asked simultaneously about the phenomenon or issue that is being
examined. The questions can be about their attitudes, thoughts or knowledge
about the issue. An advantage with focus groups is that you get a better chance
to interact with the participants and turn the discussion to your benefits. A
disadvantage of using focus group can be that it can be more time consuming due
to the transcription of the group interview or discussion.
2. The main methodological problem of the study is
that the findings where not as broad and generalized as quantitative survey
research. A problem that can occur in a focus group whit youths or kids can be
that they can feel embarrassed. The researchers, Hundley and Shyles thought
about this and therefore tried to create a more relaxed and comfortable
setting. They also tried not to act as authorities and encouraged the students
to help them educate on various digital dames and social network sites.
Eisnhardt,
K. M. (1989). Building Theories from case
study research. Academy of management review, 14(4), 532-550.
1. Case study is a method that aims to provide in
depth knowledge of the research and is often used in qualitative researches. It
focuses on a phenomenon that is often difficult to distinguish from the
phenomenon’s context. Often it examines a specific thing, which can consist of
an individual, event, a group or an association. A case study can be examining,
explanatory or descriptive.
2. The second paper I chose is, “Human resource
management and cultural diversity: a case study in Mozambique” by Kurt
Sartious, Andres Merino and Carmichael. It is published in the international
journal of human resource management with an impact factor of 1.04.
The strength of the paper is that they have a good
focus on the issue that they are investigating, human resource management (HRM)
programs. And it is good that they used a mixed methodology to collect data. A weakness
of the paper is that it examines a specific location rather then a general
view.
Hi. Your paper used a focus group with 80 middle and high school students. But I suppose that they further divided them into smaller groups, right?
SvaraRaderaAs you mentioned, I also think that using the method focus groups on children or youths can be very difficult since they are at that age where they are easily affected by another, feel embarrassed, too shy, even uncertain of their own opinions but get led on to an opinion by others, etc. You wrote that the authors considered this difficulty and so tried to create a more relaxed and comfortable setting. Was it mentioned in what way they tried doing that? It would be interesting to know the details. We discussed the topic briefly in my seminar group, doing research with children as the group being studied, and I started reflecting on that. I don't have personal experience in research with children so it awakened my curiosity.
Maybe a focus group setup was not the best option in this case with young teenagers, or maybe they should have chosen quite small and intimate groups of 3-5 people in order to relax the students.
SvaraRaderaMiddle and High School Students are in a very sensitive age and they are extremely aware of their peers and do not want to stand out in a negative way (which sometimes make them very shy and quiet). One thought that popped into my head though, was that maybe the authors were trying to be too relaxed and cool. Sometimes it is better just to take charge, be yourself and not try to be somebody you are not. I am not user how strict of an atmosphere there usually would be in their focus group meeting.
Hi Havva,
SvaraRaderaWhile listening to you at the seminar I felt that your choice of articles are of great interest, especially the second one about Human resource management and cultural diversity. It reminds me about my internship in India as a 18 year old student, where I could reflect upon this issue of a Swedish CEO trying to adapt to the Indian culture and also trying to approach the employees with a different style that differed what they were used to. I’ve earlier read the course Leadership in cross-cultural context were we focused on cultural differences in countries.
I do agree with Jenny above about the choice of method in the paper, “Us teenagers’ perceptions and awareness of digital technology: a focus group approach”, and feel that the researchers approached the students in an ineffective way. The teenagers that were in the focus groups, had a sensitive age and off course it is hard to express yourself in such big focus groups.