UNOBTRUSIVE RESEARCH
Research Methods
University of Massachusetts at Boston
©2011 William Holmes
TYPES OF UNOBTRUSIVE
RESEARCH
• Content Analysis
• Analyzing Existing Data
• Comparative and Historical Research
CONTENT ANALYSIS STUDIES:
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Conversations
Recorded narratives
Transcriptions of events
Case record narratives
Journals
Documents
Digital media
CONTENT ANALYSIS SAMPLING
ISSUES
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What is the unit of analysis?
What is the population?
How is the sample selected?
Edited content
CONTENT ANALYSIS CODING
ISSUES: PART 1
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Perceived Manifest content
Perceived latent content
Emergent manifest content
Emergent latent content
CONTENT ANALYSIS CODING
ISSUES: PART 2
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Contextual coding
Multi-level coding
Coding consistency
Coding meaning
EXISTING DATA SOURCES
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Government publications
Data depositories
Agency databases
Public records
Commercial data providers
CONTENT ANALYSIS VALIDITY
AND RELIABILITY
• Look for repeated patterns within content.
• Look for alternative confirmation from
different sources.
• Compare with existing theories.
• Compare with studies of same content.
• Provide multiple supporting examples.
• Note disconfirming examples.
SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF
PRE-EXISTING DATA USES:
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Contents of databases
Coded data from case records
Contents on paper forms
Records of behavior
Survey data collected for other purposes
SECONDARY ANALYSIS
SAMPLING ISSUES
• Does existing data use same units of
analysis?
• What is the population represented by
existing records?
• How consistent are the retrieval procedures?
• What are the effects of different sources of
sample mortality?
SECONDARY ANALYSIS DATA
COMPARABILITY ISSUES
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Units of analysis in different sources
Linking records for different sources
Meaning of data from different sources
Completeness and bias from different
sources
SECONDARY ANALYSIS VALIDITY
• Measures may not be quite what we need.
• Concepts we use may not have
corresponding measures.
• Multiple measures enhance validity.
• Multiple sources of data enhance validity.
• Quality checking enhances validity.
SECONDARY ANALYSIS
RELIABILITY
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Quality controls vary across time.
Quality controls vary across location.
Multiple measures enhance reliability.
Quality checking enhances reliability.
COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL
RESEARCH USES:
• Governmental and organizational
records
• Interviews
• Media content
• Participatory observation
• Examination of cultural objects
COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL
SAMPLING ISSUES
• What is the unit of analysis in history?
• What is the population of events
represented by historical records?
• What sampling procedure to use?
• How has the historical record been
edited?
COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL
DATA ISSUES
• Who created the data for what purpose?
• Does potential bias in data favor or oppose
your conclusions?
• How were the data created and what
omitted?
• What theoretical or political debates are
reflected in the data?
COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
• Historical records are filtered and
reinterpreted.
• Historical records are incomplete.
• Multiple sources enhances validity and
reliability.
• Multiple examples enhance validity and
reliability.
• Credible explanations of disconfirming
examples enhance validity and reliability