Research Methods on Violence against Women

Violence against women is a common issue in the society and is widely discussed in sociology. This essay focuses on potential methods of researching violence against women, specifically with use of interpretive and critical frameworks, changes that could result from these methods, and different types of information generated while using such processes.

One of the potential methods of researching violence against women is conducting a survey. Surveys are vital in availing data about the incidence, prevalence, and pattern of violence against women. A survey entails the use of instruments such as questionnaires or interviews administered through face-to-face, mail, or telephone conversations (Creswell, 2009). A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods through open-ended and closed-ended interviews respectively also provides a means to gather reliable data for studying violence against women (Creswell, 2009). Quantitative approaches entail use of pre-determined questions designed to test an established hypothesis. On the other hand, qualitative approaches allow the participant to explain experiences from her world-view perspective hence this method is utilized in interpretative and critical frameworks (Becker-Blease & Freyd, 2006).

Violence against women can be studied using interpretative and critical frameworks. Interpretivists emphasize on knowledge being local rather than universal (Willis, 2007). Thus, research using this framework will enable understanding of factors surrounding violence from the perspectives or experiences of the subject. Critical frameworks use approaches that focus on the cultural contexts of the subject and have ability to uncover power imbalances and empower the marginalized groups to transform their world (Willis, 2007). These frameworks are against assumption that one set of data applies to all hence solutions are searched from the context presented.

The aspects that I would change include using positivist approaches which entail use of scientific designs to study the real world, and survey methods that focus only on objective approaches to study violence against women. While focusing on the numbers of violence and using priori hypotheses to explain these occurrences, the researcher misses out on the real perception of why, how, when the violence occurs, and what it means to the subject, which can only be accurately explained by the participant. These are some of the different types of information that qualitative research processes provide, increasing the reliability of the data gathered.
References:

Becker-Blease, K.,A. & Freyd, J.J. (2006). Research participants telling the truth about their lives: The ethics of asking and not asking about abuse. American Psychologist, 61, pp. 218–226.

Creswell, J., W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Willis, J. W. (2007).Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. California: Sage