Revision summary
Qualitative techniques differ by scene, talk, and record. Participant observation: Srinivas-type village or workplace. Interviews: life-history and semi-structured, including SHG and farm talk. Focus groups: public argument, as in women’s meetings. Documents and oral history outlast the visit.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Qualitative techniques collect meaning in words, scenes, and documents rather than only in preset items. They differ by how the researcher enters the field and how talk is produced. Indian examples make the distinction practical.
Body
Participant observation
- The researcher shares a setting over time.
- Example: village caste dining, mill shop-floor, or a call-centre shift, in the lineage of M. N. Srinivas’s field village.
Interview types
- Unstructured life-history: a woman SHG member’s work and care, after Ann Oakley’s lesson that the interview is a relation.
- Semi-structured: a farmer on debt, with a guide but not a closed form.
Focus group
- Group talk on a public theme, such as a panchayat women’s meeting on sanitation.
- Interaction among members is data, not noise.
Documents and oral history
- Personal law papers, mill archives, or Partition memory.
- Example: reading a caste-association newsletter beside talk.
Distinction
- Observation sees practice. Interviews hear accounts. Groups show public argument. Documents outlast the visit.
- All still need reflexivity and consent.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD Q[Qualitative collection] --> OBS[Participant observation] Q --> INT[Life-history interview] Q --> FG[Focus group] Q --> DOC[Documents oral history]
Conclusion
Qualitative techniques are distinguished by entry, talk format, and record. Indian village, SHG, mill, and association files illustrate observation, interview, group, and document. They are complementary, not a single soft method.
Quick related
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