Download Conducting Interviews On Gender Issue-Gender Psychology-Handouts and more Lecture notes Gender Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Gender Issues In Psychology (PSY - 512) VU ©copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 22 Conducting Interviews on Gender Issues: The following points need to be considered before you decide to employ interviews as your preferred method: Sensitive issues need to be tackled carefully. Use carefully selected words, and carefully phrased language. Time and place of Interview are very important. Privacy and time suitable to the subjects is should be given priority. The people around may matter a lot to the Information yielded by the Interview. Try interviewing in private, or make sure the people present do not interfere. For example when Interviewing women in a shelter home, one needs to make sure that the administration or other inmates are not listening without the consent of the interviewee. Ethnography: It is one of the methods most popularly used by anthropologists. It is gaining popularity among psychologists, especially those studying gender issues. The researchers spend time in the environment under study, in events of interest, or with people being observed in such a manner that they get immersed in to the situation. The researchers become a part of the situation e.g. a hospital, shelter home, prison, school, or orphanage, and gets the direct and real feel of the context. It is a naturalistic observation that can be supplemented by concealed audio/video recordings of behavior. The researchers record information soon after observations are made. The researchers have to be particularly careful about not getting emotionally involved with the subjects, or in the situation or behavior. They should also be cautious that their own behavior should in no way alter or reinforce the subjects’ behavior or beliefs. Example of ethnography: Becoming a student to study gender differences in private language of male and female students in a university. Focus groups: Focus groups are collective interviews conducted in a group setting. It is a discussion that revolves around a specific issue. The researcher talks to the participants in order to learn about their opinions, attitudes, preferences, likes or dislikes, and tries to find out reasons/ causes of those. Focus groups are mostly used as a source of data collection in surveys but used otherwise as well. The nature of the subject group can be of one of these types: • The subjects belonging to different spheres of life are brought together at one location for discussion. • Subjects with the same background are invited for discussion. The usual size of the group is 6-8 participants. More people can be added if required, but it rarely exceeds 12 discussants. The procedure is the same as interview but focus groups have an advantage in terms of Interview- participant/within-group interaction. Example: We can conduct focus groups to assess gender differences in hurdles faced in choosing the preferred profession by male and female students. A caution against gender bias in research: • Researchers should be very careful in selecting the language and words in questionnaires, interview schedules, and other research tools. • Stereotype about gender, race, color, or other sensitive issues may be perpetuated and reinforced by the careless use of language; it can also cause hurt to the party involved. • APA Publication Manual provides guidelines on the use of gender- neutral language, and addresses the issue of language that is considered as sexist, because it implies inequalities between males and females. • In 1977, APA for the first time developed guidelines for “gender- neutral” or nonsexist language. docsity.com
