Unobtrusive research methods : critical issues

Abstract

This article presents issues relating to unobtrusive research methods in content analysis, the analysis of existing statistics and historical / comparative analysis linking the process of studying social behaviour without affecting it. The article focuses on specific dimensions of content analysis within the context of unobtrusive methods namely, the topics appropriate for content analysis, sampling in content analysis, enumeration in content analysis, as well as an approach to content analysis. Attention is paid to the analysis of existing statistics by focusing on the methodological issues relating to the analysis of existing statistics and sources of existing statistics and data. This is followed by a discussion of historical / comparative analysis which focuses on the sources of historical / comparative data, as well as the collection and analysis of data. Furthermore, the strengths and weaknesses of unobtrusive methods are also highlighted.

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