• Jason Green

Part 1

Question:

Write a report on the usefulness of quantitative methods for describing intimacy, focusing on the particular method of surveys. You should include the following:

• a definition of quantitative methods
• a description of surveys as a particular method
• consideration of the distinctive kinds of description that surveys generate
• examples of the usefulness of surveys for describing intimacy.

Answer:

Science begins with the question’s what is it I want to know, How is the best way that I can get to achieve results that are desired. However, this can only become science when the correct methodology has been chosen, Also that the matter of research can be justified… There are also moral and ethical principles that can affect the type and structure or even methodology of the undertaken research.

When looking at trying to describe the subject of intimacy many strands of information would need to be gathered, but the real question is which method should be used in the pursuit of the correct results. When trying to achieve any possible answer in ether social science or science as a whole. In our research there are many tools or ways or rather it could be better-said methods to obtain an answer. One method could possibly be used to achieve an answer. But to obtain a more valid and qualify able answer more than one method might be deemed to be used in the search for obtaining the required results that we might desire to gather. Then maybe it could be concluded that for us to get the best results that multi methodology should be applied to gain an unbiased factual conclusion to the research project that could actively be supported by the methods applied.

The Quantitative methods could be said to be a more inhuman approach than other methods that might be used in research. The quantitative method is a more sterile clinical method and could be describe like a man standing in front of a window looking in. it has a detached approach. Rather than concerning itself with the data rather than the individual meanings and experience. This method is concerned with looking to identify any patterns, trends and relationships or any other required data from the ‘outside’, The Quantitative methods sets it site and looks at a wider band of the population. With this method, we are so much less concerned with the specifics of the individual’s meanings and experience’s, but it rather looks at the data as a whole and the individual becomes a statistic in the data that collated. (Barns & Barnett, 2014 pp.68)

The Quantitative methodology in general, is next to useless for answering questions that we may look at. It does not look at or is able to analyse the structures and maybe the processes that con and possibly will be observed in behaviour that in underlying… Nevertheless, quantitative can be said to be invaluable where the bases of behaver could well said to be not understood. It is important to recognise that the quantitative tend to produce different descriptions of social phenomena, and can support different understandings of social processes. (Barns & Barnett, 2014 pp.35)

In research, one way that makes things really easier is by doing a survey. A survey is best described as short interview or talk. When we use the word survey, it can be unfortunately ambiguous or better said open to more than one interpretation. Therefore, it needs to be better defined. The term survey is mainly used to mean the collection of information. Someone wanting to ask you questions in the town centre may have stopped you.

However, to say there is one definition of survey would not be very correct the first as you have read in the earlier paragraph, which is to collect information. A second definition is it is to collect data. It could be defined as a third, which is a specific type of survey research. They ways of collecting survey data are:

Questionnaires– which are a series of written questions that are answer by the subject? This method is used to gain answers to questions that would require simple responses’ (agree/disagree/ no options).

Then we have Interviews– questions put forward to a subject to obtain information about him or her. This type of survey in more like a formal interview like you would have with your bank manager or maybe a new employer when looking for a job.

Finally we have Surveys themselves– It might well seem be an error using survey as a description of survey but no it is not actually an error. A Survey is actually a specific type of survey. It is an interview with the researcher asking only a limited amount of questions to a subject.

On the face of it, surveys may not seem well suited to the task of gathering data on matters that are sensitive and personal. However, conducted properly and with an understanding of the design and structure limitation and the way that it is implemented it is capable of just that. Has demonstrated, conducted properly and with an awareness of the limitations of survey design and implementation, they are capable of doing just that. With surveys on intimacy and to not just read anything into the data that is extracted from the surveys but rather to examine that data with a critical eye so that there is no error in the understanding of the data achieved. In addition, it remains one of the most powerful tools available to scientists and researchers to gain an understanding of social and scientific studies on intimacy. The Data, which surveys generate helps to shape our understanding of sexual behaviour and intamacy. It also has opened new avenues in research now and in the future…

(Barns & Barnett, 2014 pp.94)

The usefulness of this can be seen looking at research carried out already by Kinsey and Natsal. They performed surveys in both informed public debates about sexuality and intimate life. Their intention was inform public debate about sexuality and intimacy in life. Their research and surveys had an unpredicted result in social science the helped reshaped the social world as it was understood. It made visible social phenomena as a scale of whole populations and as was learnt from this in research there are consequences. One of the major impacts if we return to Kinsley study’s again was that of making same sex gender visible as never before gay and lesbian couples instead of being hidden in innuendo and rumour now with this statistics the level of such could be seen as fact.

(Barns & Barnett, 2014 pp.89)

Bibliography

EditedbyMarkBanks andCliveBarnett. (2014) ‘TheUsesofSocialScience (DD206), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp.35-94

DVD ROM (2014), ‘TheUsesofSocialScience (DD206), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp.35-94