Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Compare and Contrast Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Compare and Contrast Research Methods - Essay Example It is argued that unstructured interviews are best in gathering information on social situations as they allow the interviewer to be natural and thus encourage the interviewee’s participation. Focus group is another approach of collecting qualitative data. This is a carefully planned discussion tailored to obtain perceptions on a specific topic or area of interest. The process of information gathering under this method involves the moderator who controls the debate and initiates discussion topics, the note-taker, and the participants (Boeije, 2010). Focus group has almost the same merits with the interviewing method. It generates results at a relatively fast rate, has a high face validity and allows the moderator (who assumes an almost similar role as the interviewer) to explore unanticipated issues. However, this method has its fair share of demerits; the main ones are that it has less experimental control, requires a well trained interviewer and it maybe difficult setting up the group (Rubin & Babbie, 2010). Participant observation requires that the researcher becomes a part and parcel of the group under observation. This approach requires a lot of patience and may sometimes require months or years of observation. This is because the researcher has to be accepted and become a natural part of the group being observed. It is only by achieving this cohesiveness that one can ascertain gathered data as of natural phenomenon (Delamont & Jones, 2012). If successfully carried out, this method represents the best approach in gathering data on a natural phenomenon as there is absolutely no chance of manipulation or influence. The major disadvantage with this approach is that it may take the researcher a long time to gather data. Additionally, it is at times not possible to record all data as the researcher may loose focus as he assumes the same natural roles as the focus group (Holloway, Wheeler & Holloway, 2010). Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviors and perceptions that take place within social groupings. This approach is said to have grown from anthropological studies that focused on small cultural groupings in the early 20th century. Under ethnographical studies, the researcher becomes an active participant and takes extensive notes (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2011). Participant observation, discussed earlier, is considered an approach under ethnographical approaches. This is mainly because it entails a researcher assuming the role of participant as they go on with their duty of data gathering and data recording. Ethnographical approaches allow for gathering richly detailed data and also provide the researcher with a chance to participate in unscheduled events (Thomas, Nelson & Silverman, 2011). The downside of ethnographical approaches is that the researcher may ignore activities that happen out of the public eye and he may also be tempted to rely on information provided by a few key informants. Consequently, reliance on in formants permeates bias as these may not have the objectivity while reporting on the social context. Biographical research is the compilation and analysis of an intensive report detailing an entire life or a part of life, through an in-depth, unstructured

Sunday, February 9, 2020

History of pencil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of pencil - Essay Example The pencil did not appear until the Middle Ages, before that the majority of writing that was done was chiseled or etched into stone and later the Egyptians and Romans would introduce the stylus. The stylus was a thinned piece of lead that would leave light, but readable, marks on papyrus, an early precursor to paper (Pencil History, 2014).However, the fact, is that the grounds for the modern pencil was actually discovered by accident. As stated previously lead stylus were used to write, but in 1564 that would change. A new material, thought to be lead, which would be name graphite, was discovered in Borrowdale, England. Immediately it was noticed that it left dark black marks on the land. Many experts feel that this may have been discovered earlier by the Aztecs, as well. This black lead is, in fact, graphite, which is not a form of lead at all (Pencil History, 2014).The first graphite pencils were simply shards of graphite that were wrapped in cloth or string; ideally to keep the hands clean. The development of pencils began in Europe, particularly in Germany, which was the location of the first massed produced pencil industry in 1662 (Pencil History, 2014).Of course, these pencils did not look quite like the pencils of today. In fact these earliest pencils were not painted at all. However, it was a man named Nicholas-Jacques Conte, scientist in Napoleon’s forces, in 1795, who is credited with the inventi ng of the modern pencil (Popova). It was the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century that spawned the first pencil product war. Different manufacturers were determined to highlight their products from those of others. This is when colors were added to identify different pencils from different companies. In the United States at this time is when erasers were conveniently added to one end of the pencil. However, to this day the majority of pencils sold in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe do not have and never have had