Practical Issues

Operationalisation

The process of defining a concept precisely so that it can be easily understood by the participants and measured by the researcher. If the concept is not operationalised properly then the findings will be effected.

Choice of Research Topic

Researchers need to make sure that they chose a topic that they know well and that will be engaging for the participants. If they do not know the topic well themselves they may misinterpret information. If the participants do not find the topic interesting they may be more likely to drop out of the study (sample attrition) or not answer truthfully (validity).

Target Population

Having smaller target populations will help the research collected be generalisable and representative.

For example, having the entirety of the UK as the target population will be a struggle for a researcher because the population is so diverse; whereas, having a certain age group or people from a particular area will be easier to represent.

Access

Researchers need to think about whether they would be able to gather the participants that they need for the study e.g. gangs may be hard to access for a study.

Time

Researchers need to take into account how much time the study will take to complete e.g. a questionnaire is quick to distribute and complete, unstructured interviews may take more time.

Cost

Researchers have to take into account whether they can perform the study depending on its cost e.g. it would be less likely for a student researcher to be able to go aboard for their study because of the costs.

Personal Characteristics

Researchers have to consider their own personal characteristics when conducting a study as this may prevent the participants from opening up to them.

For example, Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory chose to do a focus group with young people to find out what effects their subject choice, however the young people struggled to understand him because of his personality - this would have effected the findings of the study.