Unobtrusive Methods for Social Science Research

Unobtrusive Methods for Social Science Research

Yoram Kalman (www.kalmans.com)

In this presentation, a relatively neglected methodological approach in social science research will be presented, that of unobtrusive measures. Unlike obtrusive methods such as interviews and questionnaires, unobtrusive methods do not include the direct elicitation of data from the research subjects, but rather try to find indirect ways to obtain the necessary data. We will review many examples of unusual data sources, such as garbage, graffiti and obituaries, as well as more conventional ones such as published statistics, and see how these sources can be used to enrich social research, strengthen hypothesis, and research sensitive issues such as sexual behavior. Special attention will be given to unobtrusive measures using online resources, as well as to the methodological and ethical limitations of unobtrusive research methods.

Power point slides

Mp3 recording (Hebrew) part 1 (18Mb), part 2 (21Mb)