AS Sociology Coursework - Domestic Violence

Touba Jamil Sociology Coursework

AS Sociology Coursework

b) Tracey Bush carried out an ethnographic study of domestic violence on a London housing estate. Her study had two main aims which were:

1) To produce an ethnographic account of violent relationships as they are played out in a natural setting.

2) To produce research findings that will illuminate understandings and lead to social policies that will improve the circumstances of those women who live with this violence.

Ethnography is an approach that aims to understand the culture of a particular group in society. This approach usually produces qualitative data as it did in this case.

During the study, Bush used unstructured interviews. They were informal, in-depth interviews. She first familiarised herself with the interviewees and made them feel more comfortable which encouraged them to talk at length about their experiences. This method has high validity meaning that it presents an accurate description of the violence. However, this study has low reliability meaning that if the study was repeated the answers would change mainly because the questions in this method are open-ended.

The sample type used was snowball sampling. This type of sampling is used when the researcher has difficulty contacting potential interviewees. In this case it was hard to find women who had been involved in domestic abuse, especially as Bush chose not to use any official records. She managed to obtain a very sample of thirteen women so it could not be used to represent or generalise.

Bush wanted to make the women feel as comfortable as possible so she didn’t tell them that she was conducting a research on them. Instead she mentioned that it was a university project. An advantage would be that it gave the women the chance to explain their feelings and experiences in detail. From an ethical point of view many would disagree with her decision as the women were not given a choice in whether or not they wished to participate in the study.

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c) Tracey Bush used an interpretivist approach in her study. Interpretivists ...

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c) Tracey Bush used an interpretivist approach in her study. Interpretivists believe that they need to put themselves into the shoes of those being researched. In this study they were the abused women. Bush befriended these women and tried to understand the social world from their perspective. Bush took note of the experiences and feelings the women shared with her. The method used was unstructured interviews which allowed these in-depth conversations between Bush and the women. It gave the opportunity for the women to talk freely and at length about their experiences. For this reason this study has high validity.

Another advantage of using unstructured interviews is that it allowed Bush to respond sympathetically, making the women feel more comfortable and develop rapport. The women thought of her as a friend and so they trusted her. In the start Bush started by asking general questions and as they got to know each other she moved on to more personal questions.

In this study, Bush used snowball sampling as it was hard to contact the abused women. One of the ways she accessed the sample was ‘accidentally’ finding contacts through field workers, friends, neighbours and acquaintances. Some of the women were sought through ‘common knowledge’ on the estate. The strengths of this method of sampling are that it can manage to find participants that would be impossible to contact through other sampling methods.

Bush continued this study for over two and a half years giving plenty of time to develop rapport with the women she was interviewing.

This study produced in-depth qualitative data. The method used had high validity as each woman gave a first hand account of the violence, so she could paint an accurate and true picture of their experiences. However, it had low reliability meaning that if the same research was carried out again it could produce different results and answers.

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d) During her study, Bush found that women who were in an abusive relationship and those not in one, were often spoken of as if there were no differences between them.

Generally women spoke of a fear of loneliness and inability to cope alone. However, abused women do cope with a lot on their own, but this is not acknowledged. Many of these women stay in their relationships either for the sake of their children or some even believe they deserve the abuse. It is sometimes seen by other people including other abused women as the abuse being the woman’s own fault [See Quote 1].

The abused women themselves are sometimes convinced by their partners that it is unimportant [See Quote 2]. The women believe their partners in order to stay in a relationship and not be left alone. Sometimes too much stress is put on establishing and maintaining a heterosexual relationship.

For her research, Bush used snowball sampling. As the sample was so small, it could not be representative and therefore it couldn’t be used to generalise either. Women in other estates or living situations may not have the same problems as these women. A weakness of using this sampling method is that it is rare that the sample obtained from this method is representative as it is selective and relies on personal recommendation.

In order to extract information from the interviewees, Bush decided not to tell them fully about her study. Instead she mentioned it was a University project. From an ethical point of view, this may be frowned upon. It may be seen as unfair for the women as they were not aware that they were participants of a study. If they had known she had an ulterior motive they may have chosen not to share their problems. In some ways Bush breached their confidence as the women didn’t know their answers would be recorded in a study.

The research is low in reliability since unstructured interviews were used in this study as they involve establishing unique relationships with the interviewees. Bush became too emotionally involved therefore her report on the women could be biased. This is a disadvantage of using unstructured interviews.

However as the women gave their first hand account of the abuse they had suffered, the study has high validity. All the information and detail given can help Bush paint an accurate picture of the events.

Overall the methods used were suitable for this study but triangulation could have been used to improve the reliability of the research.

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Total Words: 1057

APPENDIX

Quote 1:

‘Conversations about a woman known to have suffered domestic violence are often tinged with the belief that it is somehow her own fault.’

Quote 2:

‘Men couple their violence to attempts to convince the women that the abuse is unimportant. These attempts are sometimes successful and women may make little of the abuse.’

Sociology in Focus