Researching Family Relationships: A Qualitative Mixed Methods Approach

By Jacqui Gabb. 2009

89 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Research has demonstrated how families are constituted through every day practices of care and emotional investment. In this article I suggest that a mixed methods qualitative approach can add another dimension to sociological understandings of these processes. The integration of different qualitative methods produces a dynamic account of everyday family relationships and experiences of intimacy. It shows how the biographical, experiential and social are interwoven, enabling the fabric of family relationships to be unpicked. Drawing on original data from empirical research, I outline the kinds of material produced by different methods and the usefulness of creativity in research design, including innovative methods such as the emotion map and psycho-social approaches to research. Through case study analysis, I demonstrate how the mixing of methods generates multilayered, richly textured information on family relationships but I caution against tidying up all the empirical loose ends. I suggest that there is analytical benefit in retaining some of the ‘messiness' that comprises connected lives.

Subfields: Cultural Studies, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e38662eb8c5e9c4f4395526649641ac246a2b351

How researchers see this paper

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In Cultural Studies

1. J. Sheridan
2. K. Chamberlain
3. Trudie Cain
4. A. Dupuis

In Sociology and Political Science

1. J. Sheridan
2. A. Dupuis
3. K. Chamberlain
4. Trudie Cain

Citations in the corpus

• Pluralisms in Qualitative Research: From Multiple Methods to Integrated Methods (2011, result): “Further, we also agree that findings can and should retain some of the messiness that will be reflected in the data (Gabb 2009).”