Research Method and Design
Given the seriousness of rape and sexual assault as crimes and the subsequent psychological trauma that perpetrators of these crimes visit on their victims, it is important for investigators and prosecutors in such cases to come up with an effective instrument for data collection. For, it is through this data collection tool that enough and cogent evidence may be gathered to help in the proper prosecution of such cases to ensure justice to victims. A research instrument chosen should be one that takes into account the emotional state of the victims of rape and seeks to elicit only that information that is necessary for investigatory and prosecution purposes only without causing the victim further trepidation. For the purposes of the intended research study therefore, I propose to use interviewing as a research instrument for gathering data necessary for the prosecution of rape cases.
Interviews as instruments for data collection usually involve the face to face encounter with another person with the aim of eliciting important information from them. They are useful particularly for getting first hand data based on a participant’s experience of an event. Additionally, interviews are aimed at exploring the beliefs, experiences and motivations of an individual on a given matter (Gill, Stewart, Treasure, & Chadwick, 2008, p.292). Interviews helps in pursuing in-depth information on the issue and also in following up with specific respondents. This could be types of interviews such as personal interview, telephone interview, focus group interview, projective techniques or depth interviews. . Personal interview is preferred to telephone interview as it enables the interviewer to observe the respondent’s demeanor which can be helpful in discovering the truth. The personal interview involves rapport building with the respondent, introduction between parties, probing, recording and closing sessions. One of the major advantages of interviews as data collection too is that they enable the researcher to obtain immediate feedback and also gives the respondent to give their apprehensions, and clarification. In case of rape victim, interviewing gives the victim the opportunity to give a description of their experiences and identity of the person who might have committed the offense. However, their major limitations are that interviews may elicit dishonest answers which may affect the validity the results and also their variance effects based on the respondent’s demography may compromise the data’s reliability.
As a result of these shortcomings related to data validity and reliability therefore, researcher in rape cases has to device proper ways of addressing them. Validity means “the degree to which a study reflects the specific concepts it aims to investigate” (Alshenqeeti, 2014, p. 43).According to this author, the two main types of validity are the internal and external validity. Internal validity involves asking the question whether an investigation leads to the measurement of the variables it is meant to measure. External validity of research tool provides an answer to the question whether the findings of the study can be generalized. There can also be criterion validity, construct and content validity. Hence, to address the validity of this chosen method of data collection and ensure high validity, I would consider the factors identified by Alshenqeeti (2014) such as the interviewer’s attitude, prospects and views, tendency to seek answers that support my preconceived notions, misconceptions and the interviewee’s misunderstanding.
References
Alshenqeeti, H. (2014, March 31). Interviewing as a data collection method: A critical review. English Linguistics Research Journal, 3(1), 39-45. doi:10.5430/elr.v3n1p39
Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Methods of data collectionin qualitative research: Interviews and focus groups. British Dental Journal, 204, 291-295. doi:10.1038/bdj.2008.192
Morse, J. M., Barrett, M., Mayan, M., Olson, K., & Spiers, J. (2002). Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2), 191-.
