Task 1
In this task you are required to write a review of no more than 1100 words that is divided into two sections, as follows.
Task 1(a)
This is a reflection on the process of carrying out this research study – including your preparation and the interviews themselves – in the same way that you reflected upon your interview for TMA 03. This means that you should also reflect critically on your research topic and interview guide. It may be helpful to return to the Self-reflection activity in Week 17 to remind yourself of how to develop an in-depth reflection on the interview encounter. (25% of the TMA marks will be allocated to this part of the task.)
Task 1(b)
This is a reflection on your thematic analysis of the interviews. You should consider:
• how you identified the different themes in your interviews
• what those themes were
• in what ways your themes could be related to the intersections of personal lives and social policy.
Please note that you are not being asked to assess the validity of your evidence or to address the wider methodological issues raised in Block 2. (25% of the TMA marks will be allocated to this part of the task.)
Task 2
Write an essay in no more than 1900 words addressing the title:
‘Qualitative research helps us to identify how the relationship between personal lives and social policy is experienced.’ (50% of the TMA marks will be allocated to this part of the assignment.)
In the essay, you should critically address the above title and explore the ways in which the themes you have identified in Task 1(b) can be used to illuminate how the relationship between personal lives and social policy is experienced and how each constitutes the other. This means you can link the findings from your interviews to the range of concepts, ideas and theoretical perspectives you have encountered so far in the module. When writing the essay, you will want to consider how to conceptualise ‘personal lives’ in ways that are relevant to the themes you have identified.
As part of this you may find it helpful to:
• Revisit the key concepts in Week 1 of the online materials, to see how they might relate to your research findings and the essay question. Your themes may also resonate with some of the concepts or topics in all three module textbooks: Sexualities, Work and Care, and these connections could usefully be included in your argument.
• Consider questions about the research process and how this shapes evidence about individual experiences, which are raised in Blocks 2 and 4. You should include short quotations or extracts from your interviews to illustrate the key points of your discussion
TMA 05 builds on and augments the skills that you practised in TMA 03. It is designed to give you the experience of carrying out a small-scale research study (based on two interviews) and analysing your findings.
The two interviews that you conduct in your research project should be based on the research outline proposal that you sent to your tutor as Task 2 of TMA 03 and the feedback that you received. As the first part of the preparation for these interviews, you should refine your proposal in the light of your tutor’s feedback. Please note that the interviews must be with two new research participants.
Regarding ethics: ethical considerations that must be addressed in any research study. Remember your responsibilities as an ethical researcher. You should only interview adults aged 18 years old and over.
Prepare to interview two newfixtus people. Theseshould not include your interviewee for TMA 03, nor should you interview a fellow student. This is so that you gain a range of experiences in interviewing different people.
As part of your feedback to TMA 03, you may have been advised to refine your interview guide, volunteer information sheet or support services information sheet.
Please note that you should complete conducting, transcribing and analysing your research interviews before you start this assignment.
Task 1: Your capacity to write up a review of your research interviews that reflects on:
a. learning from the process of planning and conducting this research (25% of the TMA marks will be awarded for this part of the assignment)
b. undertaking a thematic analysis of your interview transcripts (25% of the TMA marks will be awarded for this part of the assignment).
Task 2: An ability to integrate your analysis into a coherent argument that answers the essay question.