Mixed Method Design: Proposing a New 'Unobtrusive Measure.' The Jigsaw Puzzle

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  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 15. Innovative Qualitative Methods in Studying Families

Abstract

The paper proposes the jigsaw puzzle as a ‘unobtrusive’ research instrument to be used in conjunction with semi-structured interviews with groups of two participants or more. While semi-structured interviews are a staple of qualitative sociology, responses can be influenced by the investigator’s role in the interview process. By having participants complete a jigsaw puzzle, the researcher is drawn away from the focus and places the focus on the participants and their interactions with one another. This paper will demonstrate how the combination of data collected from a traditional semi-structured interview and a jigsaw puzzle activity can enlighten a research question in an unobtrusive way from data collected from interculturally married couples in Turkey, where sociolinguistic communication patterns between husband and wife were observed and studied. The jigsaw puzzle activity yielded more one-on-one interactions between the couple and increased the frequency of already dominant communication patterns among the couples interviewed. A final discussion of the advantages and disadvantages both methods bring to a study, particularly focusing on their strengths and weaknesses, will be presented.

Author

• Rebecca Shaffer, Texas A&M University