The Application Of The Qualitative Methods of Sociological Research To The Analysis Of Adolescent Leisure: Opportunities And Limitations

Abstract

The specifics of using of the qualitative sociological methods to study teenage youth leisure are considered. The main procedures of focus group and individual non-formal interview with teenagers are presented. The stages of preparation and realization of each of these methods are described, ethical nuances of research of teenagers' life activity are considered. The factors which influence the results of qualitative research are analyzed: time, place, number of respondents in a group, etc. To achieve the goal — to determine the possibilities and limitations of focus group and individual interviewing in the study of adolescents as a special socio-demographic group — the results of author's research carried out by the semi-structured interview method were analyzed, in which 20 adolescents of grades 7-11 took part, who live in the villages of the Kharkiv region; the results of 4 focused group interviews conducted with pupils of grades 8-11 of the communal institution «Specialized boarding school «Obdarovanist`» of ІІ-ІІІ degrees», who come from the villages of the Kharkiv region.

A number of restrictions on the use of qualitative methods in relation to adolescents related to the need to reduce the duration of interviews (in comparison with adult studies), to simplify the moderator / interviewer's language, to observe the range of topics allowed for discussion with adolescents is considered. The possibilities of drawing and projective qualitative techniques in the framework of focused group and individual non-formal interview with teenage youth are revealed. Recommendations for improving the effectiveness of qualitative sociological research of adolescents are proposed, in particular: implementation of special interview conditions, such as previous informal interviews with respondents, constant support for informal interviews during interviews, age of the interviewer should be close to the age of respondents; detailed presentation of the assistant moderator and his/her role in the study; the use of the slang, memes, smiles and other attributes inherent in the communication of modern adolescents.