Qualitative Methodology - Research Paper Example

While computer technology offers a plethora of benefits in its application to police administration, I assume that it would be met with resistance from management, employees, personnel, and other parties involved. The police administration has been using their old routines and systems for the past decades; abandoning those old routines in exchange of new technologies may pose difficulty for some people. It would take a lot of effort for the people involved to unlearn what they have been doing for the longest time, and then learn and adopt a new system that would eventually replace the old system.

Those difficulties, challenges, and resistances must be properly addressed in order for the new system to survive and become successful. Finally, the behavior and attitude of people toward computer technology is mediated by the meanings and experiences they have with it. People possess both positive and negative opinions about using computers in police administration. In addition, the role of computer technology in their lives is determined by their age, gender, class, and an entire system of values and beliefs.

These values and beliefs, when uncovered, would yield a better understanding of their perspective and lead to the development of an E-Administration that is specifically tailored to suit their needs. Considering the abovementioned assumptions, a methodology that would allow me to gain a deep understanding of the subjects being studied is necessary. A methodology that would reveal the insights, beliefs, and experiences of the people would work best for my study. Among all the qualitative research methodologies available, ethnography is what I consider the most proper methodology that would yield the necessary data for my study. 2. Ethnography In a nut shell, ethnography tells the beliefs, values, and attitudes of a certain group of people or culture about something.

Primarily applied in anthropology and sociology, the application of ethnography has been extended in the areas of market research, business, and practically any group of people or culture where an understanding of their beliefs, experiences, and attitudes is needed. Using ethnography would uncover the perception and opinion of the RAK Police about using computer technology in their administration. It would also reveal the meanings they hold about technology, which, in turn, influences their attitude towards computers.

This would allow me to identify the probable reasons they have in avoiding or accepting the new system. Ethnography would allow me to see patterns of behavior that can be understood rationally and intuitively in a real world context. Their behavior towards the old system would expose the underlying problems and limitations. Understanding the problems of the old system is useful in designing the structure of the new system. Their behavior towards the new system, on the other hand, would serve as a measure of their readiness to accept E-Administration.

Ethnography, in addition, would reveal the prevailing norms that shape the perception of the police administration about computer technology. Norms refer to the beliefs and values that a society hold about something. With ethnography, the challenges and resistances which are rooted in the