Discussion: Field Research - Assignment Example

The method used in the study is the formal questionnaire where the participants were interviewed informally based on a questionnaire. This method may not be very effective because the respondent may not be very honest because anonymity is not preserved. Furthermore, the place of the interview does not encourage the respondent to talk freely since there are other people present especially since it is done in the streets. Also, since the questionnaire is already prepared beforehand, the interviewer is not free to ask other pertinent questions.

One of the challenges faced by the researchers in this study is that not all members of gangs are willing to be interviewed. There were also some participants whose reading skills were limited. The language was sometimes a barrier too. Another challenge faced by the researchers is the difficulty in identifying who are the real gang members. To address the language barrier, the interviewers shifted from English to Spanish to be better understood by the respondents. For those participants with limited reading skills, the researchers read the questions for them.

To verify the gang affiliation of respondents, other young people in the neighborhood were asked to vouch for their identity.