Face-to-face methods

Knight provides a no frill anatomy of face-to-face inquiry methods. Read alone however (and self-evidently), as the bracket of methods at researchers’ disposal could limit the variety of techniques which comprise a more holistic, intelligent, flexible framework for analysis and subsequently, a clearer understating of a given area of inquiry. For example, combining the data from a flexible interview protocol with quantitative data on the same topic can add a human dimension to the study and shed light on the meaning of numbers so to speak.  I am not suggesting that Knight is being negligent; however, it is important for researchers to consider not only the pros and cons of different face-to-face inquiry methods, but also their pros and cons in relation to methods outside of the bracket of face-to-face methods. I believe this is sometimes referred to as the triangulation method of doing research and has proven to be a fruitful approach. For example, unless the researcher has an omnipotent sort of knowledge of the topic of the interview, then she or he will have to triangulate the data collected with other methods for understanding the topic at hand. This last point (triangulation) is actually discussed later on in Knight, which highlights the point that this chapter ought not to be read in isolation. Nonetheless, it does serve the useful purpose of providing a good anatomy of face-to-face methods.