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Family is very important aspect of our lives and play essential roles in our current society. Many scholars have come up with different definitions of family based on proven research findings. According to Anderson, Anderson & Glanze (1998), a family is a group of people related by heredity, such as parents, children, and siblings. The term is further explained to include people related by marriage or those living in the same household, who are emotionally attached, interact regularly, and shares concerns for the growth and development of the group and its individual members (Anderson et al., 1998). Potter & Perry (2001) also describe family as people related by marriage, birth, or adoption. Increasing divorce rates, teen pregnancies, and broken homes are negatively affecting the family system in our society. For that matter, this paper will review literature to support the argument that we are seeing the demise of the family through rising divorce rates, teen pregnancies and broken homes in our society. This will be done through analysis of the psychological, economical and academic impact of divorce in families.

Divorce has become an intrinsic part of the family system. Emotional stability in families is very important to family members’ psychological health. A psychologically competent parent is a protective factor associated with positive outcomes in children and is one of the best predictors of children psychological functioning after divorce (as cited in Kelly, 2003). Increasing divorce rates has been shown to negatively impact the psychological health of both mothers and children. Financial problems that will be discussed later in this paper are shown to reduce mothers’ psychological welfare (as cited in Seltzer, 1994). In addition, mothers’ emotional adjustment has strong effects on childrearing and behaviour and that reduce the quality of parent- child interactions. Research studies have concluded that approximately 20% to 25% of children of divorced families have serious psychological, behavioural and social problems compared to 10 percent of children in never divorced families (as cited in Kelly, 2003).

Children coping mechanism with divorce vary from child to child. Unrelieved and multiple stressors will determine children’s attempts to cope with divorce and may result in increased psychological difficulties in the long term. Children’s attempts to cope with the major changes caused by divorce are complicated by the failure of parents not adequately informing their children about the divorces and future arrangements. Children are left to struggle by themselves with the meaning of the divorce for their lives, which causes a sense of isolation, anxiety, and cognitive and emotional confusion (as cited in Kelly, 2003). Children are sometimes separated from one parent for a long period of time which adds to their stress level. Children with strong attachments to caring parents, the abrupt and total absence of contact is painful and quite stressful especially when these children have no explanation to the cause of the divorce (Kelly, 2003).

It is important and beneficial in discussing both the short term and long term outcomes of divorce on children. Divorce can create lingering feelings of sadness, longing, worrying, and regret. Research has reported that as many as half of young adults recall distress and painful memories and experiences caused by their parents post and during divorce (Kelly, 2003). Painful reflection on a difficult past is not the same as an inability to relate and function competently in the present. Children suffering from divorce pain score higher on depression scale compared to their counterparts from married and stable families (Kelly 2003).

A second issue resulting from increased divorce rates is the economical impact on families live. It is known that money cannot buy happiness, but it is very difficult for children to be happy if they do not have enough to eat and a safe place to live (Seltzer, 1994). Children experience economic disadvantage when their parents’ divorce. According to Duncan & Rodgers (1991), children from divorce homes are more likely to be poor compared to children from happily married homes (as cited in Seltzer, 1994). In the same research study, children’s family income decreases by 37% when fathers move out of the home. Fathers do not contribute as much as they used to when they move aware and negatively affecting the children economic status (Seltzer, 1994). As divorce disrupts the parenting system and usually reduces the economic support available to children. According to Hoffman (1985) men improve their economic status following divorce, and women on the other hand experience a significant drop in income which lasts several years (as cited in Furstenberg, 1990). Women see a recovery in income status as a result of remarriage, which also lead to other issues with children and step parenting.

Another contributing issue to children low economic level is that, mothers bear greater childcare responsibilities; they have low paid work experiences and training and suffer persistent labour marked discrimination (Seltzer, 1994). Women have increased their involvement in the labour market to meet the economical needs of their children. With increased working hours, less time are being spent with the children and parenting roles are jeopardized leading to behavioural issues in children from single parent homes as a result of divorce (Furstenberg, 1990). The distortion in parenting is also resulting from children having to begin economical responsibilities as to obtaining employment and contributing household income earlier than their non divorce children family homes. Furstenberg (1990) concludes well that, “divorce typically reduces the family’s economic resources, it stresses the parent-child relationship, it alters and sometimes destroys the parenting system, and it reshapes kinship ties” (p. 398).

There is a growing number of evidence suggesting that childhood divorce elevates the risk of academic failure and jeopardizes educational and occupational attainment (Furstenberg, 1990). In further, children living in a single parent household due to divorce have more problems in school, higher grade failure rate, higher dropout, and lower attendance rate. These children are less likely to complete college education leading to reduction of occupational attainment and being in the lower income bracket later in life (Furstenberg, 1990). Seltzer (1994), research yield that 29% of children from single parent households drop out of school compared to 13% of children from married homes. This rate is very high, a 16% difference in the dropout rate. Children from disrupted homes are prone to attend inferior schools and receive less economic support for advancement in education. According to Kelly (2003), children from divorce families have two to three fold increased risk of academic problems. They have lowered academic performance and achievement test scores compared to children in married families.

According to Goldscheider and Goldscheider, (1988) Children from broken homes are starts forming sexual relations earlier than children in nuclear families (as cited in Furstenberg, 1990). Children from broken homes are more likely to leave home earlier, cohabit and marry at a younger age, and commence having children sooner than children from married homes (as cited in Furstenberg, 1990). Teenage pregnancy is another long term impact of divorce or broken homes on children. Research findings indicate that unstable family life such as divorce in childhood leads to earlier timing of sexual activity, higher levels of premarital pregnancies (Furstenberg, 1990). Not only the teenage pregnancies are issues to the society but they bear other complications and challenging issues with childbearing. The infant mortality rate for babies born to teenage mothers is 60% higher than for babies born to older mothers. There are, too, the wider social and life course consequences for mother and child. Teenagers who give birth are more likely to bring up their child alone and in poverty and to forego or curtail their education, thereby jeopardising future employment prospects. Children of teenage mothers are at increased risk of becoming teenage mothers or single mothers themselves, and of poverty, low educational attainment, poor housing, poor health, and lower rates of economic activity as adults (Furstenberg, 1990; Seltzer, 1994).

Over three decades now, US research has confirmed that divorce presents substantial stressors and increased risk for children in their short and long term adjustment in a number of dimensions. It is important to pay attention this area of research and develop policies to help children cope and understand the challenges they may face as a result of divorce. Upon completing this research review, the writer agrees with Furstenberg (1990) conclusion that changes in family functions and divorce are areas of research that is underdeveloped. He noted that research data in this research field is very outdated and there is a need for further studies to develop solutions or strategies to deal with family issues such as rising divorce rates and teenage pregnancies. With reference to the research findings in the above paragraphs, it can be concluded that married families continue to be viewed as wholesome, nurturing environments for childrearing and childbearing (Kelly, 2003). Increasing divorce rates are blamed for a wide range of serious and enduring behavioural, emotional, and academic problems in children and adolescents in our society today (Kelly, 2003). In conclusion this paper has proven that yes indeed we are seeing the demise of the family with the rising divorce rates, which correlates with teen pregnancies and broken homes. Psychological, economical, and academic well being of children and families are areas greatly affected by divorce and broken homes.

It used to be very common for employers to pay men more than women even when they do exactly the same job. Before the 1950s, most Canadians accepted that men should be paid more than women for doing the same work because men were supposed to be responsible for supporting their families and women were not. Men were the “breadwinners” and women were responsible for running the home.

But times changed.

After the Second World War, many countries agreed that it was very important to create an international agreement that people, regardless of what country they live in, should be protected from discrimination and should have the same basic human rights.

The United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and Canada was one of the many countries that signed it. One of the rights in the Declaration was:

“Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.”

During the 1950s, the federal government and the provinces passed equal pay laws to create this right in Canada. The federal government passed An Act to Promote Equal Pay for Female Employees in 1956. This law also applied in the Northwest Territories.

Most of these laws prohibited employers from paying women less than men for doing the same work, and most were part of employment or labour standards legislation.

Because of the large number of AmRameshn women taking jobs in the war industries during World War II, the National War Labor Board urged employers in 1942 to voluntarily make “adjustments which equalize wage or salary rates paid to females with the rates paid to males for comparable quality and quantity of work on the same or similar operations.”

Until the early 1960s, newspapers published separate job listings for men and women. Jobs were categorized according to sex, with the higher level jobs listed almost exclusively under “Help Wanted-Male.” In some cases the ads ran identical jobs under male and female listings-but with separate pay scales. Separate, of course, meant unequal: between 1950 and 1960, women with full time jobs earned on average between 59-64 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned in the same job.

It wasn’t until the passage of the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963 (effective June 11, 1964) that it became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex. Demonstrable differences in seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work, or other considerations might merit different pay, but gender could no longer be viewed as a drawback on one’s resume.

Unfortunately, this right was not very helpful. It was very hard for women to use this right to make sure that they actually got paid as much as men for doing essentially the same work. Sometimes, the difference in pay was not in wages, but in benefits or bonuses, and employers could “hide” a difference in pay by calling it a benefit or a bonus. Sometimes, the work performed by a female employee was not completely the same as the work performed by a male employee. For example, often “male” jobs had different job titles than “female” jobs. Employers could argue that the difference in job title meant that the work was not the same. Or the male job might have slightly different duties. Any small difference in the work could allow an employer to pay men and women very differently.

By the 1970s, people were talking about a different idea of equal pay. Women were still earning a lot less than men. More and more single mothers were trying to support their children on their own, and more and more women and mothers were living in poverty. In response to these problems, some people said that the problem was not so much that women and men were being paid differently for doing similar work, but that men and women do not do similar work at all. They work in entirely different occupations. For example, more women than men work in nursing, more men than women work as mechanics. They said that problem is that “women’s work” is just not considered as valuable as “men’s work” simply because it is done by women and that leads to low pay.

Cases:

Two landmark court cases served to strengthen and further define the Equal Pay Act:

Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co. (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Ruled that jobs need to be “substantially equal” but not “identical” to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. An employer cannot, for example, change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men.

Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974), U.S. Supreme Court

Ruled that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the “going market rate.” A wage differential occurring “simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women” was unacceptable.

The blatant discrimination apparent in these court cases seems archaic today, as does the practice of sex-segregated job listings. The workplace has changed radically in the decades since the passage of the Equal Pay Act.

The right to equal pay for work of equal value is a response to this concern. It prevents employers from paying work done by men differently than work done by women, even when the work is dissimilar, if the work is of equal value to the employer. This right is much more complicated than the right to equal pay for the same or substantially similar work because it requires a way of figuring out when dissimilar jobs have the same value to the employer.

Others, like Ontario and Quebec, have enacted special laws, called pay equity laws that require all employers to take positive steps to make sure that they pay male and female employees equally for work of equal value, even if no one makes a complaint.

Still other jurisdictions, like Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have pay equity or equal laws or policies that apply only to public sector employers and employees. This reflects a belief that public sector employers are better able than private sector employers (especially small private sector employers) to take on the complicated task of figuring out what work in the organization is equal in value.

But what has not changed radically, however, is women’s pay. The wage gap has narrowed, but it is still significant. Women earned 59% of the wages men earned in 1963; in 2012 they earned 80.9% of men’s wages-an improvement of about half a penny per dollar earned every year. Why is there still such a disparity?

Articles supporting this clause:
Article 39(d) in the Constitution of India 1949:

39.Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State: The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing

(a) that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means to livelihood;

(b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good;

(c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment;

(d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women;

(e) that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength;

(f) that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment

Article 15 in The Constitution Of India 1949:

15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth

(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to

(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment; or

(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children

(4) Nothing in this article or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes

Issues:

The issues regarding “not” equally paying men and women for equal work are-

It is a human rights issue-

If the work of a woman is valued less simply because she is a woman,

her individual dignity is injured.

It is an economic development issue-

To promote equal treatment is equivalent to promote the nation’s

productive potential.

It is a human resources issue-

Increasing salaries of undervalued workers can be more profitable as

it increases morale and productivity, as well as reduces turnover and

attracts talent.

Concept of Equal Pay:

1. “Equal pay for equal work”

This implies that men and women receive equal pay for the same or

similar work.

2.”Equal pay for work of equal value”

This implies that men and women receive equal pay for different jobs

Discrimination based on sex:

1. Stereotypes and prejudices with regard to women’s work;

2. Occupational segregation by gender;

3. Traditional undervaluing of women’s job;

4. Traditional job evaluation methods designed on the basis of

requirements of male-dominated jobs;

5.Weaker bargaining power on the part of female workers.

When is unequal pay justified:

Suppose there are two employees working for the same organization-Ramesh and Suresh.

1-If Ramesh had more experience or a higher educational degree than Suresh, their employer would not have to give them equal wages. Their jobs would not be considered substantially equal because they have different levels of education or experience.

2-Their employer could pay Suresh a higher wage if Ramesh works in Gomti Nagar, North Carolina and Suresh works in New York City. Employee must generally work in the same establishment for them to be considered to have substantially equal jobs.

3-If Ramesh supervises other employees but Suresh does not, their employer could pay Ramesh at a higher rate of pay. Ramesh has significantly more responsibility than Suresh does and therefore their jobs can not be considered substantially equal.

4-If Suresh must travel from job site to job site everyday, while Ramesh’s job allows her to work in the home office everyday, their jobs differ substantially and Suresh may receive a higher salary.

Gender Pay Gap in Numbers:

In most countries, women’s wages for work of equal value represent on average between 70-90% of men’s.

In 2010, the OECD reported a gender wage gap in the medium full-time earnings of 17.6% across its members.

In the EU, women earn on average 17.5% less than men during their lifetimes.

In 2009 in the US, the women’s to men’s earnings ratio for 25-34 yr olds was 89% and for 45-54 yr olds was 74%.

In case you thought the gender gap is restricted to the lower levels of workers, a survey done by the World Economic Forum (WEF) last year showed that there is a yawning gender gap in the corporate sector too. The average annual income of a woman is $1,185, less than a third of a man’s $3,698 in corporate India.

Articles Published Regarding Such Discrimination:

Traditionally, women have not enjoyed equal access to basic human rights, protections, resources, and services. Unfortunately, gender inequality is still present in every society and remains as a huge barrier for the world.

There are also two terms which explain different types of discrimination and give us courage to further push for women’s rights. First, sexism is a form of discrimination and stereotyping that oppresses women. Second, patriarchy is a system where males are dominant. It is so common in many societies and also within families. Consequently, some violence against women is seen mostly in these types of communities and families.

Recent acts of violence pertaining to women’s rights are: violence within family, rape, sexual abuse, torture, etc. Some of the other issues commonly asked to be recognized as part of women’s rights are: bodily integrity and autonomy, the right to vote (universal suffrage), hold public office, work, fair salary or equal pay, own property and to enter into legal contracts, education, serve in the military, to have marital, parental and religious rights.

Efforts done and progress all over the world:

In India, the Constitution recognized the principle of ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’ for both men and women, and ‘Right to Work’ through Article 39(d) and 41. As far back as 1976 the Equal Remuneration Act came into effect and yet unequal pay dogs working women in India. From small businesses to large organisations to the unorganized sector, women are paid lesser wages than men for the same work.

There have been major international efforts focused at eradicating these inequalities. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the main international human rights treaty for women adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. In The Convention CEDAW, it is often described as an international bill of rights for women. The detailed document defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for international action to end such discrimination.

In 2010, more than four decades after the US had enacted a law in 1963 to end wage discrimination on the basis of sex, President Barack Obama had to bring in yet another legislation to give women the right to seek remedy against wage discrimination since, in the US women earn only 77 cents per dollar earned by men. In 1963 women were paid 59 cents per every dollar earned by men. Obviously, the progress from 59 cents to 77 cents has been a slow crawl to say the least.

Advantages of implementing such a clause:

More effective use of skills.

Positive impact on female workers.

Better human resource management throughout the organization.

Better working relationships among employees.

Positive effects on the reputation and attractiveness of the business.

Success Stories Due To This Clause:

To prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.” [S. 1409] (Avalon Project, 2006) Prior to the Equal Pay Act, men and women were not treated fairly within regards to wages. It was not unheard of for a man to make twice the salary for doing the same job a woman was capable of doing. With the passing of the Equal Pay Act, women are now a driving force in some of the biggest and most successful companies in the world.

Anne Mulcahy, the CEO of the Xerox Corporation, led her company to over $15 million in revenue for 2005 with a 13% profit increase since 2004. Xerox ranks number 4 in the list of Fortune 500 computer and office equipment companies, surpassing powerhouses such as Apple, Pitney Bowes, and Gateway, companies all with men at the helm. (Fortune 500, 2006) Without the enactment of the Equal Pay Act, Anne Mulcahy may never have gotten the chance to advance to her current position.

Talent Tree, a staffing company based out of Houston, Texas, is run by a woman by the name of Brenda Harris. Brenda began as CEO of Talent Tree in 2004 after working for the company for 21 years, beginning as a Staffing Manager. Since Brenda has been at the helm of Talent Tree, the company has seen its first profit in several years and was able to afford a company paid trip to Mexico to reward the branches of Talent Tree who contributed to the success of the company in 2005. Brenda has brought back a sense of family and teamwork to Talent Tree with strong but fair leadership, and because of her, the company is on the road to a success it has not seen in some time. (Talent Tree Names New President, 2004) Brenda has also made Talent Tree an excellent company to work for where diversity is strong and women are treated as equal to men, with compensation decided based on skill and experience, not based on gender, race, or any other minority factor.

Although the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has allowed women such as Brenda Harris and Anne Mulcahy to become successful in what has been known as a man’s world, there is still discrimination against women and many other minorities when it comes to wages. The Equal Pay Act has, in recent years, been the influence for other similar laws such as The Fair Pay Act (S. 840) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 841) to help combat this discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act holds penalties for violations of compensation laws. Unfortunately, some employers do not take these laws seriously as the penalties are not that severe. Changing the penalties to have a more detrimental affect on employers who violate compensation laws will hopefully help to decrease the violations. (Federal Legislation, n.d.).

Conclusion:

Laws are meant to protect society from unjust and unfair behavior, and the passing of such clauses as “Equal Pay for Equal Work for Both Men and Women” has done an outstanding job of protecting women and other minorities from being treated unfairly in the workplace with regard to wages and other compensation. Women are just as capable as men of making successful contributions to companies and therefore have every right to receive equal compensation. This law ensures that compensation is fair and equal to everyone. Although there have been a number of violations over the years, the violations are few and far between and will only decrease as more and more companies are realizing that it takes talent and skill, not gender, to be a success.

“POWER TO WOMEN, POWER TO ALL OF US!”

Woman known as the half of the world. In Indian society is that there is systematic discrimination and neglect of women, which could be in terms of inadequate nutrition, education, health, property and so on. The struggle against violence is actually the struggle against the unequal distribution of power both physical and economic. Although the country’s constitution says women have equal status to men, women are powerless and are mistreated inside and outside the home.

When we will talk about the rights of children so India has the largest child population in the world. India has made some significant commitments towards ensuring the basic rights of children. There has been progress in overall indicators: infant mortality rates are down, child survival is up, literacy rates have improved and school dropout rates have fallen. But the issue of child rights in India is still caught between legal and policy commitments to children. The problem of child trafficking is a big issue in India. In such chaos, media plays a vital role as it is known for image building. In this regards media should bring awareness and should make the children and women aware about their rights. And in last, media needs to improve one factor that it should not bring out only negative points. If any government scheme is brought in light, its positive aspects should be broadcast by media.

Keywords: Children, Media, Rights, Woman
INTRODUCTION

At times the dynamic struggles for women’s basic democratic right appeared in many countries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Though these movements differed in their reasons and tactics, the fight for female suffrage, along with other women’s rights concerns, cut across many national boundaries.

Woman is known as the half of the world. In Indian society is that there is systematic discrimination and neglect of women’s in India, which could be in terms of inadequate nutrition, denial or limited access to education, health and property rights, child labor and domestic violence etc. The fear of sexual violence has been a powerful factor in restricting women’s behavior and sense of freedom. The struggle against violence is actually the struggle against the unequal distribution of power both physical and economic among the sexes. Although the country’s constitution says women have equal status to men, women are powerless and are mistreated inside and outside the home. Women face malnutrition, especially for pregnant or nursing women.

And when we will talk about the rights of children so India has the largest child population in the world. India has made some significant commitments towards ensuring the basic rights of children. There has been progress in overall indicators: infant mortality rates are down, child survival is up, literacy rates have improved and school dropout rates have fallen. But the issue of child rights in India is still caught between legal and policy commitments to children on the one hand, and the fallout of the process of globalisation on the other.

Over the last decade, countries across the world have been changing their existing economic models in favour of one driven by the free market, incorporating processes of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. The direct impact of free trade on children may not leap to the eye, but we do know that globalised India is witnessing worsening levels of basic health, nutrition and shelter.

The negative fallout is visible: children are being deprived of even the scarce social benefits once available; they are displaced by forced and economic migration, increasing the number of children subsisting on the streets; more and more children are being trafficked within and across borders; and rising numbers of children are engaged in part- or full-time labour.

MEDIA

The mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. After the introduction we talk about firstly the Media in India. As we all know that media is fulfilling the purpose of providing information to large audience through various means of communication. But now media also makes lot of money through major controversies like for e.g. at the time of 16 December, 2012 rape case all people of India are watching news channels for latest updates about the rape case so in between that news channels earn lot of money by giving advertisements (at that time when more people are watching continuously the news the main aim of adds are fulfilled and therefore the news channels take 2 lakhs for 2 min adds and make money).

Conclusion is that when such a thing happens like rape or murder which creates interest in public, media take advantage of that time & utilizes it as a golden period for them.

HOW MEDIA PROTECTS THE RIGHTS?

Media protects the rights women, child, disabled & minorities. It creates awareness & and survey around the public and ask them various questions to make them feel supportive & grab information & it also help us to know about their thinking about the cause and after that. Lastly remedies & suggestions of different people are taken as to protect the right.

Conclusion is that by major broadcasting media help many people to know the reality & help them to fight for their rights.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS, SOCIAL INCLUSION AND THE MEDIA

We aim to increase public awareness about women’ rights and to respond to demands from women’s organization to strengthen communication and solidarity between women. We want to encourage women to make greater use of information technology for communication and the media to support networking among women’s organization and activists, to promote the human rights of women and women equality. We also aim to increase the understanding of women’s rights, globalization and media among policy makers and the general public. To achieve this we will organize activities such as conferences, workshops, interviews and media interventions (print, radio and web). We will also carry out research and produce media interventions in order to increase the visibility of women’s rights, which will focus on; the trafficking of women, gender discrimination and violence against women in the labor market and the objectification and exclusion of women by mainstream media.

NEGATIVE & POSITIVE ASPECTS OF CHILD RIGHTS

There are both the aspects child rights negative as well as positive. like for e.g. according to fundamental rights child till the age of 14 child should be given free education but some children are still working at tea stalls etc .on the other hand the gang rape case one person who is guilty in under 18 so no case can run on that boy but u think if he can do such shameful thing or crime of that level then why is he considered as child here negative advantages of rights are taken.

Conclusion is that both advantages & disadvantages are taken of fundamental rights &which can cause major harm to the public ahead in future.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

Through media we get to know about the emergency numbers which will help people when he would be in difficulty.

112- Worldwide number

100- Delhi police

P&G PRODUCTS

These are several products &when we purchase the product some amount of money is used for education for poor people or for children who can’t get enough education.

LOOPHOLES

1. When any crime happens and police reaches on the spot they fight with each other as under which than the area comes, then they move to the victim.

2. Victim is taken to trauma center in any case this should not be done as victim can die in way so he/she should be taken to the nearest hospital.

3. After happening of any crime politicians should not give their wrong & fake speeches against victim as for e.g. in 16 December, 2012 gang rape case many politicians gave their comment like “Agar ladki lakshman rekha paar karegi to seeta haran hoga”. They should not pass comment like this & if they are talking about this then why they have adopted western culture they must be following Ram Yug.

4. sc/st reservation is another loophole of our society as when one child is general & secured 90% marks in 12 then sc/st student secures only 70% but they stand equal when it comes to admission & sc/st gets admission but general student does not get education.

HOW MEDIA FAIL TO PROTECT CHILD RIGHTS?

The country’s existing media policies do not protect children’s right to media due to the absence of specific provisions ensuring children’s participation in media and their information say a study. Though the government is obliged to protect children’s right to freedom of expression according to international convention, it alongside private television channels and radio stations give importance to children’s programme and related news. Moreover, the present laws and policies in the country do not protect children privacy and dignity, Said the study. The findings were revealed at a “Roundtable discussion on Analyzing Broadcast media policies in the light of Child Right”.

OBJECTIVE

In presenting paper my objectives are followings:

The role of Media in protecting and consuming the rights of children and women.

To preserve the basic rights of survival, development, participation and protection of women and children.

METHOODOLOGY

Methodology used in this paper is a complied study of various papers, websites, print media and electronic media with related topics of the paper.

CONCLUSION

The media plays a very crucial role in safeguarding and protecting the human rights for the women and children of India. It is because of media that the women and children have learnt about their human rights, violation of human rights and protection of human rights. Although looking into the current scenario, the challenges and the not-so-good events occurring daily with children and women all over the country, there is a requirement of looking into the current media structure, media working and the developmental issues in context to media. The greed that has developed in the recent past has actually abolished the main reason of the existence of media which should be curbed as soon as possible.

In April 1992, when a mostly white jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of a black motorist, thousands of people in Los Angeles, mainly young black and Latino males, joined in what has often been characterized as a race riot. In the summer of 2001, ethnic riots occurred on the streets of towns and cities in the north of England (Oldham, Leeds, Burnley, Bradford), involving young British Asian men and young White British men. More recently, in November 2005, riots emerged in Paris’ suburbs, sparked by the accidental deaths of two Muslim teenagers, and then spread to 300 French towns and cities. Most of the rioters were the French-born children of immigrants from Arab and African countries, a large percentage being Muslim. These race and ethnic riots have all recently placed the issue of racial and ethnic identity at the forefront of political debate in the United States and in Europe. In this paper, we endeavour to discuss many issues especially on gender issues, relationship issues, family issues, notion of beauty, women in sports and migration issues. The way the characters behaved and how the other characters behaved towards them portrays the theme and the issues involved.

Gender issue is portrayed through Indian beliefs as well as Western beliefs. The traditional notion that girls should not be involved in sports existed in both the Indian family as well as the England family. This can be seen in both Jesminder’s family as well as Catherine’s family where their mother’s strongly discouraged them from playing soccer as soccer is meant only for the boys. Both mothers cannot tolerate the idea that their daughters are playing and enjoying soccer thus all kinds of comedies ensued because of the differing ideas mothers and daughters have. Through gender issues, the traditional notion of beauty is also depicted. Anything that is ugly has to be hidden while things that are not of social norms are frowned upon. For example, in the Indian family, Jesminder’s mother was shocked that her daughter would reveal her scars just to wear shorts to play soccer. Indian girls are supposed to cover up their bodies and must not dress up like the boys.

Jesminder’s mother also does not want Jesminder to play soccer because it causes her to become dark and thus she is not beautiful. This perceptions cause Jesminder to put on a facade. In front of her family members, she dressed up like a dutiful Indian daughter. Behind them, she strips to her jersey and shorts in order to pursue her passion. Hilarity is created through such perceptions and the things done by Jesminder to ‘bend’ the rules and yet appear to be a dutiful daughter in her parent’s eyes. As for the England family, Catherine’s mother wants her daughter to be ladylike. It is highly comical when mother and daughter went shopping and the mother insists that her daughter wears a push-up bra. This typical notion on how girls should doll up is highly comical as the mother is enforcing her daughter something that she is not. This shows that the tradition notion of beauty not only exist amongst the Indians but the England people as well.

Issues on gays and lesbianism have also been touched on in this movie. Gays and lesbianism is not accepted in both societies. For example, Jesminder’s male best friend confesses to her that he likes David Beckham. The issue on him being gay is kept hushed amongst them as being Indians; they are not supposed to go against social and traditional norms by becoming gay. Lesbianism is touched upon when Catherine’s mother assumed that Catherine and Jesminder are lesbian couples. Due to her overreactions, hilarity was created. This shows that Indians still stick to their traditional culture whilst England people are not that advanced in their thinking either.

The traditional issue on marriage still exists amongst the Indian characters in this movie. Pinky’s boyfriend broke up their engagement just because Jesminder, Pinky’s sister, was seen hugging an England boy. This shows the unfairness that befalls on Pinky for something she has not done. To heighten the comic effect, the ‘boy’ Jesminder was hugging is actually a girl. Catherine was mistaken to be a boy just because she has short hair. Once again, the traditional notion of beauty on how girls’ hair length should be creeps in. Jesminder also refuses to inform her family that her England coach is her boyfriend for fearing that her parents could not accept the idea. Thus this shows that they are still traditional. Apart from gender issues, family issues and relationship issues, migration issues also play a large role in this movie. Their house is a symbol to show how the Indian family has assimilated to the England society. The semi-detached house is a reflection of how the family has blended into England while at the same time preserving their cultural roots and background. The occasional lights displayed on the house show the difference of the family compared to the rest of the neighbourhood. However, this difference has also been accepted by the society there as the lights gave out a beautiful effect.

This film also examines women who must explain their choice to participate in a sport, which traditionally men only competed in. It was noted that how a woman who plays soccer and enjoyed it immensely and even dreamt of playing professionally, had to overcome the traditional ideas of her family in order to achieve what she wanted the most. It presents a myriad of complex issues and presents them in a way that is appealing and stimulating. In this film, women in sport is an issue, but one that has come far in the history of women and sport-now, at least in soccer, women can and do play professionally and that is not an odd or remarkable thing. Women are now able to play sports; however, there are still obstacles and stereotypes which the characters still come into contact with and deal with on a daily basis. Jules, one of the main characters, has to live with her mother who tries so hard to make her more feminine; while Jess, the main character, must live with the traditional notions and experiences of her family.

It can be said that “Bend It Like Beckham” really presented a more realistic example of the obstacles that women face, by looking specifically at one individual and her specific circumstances. It allows for a situation in which Jess must fight for what she believes in and try to move her own family forward. This film also brought in questions of not only femininity but also gender issues and gender relations, and what it means to be a woman playing sports today. There are still stereotypes and ideals about women that are not necessarily written in stone any longer, and it appears that we can look forward to a future where those stereotypes may no longer be so deeply imbedded.

The families learnt to assimilate into England’s culture through their children’s experience. Pinky’s ability to find an Indian husband and moving on with her life creates satisfaction amongst her family members. This shows that they belong in the society. Jesminder’s achievements in her A Levels examinations and her ability to qualify in an England soccer team for girls also show that assimilation and acceptance has taken place. The comic effect that was produced in this movie reflects the things that occur in the society and shows how the society adapts to it. The Indian family managed to preserve their traditional and cultural roots despite being far away from India. Westerners are also not spared from traditional thinking.

We conclude that intense forms of ethnic identity and socialization appear to be formed in social contexts in which the minority ethnic trait is mostly “threatened” either directly by the actions of the majority group or indirectly simply by being exposed to the interaction with the majority norm of behaviour in a mixed neighbourhood. Bend It Like Beckham’ is all about a young girl’s search for cultural identity in the 21st Century England.

Referencing
Stevenson, D. ‘Women, Sport and Globalisation; competing discourses of sexuality and nation’ Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol 26, No. 2 May 2002
Messner, M., Duncan, M., & Cooky, C. ‘Slience, Sports Bras and Wrestling Porn; women in televised sports news and highlights shows’ Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol 27, No. 1 February 2003
Wearing, B. (1996) Gender; the pain and pleasure of difference, Longman, Melbourne Chapter 8 Leisure
Grosz, E. (1994) Volatile Bodies: Towards a Corporeal Feminism, Allen & Unwin, Sydney
Kell, P. (2000) Good Sports: Australian sport and the myth of the fair go, Pluto Press, Annandale Chapter 7 Golden Girls, Lesbians and Sexing Up; Women and Sport
Jarvie, G. & Maguire, J. (1994) Sport and Leisure in Social Thought, Routledge, London Chapter 7 Feminist thought and the boundaries of sisterhood
Young Murdock, I. (1990) Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays in Philosophy and Social Theory, Indiana University Press, Bloomongton

In recent years increase in genetically caused diseases is one of the major threat to mankind. Some of the genetically caused diseases are down syndrome, diabetes, obesity, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis. This review paper explains how BioMEMS (Biological MicroElectroMechanicalSystem) technology used in microarrays and finding of gene expression which leads to medicine for particular diseases. BioMEMS research has been acquiring importance, due to the possibility of exploiting miniaturization to create new opportunities in medicine. BioMEMS systems in general have more diversity of materials and function than conventional MEMS devices. In BioMEMS ink-jet printing, photolithography techniques were introduced to deposit protein and DNA in array. DNA and protein micro-arrays based BioMEMS could be very extensively for rapid detection, drug discovery, and screening, especially when combined with integrated micro-fluidics and sensitive detection technologies. The techniques used to define patterns on semiconductor surfaces were utilized to construct arrays of single-stranded DNA. Once single strands of known sequences (capture probes) are placed at specific known sites on a chip surface, hybridization with molecules of unknown sequence (target probes) can reveal the sequence. Microarray-based gene expression profiling can be used to identify genes whose expression is changed in response to disease caused genetically by comparing gene expression in infected to that in uninfected cells or tissues. Protein and antibody arrays can play a key role in search for disease-specific proteins that have medical, diagnostic, prognostic, and commercial potential as disease markers or as drug targets and for determination of predisposition to specific disease via genotypic screening. Array-based integrated chips and micro-fluidics hold a great potential for the development of high-throughput approaches to systematically analyze these proteins and to assign a biological function, determine protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. This paper tells about varies applications of BioMEMS to detect the defective gene the causes diseases and the fabrication methods used in microarrays chip production.

Keywords: LOC ‘Lab-on-a-chip’, BioMEMS (Biological MicroElectroMechanicalSystem), I?TAS (Micro Total Analysis System), Oligonucleotide, Microdroplets , Electrospray.

1. Introduction

Microarray technology has been applied to study of gene expression to study mechanisms of diseases and to accelerate the drug discovery process. There is a definite trend towards increasing the use of molecular diagnostic methods, and biochip technologies, along with bioinformatics techniques. Classification of human disease using microarrays is considered to be important. The emphasis is not only on diagnosis but also on disease management, including monitoring the effect of treatment and determining prognosis [1]. Microarray and lab-on-a-chip systems are going to fulfill these new requirements, including the miniaturization of biological assays as well as the parallelization of analysis. Although the concept has been performed by miniaturizing the analytical equipments, the technology comes from the microeletromechanical and microelectronics industries [2]. ‘Lab-on-a-chip’ technology is the method of choice to integrate processes and reaction and scale them down from conventional glassware to microfluidics, involving micro-sized channels in glass or polymer chips [3]. DNA microarray also knows as DNA chips, comprise a new technology emerging at a tremendous pace because of its power, flexibility, sensitivity and relative simplicity [4]. BioMEMS for proteomics can be divided into LOC device for specific tasks such as protein isolation, purification, digestion, and separation; and microarray device for high throughput study of protein abundance and function. An emergence of DNA, protein microarray has emerged over the last few years with commercial potential beyond the confines of the research laboratory [5]. In this paper we start our discussion with the history of microarray; subsequently we go into the details of general techniques used in DNA and protein microarray followed by fabrication and the application and future of microarray.

2. History of Microarray

Microarray technology evolved from Southern blotting, where fragmented DNA is attached to a substrate and then probed with a known gene or fragment [6]. The first reported use of this approach was the analysis of 378 arrayed lysed bacterial colonies each harboring a different sequence which were assayed in multiple replicas for expression of the genes in multiple normal and tumor tissue [7]. These early gene arrays were made by spotting cDNA onto filter paper with a pin-spotting device. The use of miniaturized microarray for gene expression profiling was first reported in 1995 [8]. This technology allowed scientists to analyze thousands of mRNAs in a single experiment to determine whether expression is different in disease state. Unfortunately, mRNA levels within a cell are often poorly correlated with actual protein abundance [9]. A complete eukaryotic genome on a microarray was published in 1997[10]. The development of biochip has a long history, starting with early work on the underlying sensor technology. In 1953, Watson and Crick announced their discovery of now familiar double helix structure and sequencing techniques by Gilbert and Sanger in 1977 [11, 12]. Two additional developments enable the technology used in modern DNA-based biosensors. First, in 1983 Kary Mullis invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, a method for amplifying DNA concentration. This discovery made possible the detection of extremely small quantities of DNA in samples. Second, in 1986 Hood and co-workers devised a method to label DNA molecules with fluorescent tags instead of radiolables, thus enabling hybridization experiments to be observed optically [13]. A big boost in research and commercial interest came in the mid 1990’s, when I?TAS (Micro Total Analysis System) technology turned out to provide interesting tooling for genomics application, like capillary electrophoresis and DNA microarray [14]. Immunoassays, the precursor to protein chips available since the 1980s, exploit the interactions between antibodies and antigens in order to detect their concentrations in biology sample. Their creation, however, is tedious and expensive. As to this, research at Harvard University combined the technology of immunoassays and DNA microarray to develop the protein chip [15].

3. DNA Microarrays and Fabrication
3.1 Introduction

Microarray analysis allows simultaneous of gene and gene products, including DNA, mRNA and proteins. There are basically two formats: cDNA microarrays and oligonucleotide microarrays. A cDNA microarray is an orderly arrangement of DNA probe “spot” printed onto a solid matrix such as glass, nylon, or silicon. The substrate is usually less than 4A-4 cm, while the spot size is less than 250I?m. A DNA molecular probe is tethered (embedded and immobilized) to each spot on microarray. surface modification of the substrate, such as wit poly-L-lysin or silane, facilitates adhesion of the DNA probes. Hybridization is the base pairing between target and the probe, and is limited by the sensitivity and specificity of the microarray. There are three basic types of oligonucleotide microarrays: gene expression, genotyping (SNPs), and resquencing. Genomic DNA may be used for the study of SNPs, while expressed DNA sequence (cDNA clones, expressed sequence tags or ESTs) are used for gene expression [17].

3.2 Microarrays for Gene Expression

Gene expression microarrays are tools that tell how much RNA (if any) a gene is making. Since 1977, and prior to microarray, only a few genes could be studied at a time using the northern blot analysis. GeneChip (Fig. 1.1) microarrays use the natural chemical attraction, or hybridization, between DNA on the array and RNA target molecule from the sample based on complementary base pairs. Only RNA target molecule that have exact complementary base pair bind to the prob. Gene expression detection microarray is that they are able to measure tens of thousands of genes at a time, and it is this quantitative change in the scale of gene measurement that has led to a qualitative change in our ability to understand regulatory processes that occur at the cellular level. It is possible to obtain near comprehensive expression data for individual tissues or organs in various states. Compressions are possible for transcriptional activity across different tissue, and group of patients with and without a particular disease or with two different diseases. Microarray studies are designed in principle to directly measure the activity of the genes involved in particular mechanism or system rather than their association with a particular biological or clinical feature [18]. Although genes may be thousand of base pairs long, it is only necessary to construct a probe of 25 bases that represent a unique complementary portion of the target gene. In other words, the short probe on the microarray measures the expression of the complete gene by sampling only a small section of the gene. In some instances, as little as one RNA molecule out of 100,000 different RNAs in an original sample may be detected [19].

Sensitivity is the ability to identify the rarely expressed transcripts in a complex background. Specification is the ability to discern between different family members. The hybridization efficiency of two nucleic acid strand depends on

1) Sequence-dependent factors for length, extent of complementarity, and overall base composition;

2) Sequence independent factors such as the concentration of the probe and target, time, temperature, cation concentration, valency character, pH, dielectric and chaotropic medica, surface characteristics of the solid, and density spacing of the probe molecules; and

3) Sample-dependent complex background signal, which are probes interacting with the wrong complementary sequence [20].

Fig 1.1 GeneChip probe microarray cartridge (Image courtesy of Affmetrix)
3.3 Microarray for SNPs

Small difference in a DNA sequence can have major impact on health. Deletions, insertions, and other mutations of as little as a single base pair may result in signification disease. Identification these mutations require determining the exact sequence for thousand of SNPs distributed throughout the genome. Using microarray, it is possible to scan the whole genome and look for genetic similarities among a group of people who share the same disease. Using microarray to genotype 10,000 to 100,000 SNPs, it is possible to identify the gene or group of genes that contribute to disease. For example, if a large group of people with a given diagnosis have several SNPs in common, but not healthy people, then mutations may be looked for within those SNPs. A genotyping microarray may look for up to 100,000 SNPs or more [21].

3.4 Fabrication

DNA “spotting” may be accomplished by depositing PCR amplified ESTs (500-5000 base pairs), or by in suit synthesis of oligodeoxynucleotide sequences (20-50 base pairs) on the substrate. There are variety of spotting techniques that include mechanical and ink-jet style application.

The GeneChip brand arrays provide high levels of reproducibility, sensitivity, and specification. The following process steps are used for fabrication of the GeneChip:

1) GeneChip probe array are manufactured through a combination of photolithography (Fig 1.2) and combinatorial chemistry. With a calculated minimum number of synthesis steps, GeneChip technology produce array with hundreds of thousands of different probes packed at an extremely high density. Small sample volumes are required for study. Manufacture is scalable because the length of the probe, not their number, determines the number of synthesis steps required.

2) Manufacturing begins with a 5-in square quartz wafer. Initially the quartz is washed to ensure uniform hydroxylation across its surface. Because quarts is naturally hydroxylated, it provides an excellent substrate for the attachment of chemical, such as linker molecules, that are later used to position the probes on the arrays.

Fig 1.2 Photolithographic technique are used to locate and add nucleotides for fabrication of array of probe (Image courtesy of Affymetrix)

3) The wafer is placed in a bath of silane, which reacts with hydroxyl groups of quartz, and forms a matrix of covalently linked molecules. This distance between these silane determines the probes’ packing density, allowing array to hold over 500,000 probe location, or features, within a mere 1.28cm2. Each of these features harbors millions of identical DNA molecules. The silane film provides a uniform hydroxyl density to initiate probe assembly. Linker molecules, attached to the silane matrix, provide a surface that may be spatially activated by light (Fig 1.3).

4) Probe synthesis occurs in parallel, resulting in the addition of an A, C, T or G nucleotide to multiple growing chains simulataneously. To define which oligonucleotide chains will receive a nucleotide in each step, photolithographic masks, carrying 18 to 20 I?m2 windows that corresponds to the dimensions of individual features, are placed over the coated wafer. The windows are distributed over the mask based on the desired sequence each. When the UV light is shone over the mask in the first step of synthesis, the exposed linkers become deprotected and are available for nucleotide coupling. critical to this step is the precise alignment of the mask with the wafer before each synthesis step. To ensure that this critical step is accurately completed, chrome marks on the wafer and on the mask are perfectly aligned.

5) Once the desired features have been activated, a solution containing a single type of deoxynucleotide with a removable protection group is flushed over the wafer’s surface. The nucleotide attaches to the activated linkers, initiating the synthesis process.

6) Although the process is highly efficient, some activated molecules fail to attach the new nucleotide. To prevent these “outliers” from becoming probes with missing nucleotides, a capping step is used to truncate them. In additional, the side chains of the nucleotides are protected to prevent the formation of branched oligonucleotides.

Fig 1.3 GeneChip fabrication steps (Image courtesy Affmetrix).

7) In the next synthesis step, another mask is placed over the wafer to allow the next round of deprotection and coupling. The process is repeated until the probes reach their full length, usually 25 nucleotides.

8) Although each position in the sequence of an oligonucleotide can be occupied by one of four nucleotides, resulting in an apparent need for 24A-4, or 100, different masks per wafer, the synthesis process can be designed to significantly reduce this requirement. Algorithms that help minimize mask usage calculate how to best coordinate probe growth by adjusting synthesis rates of individual probes and identifying situations when the same mask can be multiple times.

9) Once the synthesis is completed, the wafer are deprotected and diced, and the resulting individual arrays are picked and packed in flowcell cartridges. Depending on the number of probe features per array, a single wafer can yield between 49 and 400 arrays.

10) The manufacturing process ends with a comprehensive series of quality control tests. Additional, a sampling of array from every wafer is used to test the batch by running control hybridizations. A quantitative test of hybridization is also performed using standardized control probes [22].

3.5 Microarray Data Analysis

Data filtration is performed by selecting threshold pixel intensity; and 2-, 5-, or 10- fold difference between the samples. Different genes with an identical profile may represent a coordinate response to a stimulus. Genes with opposite profiles may represent repression. To compare expression profiles it is necessary to define a set of metrics, or operations that return a value that is proportional in some way to the similarities or difference between two expression profiles. The most commonly used metrics are Euclidean distance and Pearson coefficient of correlation [23].

3.5.1 Euclidean Distance

Two or more profile of each of two genes are compared as a mathematical matrix operation of n-dimensional space, where n is the number of expression patterns available. The Euclidean distance is the square root of the summation of the difference between all pairs of corresponding values. For two genes the distance is as follows:

Where

d is the distance,

e1 is the expression pattern of gene1,

e2 is the expression pattern of gene 2, and

i is the element of the expression profile:

Gene1 (e11, e12, …., e1n) and gene1 (e21, e22, aˆ¦.,e2n).

3.5.2 Pearson Correlation Coefficient

The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) gives a value of from -1 to 1, and closer to 1 (negative and positive correlation, respectively). The closer two profiles have the same expression, the closer the value will be to 1:

Where and Sen are the mean and typical deviation of all of the point of the nth profile, respectively.

4. Protein Microarray and Fabrication
4.1 Introduction

Protein microarrays are becoming an important tool in proteomics, drug discovery programs, and diagnostics [24]. The amount of information obtained from small quantities of biological samples is significantly increased in the microarray format. This feature is extremely valuable in protein profiling, where samples are often limited in supply and unlike DNA, cannot be amplified [25]. Protein microarrays are more challenging to prepare than are DNA chips [26] because several technical hurdles hamper their application. The surfaces typically used with DNA are not easily adaptable to proteins, owing to the biophysical differences between the two classes of bioanalytes [27]. Arrayed protein must be immobilized in a native conformation to maintain their biological function. Unfortunately, proteins tend to unfold when immobilized onto a support so as to allow internal hydrophobic side chains to from hydrophobic bonds with the solid surface [28]. Surface chemistry, capture agents, and detection methods take on special significance in developing microarrays. Microarrays consist of microscopic target spots, planer substrates, rows and columns of elements, and probe molecules in solution. Each protein assessed by a microarray should be the same as the partial concentration of each protein in the biological extract [29]. The past ten years have witnessed a fascinating growth in the field of large-scale and high-throughput biology, resulting in a new era of technology development and the collection and analysis of information. The challenges ahead are to elucidate the function of every encoded gene and protein in an organism and to understand the basic cellular events mediating complex processes and those causing diseases [30-33]. Protein are more challenging to prepare for the microarray format than DNA, and protein functionality is often dependent on the state of proteins, such as post-translational modification, partnership with other proteins, protein subcellular localization, and reversible covalent modification (e.g. phosphorylation). Nonetheless, in recent years there have been considerable achievements in preparing microarray containing over 100 proteins and even an entire proteome [34-36]. Randox Laboratories Ltd. Launched Evidence, the first protein Biochip Array Technology analyzer in 2003. In protein Biochip Array Technology, the biochip replaces the ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) plate or cuvette as the reaction platform. The biochip is used to simultaneously analyze a panel of related tests in a single sample, producing a patient profile. The patient profile can be used in disease screening, diagnosis, monitoring disease progression or monitoring treatment (wiki Biochip). Protein expression profiling, protein-protein binding, drug interaction, protein folding, substrate specificity, enzymatic activity, and the interaction between protein and nucleic acids are among the application of protein microarrays.

Abundance-based microarray, including capture microarray and reverse-phase protein blots, measure the abundance of specific biomolecules using well defined and high specific analyte-specific reagents (ASRs). Different classes of molecules can act as capture molecules in microarray assays, including antigen-antibody, protein -protein, aptamer-ligand, enzyme-substrate, and receptor-ligand [37].

4.2 Spotting

In situ synthesis of protein microarrays as done for DNA microarrays is impractical. Other forms of delivery-based technology must be incorporated. One-drop-at-a-time (microspotting) techniques including use of pins, quills or hollow needles that repeatedly touch the substrate surface depositing one spot after the next in an array format; shooting microdroplets from a ejector similar to ink-jet printing; and depositing charged submicron-sized droplets by electrospray deposition (ESD). Alternatively, parallel techniques such as microcontact printing (I?CP), digital ESD, and photolithographic controlled protein adsorption can be used. Currently, micospotting by robotic techniques has greater use in the research setting, whereas parallel techniques offer cost saving for mass production for commercial use [38].

4.3 Microcontact printing (I?CP)

In microcontact printing stamps are typically made from a silicon elastomer and used to make a microarray of spots with feature size from 0.01 to 0.1I?m. Steps for stamping include the following [38]:

1) Activation of the stamp surface to increase hydrophilicity or to introduce grups for inking to target molecules such as antibodies, protein A, or streptavidin.

2) Direct adsorption of protein molecules or their binding to capture molecules over a period of 0.5-1 hours.

3) Rinsing.

4) Drying in a nitrogen stream for about a minute.

5) Pressing the stamp against a suitable substrate for about a minute to allow transfer of the semidry materials.

Disadvantages include poor control of the amount of materials transferred, small amount of deposited materials, and possible changes in protein function. Microarrays containing up three different proteins were fabricated by I?CP technique and tested as a detection system for specific antibodies [39]. Immunoassay were successfully performed using the patterned protein microarrays, and were characterized by fluorescence microscopy and scanning- probe microscopy. The characterization revealed the quality of the protein deposition and indicated a high degree of selectivity for the targeted antigen-antibody interaction.

4.3 Electrospray Deposition (ESD)

The basic physics underlying the newly emerging technique of electrospray deposition (ESD) as applied to biological macromolecules. Fabrication of protein films and microarrays are considered as the most important applications of this technology. All the major stages in the ESD process (solution electrification, formation of a cloud of charged microdroplets, transformation of microdroplets into ions and charged clusters, deposition, and neutralization) are discussed to reveal the physical processes involved, such as space charge effects, dissipation of energy upon landing and neutralization mechanisms [40]. In electrospray deposition, protein is transferred from the glass capillary positioned 130-350 I?m above a conducting surface. Micro-sized charged droplets move in an electric field created by the difference in electric field potential between the tip and the substrate surface and by the spatial charge of the droplet cloud. The electrostatic repulsion expands the cloud, and microdroplets are deposited as a round spot. The spot density is greater at the center [38].

Two new techniques were recently developed in these laboratories for fabrication of protein microarrays: electrospray deposition of dry proteins and covalent linking of proteins from dry deposits to a dextran-grafted surface. Here we apply these techniques to simultaneously fabricate 1200 identical microarrays. Each microarray, 0.6 A- 0.6 mm2 in size, consists of 28 different protein antigens and allergens deposited as spots, 30a?’40 I?m in diameter. Electrospray deposition (ESD) of dry protein and covalent linking of proteins from dry deposits to a dextran-grafted surface has been studied from fabrication of microarrays. Electrospray (ES) deposition has been applied to fabricate protein microarrays for immunochemical assay. Protein antigens were deposited as arrays of dry spots on a surface of aluminized plastic. Deposition was performed from water solutions containing a 10-fold (w/w of dry protein) excess of sucrose. Upon contact with humid air, the spots turn into microdroplets of sucrose/protein solution from which proteins were either adsorbed or covalently linked to clean or modified aluminum surfaces. It was found that covalent binding of antigens via aldehyde groups of oxidized branched dextran followed by reduction of the Schiff bonds gives the highest sensitivity and the lowest background in microarray-based ELISA, as compared to other tested methods of antigen immobilization [41].

Protein microarray with an antibody-based protein array for high-throughput immunoassay, with an ESD method using a quartz mask with holes made by an abrasive jet technique, has been performed. An antibody solution was electrosprayed onto an ITO glass, and then antibodies were deposited and cross-linked with a vapor of glutaraldehyde. The dimeters of the spots were approximately 150 I?m. The arrays were then incubated with corresponding target antigenic molecules and washed. The captured antigens were collectively detected by fluorescence and chemiluminescence. The signals were quantitatively visualized with a high-resolution CCD [42].

4.4 Surface immobilization

In many proteomics applications, one is interested in the facile and covalent immobilization of protein molecules without the use of any special tag or chemical modification. This is most conveniently achieved via chemical reactivity towards the commonly available -NH2 groups on the surface of protein molecules. One of the most efficient leaving groups towards -NH2 is N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) attached via an ester bond. We have developed an NHS surface based on the zero background PEG coating. It allows for fast immobilization reactions with the remaining NHS groups easily washed off to expose the zero background PEG coating (Fig 1.4). In subsequent assays, the PEG functionality ensures that binding of particular molecules to the surface is only through the specific interaction with the immobilized protein molecule and the commonly seen background problem is solved without the need of a blocking step.

Fig 1.4 NHS activated surfaces for the immobilization of proteins, peptides, & antibodies (Image courtesy: ZeroBkg® )

Peptide and protein microarrays fabricated on NHS/PEG/glass slides (Fig 1.5) Nanoliter droplets of peptide (21 amino-acids) or protein (fibrinogen) solution containing 10% glycerol are deposited on the glass slide with a robotic arrayer and incubated for 10 minutes. NHS-groups in remaining area are removed by a deactivating buffer for 30 minutes at room temperature. The immobilized peptide or protein on the surface is detected by incubation with the primary antibody specifically against the peptide or fibrinogen, followed by wash and incubation with cy3-conjugated secondary antibody. The glass slides are imaged on a laser scanner. The most important result is the exceptionally low background due to the PEG coating. While the NHS/PEG coated glass slides are ideal for protein, peptide, and antibody arrays, they are also useful as low background surfaces for other microarrays, such as oligonucleotides, carbohydrates, and other small molecules. The non-fouling property of the high density PEG coating becomes critically important when one uses such an array for the study of complex biological samples, such as plasma or serum. In order to detect molecules of low abundance, such as cancer biomarkers, one needs to minimize non-specific adsorption of other abundant biomolecules [43].

Fig 1.5 Fluorescence images of peptide (left) and protein (Fibrinogen, right) microarrays fabricated on NHS/PEG/glass slides and detected by immunostaining. The diameter of each spot is ~100 I?m (Image courtesy: ZeroBkg® ).
4.5 Self-assembling Protein Microarrays

Molecular fabrication of SAMS depends on chemical complementarily and structural compatibility, both of which confer the weak and noncovalent interaction that bind building blocks together during self-assembly. Water-mediated hydrogen bonds are important for living system. In nature the assembly of peptide and proteins has yielded collagen, keratin, pearl, shell, coral and calcite microlenses, and optical waveguides [44]. The application of self-assembly techniques in the design of biocompatible protein microarray surfaces, immobilizing cells, and lipid layers, and spotting techniques has been reviewed by others [45-46].

4.6 Detection Strategies

Detection and readout of complex formation in each spot is performed with fluorescence, chemiluminescence, mass spectrometry, radioactivity, or electrochemistry. Label-free methods include mass spectrometry and SPR. Labeled probe methods include use of a chromogen, fluorophor, or a radioactive isotope. Direct strategies use a labeled antibody to directly bind to the target molecule immobilized on the substrate. Amplification strategies based on avidin-biotin binding enhance sensitivity. Indirect strategies use an immobilized antibody for capturing labeled, specific molecules from the sample. Sandwich assay as noted earlier require two distinct antibodies foe detection of a capture molecule. The first antibody is immobilized on the substratum, and serves to capture the molecule of interest. A second labeled antibody then binds to the first complex allowing detection [47].

5. Application of Microarray

Ever since the first 1000 probe DNA microarray was reported over a decade ago [48], great strides have been made in both quantitative and qualitative applications. Today, a standard DNA chip contains up to 6.5 million spots and can encompass entire eukaryotic genomes. A plethora of alternative applications are continually reported, albeit at various stages of maturity. What was once seen solely as a transcript profiling technology has now emerged as a reliable format for genotyping, splice variant analysis, exon identification, ChIP-on-chip, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), resequencing, gene synthesis, RNA/RNAi synthesis and onchip translation [49]. Perhaps the most exciting recent developments from a drug discovery perspective come from the integration of diverse technological innovations into microarray-based solutions, especially for other classes of molecular entity. From small molecules (e.g. metabolites, nucleotides, amino acids, sugars) to oligomeric and polymeric derivatives thereof, microarrays are now allowing us to examine the intra-class (e.g. protein-protein) and inter-class (e.g. protein: small molecule) interactions of these bio-system components on a systems-wide level. Yet, despite the appearance of a diversity of microarray types (e.g. Small Molecule Microarrays (SMMs) [51], Protein-Nucleic acid (PNA) microarrays [52], Glyco-chips [53], peptide chips [54], antibody chips [55], cell and tissue microarrays [56]), each differs in their relative contribution to the Voltaire challenge. Certainly the foremost of such opportunities are thos

Qualitative Research MethodologyIntroduction

In this essay I am going to express my understanding of the key principles of qualitative research. In order to understand the nature of qualitative research, we must primarily look at the constructivist ontology and the interpretivist epistemology, which will allow us to develop an understanding of the context in which the qualitative methodology is conceptualised.

Furthermore, I will look at the research design process and the inductive nature of this subjective, value laden procedure. I will then go on to look at the principles of qualitative research, with focus on the concepts of trustworthiness and authenticity from a qualitative perspective, which can help sociologists gain Verstehen with individuals. To conclude my essay, I will look at the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research, making reference to specific methods.

Ontology and Epistemology

Researchers using qualitative methods of inquiry believe that social phenomena are constructed through human interactions and not determined by governing laws. This is known as the constructivist ontology and aims to understand how a social phenomenon is created through interaction and intersubjective meaning. From their perspective, they believe that social actors create the social world through interactions as opposed to objectivists who believe that social structures determine individual actions and behaviour (Bryman, 2004, p. 3-25).

This constructivist ontology needs to be investigated using an interpretivist epistemology, and by understanding this epistemology we can therefore appreciate the key principles of qualitative research. By using interpretivism and an inductive form of inquiry, sociologists aim to understand how individuals construct meaning. For interpretivists, subjectivity is incredibly important due to the subjective nature of individuals, and they try to gain Verstehen. They would see value neutrality as unnecessary because it is impossible to gain Verstehen without using qualitative methodologies (Berg, 2007, p. 19-52).

The Inductive Research Process

To conduct qualitative research, you would primarily need to select an area of research and research questions, and in this sense the type of question you select will guide your research process. Qualitative research is inductive, so it does not require an initial hypothesis, unlike quantitative research. This is because behavioural and socio-cultural patterns emerge over time and in some cases are not noticed until after the research has been conducted. After selecting an area of interest, the researchers would need to decide on the research setting and establish what method/s they will use to conduct their research (Bryman, 2004, p. 265-290).

There are many methods that can be used in qualitative research, which, according to Strauss and Corbin is used to describe “any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification” (1990, p.17). The researchers themselves play an important part in the research process as they bring their values to the research, which complements the interpretivist epistemology.

Researchers have to be aware of the ethical guidelines set out by the British Sociological Association (BSA). Researchers have to take into consideration professional integrity, anonymity, privacy, confidentiality and informed consent (unless research is conducted covertly). Covert research has ethical implications if the research is not important and in the public’s interest. The researchers are in a sense a tool used to collect primary data, and the flexible nature of qualitative research means they are not bound by a rigid process and can adapt their research when needed. The final stage of qualitative research is writing up findings. Research results can be compiled to form a book, journal, article or report (Bryman, 2004, p. 61-82).

The Principles of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research looks at the micro sociological context. That is, qualitative researchers like to study people in their natural environments. This means that qualitative research is context specific. Qualitative research is concerned with the quality of the social research and aims to be explanatory by looking at the interaction between variables.

Qualitative researchers want to understand and explore social situations through generating descriptions from on-site observations and interviews. Qualitative researchers focus on understanding patterns and themes as stated by the author of Jones International University web site:

The real world is complex; qualitative research focuses on the elements of that complexity: emotions, meanings, symbols, motivation, thought processes, feelings, patterns and themes. Qualitative research seeks to make sense of this world by finding meaning through the eyes of participants. (http://www.jonesinternational.edu/schools/courses/edu793.php)

Using qualitative methodology, researchers are able to give detailed accounts and descriptions of socio-cultural phenomena which do not need to be conveyed quantitatively. In contrast, quantitative, positivist, deterministic research generalizes findings to the whole population and aims to be conclusive by discovering governing laws (Bryman, 2004. p. 3-25).

There are also many other methods qualitative researchers can employ, for example, focus groups, interviews and case studies. After the researcher has decided on the methods, they need to conduct their research. Qualitative researchers are not bound to one particular research method. They can use a variety of different methods if their research requires them to. This use of multi methodology is called triangulation (Berg, 2007, p. 19-52).

Qualitative research design is circular. Qualitative researchers needto repeat and adapt their design to suit the flow of their research. After selecting their methods and collecting their data, researchers need to analyse their findings, which can be done in various ways. For example, the research findings would need interpreting; this can be done by linking data to a larger sociological context and generating concepts. Findings can also be analysed by detecting patterns and trends in the data. This can be done by using textual analysis, such as coding using computer software such as MaxQDA (Bryman, 2004, p. 398-416).

There are different theoretical approaches involved in qualitative methodology, for example naturalism, ethnomethodology, emotionalism and postmodernist research. Each approach is used as a means of interpreting social phenomena by using a value laden perspective where a researcher applies his/her own values to a social context through an unscientific, flexible process and finally an in-depth, subjective methodology. These principles shape the methods used for qualitative research as they compliment both the constructivist ontology and the interpretivist epistemology. I am now going to discuss some of the different methods used by qualitative researchers that apply these principles.

Qualitative Methods

Qualitative data collection can be conducted through observations. Participant observation is one of the most common methods for qualitative data collection. Participant observation has strong authenticity but it does lack in repeatability as the research is difficult to reproduce in the same way. There are many different ways of conducting participant observation, and it typically requires the researcher to become a participant in the culture or context being observed.

Participant observation is often longitudinal; the researcher needs to spend long periods of time with the focus group to be able to gain a “native’s point of view”. Participant observation can be conducted either overtly or covertly, depending on the nature of the research. Covert participant observation involves the researcher hiding their true identity and motives of their research from their subjects. This is effective in socially sensitive areas, such as deviant or criminal subcultures, where a researcher can gain Verstehen by using qualitative research methodologies (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995, chap 8).

An example of observational methods is ethnography. Ethnography focuses on the sociology of meaning through observation of socio-cultural phenomena; typically, the ethnographer focuses on a small group or community and uses largely participant observation. This research method was employed by the University of Chicago during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Robert Park, an important figure at the University of Chicago in the 1920s, encouraged students to go outside and collect primary information by using observational methods to study social phenomena:

Go and sit in the lounges of the luxury hotels and on the doorsteps of the flophouses; sit on the Gold Coast settees and on the slum shakedown; sit in the Orchestra Hall and the Star and Garter Burlesque. In short, gentlemen, go get the seat of your pants dirty in real research (Park, cited in Prus, 1996, p. 103-140).

Overt participant observation contrasts with covert, as the identity of the researcher and intentions of the research are known to the group being studied. Researchers using this method will often record their findings by making detailed field notes; this, however, can become difficult if the research requires them to take a covert stance, as their ‘cover’ may be jeopardized if they were recording their findings in front of the group. Qualitative research analysis is dependent on building interpretations of the research to gain authenticity and trustworthiness. This may be difficult because of the subjective nature of this method, but due to the ideographic nature of individuals and the interpretivist epistemology, this would not be an issue for qualitative researchers, who ultimately aim to gain Verstehen.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while this approach can be criticized by positivists for its subjective nature and lack of empirical methods, it does, however, offer a more in-depth perspective into individuals and their lives. Qualitative research is rigorous and highly subjective because the researcher’s investigation is overly influenced by the views of the researcher involved. Also, qualitative research does provide a way of extracting more complex, in-depth and comprehensive information from social contexts that would be difficult to retrieve using quantitative methods.

However, this methodology has been criticised by positivists and the objectivist ontology because of the value laden perspective it takes. If the researcher does have any preconceived ideas of the findings, it may cause bias in the results and therefore affect the authenticity of their work. Also the researcher may misinterpret the social phenomena they are studying and therefore have difficulties establishing the real meaning of that particular social situation.

Qualitative research can also be criticised because of its lack of representativeness of the larger population, as qualitative research typically deals with micro social issues that cannot be generalised to the wider population because they are context specific. However qualitative researchers would see this as an advantage because they require a deeper understanding in order to gain Verstehen. Another criticism would be that qualitative methods are also very expensive to conduct, mainly because of the amount of time it takes to interpret data and conduct observational studies.

Despite these criticisms, qualitative research is a flexible, in-depth form of enquiry that is not dominated by statistics or rigid research methods. It is largely dominated by the constructivist ontology and the interpretivist epistemology which believe that the social world is built upon actions and interactions. Researchers adopt this qualitative approach to enable them to form Verstehen with their research topic or group.

Bibliography

Berg, B. (2007) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, Boston:

Pearson.

Bryman, A. (2004) Social Research Methods (Second Edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (eds.) (2003) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Denzin, N. K. (1997) Interpretative Ethnography: Ethnographic Practices for the 21st Century, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (eds.) (2003) Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guba, E. G., Lincoln, Y. S. (1994) Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In . K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 105-117). Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.

Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (1995) Ethnography: Principles in Practice, London: Routledge.

Miles, Matthew B. and Huberman, A. Michael (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Morris S. Schwartz and Charlotte Green Schwartz (1955) ‘Problems in Participant Observation’, American Journal of Sociology, 60, pages 343-53.

Prus, R (1996) “The ethnographic research tradition”, in Symbolic Interaction and Ethnographic Research, New York: State University of New York Press.

Silverman, D. (2001) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction, London: Sage.

Spradley, J. (1980) Participant Observation, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

http://www.jonesinternational.edu/schools/courses/edu793.php

In todays world, we are surrounded by media. Our lives are saturated by newspapers, radio, books, television, movies, the Internet, and many other aspects of media. These can be broadly classified into two types: news media and popular media. In India, both these types provide an insight into Indian life, which is filled with romance, tradition, and all the other day-to-day experiences and situations one might come across. But, even though they might seem the same, they both play very different roles in society.

Popular media represents and recounts a vast number of real life stories, and portrays them in a manner enjoyable for the audience. News media on the other hand, provides more facts and raw information for the audience to understand, with or without a firm opinion of its own on the matter. Popular media reaches out to a much larger audience, as both literate and illiterate people are able to access it, while news media only reaches out to the literate and wealthy people. This difference can become a problem in certain situations. Both these parts of media reflect society constantly, as they are shaped from and around experiences and stories of the people in the society. Usually, both these types concur with each other in the content and representation of society, but there are specific cases in which this ceases to be true. An example of this is the portrayal of the prominence and effects of the dowry system in India today. For a long time, both popular and news media reflected the aspects of the dowry system in the Indian society very vividly and comprehensively, and shared the same view on the topic. But over time, it was noticed that popular media deviated from this pattern and no longer reflected the prominence of the dowry system in society, while the news media continued to do so, thus creating an ideological difference between the two. The problem of the dowry system is still prominent, and the news media continues to reflect this. But since popular media does not reflect society anymore, a majority of the society comes under the impression that there is nothing wrong in what they are doing. This can cause the dowry system to be persistent in the everyday lives of Indian families.

The dowry system is a cultural system in India in which the parents of the bride pay a large sum of money, and give expensive jewelry and other gifts such as car or other household items, to the parents of the groom during marriage (Borah 2). Traditionally, there were many reasons for the establishment of this system. It was a form of inheritance for the bride, since all the family property was inherited by men. It was supposed to be the security for the bride in case any misfortune befell her husband’s house. It was also a system of honoring the groom for his willingness to accept the bride as his wife in marriage, and the gifts given could range from anything significant to even a small token of good wishes (Borah 2). However, the greed for dowry has affected almost all ordinary families in India. Nowadays, in marriages between or amongst all hierarchal levels of society, dowry is generally an unspoken requirement. And due to the exposure to mass media, the gifts given in dowry have transformed into a large transfer of wealth, making it an important factor in marriage.

The social and cultural effects of the dowry system are devastating to the society as a whole. The system reduced women to a commodity and a source of wealth. Even if the dowry is paid, in most cases, the bride is tortured by her in-laws, mentally and physically as their demand for more dowry becomes endless (Chirmade 1992). This torture generally leads to suicide or murder of the bride.

The reason why dowry is still persistent in India is not only because it is difficult to enforce the law against it or because the groom’s family is very demanding, but also because the bride’s family continues to bear with it. Despite the widespread awareness of the negative consequences of dowry and the problems cause by it, it is still seen as a way of buying happiness for the bride (Stone and James, 1995). Many families believe that giving a large dowry would result in better treatment of the daughter by the groom’s family. This has only aggravated the problem as the standard for dowry became high and marriage was made dependent on whether the bride’s family could meet that standard of dowry or not.

A study was done in 1980 which examined students’ expectations of dowry for people with various education backgrounds. Even though majority of the students viewed the dowry system as an ‘evil’ in society and considered it unimportant for marriage, most of the brothers of the respondents gave or received dowry for their sisters’ marriages (Rao and Rao, 1980). Also, depending on the social status and affluence of the family, and the education qualifications of the bride and the groom, the amount of dowry needed to be given varies significantly. There is a positive correlation between a man’s education and status to the dowry his family demands. As a groom’s educational experience increases, the dowry demanded for the marriage also increases.

In 1961, the payment of dowry was prohibited under the Indian Civil Law, and also under sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Despite this, this system of dowry has been a continuous and never ending menace in Indian society. These laws were made in order to make it easier for women to seek redress from the harassment she is under by the man’s family. But these laws have been of little help to brides, who are harassed even today by their in-laws. Instances of such situations have constantly been shown to the public by the media.

The power of media in today’s world is surprising. The media has the freedom to form opinions, and through this they can change the opinions of people. But, people forget that in the end, all media is doing is reflecting society. The stories the media covers, and the plots of the movies that are made (except fantasy fiction of course), all are based on situations which may occur in day to day life, or real life situations. Same was the case with the dowry system. The media clearly depicted the agonies and pain of Indian women as they were suffering from the cruelties of the dowry system. This can be seen from very far back in popular as well as news media.

Dowry-inspired murder cases received immense coverage by news media in the late 1970s and 1980s due to the active role played by women’s organizations. The women’s organizations played a very important role in increasing awareness and coverage of dowry related cases. A study done on the coverage of dowry related cases from 1979-1984 concludes that there was a noticeable improvement in the coverage of dowry in the national papers due to the women’s organizations, although the coverage in regional papers remained the same. By 1979, one dowry related death received serious press coverage. A 24 year old bride from New Delhi, Tarvinder Kaur, was set on fire by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law due to an insufficient dowry paid by her parents. Another significant dowry-related murder case was that of Tripti Sharma, who worked at the Ministry of Defense. She was burned to death by her husband and his family in 1986. A more optimistic and recent case is that of Nisha Sharma. In May 2003, she handed over her future husband to the police on the day of the wedding itself as he was demanding more dowry from her. This example shows what women need to do in cases of dowry abuse. Nisha refused to come under the pressures of the groom’s family, and decided that she was not going to sustain it. These examples from news media are clearly reflective of the state of affairs in India at that time, and the case with popular media was similar.

In 1992, the movie ‘City of Joy’ depicted a family which had really high dowry demands. In the movie, the groom’s father clearly states, “I am firm in requiring for my exceptional son the bicycle, 1000 rupees, and one ounce of gold.” The bride’s father responds by saying, “The child of a king might be worth that, and I’m not even sure of that!” (City of Joy) Another 2001 movie, ‘Lajja’, clearly displayed the consequences of the dowry system, it’s working, and how it may be a big burden on the bride’s family. In the movie, Maithili (Mahima Chaudhary) is about to be married to a wealthy man of a family with a high social status. Maithili’s parents give away everything they have in the dowry, including their land and saved money. Upon still falling short, they take loans from their friends, but they are still not able to gather the full amount. Maithili requests her future husband to convince his dad to let the rest of the money be, but he is too scared to do so. Seeing this, and seeing her dad beg in front of the groom’s father to accept the money he has, she rebels, and calls off the wedding. She was not able to bear to see her father being humiliated in such a manner by the groom’s father. Both these movies showed that the bride’s family has to struggle a lot in order to gather the dowry for the groom’s family, and thus is a big burden on them.

This depiction of the dowry system by popular media was in concurrence with its reflection in the news media, but as we move ahead on the timeline, this concurrence slowly fades away. The movie ‘Lajja’ was the last movie to clearly depict the pain inflicted due to the dowry system. The 2006 movie ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ also had the concept of dowry, but it did not demonstrate the consequences of the dowry system, and only showed that the concept of dowry existed. Since then, popular media has not depicted any case of dowry related abuse or murder. This would have been perfectly fine if the society had transformed to this effect and there were no more dowry related crimes taking place, but this was not true, as news media still continued to report about such crimes taking place.

‘Number of dowry cases goes up’ (The Hindu, January 2008); ‘Dowry death after love marriage’ (The Times of India, April 2008); ‘Harassed for dowry, teacher ends life’ (The Indian Express, November 2007). These are just three headlines from three of India’s popular newspapers that show the persistence of the dowry system and its consequences in modern India. Dowry is still prevalent in modern India, in not only the illiterate section of the population, but also the educated elites in India’s major metropolitan cities. Surprisingly in the past decade, the number of dowry related crime cases has actually gone up, despite dowry being banned since 1961 by Indian law. According to the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 8391 dowry deaths were reported in 2010 itself, which means that a bride was killed every 90 minutes due to dowry related reasons. In 1988, this number was 2209; in 1990 it rose to 4835; in 2000 (a decade earlier), this number was 6995, and in 2007 it climbed up to an astounding 8093 (Bedi 2012).

According to other government records, Delhi itself records a few hundred dowry deaths every year, while women’s rights groups estimate this number to be at 900 per year. This is a phenomenal increase compared to the numbers for the 1990s, which were about 300 per year (Bedi 2012). It is important to note that these are just official records, and are thus immensely under-reported. 90% of the cases in which women are burnt are recorded as accidents, 5% as suicides, and only the remaining 5% of the cases are shown as murder. These shockingly high numbers clearly reflect the continuous increase in dowry related crimes and deaths in India.

This is due to the continued commercialization of marriages in the modern Indian society. India’s economic liberalization has seen a proportionate rise in the levels of greed as compared to 1990, and a bride is now perceived by her future in-laws as a source of potential cash flow. A famous quote from former Justice Markandey Katju reads, “On one hand, people regard women as goddesses, and on the other hand they burn them alive. This is against the norms of civilized society. It’s barbaric” (Bedi 2012). This is in response to an appeal filed by a husband who had just been sentenced to imprisonment for life by a Sessions court for burning his wife due to dowry related reasons.

The effects of the dowry system are so far and wide ranging, that they can even be traced back to the womb. This system is the primary cause for female feticide and infanticide as poorer parents get to avoid the lifelong burden of saving up for the dowry for their daughter’s marriage (Krishnamurthy, 1981). The commercialization of marriage and female infanticide is clearly reflected in the movie ‘Matrubhoomi’, in which a reverse dowry system is depicted. The movie shows a society in which there are no women left due to excessive female infanticide, and the men have grown to be so sexually frustrated, that they are ready to pay large amounts of money to get a wife for themselves or their sons. So as soon as the head of the family finds Kalki, they literally buy her from her father, by giving him five lakh rupees and five cows, and marry her to all five of his sons. Kalki simply becomes a source of money for her father, and a sex object for her husbands (Matrubhoomi).

Nowadays, there are famous advertisements which have been put up in many of the rural villages, which read, “Spend 500 rupees today, save 5000 rupees later.” This is a reference to the cost of abortion compared to the cost of the dowry which they might have to give. It basically encourages the families to get an abortion if their child is a girl, so that they don’t have the burden of paying the dowry while getting her married in the future. This is the primary reason why India has a distorted sex ratio of 933 girls for every 1,000 boys.

As is evident, the problems due to the dowry system have only been rising over the past decade. Despite this, popular media has failed to reflect these problems. News media has continued to keep up with these updates, and report about them, but popular media has deviated into its own path. Since popular media has a much larger audience compared to news media, this results in the society getting a skewed viewpoint of what is happening in their world: an incorrect portrayal of society in which what they are doing is not wrong. Also, since popular media has a much larger international audience as compared to news media, people from other countries get a totally different view of India: a world in which the dowry system does not exist and is not causing any problems at all. Thus, an untrue version of the society is shown to the world outside, which is not good, as when these people actually come to India and read about the truth, it is a shocking revelation for them.

A shift in India’s attitude towards the dowry systems is urgently due. In simple words, dowry is equal to a family paying a man to accept their daughter as his wife, while the man along with his family, tries to get the maximum price out of the woman’s family. This association of economic gain with women in marriage is something which has long been persistent in India, and needs to stop. Simply making anti-dowry laws has proved to be inefficient. We need to make the society see their mistakes and realize what they are doing wrong, and this can only be done if popular media continues to reflect society as it did before.

India must come together to end this practice. This could see couples channel their funds to provide education to their daughters, instead of saving money for years and years for dowry. The days of the persistence of the dowry system in India must be numbered, or Indian society’s claim to be progressive is disingenuous.

According to Colin Hay’s Political Analysis (2002) hopes to do social research more flexible and easy about the underlying assumptions upon which its range of scientific strategies is premised. This alternative requires necessary trade-offs that ought to be rendered without given the way in which, he claims, social research cannot achieve complete objectivity. Indeed, although they often remain unacknowledged, implicit meta-theoretical positions and assumptions profoundly influence our approach to theory and practice (Marsh and Furlong, 2002). This article considers whether Hay’s argument that such assumptions ought to be rendered graphic based on a via media, or middle way, between positivist and interpretive social science-maintains strength and coherence in the wider description and understanding argument. As such, while many vital contributions have focused on his epistemology, this article takes a broader perspective on Political Analysis’s contribution to the principles of social science. The principle of social science literature generally holds that ‘positivism’ places an emphasis on experience in public, and monitoring and testing in particular. A prime example is the work of Emile Durkheim (1982) who aims to ‘extend the scope of scientific rationalism’ to human behaviour based on the belief that, in light of the past, it is capable of being reduced to relationships of cause and effect. By contrast, ‘interpretivism’ appeals to ‘subjective meaning’, Verstehen and concepts such as empathy and understanding. In the strong version, based on an anthropological or sceptical relativism, it holds that social differentiation gives rise to different ‘ways of knowing’ between which there is no way of according common standards (Williams, 2001). In all, this article will attempt to verify that Hay’s via media strategy successfully navigates a path between these positivist and interpretivist approaches. To this end, we must evaluate his claims about the subject-matter of the social sciences, the limits of positivism and interpretivism and, finally, the via media approach it. The subject-matter of the social sciences: –

A main theme of Political Analysis is the qualitative difference in subject-matter between the natural and the social sciences. Following Bhaskar and Hay (2002) maintains that social structures, not like regular structure: (1) do not exist apart of the performance they do; (2) do not exist independently of a company’s appreciation of their interest and (3) may only be relatively constant. Taking each in turn, distinction (1) holds that effective, conscious and reflexive subjects occupy the social world whereas the units of study in the natural sciences can be assumed to be dead and un-reflexive. This brings into question the notion of a predictive science of the social world and therefore explanations based on the probabilistic correlation between explanation and prediction. If social systems are ‘intrinsically open’, crucial test situations for our theories cannot be created, which means there can be no reasonable approval or rejection of predictions (Bhaskar, 1989). This argument can be criticized for overemphasizing the differences between natural and social structures based on human organization because it rests on top of the plan to facilitate nothing happens in the general public save in or in virtue of somewhat individual do with it or have already done (Bhaskar and Collier, 1994). Arguably, this statement could be reformulated by substituting the relevant kinds of animation for ‘society’ and ‘human beings’ in each case, which would provide similar principles to apply in the natural sciences (Collier, 1994). Nevertheless, for many there is a natural accuracy to the belief that social systems are intrinsically available enough to the reflexive variety of social action. Steven Bernstein et al (2000) argue that human intervention in society is striking because the more individuals believe they know the context in which they operate, the more they try to exploit it to their advantage. In this sense, the ‘laws’ of social science are open to the environment to which they refer (Giddens, 1979). Moreover, even when social scientists attempt to emulate experimental conditions, the research is hindered because a subject’s behaviour is potentially influenced by learning about its hypotheses and methods (Rosenberg, 1988).

Finally, distinction (3) maintains that social processes tend to be culturally, spatially and historically specific in contrast to worldwide natural laws. Hay (2002) compares the study of the global political economy and physics to emphasize this difference. In the former, the purpose of simplifying assumptions to generate testable propositions is made particularly hard by relentless change. In the latter, by contrast, the generalized laws of physics can be assumed to involve in all situations across time. However, in one academic understanding, social structures can be a help to be space-time invariant as when certain conditions are met, for example economies with certain features, certain tendencies will operate (Collier, 1994).

In this way, we can develop social laws in terms which are ‘universal’ by virtue of being conditional. Yet, in a more convincing since, when considered in historical perspective social structures do seem to be only relatively stable. Indeed, a devastating problem for covering-law explanations of social phenomena, which seek to identify generalized laws based on observable regularities, is that they happen either impossible or silly because we are forced to make so many branch details to the ‘initial conditions’ that in some cases only the name of the event or activity is missing from the given ‘explanation’ (Outhwaite, 1996). Thus, again, distinction (3) is relevant. Overall, by highlighting the key divisions among the subject-matter of the natural and the social, Hay is rich in laying the foundation for the necessity to identify the key differences in their methods while still allowing both to maintain some demand to knowledge production. We must now consider how social scientists meet with their distinctive subject-matter.

Positivism, interpretivism and the via media:-

According to Hay (2002), and building on these three distinctions above, social scientists think it extremely difficult to make impartial and empirical knowledge claims for two main reasons. Firstly based on one and two, is the inevitable location of the social scientist within that which forms their subject-matter. From this embedded position, the social scientist cannot only escape their complex and densely structured environment in order to carry out scientific examination of the social world. Secondly based on two and three, there are ethical dilemmas associated with the social scientist’s privileged position owing to their potential to influence the social environment. Again, from an embedded position, the social scientist may appear to redefine and modify that which socially viable. In reply, we can consider three different approaches, each having their own response to these ethical considerations associated with the problem of objectivity: positivism, interpretivism and the via media.

Although most positivist approaches would not expect all theoretical terms and assumptions to refer directly to observables, there is a commitment to the view that substantive hypotheses must be able to be falsified using a call for empirical evidence. For Hay, positivism is therefore simply unable to handle the social responsibility, he identifies as essential to social science. This is because to achieve epistemic security and conceptual clarity it tightly demarcates what can count as knowledge – a statement is not valid unless it is possible to explain what would count as falsifying it (Williams, 2001). Rather than a damaging criticism, at this point Hay’s study constitutes a description of the aims of positivism: to specify exactly what influence we can given to our knowledge claims is a key strength of the approach, even if it means we have to exclude certain types of information.

Although it is difficult to determine, ‘interpretivism’ can be regarded as a variety of social research which represents profound scepticism towards claims to objectivity and a prosperous access to information. Thus, in these terms, it would appear that interpretivism suitably accounts for Hay’s problem of objectivity. To take seriously the challenge presented by post-modernist critics to social science is to recognize the value-laden and normative content of many or its assumptions and much of its language (Rosenberg, 1988). However for Hay (2002), interpretivism cannot accurately be thought of as making a substantive contribution to social analysis. Its ontological view that the world can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, along with its normative commitment to according them equal respect, means that interpretivism is drawn inevitably towards a suspicion of all epistemological foundations. This degree of relativism is just as dangerous as positivism to the social scientist’s ethical responsibilities. The interpretivist approach does not fix the function of normative question because it rejects the assertion that there are fundamental metaphysical truths beyond appearances. In short, positivism deliberately confuses reality with knowledge and interpretivism reacts by removing the possibility of knowledge (Trigg, 2001). Thus, we are in search of an alternative to positivism’s blindness to ethical considerations and interpretivism pessimism and fatalism (Hay, 2002). In response, the via media take seriously the ethical responsibilities that come with an acknowledgement that epistemology cannot determine social learning claims while still accepting the possibility of making them. For Hay, this means social scientists must acknowledge the automatically normative content of their duties and clarify their normative assumptions as straightforward as possible. We should not deny empirical study altogether because it provides the grounding for our descriptive analysis, but as soon as we move from this statement we go from the realm of science to that of interpretation. In this latter realm there is a conflict between competing narratives premised on different meta-theoretical assumptions, which necessitates that we do our normative assumptions explicit (Hay, 2002). In this way, a via media are developed that appeals to a variety of certified empirical research that acknowledges the interpretivist critique. The questions remain as to whether or this via media constitutes a reasonable approach.

Explanation and understanding:-

Alexander Rosenberg (1988) claims that with many philosophies of social science questions there is rarely a favourable medium that splits the difference because accounts are often logically contradictory and attempts made to combine parts of each usually result in incoherence rather than actual compromise. At the very least, theories that purport to resolve the tension positivism and interpretivism or explanation and understanding tend to be weak because they are always telling two stories (Hollis and Smith, 1990). So, does Hay’s via media maintain a successful combination?

According to Martin Smith, Hay (2006) is plotting a careful path between explanation and understanding equivalent to Odysseus navigating between Scylla and Charybdis. He makes two attractive claims about Hay’s research: first, that Hay totally rejects attempts by positivists to develop predictive models due to the inherent uncertainty of social life and says nothing more about his way to positivism. Second, although Hay also questions the basic negativity of postmodernism, he still appreciates the way it sensitizes us to the need to question assumptions. Here, arguably, Smith’s interpretation of Hay presents flawed has more value for social science. Perhaps Hay is sailing too close to Chablis, understanding, rather than navigating a successful intermediate way. Yet equally, one could argue, Hay (2002) priorities description. He claims that whereas social scientists are expected to remain divided over the meaning of certain events or processes, there is a greater chance of reaching agreement on their description through the accumulation of empirical evidence. This echoes post-positivist positions which take analysis and use as necessary, but tend to treat them as intervening variables without fully acknowledging the subjectivity of the observer (Marsh and Furlong, 2002). The emphasis still lies with explanation rather than understanding; experience rather than substance. This is problematic because an appeal to moral experience is uncertain: experience can refer to both what is presented to us and the actual performance of experiencing, which is something Hay would certainly recognize given his appeal to the interpretivist critique (Hollis, 2002). Thus, Hay is open to criticism from both sides of the argument for being too close to the other. It is not easy to recover an alternative of this tension. Interestingly – even though they are co-authoring the same book – Martin Hollis opts for understanding as an approach to social scientific inquiry whereas Steven Smith chooses explanation (Hollis and Smith, 1990). Smith sees actors’ understandings as conditioned by factors external to them; Hollis sees them as the pure essential parts of the world which they seek to understand. For them, this uncertainty is irresolvable, leading them to call for a range of acceptable positions. In the final analysis, they are forced to admit that the field that represents a middle ground between explanation and consideration should be thought of as a portable piece that can be repositioned to whatever place on the table the reader finds most reasonable (Hollis and Smith, 1990).

Likewise, David Marsh and Paul Furlong (2002) adopt the contested nature of epistemological positions and appreciate a multiplicity of voices. After a call for plurality, it would appear that the foundational assumptions on which this option between explanation and understanding is made ought to be rendered explicit, as Hay argues, if readers are left to give up their own minds. Thus, at least the via media is powerful. In this spirit, perhaps it is telling to look in Hay’s substantive work for indications as to whether the via media is reasonable. The analysis found in Demystifying Globalization provides a convenient example of how a combination of interpretation and expertise can inform our understanding of social phenomena (Hay and Marsh, 2000). Here, proper processes are identified, such as the extent of financial markets and increased levels of trading, which constitute recognizable patterned forms of interaction. Nevertheless, simultaneously, care is taken to recognize that the way in which these processes affect outcomes is mediated by the pure long construction of these processes. In other words, the ideas commonly held about these processes actually create the fancy forms of interaction greater causal efficacy. Indeed, British Governments have in the past argued that the aim of neoliberal policies is inevitable in light of Globalization, even though there is only limited empirical evidence that a globalised political economy must necessarily direct monetary policy. As such, causal mechanisms can be revealed empirically but only fully accounted for through recognition of their social structure. At once there is a call to the real world, but the emphasis is on the discursive construction of that world (Marsh and Furlong, 2002). Thus the via media strategy effectively illustrates how main ideas about globalization are causally efficacious, in the point of making a real difference to social outcomes through the shaping of economic policy, but it also acknowledges that the real processes of globalization limit the resonance of different discourses. Other areas of social learning that might benefit from the via media approach include, for example, the study of global poverty in the international political economy literature. Indeed, Branwen Gruffydd Jones (2003) demonstrates that although orthodox approaches to global poverty provide accurate explanations at the descriptive amount of surface appearances for example, that the global poor are unable to meet their basic needs because they lack access to income-earning opportunities they remain blind to the real, non-empirical relations that cause these empirical appearances, such as the social relations that govern the activities of producing the objects of basic human needs. As such, a via media approach to the study of global poverty might recognize the importance of observable characteristics, in as much as they are revealed as true fancy forms of interaction, but might also acknowledge that ideas about these characteristics themselves have causal outcomes, including the printing of the social relations that help bring them about.

Conclusion:-

Hay’s via media system remains a strong and consistent approach to act with respect to the principles of social science for a number of reasons. First, the central principle on which his argument is built the difference among the area under study of the pattern and the public sciences is useful and accurate. Second, given that this subject-matter brings certain moral responsibilities to take on the social scientist, we can apply the limitations of both the positivist and the interpretivist approach, and call for a via media that make normative and meta-theoretical assumptions explicit. Finally, we have some grounds on which to argue that Hay’s strategy remains competitive in the wider variety and understanding reasons. Rather than assuming mutual incompatibility, by recognizing that the debate requires a trade-off that is essentially the reasoned choice of the social scientist and crucially, also of the conference which has to accept it, we can use the via media time to get seriously both positivist details and interpretivist understanding.

Methods of Research

The correct choice of research methods to use in answering researcher set questions investigating a topic is one of the most crucial and vital elements to the successful conduct of a research exercise, (McNeill, 2005). While much attention can be paid to theory within the methodology employed by the researcher it is also critical to consider the actual research tools which back up the theoretical decisions made and provide the raw data against which the hypotheses of the research can betested. For much research the research tools will be a decisive factor in thesuccess or failure of the project. In many instances the choice of research tool is not assessed correctly with the result being data is generated which is of little or no use to the researcher, (Ruane, 2005). This occurs both due to the research method not suiting the particular needs of the researcher and the improper administering of the research method itself.

For many, choice of research tool is influenced however not by the objective needs of the research but by the ability and capabilities of the researcher in terms of time, cost or other related factors such as familiarity with the processes and techniques involved within specific sets of research tools. In this essay, we examine three research methods, show how they can be constructed in a holistic manner toachieve triangulation in relation to a research question and illustrate ethical concerns and the manner in which they can be resolved in the successful deployment of these research methods, (Somekh and Lewin, 2005).

We discuss these methods as a process and thus relate our discussion to the manner in which theycan be integrated and successfully deployed. In this sense then we examine howfocus groups can provide insights into theoretical observations, how theseobservations can be explored within semi-structured interviews with a selectedsample and how these observations from interviews can be developed intogeneralised into hypotheses tested against larger samples through the use of questionnaires.However it should be noted that a critical element in deciding on whichmethodologies should be used in a research project and the relative strengthsand weaknesses of using those methodologies will depend to a large extent onthe specific circumstances involved in conducting the research, (Bryman, 2004).

By this it ismeant that weaknesses for example within the conduct of questionnaire may infact be a positive element for certain projects and negative for othersdepending on the contextual basis for the research. We explore this and otherfeatures of research methods subsequently.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are atype of qualitative based research method based loosely on the generalprinciples which apply to interviews. However while interviews are generallyone-to-one situations involving a interviewer and interviewee relationshipfocus groups employ a one to many dichotomy, (Holloway and Jefferson, 2000). Indeedfocus groups resemble semi or unstructured interviews more particularly thanstructured interviews as one of the primary objectives of the researcher withinfocus group interviews is as a facilitator or moderator of group discussionbased on sets of general themes identified as being related to the research objectivesfor which the focus groups are being used to generate data, (Bloor et al, 2001).In particular focus groups are a very useful method to consider in theexploratory stages of research to help form ideas related to theoreticalobservations upon which later research can be based.

While notoriginally a tool familiar to the social sciences focus group methodologieshave been long deployed and successful elements within business andspecifically marketing research. From these origins however their utility for socialscientific research has come to be recognised within many sections for specificinstances for which they are useful, (Fern, 2001).

Focus groups havea number of advantages and disadvantages when applied towards collecting datain answering sets of research questions. Let us discuss the advantages of usingthis methodology to begin with. Perhaps a fundamental strength of focus groups istheir interactive nature when designed and implemented properly. In this mannerthe researcher can set general themes and topics and also ask specificquestions of the group related to the research topic by facilitatingintra-group discussion arising out of the topics mentioned by the moderator.

Subsequentlyrecording and monitoring the discussions and interactions which occur withinthe group as the issues raised by the researcher are thrashed out can provide immenselyvaluable qualitative data and also critically have the possibility of offeringtheoretical insights or considerations missed by the researcher. In terms of aspecifically action research or ethnographic research outlook focus groups areeven more element as the interactive nature of focus groups allows the groupand its participants to actively engage with the research and even when plannedfor adequately by the researcher allow them to shape the outcomes and processesof the research itself, .(Czarniawska, 2004)

Some of the keydisadvantages we can associate with the use of focus groups are internal groupdynamics, participant and interviewer bias and transcription related problemsin codifying and making the data generated amenable to analysis. However the primarydrawback to this method is related to the interactive nature discussed above inthat the researcher has much less control over the type and nature of datagenerated during the course of the research. Again as mentioned planning andgood moderating skills are essential in the use of this method, (Litosseliti, 2003).

Internal groupdynamics can play a vital role in determining the success or failure of using focusgroups as a means of answering research questions. The specific disadvantagesbeing spoke of here include a common feature of socials groups wherebyindividual members of that group through personality and group dynamics come tolead and dominate discussions, (Vaughn, Shay, & Sinagub, 1996).An interviewer needs to be aware of such situations and develop tactics andstrategies which are inclusive in terms of encouraging all of the individualswithin a group to participate as equally as possible in the discussion as it isbeing held.

With larger groupsand to some extent even smaller groups as well due to possibilities of manypeople answering at the same time, especially in more animated discussions thenecessity of effective recording allowing for accurate transcription isessential. Bias can occur both in terms of the moderator and participants inthat moderator may lead the discussion too much in their desire to gatherrelevant data or otherwise colour the responses of participants who in turn maydesire to satisfy what they perceive to be the wishes of the moderator duringthe course of the discussion. Such considerations are not isolated to focusgroups and should be a common concern for any research exercise, (Morgan, 1997).

Ethically similarsafeguards that are used in other types of research methods need to be employedwithin focus groups with some specific concerns. As with other types ofresearch informed consent needs to be adequately collected from theparticipants and in particular with focus groups if the topic is sensitive orcovers material of a private nature it must be remember that other people willbe present and thus the moderator must take further care in considering theethical implications of this feature, (Gregory, 2003).

Semi-structured interviews

If a researcherhas used a focus group in order to identity common themes and concerns associatedwith his or her choice of questions a useful follow on from focus groups can bethe use of more in depth and detailed semi structured interviews. Theinterviewees could perhaps be drawn from a representative sample from which thefocus group was composed. Semi structured interviews are a popular form of qualitativeresearch much relied upon within social scientific as well as otherdisciplinary investigations. The general purpose of such interviews is toexplore in details specific topics relevant to the interviewee’s knowledge andalso relevant to the research questions and objectives forming the focus of theresearch project, (Silveman, 2004).

The normalstructure for such an interview is a one to one situation with an interviewereither having a list of some predetermined questions which are then used to branchfurther questions outwards during the conduct of the interview or alternativelythe interviewer is equipped with a set of general topics from which questionsare generated during the course of the interview. While not as interactive asfocus groups good semi-structured interviews are however in some way reliant onparticipant determination for the tenor and tone of the conduct of theinterview. This can be a principal strength of using this method in that it canbe a highly fruitful manner of exploring topics with which participants arefamiliar

The advantages ofsemi structured interviews can be surmised under a number of headings. Thefirst of these is the opportunity it gives to both interviewer and intervieweeto explore in depth and detail the substantive issues for research within agiven project mentioned above. Not only though do semi-structured interviewsafford the opportunity to discuss themes in detail but the semi-structurednature also gives the interviewer freedom to dynamically adapt and respond tothe flow of the discussion as it occurs. In this sense the interviewer canexplore themes not suggested by the structure of the interview which wasoriginally planned; this is an important difference from structured interviewswhich lack this interviewer flexibility and freedom. A semi-structuredinterview can thus be said to allow for frank discussion, is a flexible and adaptivemeans as the interviewer and interviewee can respond and explore topics as theyoccur during the interview and as such can be a useful source of data for anyresearch project.

Disadvantages withsemi-structured interviews again like those common to focus groups are thosewhich need to be taken account of with the use of any research method. Some ofthe main disadvantages we can associate with the use of semi structuredinterviews include participant bias, interviewer bias and the reliability ofany data generated during the course of the interview. Like focus groups theinterviewer needs to be aware of their responses and comments to theinterviewee so as not to colour or bias the responses given. Similarly aninterviewer needs to display a manner which does not indicate to theinterviewee preference supposed or otherwise for a particular set of responses.Reliability is a concern with qualitative research in general and aninterviewer needs to be cognisant of the type and form of data generated duringthe conduct of the interview. Ethically again similar principles which appliedto focus groups apply to semi-structured interviews in that the participants insuch interviews give full informed consent to the interview taking place andthat confidentiality is ensured on the part of the interviewer in terms of anydata generated from the participant.

Questionnaires

Perhaps the mostfamiliar of research methods both to researchers and the general publicquestionnaires as part of a survey strategy have long held a dominant role inthe conduct of research projects, (Frazer & Meredith, 2000). Questionnaires come in a variety of forms from postal, totelephone administered, to interviewer administered and so on but they are all characterisedon a reliance on a predetermined set of questions with predefined answers whichmake the data amenable to later statistical analysis either by hand or throughthe use of the many statistical computer programs which now exist. Questionnairesexcel at the testing of hypothesis concretely formed and outlined as well atgathering opinion based data from large samples, (McQueen, 2002).

Questionnaires area form of quantitative research and thus they involve many statistical elementsin terms of carrying out research using them. Some of the fundamental concernswith using questionnaires include the need for sampling, ensuring effectiveresponses and a high response rate. In turn these three elements are related tothe principal advantages and disadvantages of using this method, (Oppenhiem,1992). Or in other words the success or failure and the degree to these for aparticular questionnaire is determined to a large extent by the successfulsampling of a target group and having a well-designed questionnaire with clearinstructions for participants in order to ensure correct responses and a highnumber of responses from the sample.

The primary advantageof using a questionnaire lies in the amount of data which can be collectingallowing for varying degrees and sophistication in statistical analyses whichcan be performed on the data, (Gillham, 2000). The primary disadvantage ofusing questionnaires is the inverse of this strength in statistical termsrelated to the rigid and inflexible way in which data must be collected in thatthe researcher is unable to benefit from any interactivity in the research andeven when the questionnaire is interviewer administered there is a rigidity tothe questionnaire format which must be adhered to, (Houtkoop-Steenstra, 2000). Questionnaires in terms of the triangulation discussed above couldusefully be deployed in order to test hypothesis generated from theexplorations and conclusions reached during the use of focus groups.

Conclusion

As can be gatheredfrom our discussion then all of the research methods we have discussed are possessedof both positive and negative aspects in the case of their deployment in orderto answer research questions set by the researcher. It is argued that perhapsthe best means in which to consider the use of any of these research methods isto see them as part of a cyclical process related to the triangulation ofcertain research objectives, (yen, 1990).

It can be arguedthat by using a combinational method then in the approach of constructing aresearch methodology has the benefit of playing various research methodsagainst each other, by this it is meant that certain methods will be strongothers weak and that a combinational approach will allow for the strongestpossible methodology to emerge and thus have the best chance of generatinguseful data for the research questions at hand, (Gorard and Taylor, 2004).

However asmentioned in some of the limitations we discussed previously with regards tothe methods each of these particular methods require certain skills of the researcherfor them to be truly effective methods. Thus projects which would seek to useall of these methods as well as possible others would need to draw upon skilledresearchers in terms of their ability to conduct quantitative and qualitativeresearch in equal measure. Similarly using a combinational method increases therange of ethical considerations for the researcher with the possibility ofthere being a complex network of ethical issues that need to be resolvedcontinuously across the range of research methods used in the project (deMarrais & Lapan 2004).

Similarly for acombinational method to be effective as well as the use of any of these methodssolely also a strong methodology in terms of a plan for the research and itsconduct will need to be in place in order to generate truly relevant data forthe research questions which the researcher wishes to investigate, (Andrews,2003). In conclusion the organisation of research methods in terms of their deploymentis the most critical determinant of the success of the researcher in gathering datawhich will be of use in their subsequent and later analysis based on theresearch questions they have tasked themselves with answering. Organisation it canthus be argued is one of the principal determinants of whether the selection ofany research methods will be successful in collecting relevant and valuabledata for that project, (Ragin, 1994).

References

Andrews, R.J.(2003) Research Questions, Continuum, London

Bloor, M. et al (2001) Focus Group inSocial Research, SAGE Publications, London.

Bryman, A. (2004) SocialResearch Methods, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Czarniawska, B.(2004) Narratives in Social Science Research, Sage, London

deMarrais,K. & Lapan, S.D. (2004) Foundations for Research: Methods of Inquiry inEducation and the Social Science, Mahwah, N.J. : L. Erlbaum Associates.

Fern,E.E. (2001) Advanced Focus Group Research, SAGE, US.

Frazer,L. & Meredith, L. (2000) Questionnaire Design & Administration : aPractical Guide, John Wiley, London.

Gillham,B. (2000) Developing a Questionnaire, Continuum, London.

Gorard, S. andTaylor, C. (2004) Combining Methods in Educational and Social Research,Open University Press, Maidenhead

Hollway,W. & Jefferson, T.(2000) Doing Qualitative Research Differently: FreeAssociation, Narrative and Interview, SAGE, London.

Houtkoop-Steenstra,H. (2000) Interaction and the Standardized Survey Interview: the LivingQuestionnaire, Cambridge University Press, UK.

Litosseliti,L. (2003) Using Focus Groups in Research, Continuum, London.

Gregory, I. (2003)Ethics in Research, Continuum, London

McNeill, P. (2005)Research Methods 3^rd Edition, Routledge, London

McQueen, R. (2002)Research Methods for Social Science, Prentice Hall, Harlow

Morgan,D. L. (1997) Focus Groups as Qualitative Research 2^nd edition,Sage Publications, US.

Oppenheim,A. N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing, and Attitude Measurement,Pinter Publishers, New York.

yen,E. (1990) Comparative Methodology: Theory and Practice in InternationalSocial Research, Newbury Park, London.

Ragin,C.C. (1994) Constructing Social Research: the Unity and Diversity of Method,Thousand Oaks, Pine Forge Press, US.

Ruane, J.M. (2005)Essentials of Research Methods, Blackwell Publications, Malden MASS

Silveman,D. (2004) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, SAGE,London.

Somekh, B. andLewin, C. (2005) Research Methods in the Social Sciences, Sage,London

Vaughn,S., Shay, J. & Sinagub, S.J. (1996) Focus Group Interview in Educationand Psychology, SAGE, US.

How do power relations challenge us to re-think the issue of dialogue in research, ethicsand critical urban ethnography?

Sociological research is not theclearly defined process that the textbooks would have us believe. It can be amessy business and is fraught with pitfalls so the researcher needs to beflexible in his/her approach to the project. Power relationships emerge as anissue right from the beginning. There are the power relations contained within social institutions and in personal relationships. The relationship between theresearcher and the researched is generally thought of as one of unequal powerrelations where the researcher is the custodian of expertise concerning themeaning of a research subject’s experiences.

The balance of power may not,however, be in the researcher’s hands at the beginning of a project, if theresearcher needs to gain access to a setting then he/she may be subject to thewhims of gatekeepers. Gatekeepers have the power to say no the researcher’srequest and if you do manage to gain entry it is often at the end of a longslow process. Lofland and Lofland (1984) say that feelings of anxiety when aresearcher first encounters gate keepers, is not unusual because they hold thereins of power. Bogdan and Taylor (1984) write about problems with gatekeepers.They argue that there are those professionals in charge of establishments suchas retirement homes or women’s refuges, who exercise their power by monitoringwho should and should not visit. In this way they retain control of the spaceoccupied by the people they care for and in controlling their space alsocontrol the influences of and within that space.

Giddens 2001 has argued that thechanges in modern society have, in their turn, brought vast changes to the waywe live our lives:

The development ofmodern cities has had an enormous impact, not only on habits and modes ofbehaviour, but on patterns of thought and feeling. >From the time whenlarge urban agglomerations first formed, in the eighteenth century, views aboutthe effects of cities on social life have been polarized (Giddens,2001:573).

Hammersley (2000) has argued that social research cannot be understood outside of the social world that itstudies. It does not exist in some autonomous realm, but affects, and isaffected by other factors in society. Beginning with a brief explanation of keyterms this paper will give a brief description of the long and hotly contesteddebate that frames the quantitative/qualitative divide within researchdiscourse. This should demonstrate that even before a researcher frames aresearch question they have to contend with the powerful discourse that says social research should be undertaken in a scientific manner if it is to producemeaningful data. The paper will examine the question of how power relationschallenge us to re-think the issue of dialogue in research, ethics and criticalurban ethnography. The main focus with regard to how knowledge is acquired, andhow, like research, it is intimately connected with relations of power, will beon feminist work. The final part of the paper will deal with power relations,dialogue and ethics in the context of critical urban ethnography.

Epistemology

An epistemological concern is onethat raises the question of what might be regarded as acceptable knowledge in adiscipline. Central to this point is whether it is feasible to study the socialworld in the same way and using the same principles as science (Bryman, 2004).Research undertaken in this way is generally associated with a positivistparadigm of research.

Positivism

Positivism is most closelyassociated with the work of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim. Positivism is anepistemological standpoint that argues for the application of the scientificmethod to the social world. It is usually (though not always) associated withquantitative research and the collection of statistics. Positivism is,therefore, very closely associated with the scientific method which, looselyput, is based around the laws of cause and effect. Bryman (2004) identifies theaspects of positivism in the following ways, only those things that we canobserve through our senses can really be known. Theory (speculations about whatmight be the case) is used to generate hypotheses (general statements) that canbe tested and from which laws can be derived. The hypothesis is subjected toquestions e.g. who, what, when, where and data gathered either throughinterviews, observation, or using existing data such as crime statistics. Ifthe findings confirm the hypothesis then laws are derived, if not then the hypothesishas to be modified. This process continues until a suitable conclusion isreached that confirms the modified hypothesis. Positivists state that sciencemust be objective and value free (Bryman, A. 2004).Durkheim argued that in order to be scientific and to obtain objectiveknowledge, social facts should be counted as things, and that allpreconceptions must be eradicated (Durkheim, E, 1938:31).Scientific statements should be the interest of the scientist because they arethe only statements that can be confirmed by the senses i.e. science proceedsthrough observable, repeatable experiments.. It is this form of research in particularthat feminists have dubbed ‘malestream research’ (Abbott and Wallace,1997) they argue that:

Many malestream sociologistsare resistant to the view that there is a need for a reconceptualisation.Nevertheless, this is the position that w accept and while we recognise thatthis is an uphill struggle we think that it is a necessary one if we are toachieve an adequate sociology (Abbott and Wallace, 1997:13).

Interpretivism

This is the opposite view topositivism where a research strategy is needed that respects the fact thatthere is a difference between the physical world and people. The scientificmethods that are used to study the physical world may not be appropriate tostudying the social world where the sociologist is trying to understand the meaningsthat people give to their actions. Interpretivists most often use qualitativeresearch methods consisting of unstructured interviews and participantobservation. Positivists criticise research data gained in this way asunscientific and subjective. They argue that the findings from such research donot have the same validity or reliability as data collected in a scientificmanner (Bryman, 2004). Researchers who use qualitative methods tend to maketheir research process as transparent as possible and will often ask theirresearch subjects to check the findings to see whether they are an accuraterepresentation of the person’s life.

Both types of researchers want toknow what is happening in society but interpretivists also attempt tounderstand. Weber (1947) maintained that sociology is a

Science which attempts theinterpretive understanding of social action in order to arrive at a causalexplanation of its cause and effects (Weber, 1947:88).

Qualitative researchers tend tomake use of unstructured interviews, case study research and participantobservation. Ethnographic methods such as in-depth interviews and prolongedparticipant observation are also favoured methods. These last tend to be usedmore often by those who are engaged in critical research. Hammersley (1992)criticises the use of ethnographic methods because he believes that this typeof research is less able to produce data that will result in useful theoreticalinsights. Participant observation is regarded by positivists as unscientificand not rigorous enough they regard it as subjective. Hammersley (1992) hasargued that because ethnographers can produce different accounts of the samesetting then the results of such research might be said to reflect a purelypersonal perspective rather than a scientific and reliable account.Yet anothercriticism of this type of method is that the ensuing account is the result ofhighly selective methods of data collection (Hammersley, 1992). This isarguably a nonsensical criticism as all research is the result of a set ofselection processes. The researcher constantly has to decide what is the bestway of collecting the information that will answer the research question. Thishappens in what is regarded as scientific and value free social research justas much as it does in social research that does not claim to be objective andvalue free. All researchers, as Gouldner (1971) points out have to make choicesabout their ‘domain of enquiry’ i.e. when, where, how, and from whom they aregoing to obtain their data.

There is a clear difference betweenscience and the scientific method and the methods that are needed toinvestigate the social world. For human beings, human action is meaningful andthey act on the basis of that meaning. The sociologist’s job is to interpretthe social world from the research subject’s point of view. What this means isthat far from research being objective and knowledge being objective and valuefree, they are in fact marked by the stamp of their producers. Marx recognisedthis in his analysis of capitalism and feminists have recognised this in theiranalysis of patriarchy and of an epistemological stance that bears the stampand is endowed with the power of the white western male. Thus power relationsare evident even before we begin on the actual research process.

Knowledge and Power

The rationalistattitudes towards knowledge that developed during the Enlightenment remaineddominant until well into the nineteenth century. They were, as many feministshave argued (Abbott and Wallace, 1997), a powerful force in determining whatconstituted knowledge and have had considerable effect on the structures ofmodern society. A similar critique of knowledge has also been mounted by theFrench philosopher Michel Foucault (1966).

The work ofthinkers such as Nietzsche (1886) and Foucault (1966) has emphasised the factthat knowledge is intimately tied to structures of power and domination.Foucault argues that it is power which produces and sustains knowledge.Anything that contradicts the authorised view of what counts as knowledge isseen as deviant and transgressional. Thus, he argues,

Power isthat which says no. Any confrontation with power thus conceived appears only astransgression (1966: 53).

Feministcriticisms of knowledge and the way that knowledge is produced are aconfrontation with power and authority. The tendency of many thinkers toneglect class, race, gender, and economic factors contributes to the exclusionof oppressed and marginal viewpoints thus further reinforcing bothuniversalistic and objective models of knowledge and the power structures associatedwith this view. Foucault has argued that the enlightenment model of scientificreason only existed through the will to objectify and dominate. For Foucault,this kind of knowledge is inseparable from the desire for power. He argues thatresearch into criminality or mental illness is often undertaken for the expresspurposes of legislation, and not for a desire for improvement in these areas(1966). These critiques of the structures of power have meant thatepistemological questions are now a central issue within contemporary culture(Lennon and Whitford, 1994). The writings of Marx (1970), Foucault (1966), andmembers of the Frankfurt school (and in a different context liberationtheologians) emphasise the fact knowledge claims are a reflection of theinterests of those with economic power. More recently, black scholars andscholars from the third world have also indicated the Eurocentric and racistnature of most knowledge production (Lennon and Whitford, 1994). The separationof fact from value in knowledge production is not appropriate, that is to sayknowledge is not objective and neutral. Rather, knowledge bears the stamp ofits producers and is affected by their value systems. It is through thisunderstanding that feminist and other forms of critical research developed.

Critical Research

Carspecken(1996) maintains that critical research is aimed at exposing the powerrelationships at work in society particularly as they relate to social inequalities. The researcher studies this from the viewpoint of the oppressedin the hope of achieving social change. Critical research is informed by thecritical theory of the Frankfurt School. Critical social research does not fitwell into either the positivist camp or the interpretive one but embraces allthose approaches which tend to criticise society (in terms of its powerrelationships for example) in order to transform it. Hammersley (1995) hasargued that the growing influence of qualitative research and most particularlyof the type of research that is critical of power structures and of theinequalities that exist within society has meant that increasingly the basisfor seeing social research as scientific has been undermined. Harvey (1990) hassaid of critical research that:

critiqueis an integral part of the processA critical research process involves morethan appending critique to an accumulation of fact or theory gathered throughsome mechanical process, rather it denies the objective status of knowledge (Harvey,1990 quoted in Haralambos et al, 2000:982).

Knowledge inthese terms is a process that is never finished because the social world isconstantly changing. Knowledge is inseparable from the values of the socialcontext in which it emerged, the research participants, and most importantly,the researcher. The knowers always affect what is known as Ely et al (1996)argue:

Researchlike all other knowing, is a transactional process – the knower and the knownboth act upon each other (Ely, et al, 1996:196 ibid.).

Criticalresearch is primarily concerned with uncovering oppression and oppressivestructures and by that action transforming them. By uncovering these structureswithin social accounts the critical researcher can then link these with widersocial processes and structures. Thus Oakley’s analysis of housework and howwomen bear the brunt of it links back to industrialisation and the rise ofcapitalism and women’s removal from the public world of work to the privatesphere of the home, this also links with the growth of patriarchal oppressionof women (Harvey, 1990). Thus a critical analysis such as this can uncover thebasis of some of the power relationships that exist within society andeventually to change them. Harvey (1990) says of this process that it:

..involvesa constant questioning of the perspective and analysis the researcher isbuilding up. It is a process of gradually, and critically, coming to knowthrough constant reconceptualisation. This means that the selection of a coreconcept for analysis is not a once and for all affair (Harvey, 1990:30).

Harvey (1990)maintains that critical research does not depend on any one method becauseresearchers may often use a variety of methods in ensuring that they have madethe connections with wider social processes such as the structures of power,and also to increase the reliability of their findings. Feminist research alsooperates by the use of a number of different research methods, feminists are moreconcerned with improving women’s lives and with the non-exploitation of thosewho are researched, than they are with the commitment to any one set of methods.Some (primarily male) researchers argue against feminist research because theysay that it is subjective and partisan. They argue that research should neverbe partisan and that it is impossible for everyone to be equally free, theremust always be some hierarchy. Thus Geuss (1981) contends that:

It seems unrealistic underpresent conditions of human life to assume that any and every preference humanagents might have can be satisfied, or to assume that all conflict between thepreferences of different agents will be peacefully and rationally resolved.Some frustration-even some imposed frustration-of some human preferences mustbe legitimate and unexceptionable (Guess, 1981:16).

Presumably thelegitimate and unexceptionable preferences are the prerogative of the male, whofor centuries has had some much power over women’s lives. It is this kind ofpower that feminists are keen to expose, they are also concerned about thepower relationships which exist between the researcher and the researched, andwhich have sometimes been exploited by (male) researchers. In view of this somefeminists argue that participatory research, where the researcher and theresearched work together on a project, should be a defining feature of feministresearch. Abbott and Wallace (1997) argue however, that this is not often donebecause,

it is notpossible for the researcher to share her knowledge and expertise, and to implythat she is sharing them conceals a power relationship rather than overcomingit (Abbott and Wallace, 1997:288).

Feminists who douse these methods argue that participatory research not only gives women a moreactive role in knowledge production but further increases the validity of theresearch findings. McGuire (1987), has this to say

Participatoryresearch proposes returning to ordinary people the power to participate inknowledge creation, the power that results from such creation, and the power toutilize knowledge (Maguire, 1987:39).

Even this statement isproblematic because the researcher has at least some training in how researchmight be said to proceed and this is not easily passed on to those who are nottrained (Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Mies, 1983 has this to say:

the study of an oppressivereality is not carried out by experts but by the objects of the oppression.People who were before objects of research become subjects of their ownresearch and action. This implies that scientists who participate in this studyof the conditions of oppression must give their research tools to the people (Mies,1983:16).

Shared experiences, it might beargued, help to balance out the power relationships that feminists such asAbbott and Wallace (1997) contend, inevitably exist between a researcher andthose who are researched. One way in which the researcher may try to lessen thepower differential is through self-disclosure. Thus recovering alcoholics whoare researching alcohol misuse or women who have survived domestic violenceinterviewing women who are being abused would make the interviewee aware of thefact. While it maybe impossible to do away with the power differentialaltogether, it does make it less problematic. Ann Oakley (1982) has writtenthat,

the goal of finding outabout people through interviewing is best achieved when the relationship ofinterviewer and interviewee is non- hierarchical and when the interviewer isprepared to invest his or her own personal identity in the relationship (Oakley,1982:41).

This power differential thatexists in the research relationship may also colour what is found because datais never free of the influence of the person who gathered it. Carspecken (1996)believes that although critical researchers may have a value commitment that isnot to say that the research needs to be biased providing it is systematic andcareful. Stanley and Wise have this to say,

.the recognition that whoa researcher is, in terms of their sex, race, class, and sexuality, affectswhat they ‘find’ in research and is as true of feminists as of any other researchers(Stanley and Wise, 1993:228).

This power differential willalso affect, and may distort the dialogue between the researcher and theresearched. Abbott and Wallace (1997) argue that because the researcher willnecessarily involve herself with the women she is studying then she needs to beaware of this. Constant reflexivity is required if the research is to beconsidered valid. The researcher must be aware that because she is a part ofwhat is going on this inevitably affects what is going on and there needs to bea continual taking stock of how personal values, attitudes and perceptions areinfluencing the research process.

A feministinterviewing women is by definition both “inside” the culture andparticipating in that which she is observing…personal involvement is morethan dangerous bias – it is the condition under which people come to know eachother and to admit others into their lives (Oakley,1982:58).

Aronson (1992) has pointedout that the ethnographic interview is a common method of gathering data inqualitative research. Interviewing is also a method which is favoured byfeminist researchers (Oakley, 1982; Stanley and Wise, 1993). The interviewprocess should be such that women feel at ease and can relate their experiencesas they see them. The interviewer should encourage the participation of theinterviewee, the aim of which is to conduct research with women rather than onwomen. In this way it is thought that a fuller picture of women’s experiencesemerges (Oakley, 1981 et al). Carspecken (1996) argues that one way ofminimising any distortions that may arise due to the power differential betweenresearcher and researched is to check out your findings with the researchparticipants. Differences may also arise here if the dialogue between theresearcher and the research participants has been awkward or untruthful in anyway there may be objections when the participant sees what has been written.Seeing this distorted dialogue in print may increase any feelings ofpowerlessness that the participant might have and thus renegotiating thedialogue may prove difficult.

Ethics

At the very least ethics areconcerned with protecting the anonymity of those who are participating in theresearch. This is vital if for example the participants are women who haveexperienced rape or domestic abuse as any such exposure of their true identitycould put them at further risk. Many researchers, not just feministresearchers, also regard the use of non-sexist language as an ethicalprinciple. Sexist language is exclusionary and denotes the power relationshipsthat have for centuries existed in patriarchal society. Relationships that arein some way based on power are prone distortions in communication and it is upto the critical researcher to be aware of these sources of distortion as amatter of ethical principle. Carpecken (1996) thus believes that researchersshould:

Establish supportive,non-authoritarian relationships with the participants in your study. Activelyencourage them to question your own perceptions. Be sure that participants areprotected from any harm that your study could produce, and be sure that theyknow they are protected (Carpecken, 1996:90).

There isconsiderable contemporary debate about what constitutes ethical research. Thisis particularly the case with sensitive areas and with feminist methodologies(Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Feminist researchers are concerned with the ideathat the people who are the major part of many research undertakings should notbe exploited. As I have stated previously, feminist researchers are concernedwith the researched. Relationships between researchers and their human subjectsare often continued long after work in the field has finished (Ely et al,1996). The majority of feminists are conscious that the research relationshipis a two-way process.

Researchlike all other knowing, is a transactional process – the knower and the knownboth act upon each other (Ely, et al, 1996:196 ibid.).

Many feministsregard it as crucially important that women who are more oppressed andmarginalised than they themselves are given a voice for their experiences. Theyargue that some, (predominantly male) researchers have used respondents asobjects to be worked on (Reinharz, 1983; Abbott and Wallace, 1997). In manycases there is no further contact with the people they have worked with oncethe research process is finished. Feminists have said that this kind of researchis conducted on a rape model.

The researcherstake, hit, and run, with a total disregard for the needs of the researched.They intrude into their subject’s privacy, disrupt their perceptions, utilisefalse pretences, manipulate the relationships, and give little or nothing inreturn. When the needs of the researchers are satisfied, they break off contactwith the subjects (Reinharz, 1983:80).

The issue of giving oppressed andmarginalised women a voice has been identified by black feminists, as anethical matter. This is because black women’s voices are the most marginal ofall women’s voices in the academy, and the current educational systemreinforces the values and culture of the dominant classes, thereby ensuringtheir continued domination and the covert exercise of power (Hill-Collins, P,1990). In view of these ethical questions, many feminists are conscious of theneed to put something back in, whether by the payment of a fee, or ofcontributing to work in the community. More recently however ethical questionshave also concerned researcher safety. Is it ethical to allow a lone (possiblyfemale) researcher to venture into settings where the power relationships thatpertain in such a setting may put that researcher at risk. Power and ethics areclosely entertwined. Covert participant observation (whereby the researcherdoes not disclose their true role and reasons for being in the setting) isoften regarded as unethical and a misuse of researcher power becauseparticipants are not given the chance to give their informed consent to the research.It is also regarded as privacy violation (Bryman, 2004). Thus the powerrelationships that are, or might be at work in the research relationship needto be acknowledged at all stages of the research process and before decisionsabout how the research is undertaken are formalised.

Research, particularly qualitative research is not just composed of a setof ‘facts’ drawn from a number of suitably phrased questions. It is madeup of all the seemingly unrelated bits and pieces that are part of humanrelationships (Ely et al, 1996).

Critical Urban Research

The most famous urban research is that of the Chicago school in the 1920sand 30s. Robert Park was the central figure here and his main concerns werewith the effects of social and cultural forces on human nature. Park and hiscolleagues recognised two levels of behaviour the biotic and the cultural. Thebiotic level concerned mechanisms of survival and competition and the culturalwas concerned with how the human subject was constituted (Dickens, 1990). Urbanresearch is concerned with how the city influences those who inhabit it and howit shapes their lives. Giddens has argued that the space people occupy has tobe taken into account when studying social life because social interaction isnot aspatial, it has to take place somewhere. This somewhere Giddens designatesa locale.

Localesrange from a room in a house, or street corner, the shopfloor of a factory,towns and cities to the territorially demarcated areas occupied by regionstates. But they are typically internally regionalised (Giddens, 1984).

The Chicago school was highly influential on the way in which streetsociety was studied. Jacobs (1961) undertook what became a classical study ofGreenwich Village when she studied the everyday behaviour and relationships ofpeople on the sidewalk. In the nineteen-ninetees Duneier (1999) wanted todiscover how sidewalk life had changed in the intervening years. He studied thelife of pan handlers and street vendors to see whether and in what ways itscharacter might have changed. Duneier started out as a voyeur and customer at abookstall in Greenwich Village and it was there that he noticed the tenor ofsidewalk life. His primary informant was the bookseller who at first wasreluctant to take part in the research. When he eventually wrote up hisfindings and submitted the manuscript for publication he was not comfortableeven though he had invited his informant to read the manuscript and comment onit. He eventually co-opted the informant to co-teach with him about life on thestreet for a Black American. Duneier believed that not only would this adjustthe imbalance in power relationships in research more adequately but thatstudent feedback and comments on the course might allow him to remedy anyshortcomings of the original research.

Duneier had faced a number of challenges during the course of researchsuch as gaining access to the culture and the confidence of those who lived andworked on the streets. He had trouble fitting in because of the obvious powerdifferentials of class and race as well as the inequality of the researchrelationship (adapted from Giddens, 2001 pps 652-655). Duneier’s researchparticipants were among the least powerful of society. The way in which modernsocieties operate what Giddens (2001) has called a geography of centrality andmarginality where affluence and abject poverty co-exist made the lives ofDuneier’s research participants unliveable. He was worried whether he wasimposing an agenda on his research participants that would make their liveseven more problematic. What Duneier’s research revealed was that the socialresearcher has to take account of the wider social context and processes ofwhich he/she is a themselves a part. Mac an Ghaill’s critical ethnography ofheterosexual and homosexual young men also tries to reduce the powerdifferential between researcher and research participants and to be as open andethically aware as possible though collaboration, reciprocity and reflexivity(Haralambos et al, 2000).

Conclusion

This paper has examined how power relationships in research impact at alllevels of the research process and affect the dialogue between the researcherand the research participants and the ethical considerations that are part ofsocial research. It has also attempted to show how these processes can severelyaffect the undertaking of critical urban ethnography. Duneier’s work inparticular demonstrates how power relationships operate at all levels inresearch and how decisions that have been made (for example the changinggeography of the urban environment) which neither the researcher nor researchparticipants have any control over can affect the outcomes of the research anda researcher’s own sense of his personal ethical commitment to the people whomay have participated in the research. There are a number of reasons why thisis important. Those scholars who are critical of this type of research oftenfail to acknowledge that the scientific paradigm is also beset with these kindsof issues and problems but fails to take them into account. This is what Popper(1992) called the theory of demarcation whereby any variables that do not fitwith the theory are ruled out of the equation. Duneier and other’s explicitrecounting of the problematic nature of undertaking social research thatcontributes to knowledge, is committed to social transformation, and at thesame time is aware the pitfalls that can occur when researching the lives ofthose who are already disenfranchised by society. There may never be a completeanswer to addressing the issue of power relationships in social research but Iwould wish to argue that the researcher who neglects the fact that such thingsexist and influence all research is failing to give an accurate account of thesocial reality that he/she is investigating.

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