qualitative research

The research paper I have selected is “Exploring Domestic violence in an

Indian Setting” by Vranda M N. The author claims to explore the nature of domestic violence by interviewing women who had sought help at a Family

Counselling Centre in Bangalore. The author wises to understand women’s experiences expressed in their own words. She prepares a semi-structured interview guide based on the research aim and review of the literature. The guide was predominantly open-ended with the objective of exploring violence experienced by women.

The data was collected from interviewing twenty women who sought help from Counselling center situated within the police commissioner’s office.

In the findings presented, the author noted statements made by the women who were victims of domestic violence. These statements were categorized based on what the author felt appropriate for belonging to a specified category. One such category included “Cultural belief (for Staying in a violent relationship)”.

She states that eight women revealed that although their parents asked them to come back, they chose to stay on as their going back would bring dishonour to their family. The author quotes on such woman:

I cannot go back to my parents. My going back will bring dishonour to them. I have a sister who needs to be married. It would be difficult to get a guy for her if I go back to my natal family. People would blame me only for leaving my husband.

Using this quote as an exemplar, the author assumes that all eight women fall in the category of “Women who stay in marriages due to a cultural belief”.

The author assumes a common understanding of marriage among all the eight, a common understanding of the idea of “honour”. She also assumes that the women were hone...

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...ze an oppressive institution (eg family, marriage, religion, university, etc) its hard to find someone trustworthy with whom one may confide to regarding harrassment. The author mentions that “The majority of the women had no plans. Nearly

50% of them preferred to die if nothing worked out”. This too is a case where the author assumes that the women were honestly telling her about their plans of dealing with an abusive man in a police station. The police often wait for opportunities to harass helpless individuals, and female complainants with no support from a powerful institution are often sitting ducks. One cannot expect an individual to be honest in a police station, and furthmore publish claims made there, regarding victims of violence.

On the whole, most conclusions of the author were justified given the constraints within which she worked although, a few concl