you are conducting research on sex differencesin emails .Your hypothesis is that the men use more declarative statements and women use more questions.what might be the advantages of using the archival method
http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/correlational.htm
Katrina, check your 2-3-11,10:21pm post
The archival method refers to a research approach that involves analyzing existing data or records. In the context of studying sex differences in emails, the advantages of using the archival method can be:
1. Access to a large and diverse dataset: By using the archival method, you can potentially access a vast collection of emails from different individuals across various contexts. This enables you to study a wide range of participants, enhancing the generalizability and representativeness of your findings.
2. Cost-effectiveness: Conducting original data collection can be time-consuming and expensive. The archival method eliminates the need for recruiting participants, administering surveys, or conducting interviews, saving both time and resources.
3. Naturalistic setting: Analyzing real emails allows you to examine communication patterns in their natural setting. Participants are likely to express their thoughts and emotions more freely and authentically, providing insights into actual behaviors and language usage.
4. Longitudinal analysis: Archival data often spans an extended period of time. This allows for a longitudinal analysis, enabling researchers to examine changes over time and investigate trends or patterns that may emerge in the emails.
5. Ethical considerations: By working with existing and publicly available data sets, the archival method eliminates potential ethical concerns related to privacy and confidentiality. Since the data is already anonymized and de-identified, you can avoid infringing upon participants' privacy.
To use the archival method for studying sex differences in emails, you would need to collect a suitable and representative dataset of emails from both men and women. This could involve searching for publicly available email archives, requesting access from organizations or institutions, or collaborating with individuals who have access to relevant email collections. Once the dataset is obtained, you can analyze the emails using appropriate quantitative or qualitative research techniques to test your hypothesis about men's use of declarative statements and women's use of questions.