Qualitative Research vs. Documentary
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Qualitative Research vs. Documentary
Summary
Human Weapon is a tae kwon-do martial arts documentary hosted by Jason Chambers and Bill Duff. In the 44-minute film, the two hosts explore the history, techniques, brutality, benefits and practical uses of martial arts. The hosts admit that tae kwon-do is the hardest modern martial arts technique in the world. They state that martial arts have been recognized as a sport, and received support from governments and international associations and games, such as the Olympics. Chambers and Duff argue that tae kwon-do has become very popular and millions of people through out the world have enrolled in martial arts schools to train the technique. Furthermore, many security and body guarding agencies have trained their employees to master the techniques of tae kwon-do. The hosts narrate that martial arts have been regarded as defense techniques and business opportunities by many people.
Differences and Similarities
Making of a documentary is quit different from completing a qualitative research. The first difference is that documentaries are based on emotionalism. People making a documentary are emotionally attached to the subject. Unlike documentaries, qualitative researchers in are guided by naturalism. Despite personal views, they have to gather factual data to support their claims. The second deference between the two studies is that documentaries focus on interviews. In most instances, host of documentaries interview people supporting the central these of the study. Conversely, naturalist qualitative researchers rely on both interviews and documented literature. The third difference is that biasness tends to be higher in documentaries. It is very difficult to find a documentary whereby the hosts interviewed people whose views opposed the thesis of the film. Naturalist qualitative researchers conversely, have to interview and gather data that support or oppose their central thesis.
The forth difference is that while completing a qualitative naturalist field study, the researchers have to identify specific locations and interviewees before beginning their investigation. Conversely, while making a documentary, the hosts tend to conduct their research with an unstructured plan. They interview anybody who might contribute significantly towards support the central thesis of the film. The fifth difference is that most documentaries tend to use an informal language. This is because they aim at making the documentary educative as well as entertaining. Conversely, qualitative naturalist researchers have to use a formal language when expressing their views and argumentation. Finally, documentaries are always aimed at the echoing the hosts’ personal opinion. Unlike their counterparts, qualitative naturalist researchers also have a central thesis but conduct the research with an open mind knowing that the results of the study might differ from their original stand on the subject.
However, both documentaries and qualitative naturalist research have a few similarities. Firstly, both activities require a substantial amount of money. Researchers have to incur expenses on transportation, data collections and assessment among other costs. Secondly, both take significant amount of time. Researchers have take time to interview people and analyze the results of the study before presenting their final report or film.
Contribution of the Documentary to Research
The documentary, Human Weapon, provides substantial information that will be very useful in the research. Chambers and Duff interviewed very many martial arts masters in the documentary. Most of them are renowned martial artists skilled in different tae kwon-do techniques. Therefore, the documentary has positively contributed towards my research because it has helped in identifying the people to be interviewed and their locations.
Chambers, J., & Duff, B. (n.d.). Taekwondo – Martial Arts Documentary. Youtube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4w6JpqSDQY