MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Informing Social ... - Amen

Method and methodology
This research is based on qualitative methods of research. Silverman (1993) points out
that qualitative methods of research are particularly interested in how people observe
and describe their lives (Payne and Payne 2004).
The core concern of qualitative research is to seek out and
intercept the meaning that people bring to their own actions,
rather than describing any regularities or statistical associations
between ‘variables’. (Payne and Payne 2004:176)
The methods employed in this dissertation to generate the required research data was an
extensive literature review, a focus group carried out with five male victims of domestic
violence and individual interviews with three social workers. The combination of
qualitative methods of data collection in this research can be used to support each other
and is referred to as “triangulation” (Mason. 1996. cited in Silverman. 2000).
To find a specific aim for my research, I began by reading the literature available in the
area of domestic violence and decided to base the research on male victims of domestic
violence. As the literature review was now focused I carried out a more extensive
search in books, journals, newspapers and passed research reports. I located this
information in the University College Cork, Boole Library, Amen and the Internet. In
compiling this information I was constantly drawn to the fact that most of the sources
available on domestic violence were dominated by research into ‘female victims and
male perpetrators’. I also found frustrating the fact that research carried out into male
victims relied strongly on data generated from research into the female victims. For this
reason I have to the best of my ability used sources that have remained gender neutral or
have concentrated solely on male victims in their research where possible, but with a
great deal of frustration.
Methodology deals with the characteristics of methods, the principles
on which methods operate, and the standards governing their selection
and application. (Payne and Payne 2004:150)
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