Task 6B: Merits and Limits of the tools/ethods that can be used in my professional inquiry

This is an effective way to clearly see the advantages and disadvantages of each inquiry method and I am hoping it will highlight the tools I will want to apply to my professional inquiry.
I have used a bit of guidance from the internet to help explain the merits and limits of each inquiry tool.

An interview:
Merits

• Captures verbal and non-verbal ques
• Easily distinguishes body language
• A face-to-face interview can produce enthusiasm for the discussion on a particular topic
• Free from technological distractions

Limits

• Quality of data by the interviewer- the outcome of the interview relies heavily on the ability of the interviewer; good questions with room for explanation and discussion
• The data collected would be time consuming to input

A survey:
Merits

• Participants can remain anonymous
• Easy to develop
• Cost effective
• Capable of collecting data from a large number of respondents

Limits

• Respondents may not feel encouraged to provide accurate, honest answers
• Respondents may not be fully aware of their reasons for any given answer

A Focus Group:
Merits

• They are useful to obtain detailed information about personal and group feelings, perceptions and opinions
• They can provide a broader range of information
• They can encourage a wider discussion between participants
• They can easily measure the respondent's reactions

Limits

• They are not as efficient in covering maximum depth on a particular issue
• Participants may feel hesitant in expressing their true feelings if it opposes the views of another
• It may be difficult to gather enough people at a certain time to conduct the focus group, especially if it's in the workplace

A Pilot Observation:
Merits

• Access to situations where questionnaires and interviews are impossible or are inappropriate to use
• Access to people in real life situations
• Good for explaining meaning and context
• Can be strong on validity and in-depth understanding

Limits

• Time consuming
• Ethical considerations arise
• Potential for role conflict for practitioner researches
• May affect the situation and validity of findings

Looking at documents:
Merits

• Can be used without imposing on participants
• Can be checked and re-checked for reliability
• Allows research on subjects to which the researcher does not have physical access

Limits

• Time consuming
• Many documents used in research were not initially intended for research purposes and may be bias
• Lack of availability of documents
• Limited on verbal behaviour, relies solely on the literature

I have already begun to comprise the tools I will eventually use in my future inquiry. For certain, the pilot observation method will not be used due to ethical issues surrounding my work place. A focus group could be an interesting concept but it might be quite difficult to gather the participants at the same time for a discussion. I propose to utilise the surveys, interviews and looking at documents as tools to shape my inquiry.