Got my methods hat on – getting ready for the next module – very nice example I just found that illustrates the usefuleness of open questions (qualitative) over closed questions – taken from a semi-structured interview done for the Guardian’s and LSE’s ‘reading the riots’ in which black britons are questioned about whether they feel part of British Society…

Kirk, a 22-year-old British Jamaican video producer, expressed it best when he told me: “They section you out, black people, Jamaicans, Caribbeans, so you don’t really feel like a part of society. I never feel like this is my home really. If they wanted to move us out of this area quickly they could, it’s their land at the end of the day. Wherever you go they’re always gonna look at you as a nigger. Sorry to say it like that but that’s the reality of it.”

These words were in response to a question on the LSE survey: “To what extent do you feel a part of British society?” Routinely, when I asked this question the response was initially positive but after a few moments’ reflection respondents’ answers would change. While they themselves feel British and love this country, they aren’t made to feel British by the white “indigenous” population.

This question often opened floodgates of pent up feeling. Kirk continued: “You can feel the subconscious racism everywhere and you see the way they look at you. So in that aspect I don’t feel like part of British society at all cause when I go to Jamaica I feel more at home, before I even open my mouth they’re just looking at me as one.”

S0 there you go – you need to give people time to respond at length to such a question to get to what they really think and feel.