A combined use of three qualitative approaches: non reactive observation, biographic interview and focus groups technique

The aim of paper is to present a research design and in particular the way in which the different qualitative approaches was combined in order to take advantage of their potentiality and their particular perspective of observation. The case study focus on forms of ‘submerged’ violence that can arise within the framework of care institutions for minors. The research design included non reactive observations to collect some information on relationships among those living and working in residential structures; the focus-group technique to detect social representations on ‘care’ work; the biographical interview to investigate the living conditions of minors. A combination of different qualitative approaches has been used in order to deal with the multi-dimensional nature of the phenomena and to detect more features or aspects. Indeed, each approach satisfies specific cognitive aims, allowing the same phenomenon to be analysed from different perspectives.