Suppose that you wanted to understand the changing meanings of the greeting cards in 21^st century London, England. You are particularly concerned with these meanings and uses among young single adults aged 18-30 who are more likely to be online, socially active, and looking for work or embarking on careers and advanced education. You know that e-cards are increasingly popular, but wonder whether both e-cards and traditional paper cards are likely to be seen as old fashioned by this target group. You also know that Greater London is culturally diverse and composed of many ethnicities and subcultures. And you know that the answer to your question is likely to differ over various card-giving occasions and non-occasions as well as over different types of relationships. How might you go about answering your question? See if you can think of at least one study using each of the following methods:

• Survey research administered online
• Focus group discussions
• Observational research
• Individual depth interviews
• A study of online material in forums, discussion groups, and social media
• Archives of the records of a subscription service offering online greeting cards and gifts

Try to detail how you would go about conducting the study and what you would observe, ask, or analyze. If you could only use one of these methods, which would you choose? If you could use three of these methods, which three would you use and in what order would you use them?