2. advantages and disadvantages - research methods Flashcards
1
Q
What are advantages of structured interviews?
A
- quantifiable data
- comparable data
- usually faster and cost less than unstructured interviews
- less social desirability effect
- interviewer is present to explain the question to avoid misinterpretation
- data is seen as more reliable
2
Q
What are some disadvantages of structured interviews?
A
- limited responses, there is little to no opportunity to discuss or qualify their answers so there is less validity
- interviewer has set the questions based on their priorities and concerns and have imposed on the participant what they see as important
- more time consuming than postal and other self-completion questionnaires
3
Q
What are some advantages of unstructured interviews?
A
- participant direction, there is greater opportunity for participants to take control and direct the interview into areas which they see as interesting, which increases the validity of the data
- more likely to discuss sensitive topics
- researcher is able to ask for clarification with ambiguities
4
Q
What are some disadvantages with unstructured interviews?
A
- interviewer bias, a relationship develops between the interviewer and the participant
- it’s difficult to compare and measure the responses of different interviewers as they may be expressed in many different ways
- social desirability effect = participants may emphasis socially desirable aspects of their behaviour and attitudes in the presence of interviewers
- leading questions
5
Q
What are some advantages of longitudinal studies?
A
- possible to study change over time, and provide detail on the changes that occur
- a mixed methods approach provides validity and reliability
- can see correlations between how individuals deal with events over time
6
Q
What are some disadvantages of longitudinal studies?
A
- it’s likely that the original sample size will drop as people die, move away, can’t be traced, or become unwilling to cooperate - which may reduce the representativeness of the sample
- those in the sample are conscious of the fact that they are being studied which may change their behaviour and reduce the validity
- problem of the cost, most funding agencies are unwilling to take on a commitment over a long period of time
7
Q
What are some advantages of questionnaires?
A
- relatively cheap compared to interviews
- relatively quick to conduct compared to interviews
- provide standardised data that are likely to produce in quantitative statistical form
- reliable
- enable comparisons to be made between different groups and populations
- can be geographically widespread
8
Q
What are some disadvantages of questionnaires?
A
- there’s no way of stopping research if someone is upset
- questions may be misunderstood and extra questions can’t be asked to get the respondents to expand or explain themselves more fully
- limited choice of answers imposes strict and artificial limits on what kind of information can be given or collected which reduces the validity
- response rate can be low
9
Q
What are some advantages of lab experiments?
A
- standardised so can be repeated to check reliability
- can be controlled in order to decrease extraneous variables
- can use large numbers of people so are generalisable
- highly reliable
- yields quantitative data
10
Q
What are some disadvantages of lab experiments?
A
- The Hawthorne Effect = the subject will act accordingly because they know they are being researched
- often only possible in small-scale settings with very limited, specific aims, but sociologists are often interested in wider settings
- it’s extremely difficult to isolate a single cause of a social issue
11
Q
What is an advantage of field experiments?
A
- provide a more realistic setting
12
Q
What is a disadvantage of field experiments?
A
- it is not possible to control all the important variables
