3.1.1 Choosing a Research Method Flashcards
1
Q
Summary
A
- Primary and Secondary Sources of Data
2. Quantitative and Qualitative
2
Q
Primary data
A
- Information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes. (obtaining a first-hand ‘picture’ of a group or test a hypothesis)
3
Q
Secondary data
A
- Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but which the sociologist can then use.
4
Q
Secondary data: Advantages / Disadvantages
A
- Advantage: Using secondary data can be quick and cheap of doing research, since someone else has already produced the information.
Disadvantage: Those who produce it may not be interested in the same questions as sociologists, (secondary sources may not provide the information sociologists need)
5
Q
Primary data: Advantages / Disadvantages
A
- Advantage: sociologists may be able to gather precisely the information they need to test their hypotheses.
- Disadvantages: doing so can be costly / time consuming
6
Q
Secondary data: Examples
A
- Official statistics: produces by government on wide, such as education, crime, divorce and unemployment, as well as other.
- Documents: such as letters, email, diaries, photographs, officials reports, novels, newspapers, the internet and television broadcasts.
7
Q
Primary data: Examples
A
- Social surveys: these involve asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview.
- Participant observation: The sociologist joins in with the activities of the group he or she is studying.
- Experiments: Sociologists rarely use laboratory experiments, but they sometimes use field experiments and the comparative method.
8
Q
Quantitative Data
A
- Information in a numerical form. (official stats on GCSEs, percentage of marriages ending in divorce, unemployment rate)
9
Q
Qualitative Data
A
Gives a ‘feel’ for what something is like (e.g. what if feels like to get good GCSE results, or for one’s marriage to end in divorce)
