Choosing a research method Flashcards
1
Q
What is primary data?
A
Information collected by sociologists for their own purposes → such as obtaining a first hand ‘picture’ of a group in society or to test a hypothesis.
2
Q
Methods for primary data
A
- Social surveys → involve asking questions written or in an interview
- Participant observation → the sociologist joins in with the activities of the group he or she is studying
- Experiments → sociologists sometimes use field experiments and comparative method
3
Q
Primary data +/ -
A
+able to gather the precise information needed
- time consuming
- costly
4
Q
What is secondary data?
A
information that has been collected by someone else for their own purposes → but other sociologists can then use
5
Q
Secondary sources of data examples
A
- Official statistics → produced by govt on wide range of issues such as education and unemployment as well as stats produced by charities, business etc
- Documents → such as letters,emails,diaries, photographs , TV etc
6
Q
Secondary sources of data + / -
A
+ quick
+ Cost effective
- Those who produced the data may not be interested in the same questions ( not provide the precise info needed)
7
Q
What is quantitative data?
A
information in a numerical form
( official statistics, info from poles and research surveys)
8
Q
What is qualitative data ?
A
gives a ‘feel’ for what something is like.
( observations, in depth interviews → into emotions)
