choosing a research method Flashcards
practical issues
time: some methods take more time than others, this may lead to a smaller research sample size
money: affects the number of researchers, respondents and amount of research time - equipment, travel and people’s time are often not cheap
access: some groups of respondents and location are easier to access than others - e.g: to enter a school to do research, permission is required
ethical issues
informed consent: researchers should have informed consent because of the effects the research may have on them
confidentiality: research subjects have the right to anonymity, so they should not be identifiable when the research is published
psychological harm: some research groups are more vulnerable to psychological harm than others (e.g: children)
theoretical issues
reliability: to be reliable, it must be able to be repeated and obtain similar results. positivists favour reliable research and therefore use methods such as questionnaires and structured interviews, which can be repeated by an researcher due to the structured conditions
representativeness: the sample group must have similar characteristics to those of the wider population to be representative. positivists value this as they wish to discover general patterns and make cause and effect statements about social behaviour
validity: refers to how true the data is. interpretivists emphasise the need to sue research methods rich in validity, such as unstructured interviews and participant observations as they revel the real meaning in which people hold
