Choosing a Research Method

Question 1

Define primary data and give examples.

Answer 1

Information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes. An example may be a picture taken ‘first-hand’.

Question 2

Define secondary data and give examples.

Answer 2

Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but which the sociologist can then use. An example may be the use of statistics.

Question 3

Summarise how time and money is a practical issue.

Answer 3

Different methods require different amounts of time and money and this may influence the sociologist’s choice. For example, large-scale surveys may employ dozens of interviewers and data-inputting staff and cost a great deal of money.

Question 4

Summarise how the requirement of funding bodies is a practical issue.

Answer 4

Research institutes, businesses and other organisations that provide the funding for research may require the results to be in a particular form.

Question 5

Summarise how personal skills and characteristics is a practical issue.

Answer 5

Each sociologist possesses different personal skills and this may affect their ability to use different methods.

Question 6

Summarise how subject matter is a practical issue.

Answer 6

It may be much harder to study a particular group or subject by one method than by another. For example, it might prove difficult for a male sociologist to study an all-female group by means of participant observation.

Question 7

Summarise how research opportunity is a practical issue.

Answer 7

Sometimes the opportunity to carry out research occurs unexpectedly and this means that it may not be possible to use structured methods such as questionnaires. For example, a Glasgow gang leader offered the sociologist James Patrick the chance to spend time with his gang. Patrick had no option but to use participant observation.

Question 8

Summarise how informed consent is an ethical issue.

Answer 8

Research participants should be offered the right to refuse to be involved. The researcher should also tell them about all relevant aspects of the research so that they can make a fully informed decision.

Question 9

Summarise how confidentiality and privacy is an ethical issue.

Answer 9

Researchers should keep the identity of research participants secret in order to help to prevent negative effects on them.

Question 10

Summarise how harm to the research participants is an ethical issue.

Answer 10

Researchers need to be aware of the possible effects of their work on those they study. These could include police intervention, harm to employment aspects, social exclusion and psychological damage.

Question 11

Summarise how using vulnerable groups are an ethical issue.

Answer 11

Special care should be taken where research participants are particularly vulnerable because of their age, disability or physical or mental health.

Question 12

Summarise how covert research is an ethical issue.

Answer 12

Covert research is when the researcher’s identity and research purpose are hidden from the people being studied. This can create serious ethical problems, such as deceiving or lying to people in order to win their trust or obtain information.

Question 13

Summarise how validity is a theoretical issue.

Answer 13

A valid method is one that produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like. It allows the researcher to get closer to the truth.

Question 14

Summarise how reliability is a theoretical issue.

Answer 14

Another word for reliability is replicability. A replica is an exact copy of something, so a reliable method is one which, when repeated by another researcher, gives the same results.

Question 15

Summarise how representativeness is a theoretical issue.

Answer 15

Representativeness refers to whether or not the people we study are a typical cross-section of the group we are interested in.

Question 16

Summarise how methodological perspective is a theoretical issue.

Answer 16

Sociologists’ choice of method is also influenced by their methodological perspective - their view of what society is like and how we should study it. (Positivist or Interpretivist)

Question 17

How might the sociologist’s perspective influence their choice of topic?

Answer 17

The sociologist’s theoretical perspective is a major influence on their choice of research topic. For example, a New Right researcher may study the effects of welfare benefits on the growth of lone-parent families.

Question 18

How might society’s values influence the choice of topic?

Answer 18

Sociologists themselves are part of the society they study and thus are influenced by its values. As these values change, so does the focus of research.

Question 19

How might practical factors influence the choice of topic?

Answer 19

Practical factors, such as the inaccessibility of certain situations to the researcher, may also restrict what topic they are able to study.

Question 20

How might funding bodies influence the choice of topic?

Answer 20

Most research requires funding from an external bosy. these bodies include government agencies, the Economic and Social Research Council, charities and businesses. As the funding body is paying for the research, it will determine the topic to be investigated.

Question 21

What are the advantages of having a hypothesis?

Answer 21

It gives direction to our research. It will give focus to our questions, since their purpose is to gather information that will either confirm or disprove our hypothesis.

Question 22

What are the advantages of having an aim?

Answer 22

It is more open-ended. We are not tied to trying to prove a particular hypothesis; instead we can gather data on whatever appears interesting about a situation

Question 23

Summarise the reasons why sociologists may use a pilot study.

Answer 23

To iron out any problems, refine or clarify any questions and their wording and give interviewers practice, so that the actual survey goes as smoothly as possible.

Question 24

What is the purpose of sampling?

Answer 24

To ensure that the people we have chosen to include in the study are representative and typical of the research population, including all of the people that we have not been able to include in the study.

Question 25

What is a sampling frame?

Answer 25

This is a list of all the members of the population we are interested in studying.

Question 26

List the reasons for using a non-representative sample.

Answer 26

The social characteristics of the research population, such as age, gender and class may not be known.
It might be impossible to find or create a sampling frame for that particular research population.
Potential respondents may refuse to participate.

Question 27

What is snowball sampling and why would it not be representative?

Answer 27

it involves collecting a sample by contacting a key number of individuals, who are asked to suggest others who might be interviewed and so on. It does not cover a wide cross-section of people.

Question 28

What is opportunity sampling and why would it not be representative?

Answer 28

Sometimes called convenience sampling, involves choosing from those individuals who are easiest to access.

Question 29

Explain why interpretivists do not see representativeness as important.

Answer 29

Because they would rather gain valid data and a more authentic understanding of social actors’ meanings than to discover general laws of behaviour. They are less concerned in making generalisations.