Choosing Research Methods With Influence

Question 1

Types of data

Answer 1

Primary
Secondary
Qualitative
Quantitive

Question 2

What is primary sources of data

Answer 2

Information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes. This can be surveys, experiments and participant observation

Question 3

What is secondary source data

Answer 3

Information collected by someone else that the sociologist can use for their own purposes. This can include official statistics and documents

Question 4

Types of primary data

Answer 4

Social surveys - questionnaires
Participant observation - joins in activities
Experiments - laboratory experiment

Question 5

Advantage and disadvantage of primary sources of data

Answer 5

Ad - precise and reliable
Dis - time consuming and expensive

Question 6

Types of secondary data

Answer 6

Official stats - produced by government on a range of issues
Documents - letter, newspapers and and internet websites.

Question 7

Advantages and disadvantages of secondary sources of data

Answer 7

Ad - cheap and time consuming
Dis - not accurate information and exactly what the sociologist needs.

Question 8

Quantitative data

Answer 8

Information in numerical form, includes stats and percentages. Information collected by opinion rolls and market research often come in numerical form.

Question 9

Qualitative data

Answer 9

Data that gives a feel for something like what it feels to get good grades in gcse rather than percentages of pass rates. Participant observation often comes in a form of qualitative data

Question 10

Practical issues that affect choice of method

Answer 10

Time and money
Requirements of funding bodies
Personal skills and characteristics
Subject matter
Research opportunity

Question 11

Time and money

Answer 11

Different methods take different lengths of time and money which some researchers can limit in affecting their choice of method

Question 12

Requirements of funding bodies

Answer 12

Businesses and other organisations that provide the funding for research to take place may require the data to be in a particular form like quantitive, this means sociologists will have to use a method capable of producing such data.

Question 13

Personal skills and characteristics

Answer 13

Each sociologist possesses different skills affecting their ability and choice of method. Sociologists disadvantaged may be limited to choice of method as a result of their lack of skill

Question 14

Subject matter

Answer 14

It may be harder to study a particular group or subject by one method than by another. A male sociologist may struggle to study and or female group.

Question 15

Research opportunity

Answer 15

Opportunities to carry out certain methods can come unexpectedly, can always use structured answers.
Eg. Glasgow gang leader and james patrick

Question 16

What was the Glasgow and James Patrick research opportunity.

Answer 16

The gang leader gave James the chance of spending time with his gang, James was able to use the participant observation form of method.

Question 17

Ethical issues

Answer 17

Moral issues of right and wrong.

Question 18

Informed consent

Answer 18

The people studied should be offered the right to refuse to be involved and the researcher should also tell them about relevant aspects of the research

Question 19

Confidentiality and privacy

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Harm to research participants

Answer 20

Researchers need to be aware of the possible effects of their work on those they study. Researchers should anticipate and prevent such harm.

Question 21

Vulnerable groups

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Covert research

Answer 22

When the researcher identity is kept secret as well as the purpose. This can create ethical problems like lying in order to maintain trust and information.

Question 23

What are theoretical issues that influences method choice

Answer 23

Validity
Reliability
Representatives
Methodological perspective

Question 24

What is a methodological perspective

Answer 24

The view of what society is like and how we should study it.

Question 25

What is a positivist

Answer 25

They prefer quantitive data, seek to discover patterns of behaviour and see sociology as a science.

Question 26

What is a interpretivist

Answer 26

They prefer qualitative data, seek to understand, social actors, meaning, and rejecting the view that social sociology model itself on the natural sciences.

Question 27

Experimental group

Answer 27

The group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested.

Question 28

Control group

Answer 28

In an experiment, the group that doesn’t get treatment, compared to the experimental group to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment

Question 29

Dependant variable

Answer 29

The variable that is being measured/tested.

Question 30

Independent variable

Answer 30

The factor that is altered, the effectiveness of this variable is studied

Question 31

Casuality

Answer 31

The relationship between cause and effect.

Question 32

Hypothesis

Answer 32

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Question 33

Reliability

Answer 33

When a test has consistent results which is assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test on alternate forms.

Question 34

Validity

Answer 34

When a test measures and predicts to what it is meant to do

Question 35

Hawthorne effect

Answer 35

A change In a subjects behaviour caused simply by the awareness of being studied

Question 36

What does representative mean

Answer 36

which a sample mirrors a researcher’s target population and reflects the populations characteristics.

Question 37

What does population in research mean

Answer 37

A population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about