Defintions

Question 1

Researcher impositions

Answer 1

Concerned with the ways in which the researcher unknowingly influences the data they collect.

Question 2

Qualitative

Answer 2

Descriptive and rich data which holds lots of information.
Literary, word based data.
Preferred by interpretivists.

Question 3

Quantitative

Answer 3

Less descriptive and not rich in data, numerical so not much information. Preferred by positivists.

Question 4

Hawthorne effect

Answer 4

Participants behaviour changes as they know they’re being observed

Question 5

Positivism

Answer 5

Believe social structure of society and social factors (laws) influence behaviour and use objective, scientific based approaches that are seen as more reliable and produce quantitative data

Question 6

Representativeness

Answer 6

The extent to which the individual, group or situation being studied is typical of the rest of the target population.

Question 7

Generalisable

Answer 7

This is concerned with the extent to which it is possible to apply the findings from the research sample to the wider target population.

Question 8

Gatekeeper

Answer 8

An individual who can give the researcher access to a group or social situation.

Question 9

Practicality

Answer 9

Practical considerations include time, funding, access to prospective research subjects, personal characteristics of researchers, and trends in research

Question 10

Ethics

Answer 10

Moral guidelines that you put in place to protect the participant.

Question 11

Reflexivity

Answer 11

A form of self-evaluation that involves researchers reflecting critically on how they organised the research process, their everyday experience of it and how a range of influences might have positively or negatively affected the validity of their findings.

Question 12

Validity

Answer 12

If the study is valid it is the extent to which findings paint the right picture.

Question 13

Interpretivism

Answer 13

Aim to see the world through the participants eyes, small scale.

Question 14

Operationalism

Answer 14

Defining key terms of research

Question 15

Objectivity

Answer 15

The extent to which findings are influenced by the researchers belief.

Question 16

Respondent validation

Answer 16

This is the process by which the researcher’s findings, interpretation and understanding are checked and discussed with the research participants in an attempt to limit bias.

Question 17

Social desirability

Answer 17

This is where the interviewee will be influenced by the presence of the interviewer, and might give the responses they think are desired, rather than share their honest opinions or experiences.

Question 18

Reliability

Answer 18

If the study is repeatable or not. Research methods are standardised to make sure it’s repeatable to verify the findings.