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Sociology Essay > Essay Structure > Flashcards

Essay Structure Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

General structure of the essay

A
  1. Introduction
  2. Practical issues
  3. Ethical issues
  4. Theoretical issues
  5. Conclusion
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2
Q

Introduction: what does PERVERT stand for?

A

Practical issues
Ethical issues
Reliability
Validity
Examples
Representativeness
Theoretical issues

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3
Q

What are practical issues? (5+3)

A
  1. Personal skills and characteristics
  2. Research opportunity
  3. Time and money
  4. Subject matter
  5. Requirements of funding bodies
    —> reliability
    —> validity
    —> representativeness
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4
Q

What are ethical issues? (7)

A
  1. Effect on wider society
  2. Confidentiality and privacy
  3. Harm to participants
  4. Legality and immorality
  5. Covert research
  6. Vulnerable groups
  7. Informed consent
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5
Q

What are theoretical issues?

A

Positivism vs interpretivism

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6
Q

What does ‘personal skills and characteristics’ mean?

A
  1. Different methods may require different abilities
  2. Different specialisms
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7
Q

What does ‘research opportunity’ mean?

A
  1. Opportunity to carry out research could happen unexpectedly
    —> may not be possible to use structured methods
  2. Size of sample requires different methods
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8
Q

What does ‘time and money’ mean?

A

Different methods require different amounts of time and money
—> major factor in method choice

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9
Q

What does ‘subject matter’ mean?

A

Particular groups may be harder to study than others or require different methods

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10
Q

What does ‘requirements of funding bodies’ mean?

A

May require results in particular form

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11
Q

What does ‘effect on wider society’ mean?

A

E.g. families of studied subject may want parts of obtained information kept secret, or victims of criminal acts may not want details to be known

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12
Q

What does ‘confidentiality and privacy’ mean?

A

Identity and personal information of participants should be kept secret as to prevent possible negative effects

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13
Q

What does ‘harm to the participants’ mean?

A
  1. Police intervention
  2. Harm to employment prospects
  3. Social exclusion
  4. Psychological damage
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14
Q

What does ‘legality and immorality’ mean?

A

Researchers may be drawn into situations where they may commit crimes or possibly witness/help with deviant acts

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15
Q

What does ‘covert research’ mean?

A
  1. Makes it impossible to gain consent
  2. Argued to be justified in some situations (access to a secret or powerful group)
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16
Q

What does ‘vulnerable groups’ mean?

A

Special care should be taken in case of vulnerabilities because of
1. Age
2. Disability
3. Physical or mental health

17
Q

What does ‘informed consent’ mean?

A
  1. Participants should know the research is happening prior to the study
  2. They should be able to get out at any given time
18
Q

What does ‘reliability’ mean?

A

Quantitative methods tend to produce more reliable results

19
Q

What does ‘validity’ mean?

A

Qualitative methods give us more valid or truthful information, as they give deeper insight and often first hand experience

20
Q

What does ‘representativeness’ mean (1/2)?

A
  1. Sample size: the larger, the more representative
  2. The sampling frame (e.g. school register) could be out of date
21
Q

Representativeness (2/2): why would researchers use non-representative sampling methods?

A

Practical reasons:
1. Social characteristics of the population may not be known
2. Creating a sampling frame may be impossible
3. Potential participants may refuse to take part
Theoretical reasons:
1. Interpretivists want valid data, less concerned about generalisability, less need for representativeness

22
Q

What does ‘positivism’ mean?

A
  1. Quantitative data
  2. Seek to discover patterns of behaviour
  3. Sociology = science
23
Q

What does ‘interpretivism’ mean?

A
  1. Qualitative data
  2. Seek to understand the meaning behind behaviour
  3. Sociology = not science
24
Q

What does ‘positivism vs interpretivism’ may influence?

A
  1. Area to study
  2. Technique or method to study
  3. Interpretation of the findings

Sociology Essay (1 decks)

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