General structure of the essay
- Introduction
- Practical issues
- Ethical issues
- Theoretical issues
- Conclusion
Introduction: what does PERVERT stand for?
Practical issues
Ethical issues
Reliability
Validity
Examples
Representativeness
Theoretical issues
What are practical issues? (5+3)
- Personal skills and characteristics
- Research opportunity
- Time and money
- Subject matter
- Requirements of funding bodies
—> reliability
—> validity
—> representativeness
What are ethical issues? (7)
- Effect on wider society
- Confidentiality and privacy
- Harm to participants
- Legality and immorality
- Covert research
- Vulnerable groups
- Informed consent
What are theoretical issues?
Positivism vs interpretivism
What does ‘personal skills and characteristics’ mean?
- Different methods may require different abilities
- Different specialisms
What does ‘research opportunity’ mean?
- Opportunity to carry out research could happen unexpectedly
—> may not be possible to use structured methods - Size of sample requires different methods
What does ‘time and money’ mean?
Different methods require different amounts of time and money
—> major factor in method choice
What does ‘subject matter’ mean?
Particular groups may be harder to study than others or require different methods
What does ‘requirements of funding bodies’ mean?
May require results in particular form
What does ‘effect on wider society’ mean?
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
What does ‘confidentiality and privacy’ mean?
Identity and personal information of participants should be kept secret as to prevent possible negative effects
What does ‘harm to the participants’ mean?
- Police intervention
- Harm to employment prospects
- Social exclusion
- Psychological damage
What does ‘legality and immorality’ mean?
Researchers may be drawn into situations where they may commit crimes or possibly witness/help with deviant acts
What does ‘covert research’ mean?
- Makes it impossible to gain consent
- Argued to be justified in some situations (access to a secret or powerful group)
What does ‘vulnerable groups’ mean?
Special care should be taken in case of vulnerabilities because of
1. Age
2. Disability
3. Physical or mental health
What does ‘informed consent’ mean?
- Participants should know the research is happening prior to the study
- They should be able to get out at any given time
What does ‘reliability’ mean?
Quantitative methods tend to produce more reliable results
What does ‘validity’ mean?
Qualitative methods give us more valid or truthful information, as they give deeper insight and often first hand experience
What does ‘representativeness’ mean (1/2)?
- Sample size: the larger, the more representative
- The sampling frame (e.g. school register) could be out of date
Representativeness (2/2): why would researchers use non-representative sampling methods?
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
What does ‘positivism’ mean?
- Quantitative data
- Seek to discover patterns of behaviour
- Sociology = science
What does ‘interpretivism’ mean?
- Qualitative data
- Seek to understand the meaning behind behaviour
- Sociology = not science
What does ‘positivism vs interpretivism’ may influence?
- Area to study
- Technique or method to study
- Interpretation of the findings
