exam 2 Flashcards
know it all
What is non-probability sampling?
Sample selected using non-random sampling. All forms of sampling not conducted according to the canons of probability sampling.
What is characteristic of probability sampling?
Sample findings are generalizable to the population they’re drawn from.
What is a sampling frame?
A list of elements in the population. the source material or device from which a sample is drawn.
What are the 4 types of probability sampling?
Simple random sampling
Stratified random sampling
Multi-stage cluster sampling
Systematic sampling
What are the characteristics and process of simple random sampling?
Everyone has an equal chance of being selected
- Define the population
- Devise a sampling frame
- Decide on sample size
- List population and assign them consecutive numbers
- Pick numbers at random
What are the characteristics and process of stratified random sampling?
-Units are randomly selected from a population that has already been divided into sub-groups
-Assure subgroups are represented proportionately
-Requires that relevant criteria for stratification be known in advance
What are the characteristics and process of multi-stage cluster sampling?
-Used for large populations
-Involves 2+ stages
-Divide population into groups
-Randomly sample a number of groups
-From each of the groups sample a number of people
-Stratified cluster sampling can ensure clusters are representative of entire population
What are some pros and cons of multi-stage cluster sampling?
+ Solves problem of inadequate sampling frame
+ Cost effective
- Technical issues
- Clusters are not all the same size
What is heterogeneity of a population?
An issue pertaining to sample size. Populations with higher heterogeneity lead to more varied samples, and thus require a larger sample size.
What is characteristic of absolute sample size?
-More reliable and generalizable
-More important than relativity
-Sampling error decreases as sample size increases
How much does sampling error decrease with each increase in standard sample size?
1/2->1/3->1/4->1/5
What are the standard sample sizes?
-100
-400
-900
-1600
-2500
What is characteristic of relative sample size?
-Sample size is representative of population size
-Less reliable than absolute samples because different sample sizes have different confidence intervals
What is non-response?
An issue with sample size
- If there is a common issue to the non-responders that brings them to differ significantly from participants
How does “kind of analysis” pose an issue with sample size?
-Sample size may need to vary to accommodate different kinds of analysis
- Smaller groups may need to be oversampled in order to draw meaningful comparisons
What is time sampling?
-Aspect of structured observation
-Observer records whatever is happening at a given time in a given place
What is characteristic of time sampling?
-Observation periods may have to be randomly selected
-Observation times can be randomly scattered across a period of time
What is place sampling?
-Random sampling at specific places
-Goes hand in hand with time sampling and behaviour sampling
What is behaviour sampling?
Researcher may want to observe every nth (5th, 7th, 11th, whatever) interaction between people at a given time and place
What is sampling error?
Errors of estimation that occur due to discrepancies between sample and population.
-Impossible to eliminate completely, but can be mitigated by large sample size and random sampling
How is sampling error measured?
Standard error of the mean
- 95% of sample lies within +/-1.96 standard errors of the mean
What are the characteristics and process of snowball sampling?
-Similar to convenience sampling
-Unlikely to be representative of population
-Mostly qualitative
1. Researcher makes initial contact with small group of people
2. Researcher uses said group of people to reach more people
What are the 4 types of non-probability sampling?
Snowball sampling
Quota sampling
Purposive sampling
Convenience sampling
What are the characteristics and process of convenience sampling?
Researcher chooses sample simply because they are easily accessible
- High response rate
- Low generalizability
- Useful for test/pilot studies
- Ethically questionable
What are the characteristics and process of quota sampling?
- Does not use random sampling to fill quotas
- Individuals are selected on the basis of quotas/criteria
- Quotas are filled until they are proportional to the population
What some pros and cons of quota sampling?
+ Cheap
+ Can be conducted quickly
+ Good for pilot tests/exploratory research
- Not likely to actually be representative because researchers choose participants
- Judgement about eligibility may incorrect
- Amount by which a characteristic differs from the population cannot be determined because it is inappropriate to calculate the standard error of the mean
What is purposive sampling?
Cases are selected on the basis of their ability to provide information relevant to the topic of study
What are the characteristics of unstructured interviews?
- Interviewer free to explore any topic
- Memory aid used at most
- Informal questioning/content/phrasing
- Sequencing of questions can vary from interview to interview
- Conversational
What are the limits to generalization?
- Findings can only be generalized to the population they were taken from
- Findings may be time specific, rendered obsolete with time
What are the differences between quantitative and qualitative research?
- Numbers v. Words
- Means of social analysis - POV of researcher v. POV of participant
- Through what lens is the research structured, who provides point of orientation? - Researcher is distant v. Researcher is close
- How much contact do researchers have with their subjects? - Theory and concepts tested in research v. Theory and concepts developed through research
- Chronology of theory/concepts & data - Structured v. Unstructured
- Maximize validity/reliability v. know subjects intimately and allow theory to develop - Generalizable knowledge v. Contextual understanding
- Understanding the whole of society v. understanding the individuals being studied - Hard, reliable data v. Deep, rich data
- Robust/Precise/Unambiguous v. Rich/Detailed/Nuanced - Macro v. Micro
- Scale of researched group - Behaviour v. Meaning
- Focus on behaviour v. meaning of behaviour - Artificial settings v. Natural settings
- Where is research conducted?
What is a direct question?
Answered with interviewee perceptions, best left until later in the interview so as not to affect the procession of the interview.
What are the characteristics of semi-structured interviews?
- Interview guide (list of fairly specific questions) is used
- Interviewee given leeway to respond
- Questions may not follow exact order
- Questions may be changed/added contextually
What are the characteristics of structured interviews?
All respondents are asked the exact same questions with the help of a formal interview schedule
What are the characteristics of an in-depth interview?
- Open-ended questions
- Response flexibility
- One-on-one interaction
- Contextual understanding
What is an indirect question?
Answered with interviewee perceptions of others
What is an open-ended question and what are its strengths and weaknesses?
A question that allows respondents to answer however they want.
+ Encourages respondents to share their thoughts and feelings
+ Useful for in depth analysis
- Time consuming
- Limited standardization
What is true of natural settings?
- Not a lab
- In the field
- No measurement instruments used
- Talk to people and observe their behaviour in the context being studied
- Face to face contact
What is a closed-ended question and what are its strengths and weaknesses?
A question that gives respondents a set list of answers to choose from
+ Easy to collect structured data
- Limited insight
- Response bias
What is inferred by “mixed methods” research?
Use of both qualitative and quantitative methods in a study.
What are the arguments against multi-strategy research?
- Particular research methods are associated with particular epistemological and ontological positions (embedded methods argument)
- Qualitative and quantitative research methods are inherently incompatible on epistemological and ontological grounds (paradigm argument)
How can researchers gain access to closed settings?
- Use friends/colleagues
- Use gatekeepers
- Offer something in return
What is ethnography?
A study of people and their culture in naturally occurring settings.
What is true of ethnography?
- Unstructured observation such as in-depth interviews
- Describes the life of a community from participant POV without outside interference
- Researchers are immersed in a particular setting for a long time
- Can also refer to a written account about particular qualitative research
How can researchers gain access to open settings?
Similarly to closed settings, but may have to answer pointed questions.
What is structured observation?
Researchers follow rules of what to look for as well as when and where, and how to record their findings.
What is participant observation?
An observational aspect of ethnography that includes:
- Observing behaviour
- Asking questions
- Analyzing conversations
- Field immersion
What is the participant-as-observer approach and what are its associated risks?
- Researcher adopts a role in the group being studied
- Participants are aware who the researcher is
- Risk of reactivity
What is the complete participant approach and what are its associated risks?
- Covert operation, same as participant-as-observer but the group is unaware
- Researcher adopts a secret role in the group
- Risk adopting behaviours of the group (going native)
- Risk developing distaste for the research subjects
What is the observer-as-participant approach and what are its associated risks?
- Researcher observes from the edge of the group, participating minimally
- Risk of reactivity
- Risks misinterpretation of observed activity
What is the reactive effect (reactivity)?
The effect of subjects knowing they are being studied.
What is member validation?
A means of confirming qualitative study credibility whereby the researcher asks the research subjects for their feedback on the research findings.
What are thick descriptions?
- Detailed accounts of a social setting/people’s experiences that can act as a basis for general statements about a culture and its significance in people’s lives.
- Means of determining qualitative study transferability (to other times/contexts/peoples/etc.)
What is reflexivity?
Researchers’ awareness of the implications that their methods, values, biases, decisions, presence have on the knowledge they generate. (Reflecting on those things)
What are informants?
People who offer a researcher/ethnographer information about social setting, important events, individuals.
What is participatory action research (PAR)?
When researchers and participants collaborate with one another to achieve a common goal.
What are covert participants?
Individuals who are unaware that they are being studied by an ethnographer who has infiltrated their group.
What are the strengths and weakness of using covert participants?
+ Easier access
+Less reactivity
- Ethical concerns
- No reflection time (low reflexivity)
- Anxiety inducing
- Impossible to conduct interviews
What is characteristic of PAR?
- Mixed epistemologies
- Often used in activism
- Action oriented
What are the conditions of trustworthiness in qualitative research?
- Transferability
- Credibility
- Dependability
- Confirmability
What is transferability?
Whether interpretations can be applied to other contexts, or the same context at another time. Can be heightened by employing thick descriptions.
What is dependability?
Achieved by following the proper procedures and theoretical inference justification. Can be heightened by auditing.
What is credibility?
Interpretations of the study ring true to the people studied. Can be heightened using member validation.
What is confirmability?
- Did the researcher sway the results dramatically?
- Was the researcher objective and unbiased?
- Can be heightened by auditing
What is auditing?
Keeping complete, detailed records of every phase of the research to be subjected to peer review
What are life-history interviews?
Unstructured interviews used by ethnographers to gather a detailed biography of the interviewee.
What is the focus group method?
An interview with 4+ respondents who can interact with one another as well as with the researcher.
What are some benefits of focus groups?
- Gain access to meanings that develop as a product of interaction
- Brings out a wide variety of perspectives
- Brings out why people feel the way they do
- Brings out how individuals collectively make decisions (naturalistic)
Who is the moderator in a focus group, and what are their responsibilities?
- Ensure the discussion stays on topic
- Ensure everyone participates without use of coercion
- Ask as few questions as possible
- Intervene only as much as is necessary given participant knowledge, topic of discussion, and research goals
What are some weaknesses of focus groups?
- Less control over the interview
- Too much data produced
- Hard to analyze data
- Difficult to arrange
- Personalities may clash
- People may be hesitant to discuss sensitive topics
What is theoretical saturation?
The point at which interviewers can predict what the answers will be, and no substantial new information is being received.
How many groups should be conducted in the focus group method?
10-15 or until theoretical saturation is reached.
What is reflexivity in the context of conversation analysis?
Talk is not a “mere” representation of the social world, standing for something else, but is itself a reality.
What is conversation analysis?
A qualitative approach to the study of language centered on the structure of talk.
What is indexicality?
Things like pauses and sounds that possess meaning dependant on the context in which they are used
What are the two themes central to conversation analysis?
Reflexivity and indexicality
Which ontological approach is most closely associated with conversation analysis?
Constructionism
How does conversation analysis connect to quantitative research?
It can produce replicable results, be measurable, and is sometimes referred to as positivistic.
What is positivism?
An epistemological position that advocates using the methods of the natural sciences in the study of social reality.
What are the defining characteristics of how talk is organized?
- Turn-taking
- Adjacency pairs
- Preference organization
What does conversation analysis assume?
- Talk is structured
- Talk is forged contextually
- Analysis should be grounded in data
What is constructionism?
An ontological position that suggests meanings and reality are constructed, and constantly changed by social actors.
What is turn-taking in conversation analysis?
Taking turns to speak is a rule that helps maintain order in everyday conversation.
What are adjacency pairs in conversation analysis?
Two kinds of talk actively linked together such as invitation and response
What are the 4 themes in discourse analysis?
- Discourse is a topic itself
- Language is constructive
- Discourse is a form of action
- Discourse is rhetorically organized
What is preference organization in conversation analysis?
Some responses are preferred to others
What is discourse analysis?
An action oriented approach to the study of language that is more flexible than conversation analysis as it can be applied to other forms of communication.
What are the two distinctive epistemological and ontological features of discourse analysis?
Constructionism, anti-realism
What does discourse analysis focus on?
- How a view of the world or understanding of an object is produced through a discourse
- How linguistic categories shape people’s understanding of the world
- How the relationships of power are reproduced in a discourse
How are facts produced?
- Quantification rhetoric
- Using variation in number to highlight contrast
- Attention to specific details
- Attention to rhetorical details
What is attention to specific details in the context of fact production?
emphasizing supportive evidence to the argument
What is quantification rhetoric?
The various ways in which statements involving number or quantities can be made to either support or refute arguments.
What is polysemy?
Semiotic terminology that refers to the notion that signs can be interpreted in many different ways
What is attention to rhetorical details in the context of fact production?
sensitivity to the way argument is constructed
What is semiotics?
The science of signs.
What is meaning?
Attitudes, thoughts, feelings
What is the goal of semiotics?
- Look at signs to understand systems of communication and meanings
- Expose hidden messages in text
What is critical discourse analysis?
A form of discourse analysis that is explicit in exposing the political nature of examined texts
What is hermeneutics? What must be considered under hermeneutics?
A form of language analysis in which the analyst of a text must seek its meaning through the POV of its author
- Historical and social context within the which a text was written must be considered
What is content analysis?
An approach to the analysis of text or documents that seeks to quantify content in terms of predetermined categories in a systematic and replicable manner.
What are the pros and cons of content analysis?
+ Very transparent/replicable
+ Allows for longitudinal analysis
+ Unobtrusive
+ Flexible
+ Overcomes social barriers to researcher access
- Limitations brought about by analyzed texts
- Inter/intra-coder unreliability
- Potential for invalid conjecture
- Difficult to answer “why?” questions
- Emphasis on measurement may make it atheoretical
What is grounded theory?
Theory derived from data, systematically gathered, and analyzed through the research process
What are the 3 types of coding?
Open, axial, selective
What are the basic features of grounded theory?
Coding, constant comparison, theoretical saturation
What does open coding do?
identifies initial concepts that will be categorized later
What does axial coding do?
reviews data for linkages, and is then re-organized according to connections found
What are the two types of theory and what are their characteristics?
- Substantive: developed to explain relationships between patterns in a given setting
- Formal: formulated at a higher level, requires data collection, widely applicable
What does selective coding do?
Select core categories
What are the outcomes of grounded theory?
- Concepts
- Categories (encompass multiple concepts)
- Properties (attributes of a category)
- Hypotheses
- Theories
What is positivism, what are its characteristics?
- Epistemological position
- Follows natural sciences
- Uses empiricism (knowledge is confirmed by senses)
- Scientific, not normative (can be tested empirically and thus either supported or rejected)
What are the goals of positivism?
- Generate hypotheses via deduction
- Uncover social laws governing reality
What is the iterative process?
Analysis starts after some data has been gathered, and further data is gathered on the basis of that analysis
What is narrative analysis?
the search for and analysis of stories that people tell to understand their lives and the world around them.
What is analytic induction?
An iterative process in which a research question is devised, data is gathered, hypothesis is formed. If an observed case does not fit the hypothesis, the hypothesis is reworked.
What is the goal of analytic induction?
analytic induction seeks universal explanations of phenomena that permit no exception.
Thematic analysis
Examines what is said rather than how it is said.
- Finding how many times something is said influences identification and prioritization of themes
What are the 4 types of narrative analysis?
- Thematic
- Structural
- Performative
- Interactional
Structural analysis
Examines the way a story is told and what is emphasized in the narrative to increase persuasiveness
Performative analysis
- Examines narrative as a performance.
- Explores the use of words and gestures to get a story across.
- Examines audience responses to the narrative.
Interactional analysis
Examines the dialogue between the teller and listener and how the interaction results in co-construction of meaning
What does a coding scheme consist of?
Coding schedule and coding manual
What is a coding schedule?
A form onto which the data are entered
What is a coding manual?
A list of codes to be used in the analysis of a particular set of data.
What are concepts?
- Discrete phenomena produced through open coding
- Building blocks of theory
What are properties?
Aspects/Attributes of a category
What are hypotheses?
Initial hunches about relationships between concepts
What is coding?
Categorizing and labelling data to identify themes, patterns, and relationships
