factors affecting the choice of method

Question 1

what are the three factors affecting the choice of method?

Answer 1

practical
ethical
theoretical

Question 2

what are two practical factors?

Answer 2

Time and money – longitudinal studies take a long time and require more money than a small scale project involving a single researcher. A well established researcher will have a greater access to funds.

Requirements of the funding body – the organisation funding your research may require the data in a particular form , e.g. quantitative. This then determines the method you choose.

Question 3

what are two ethical factors?

Answer 3

Informed consent – the participants should be told about the aims of the research and be given the right to refuse their participation.

Confidentiality and privacy – the identity and personal details of participants should be kept secret. Anonymity is part of this and it means not asking the participants’ names or including their names into the research.

Question 4

what are two theoretical factors?

Answer 4

Representativeness – this refers to whether the participants are a typical cross-section (representation) of the group we are interested in. If the sample is representative, the researcher can make generalisations – general statements that apply to all people. (different age,gender,ethnicity)

Methodological perspective –Positivism and Interpretivism. Positivists will always choose methods such as experiments and questionnaires because they seek quantitative data. Interpretivists will always use methods such as informal interviews and observations in order to gather qualitative data.