Factors Influencing Choices of Methods Flashcards
What is a PERVERT analysis?
- Practical
- Ethical
- Reliability
- Validity
- Representative
- Theoretical views
Describe time and money as practical issue to research
- Some methods require more time to complete which affects the money needed
- e.g. a large-scale survey while require more than a small-scale project
- A researchers access to resources can be a major factor in determining which methods they use
Describe requirements of funding as practical issue to research
- Research institutes, businesses and others that provide funding for research may require the results to be in a particular from
- e.g. ESRC may request for data to be presented in statistical form.
Describe personal skills as practical issue to research
- Sociologists possess different skills that affect their ability to use different methods
- e.g. in-depth interviews requires the ability to establish rapport
Describe subject matter as a practical issue to research
- It’s harder to study a particular group or subject than another
- e.g. it might be harder for a male sociologist to study an all-female group through participant observation
Describe research opportunity as a practical issue to research
- If an unexpected opportunity for research arises, structured methods aren’t possible
- e.g. Patrick had the sudden chance to spend time with a Glasgow Gang, so he had to use participant observation
Describe informed consent as an ethical issue to research
- Participants have the right to refuse, to know all relevant aspects of the research so they can make a informed decision
- Consent must be given before and throughout study
Describe confidentiality and privacy as an ethical issue to research
- Participant’s identity must be secret to prevent negative effects on them
- Privacy must be respected and personal information should be confidential
Describe harm to participants as an ethical issue to research
- Researchers must know the effects of their research on participants
- e.g. Police intervention, psychological damage etc.
Describe vulnerable groups as an ethical issue to research
- Research must provide special care to vulnerable participants due to their age, disability, mental health etc.
- e.g. When studying children in schools, researchers should have regard for issues of child protection
Describe covert research as an ethical issue
- Covert research (hiding the researchers identity and research purpose) can create deception and lying to participants
- This means informed consent isn’t possible
Describe reliability as a theoretical issue to research
- This refers to if the research was repeated, results should stay the same.
- Quantitative methods tend to give more reliable methods
Describe validity as a theoretical issue to research
- Refers to if method produces a true and genuine picture of what something is like
- Qualitative methods tend to give more valid results
Describe representativeness as a theoretical issue to research
- Refers to whether or not the people we study are a typical cross-section of the group we’re interested in
- large-scale quantitative methods produce representative data
Describe methodological perspectives as a theoretical issue to research
- Positivists prefer quantitative data seek to discover patterns and see sociology as a science
- Interpretivists prefer qualitative data, seek to understand meaning
