Factors influencing topics and methods Flashcards
What factors may influence the choice of topic?
Practical considerations
Ethical considerations
Theoretical considerations
What are the different practice considerations
Time
Cost and funding
Access
Characteristics
Practical considerations- time?
Different methods may require different accounts of time to conduct
-Secondary sources more time efficient
-Sample size in study can increase and or decrease amount of time
What’s a longitudinal study?
A study conducted over a large period of time
Practical considerations- cost/funding?
Methods may involve a lot of money. e.g. to train interviewers, have to pay p’s
What are funding bodies?
Charities or govts that will fund reaserch that meets their interest
Practical considerations- access?
what are gatekeepers?
Researcher access to resources
Can be decided by a gatekeeper, they will provide restrict or deny you access
Practical considerations- characteristics?
A researchers characteristics like age, ethnicity, gender, accent, appearance may mean some methods may be challenging to gain info
Researcher characteristics- Laboy?
Sociolinguistics using different interviewers
young, old, black, white men and women to talk to black young males in community’s
Researcher characteristics- Rich?
Says women are less likely to engage in talking to male researchers about their experiences in male sexual harassment, also says this is a similar issue with female rape victims when being interviewed by male police officers
What are the different ethical considerations?
Right to withdrawal
Informed consent
Confidentiality
Harm
Anonymity
Regulatory boards
Deception
Ethical considerations- right to withdrawl?
All participants should have the right to withdraw from a study, this should be made serious from the beginning
Ethical considerations- Informed consent?
We should get concept from the participant
When we have vulnerable individuals we need guardians and parents
This ultimately means researcher can work freely meaning p’s know everything that’s going on
Ethical considerations- Confidentiality and anonymity?
Upholding protection and privacy of the participants
Due to the data protection act
Ethical considerations- Protection from harm?
P’s should be in the same state of mind that they walked in
Shouldnt be put into physical or emotional harm
Ethical considerations- regulatory boards?
Ethics committe
Can be sued if anything goes wrong
Reaserchers should engage in disreputing activity for reasrcher e.g. criminal acts
-In the UK british sociological association
Ethical considerations- Deception?
Providing false or incomplete informations to participate for researchers intentions
Interpretivists believe its necessary
Linked for informed consent
Other ethical considerations?
Going native
Debriefing
What is going native- ethical?
Dangers for observers and ethnographers to be involved in community and objectivity, can be unreliable + discreated, however interpretivists believe it’s necessary to gain valid data
Example of going native- Dick Hobbs?
petty crimes in east london
ethnographic researchers to observe
In depth interviews
Gained subjects through going to pubs where CID officers where, football coaching where CIA officers children did football
Hobbs spent tie drinking in pubs, some argued hibs study enriched due to his own background as he was born and raised in east london
However many disagreed as he was drinking a lot and giving hunger making him go native and affecting memory therefore affecting reliability
Ethical considerations- debriefing?
Refers to the post experimental process if revealing all aspects of the study such as deception
P’s should always be informed and given the conclusion
Theoretical considerations?
The theoretical perspective can have a large significant impact on their choice
Positivist and Interpretivist
Theoretical issues positivists?
Sociologists believe human behaviour is caused by socialisations into norms and values, to discover what these norms and values are they need to look for large scale patterns in behaviour
This leads to quantitative methods of reserch
Interpretivists on theoretical considerations
Means sociologists believe human behaviour is caused by individuals interpretations of what’s going on around them. To discover how people are able to do this they need to look for an large scale understanding of the process
Leading to qualitative data
Theoretical definitions- Validity?
Is the data collected a ture picture of what is being studied
Does it show the real truth, does it show why people behave as they do, if it does then its valid
Theoretical terms- Reliability?
Would the data collected be the same if it was collected again, if it is then it’s reliable
Consistency
Theoretical terms- Representativness?
Is the data generalisable to the population, does it study a cross section if society?
Theoretical terms- Objective?
A researchers not allowing their opinions and emotions interfere with their research, in this was a scientific stud can be achieved
Theoretical terms- Subjective?
All individuals perspective or point of view about something
The individuals’ own view influences the approach taken to an issue
Theoretical terms- Rapaport?
Feeling of identity and relationship between researcher and the researched which helps the sociologist to obtain the necessary information, a rappaport is often a friendly understanding relationship
Theoreical term- Vestehen?
The idea of understanding human bheaviour by putting yoursled in the position of those being studied and trying to see their experiences and meaning from their point of view. Achieveing high levels of validtu and in-debth understanding
