Factors That Influence Choice of Method Flashcards
What does PETS stand for?
Practical factors
Ethical factors
Theoretical factors
Sensitivity of topic
What are the five practical factors?
Cost
Time
Researchers personal skills
Researchers personal characteristics
Subject matter
What are the five ethical factors?
Informed consent
Deception
Confidentiality
Privacy
Harm
What is informed consent?
Participants must be fully aware of what the research will involve and how it will be used in the future
What is deception?
Participants should not be deceived about the nature of the research- they cannot give informed consent
What is confidentiality?
The identity of participants must be kept a secret
What is privacy?
The privacy of the participants shouldn’t not be invaded
What is harm?
The participants should not be harmed during or after the research - physical or psychological harm
What type of data do positivists like?
Like quantitative data to gain an objective measurement of behaviour
What type of data do positivists favour?
Favour reliable data to identify patterns and trends between social groups and over time
Favour representative data to generalise their findings to the research population as a whole
What do positivists like to be able to identify?
Identify correlations - links between variables
Identify causal relationships between variables - one variable causes another
What do interpretivists argue about sociology?
Argue sociology isn’t a science
What do interpretivits look to understand?
Look to understand the meaning that influence why people behave in particular ways
What type of data do interpretivits use?
Use qualitative data to gain verstehn - an empathetic understanding of the world from the viewpoint of those being studied
What do interpretivits like their data to be?
Like their data to be valid - gain true picture of society
What primary research methods would use quantitative data?
Lab & field experiments
Questionnaires
Structured interviews
Non-participant observation
What secondary research method would use quantitative data?
Official statistics
What primary research methods would use qualitative data?
Unstructured interviews
Participant observation
What secondary research method would use qualitative data?
Documents
What factors influence choice of topic?
Personal interest
Current affairs
Society’s interests
Personal experience
Values of society
To update existing research
To fill gaps in existing research
Requirements of funding bodies
