Key Words

Question 1

what is primary data?

Answer 1

collected by sociologists themselves for their own research purposes

Question 2

what is secondary data?

Answer 2

collected by someone else for their own purposes

Question 3

what is quantitative data?

Answer 3

information that can be expressed in numerical form

Question 4

what is qualitative data?

Answer 4

information concerned with descriptions and meanings

Question 5

what is a sampling frame?

Answer 5

list of members of research population from which a representative sample is drawn

Question 6

what is random sampling?

Answer 6

where a sample is selected purely by chance, e.g. names from a hat

Question 7

what is quasi random sampling?

Answer 7

similar to random, like every nth name on a list

Question 8

what is stratified random sampling?

Answer 8

when the population is stratified into relevent categories and a sample is selected randomly from each, ensuring that the proportions of each category in the sample are the same in the whole population

Question 9

what is quota sampling?

Answer 9

where the researcher goes out looking for the right number of each sort of person required in a category

Question 10

what is non representative sampling?

Answer 10

may be used where there is no sampling frame - interpretivists have less need for representative samples and want validity

Question 11

what is snowball sampling?

Answer 11

collected by contacting key individuals and asking them to suggest others to be studied, a way of contacting a sample that is difficult to find

Question 12

what is opportunity sampling?

Answer 12

choosing from individuals easiest to access

Question 13

what can be the practical issues of research?

Answer 13

• time and money - some methods more costly and tie consuming and some researchers have better access than others
• requirements of funding bodies
• personal skills of researcher may restrict methods
• subject matter - may be harder to study particular groups with particular methods
• research opportunity

Question 14

what can be the ethical issues of research?

Answer 14

• informed consent - people must be able to make an informed decision
• confidentiality
• effects on participants - need to be aware of possible harmful effects and try to prevent them
• special care should be taken of vulnerable groups

Question 15

what is validity?

Answer 15

how far the research provides a true and genuine picture of what is being studied

Question 16

what is reliability?

Answer 16

whether another researcher, when repeating the research can achieve the same results

Question 17

what is representativeness?

Answer 17

if the sample is representative it is typical of the larger groups and findings can be generalised

Question 18

what is methodological perspective?

Answer 18

researcher’s use of methods is influenced by their sociological perspective. e.g. positivists prefer methods that produce quantitative data

Question 19

what is a theoretical perspective?

Answer 19

researcher’s sociological perspective influences what they see as important to study. e.g. interactionists want to look at individuals meanings so prefer methods that produce qualitative methods

Question 20

what is triangulation?

Answer 20

combining different methods to obtain a more rounded picture

Question 21

what are the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative data?

Answer 21

• reliable since it is standardised
• allow to study large numbers
• doesn’t allow researcher to be personally involved in respondents so could lack validity

Question 22

what are the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative data?

Answer 22

• high in validity
• can only small groups
• might not be generalisable to wider population
• hard to replicate so not reliable