Law and order research methods

Question 1

• Surveys, questionnaires
• Formal interviews
• Case studies
• Informal and unstructured interviews
• Participant Observation
• Government statistics are examples of ?

Answer 1

Primary data

Question 2

• Analysis of statistics provided by governments
• Analysis of research provided by other sociologists
• Study of official documents
• Analysis of media reports
• Analysis of personal documents are examples of?

Answer 2

Secondary data

Question 3

• Surveys using questionnaires using closed questions (Primary)
• Case studies (Primary)
• Analysis of statistics (Primary and Secondary)
• Study of other documents and records (Secondary)
  are examples of ?

Answer 3

Quantitative data

Question 4

• Informal and unstructured interviews (Primary)
• Participant observation (Primary)
• Analysis of media (Secondary)
• Analysis of diaries, autobiographies, other research (Secondary)

Answer 4

Qualitative data

Question 5

What are some questions you should consider when researching in social sciences?

Answer 5

• What are the strengths/uses of this method?
• What are the weaknesses/limitations of this method?
• Will this provide me with qualitative or quantitative evidence?
• Are there any ethical/moral issues in using this method?
• How reliable is this method? Why?
• How valid is this method? Why?
• How easy is it to use a representative sample with this method?
• How easy is it to generalise your findings with this method?

Question 6

What are some basic ethical considerations?

Answer 6

• Participants must be informed.
• They must not be deceived.
• Their consent must be given.
• They have the right to withdraw.
• They must be protected from discomfort and harm.
• Their privacy must not be invaded.
• Their identity should be kept secret

Question 7

What are some advantages of primary research?

Answer 7

• The researcher is in control of how the information is gathered.
• The researcher can collect information to find the precise information necessary for the research
• The researcher can ensure that specific questions are asked
• The researcher can amend and modify the research if necessary
• The researcher can use pilot studies which will help find the best form of wording for questions.
• The researcher should be able to ascertain any bias in the sources of information and adjust results accordingly

Question 8

What are some disadvantages of primary research?

Answer 8

• Primary research is time consuming and costly
• Qualitative methods will tend to be biased

Question 9

What are some advantages of secondary data?

Answer 9

• Saves times and money as research is already available
• Can provide information not easily found elsewhere

Question 10

What are some disadvantages of secondary data?

Answer 10

• The reliability is questionable, as you cannot usually check this
• Other peoples’ research may be biased
• Purpose behind the research could be different therefore it may not meet your requirements
• Could be time-consuming to sift through a large amount of information

Question 11

What are some advantages of qualitative secondary data?

Answer 11

• Sometimes the only source of information available on a particular topic over time.
• Can provide a gateway to the past to understanding the concerns and attitudes of people at the time. This may include letter columns in newspapers as well as comment postings on online newspapers such as the Guardian.
• Analysing historical documents is useful in allowing researchers to gain insights into the beliefs, ideologies and values held by their authors.

Question 12

What are some disadvantages of qualitative secondary data?

Answer 12

• Credibility? How can you detect exaggeration and biases in an individual diary entry or post?
• Entries may reflect the interests and belief of the author and could be selected to portray them in a more positive light.
• Newspaper accounts may reflect the values of the newspaper creating the report.
• Are the accounts truly representative?

Question 13

What are some key features of official statistics?

Answer 13

• For Modern Studies purposes, official statistics are considered a primary source of information
• Statistics are quantitative data
• Statistics are gathered by governments, like Registrar General’s office (census), police records, crime surveys, organisations like the electoral reform society.
• Digest of government statistics are available in Social Trends which is published annually in print, and which is now available on-line
• These stats are an invaluable source of information for the researcher

Question 14

What are some examples of official statistics for crime and law?

Answer 14

• The Scottish Government publishes a range of Crime and Justice Statistics on it’s website. http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice
• The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) – includes crimes not reported to the police but does not include some offences (for example, possession of drugs, homicide) and some victims (for example, businesses, visitors and population resident in institutions, such as old people’s homes)
• Home Office (HO), police recorded crime – has a wider coverage of offences but does not include crimes that have not been reported to the police or less serious crimes dealt with by magistrates’ courts (for example, “summary offences” such as speeding)
• Action Fraud – is a national fraud reporting centre that records incidents of fraud directly from the public and organisations in addition to incidents reported directly to individual police forces; ONS publish fraud offences recorded by Action Fraud
• National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) – the NFIB currently collates fraud data from a wide variety of organisations, including CIFAS (a UK-wide fraud prevention service) and Financial Fraud Action UK (which collates information from the card payments industry in the UK); ONS publish fraud offences reported by industry bodies to NFIB
• Anti-social behaviour (ASB) – ONS publish statistics on ASB incidents recorded by the police and collected by the Home Office, and people’s experiences of ASB taken from the CSEW

Question 15

What are advantages of official statistics?

Answer 15

• Provide information about the whole population which could not be collected using sampling
• Cheap and fast method of collection as information is readily available.
• Good indicator of broad trends in social behaviour
• Ideal for quantitative analysis over periods of time and for different parts of the country, therefore, they can be used to identify trends

Question 16

What are disadvantages of official statistics?

Answer 16

• Official statistics may use different indicators from those that researchers prefer to use, for example, definition of social class
• Information is collected for other purposes so may not ideally meet the needs of the research
• Official statistics may be incomplete, for example, a lot of crime is not reported
• There could be problems using statistics for comparisons as indicators and criteria may change from time to time and place to place, for example, what is poverty
• Despite being official statistics, these are collected by governments who may have there own bias
• Inaccuracies can be caused by how certain terms are defined, for example, what is unemployment

Question 17

What is the relevance of sampling to research?

Answer 17

It is possible to make valid and reliable generalisations about a group of people as long as the sample is representative; this means it has the same characteristics as the total population.

It would not be possible to make valid generalisations if your sample did not have these same characteristics.

For example, if you did your survey in a wealthy suburb area, you would have too many middle class people in your survey. This would be a type of sampling bias, as you would have an over-representation of one type of participant.

Question 18

What is sampling frame?

Answer 18

Examples of sampling frames could be taken from:
* Postcode address file, all addresses to which mail is sent
* Electoral register
* GP patients list
* Telephone directory
* School register
* Sexual-offenders register

Question 19

Why is random sampling not necessarily reliable based on sampling frames?

Answer 19

The electoral register only lists those registered to vote, not all voters. The telephone directory used to be considered inaccurate as it only listed wealthy people but nowadays 94% people have a telephone so telephone random calling (including ex directory numbers) is considered valid.

Question 20

Why is sampling a major issue when researching?

Answer 20

It is not easy to get a representative sample as people are not always honest about certain things and may, for example, not identify with a particular social class.

Without a representative and very large sample, there are question marks over the validity of a survey and the reliability of the conclusions.

It remains, however, a popular and fairly cheap method of collecting peoples’ opinions

Question 21

How can research be representative?

Answer 21

Political and Social sampling will often use constituencies as the basis of the sample so this needs to include:

• Different geographical areas in country (North/South)
• Urban/rural areas
• Safe/marginal seats
• Affluent/Deprived areas

They also have to include different types of people

• Age groups
• Gender
• Ethnic groups
• Social class
• Floating voters/loyalists

Question 22

What are some key features of survey’s?

Answer 22

• Uses closed standardised questions
• Term questionnaire used when forms are issued with closed questions and people fill them in themselves
• Allows for comparative analysis
• Quantifiable method providing primary research
• Usually preceded by a pilot study (it is difficult to foresee how people interpret questions or what they may not understand or if the correct people have been chosen for interview so a pilot study allows for a trial run)
• Can be postal (questionnaire) or face-to-face (survey) or phone or through the internet
• Need a representative sample
• A longitudinal survey is done over a period of years to take into account changing attitudes
• A cross sectional survey is a one off

Question 23

What are some general advantages of survey’s?

Answer 23

• Provides statistical information
• Standardised questions allow for quick, accurate computerised analysis
• Can compare results from different groups e.g. male, female and identify trends
• Results for questionnaires are verifiable by others so are reliable
• With questionnaires there should be no problem of interviewer bias as the forms are just completed by the respondent

Question 24

summarise why researchers may do a pilot study for survey’s.

Answer 24

This means you do a brief trial study.

It is an excellent idea as it means you can check that your questions are easily understood and that they elicit the information you were looking for.

If there are problems, it is easier to deal with them at this stage before you do your final survey.

Question 25

What are the advantages of doing a pilot study?

Answer 25

• Avoids time and money being wasted on an inadequate survey
• Sharpens the focus of the study and improves the design of the survey
• Can help the interviewer develop interviewing skills
• Should ensure all questions are clear, precise and unambiguous
• Problems are dealt with before time and effort is wasted on the main survey

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of doing a pilot study?

Answer 26

• Can be time consuming and expensive
• Survey could be out of date by the time you’ve finished the pilot

Question 27

What are the advantages of a face to face survey?

Answer 27

• Higher response rate
• Responses can be elaborated especially of interviewer is skilled
• Questions can be clarified

Question 28

What are the disadvantages of a face to face survey?

Answer 28

• More private if it is anonymous so there is less of an embarrassment factor
• Could be costly to get a good interviewer
• Time-consuming if a there is a large sample

Question 29

What is an example of face to face survey’s?

Answer 29

ACE TO FACE SURVEY CRIME SURVEY ENGLAND & WALES. (CSEW)

The main aim of the CSEW is to provide robust trends on a consistent basis for the crime types and population it covers. The CSEW provides a better reflection of the extent of crime than police recorded figures, as the survey asks about crimes that are not reported to or recorded by the police.

The survey is also unaffected by changes in police recording practices or levels of public reporting to the police, so it provides a more consistent measure over time. The survey offers provides a useful benchmark for police recorded crime.

The survey also seeks the opinions of the public on a range of crime-related issues, such as public confidence in police and the wider criminal justice system.

It also provides crucial information on the nature of crime, such as a demographic profile of victims, location and time of day of the incident. The findings from the survey help inform the policy and operational response to crime.

Question 30

What are some advantages of postal survey’s?

Answer 30

• Fairly cheap, easy option
• Straightforward access to people
• Easy to get a random and fairly large sample
• Other researchers can check results
• People have plenty of time to fill them in so can give considered answers

Question 31

What are some disadvantages of postal survey’s?

Answer 31

• Time-consuming method by the time the responses are returned
• Lower response rate which could effect sample size
• Difficult to check reliability of sample and get a representative sample which affects validity
• May not be suitable for certain groups without address (homeless)
• Impossible to ensure that you get a representative sample as you don’t know who is answering the survey
• Some people may not take it seriously and give considered responses

Question 32

What are advantages of internet survey’s?

Answer 32

• Fairly cheap option
• Anonymous so no embarrassment factor
• People have plenty of time to consider their answers
• Can get access to people worldwide so broaden the scope of the survey

Question 33

What are disadvantages of internet survey’s?

Answer 33

• Sample restricted to those with internet access so not representative
• People may not take it seriously and give considered answers
• Type of person who is prepared to respond could slant the results

Question 34

What are the advantages of phone survey’s?

Answer 34

• Higher response rate
• Fairly cheap option
• Easy access and will get sensible responses if interviewer skilled
• Still fairly anonymous so less of an embarrassment factor

Question 35

What are the disadvantages of phone survey’s?

Answer 35

• May not be suitable for certain groups without phones (homeless)
• People are ex directory/use mobile phones
• Time of phoning could affect type of person (e.g. age) that respond
• Difficult to ensure that you get a representative sample or indeed know who is answering

Question 36

Why are follow up interviews useful when carrying out research?

Answer 36

Follow up interviews are useful for getting a more in-depth response and can build on the original research.

This could, therefore, provide qualitative as well as quantitative information, which would give a more comprehensive result.

It would make the research more valid and allow other researchers to check the results which would then improve reliability

Question 37

Summarise structured interviews

Answer 37

• This method usually involves face to face interviews where a pre-set list of questions is used which require a limited response but could be done via phone or internet.
• It is like a questionnaire but is face to face.
• It is a primary source providing quantitative data.
• Questions need to be clear and unambiguous.
• It is a good idea to do a pilot study to ensure that questions are easily understood and that they the illicit the correct information

Question 38

Advantages of structured interviews?

Answer 38

• It is good for gaining factual information
• Results are easy to quantity
• It gets a good response rate as it is an interview situation
• It is cheap and if a short questionnaire is used fairly quick method of collecting data
• Respondents can ask for clarification so it is a reliable method of collecting data
• Standardised questions mean that there is little opportunity for the researcher to influence the answers so the research should be unbiased
• It has validity as the results can be checked by other researchers
• Standardised questions allow analysis to be done quickly and accurately on the computer
• Allows comparisons to be made between gender, age groups etc
• Good sampling can allow conclusions to be extrapolated for the population as a whole

Question 39

Disadvantages of structured interviews?

Answer 39

• It can be time-consuming if the sample is large
• Issues cannot be explored in-depth
• Questions can themselves be biased and not allow for certain answers, for example, the answer the respondent wants may not be there
• It is an unsuitable method for finding information about processes
• Can be difficult to make sure a representative sample is interviewed
• Findings will be less reliable if the sample size is small
• Even in face to face interviews people may not be honest as they may be embarrassed or which to impress the researcher with what they think the researcher wishes to here
• Phone/ internet interviews can be abused by people not taking them seriously

Question 40

Summarise unstructured interviews

Answer 40

• It is a primary source of information and provides qualitative data.
• Questions are not necessarily pre set
• It could start with prepared structured questions but then is flexible
• The researcher can cover a broad range of issues
• Questions are open ended which allows for in-depth answers and new points to be made
• Can use an audio or video recorder
• Sample number will be smaller than for a survey

Question 41

Advantages of unstructured interviews?

Answer 41

• It has a good response rate
• Can examine motivation, opinions and attitudes not just facts
• When there is rapport between researcher and respondent it helps get close to peoples’ experiences and provides honest responses
• Researcher is not restricted to a fixed set of questions
• Provides in-depth information
• Allows the researcher to clarify points and further explore particular points
• It also allows the respondent to provide new information that the researcher has not considered
• If the interview is taped, it makes it easy to analyse the information

Question 42

Disadvantages of unstructured interviews?

Answer 42

• Can sometimes be hard to maintain the focus of the interview
• Open to bias as the researcher can easily influence the respondent’s replies e.g. by giving non-verbal clues
• Some people may not agree to be interviewed so the sample could be composed of like minded people
• It is difficult to ensure objectivity when the questions are not standardised
• It is difficult to repeat the research so there are questions about the reliability of the research
• Can be time-consuming and expensive
• It takes a lot of skills to be an effective interviewer
• Leads followed during the interview may also be biased
• Samples are too small to get information that can be quantified
• It is possible that the interview could lead to a change in behavior

Question 43

What are the advantages of semi-structured interviews?

Answer 43

• Allows researchers to establish “verstehen” — understanding from the perspective of the interviewee.
• Question “scripts” or lists (interview guides) ensure a degree of similarity in the questions asked to each respondent, keeping results more reliable.
• Qualitative interviewing is focused on the interviewee’s point of view rather than the researcher’s concerns, thus reducing interviewer bias.
• Respondents’ views of the world, attitudes, motivations, feelings and emotions can be explored.
• Concepts and wording of questions can be clarified to ensure understanding, reducing the risk of the researcher’s views being imposed.
• Several interviews may be carried out with respondents, building on the trust established between interviewer and interviewee. (In closed question, structured interviews this would not be the case as it would invalidate the results.)

Question 44

What are the disadvantages of semi-structured interviews?

Answer 44

• Information gained may be untrustworthy — based on respondents lying, forgetting or being ignorant of the issue in question.
• Interviewer presence (if viewed as unfriendly) may influence or limit interviewees’ responses.
• Interviewer presence may lead to “interviewer bias” — consciously or unconsciously directing interviewees to a certain type of response.
• Interviews are unnatural social situations (ecological validity) which will always affect the behaviour of interviewees.
• Interviewee accounts lack the rigour of scientific research, such as subjective observation by the researcher — data is potentially untrustworthy.
• Interviewees are not representative of the general population, so researchers are unable to extrapolate generalisations about public opinion.
• Publication of the interviewees’ emotions may be a risk for them.
• Interviewees must be clear about how confidential their responses would be.

Question 45

What are some key features of focus groups?

Answer 45

• These would provide qualitative research
• It is a primary source
• These involve organised discussion with a selected group of individuals who use their own experience
• Insight and data is produced by the interaction between the participants
• Role of moderator is vital so needs to have high quality interpersonal skills
• Important that the moderator steer conversation but does not participate of show approval, disapproval
• Research could be longitudinal
• Often used for social and political research

Question 46

What did the Public attitudes to youth crime: report on focus group research?

Answer 46

Focus group methodology was considered appropriate for researching attitudes to youth crime. This is a complex topic that provokes diverse views that are often strongly held and expressed, but can also be nuanced and ambivalent. These views can be closely scrutinised during focus group discussions, allowing participants to reflect upon the issues, challenge one another‟s views and, possibly, revise their opinions.

However, there are limitations to the conclusions that can be drawn from focus group research as the findings are not derived from a representative sample of the general public. Focus groups also provide limited scope for exploring the impact of social and demographic variables on public perceptions. They do not allow the views of specific individuals to be tracked across different issues.”

Question 47

What are advantages of focus groups?

Answer 47

• Gain a wide range of views about several topics and these can be carefully chosen
• Can be used as preliminary research which could then generate further research
• Particularly good for gaining several perspectives about the same topic
• Gain insights related to peoples shared understanding about issues
• Can ensure a representative cross section of society with careful choice of participants
• Good method of seeing how individuals are influenced by other in a group situation (a bit like participant observation)
• Can gain a larger amount of information in a shorter period of time than by doing one to one interviews
• Can be empowering for participants if they feel their opinions could be used to change things

Question 48

What are disadvantages of focus groups?

Answer 48

• Expensive and time consuming method of research
• The researcher has less control over the data produced than in quantitative studies or one to one interviews
• It will probably be a small group so not statistically valid
• Some people could be easily swayed so strong characters could dominate
• The discussion could end up focussing on one issue at the expense of others
• May not be able to get a representative sample so can’t generalise your findings to the whole population
• Difficult to check and verify results when a group is involved
• Practically is not an easy form of research to organise
• Certain types of people (inarticulate, special needs) are unlike to take part which will affect the validity
• Role of researcher/is important and poor leadership could affect the results
• Opinions of participants, researcher and leader are all subjective therefore there is potential for bias and mis-representation

Question 49

What are opinion polls

Answer 49

These are a type of questionnaire/survey so information about how surveys operate and sampling techniques provide relevant information.

As these surveys tend to be political, constituencies are often used as the basis of the sample so this means that constituencies chosen have to be representative of the population.

These surveys are commissioned by a range of organisations which include newspapers, TV, pressure groups

Question 50

What type of research might use opinion polls?

Answer 50

• Used by market researchers to find consumer preferences
• Used to find out views on topical issues
• Used to find out voters’ intentions in the run up to elections (ICM; MORI; Gallup; Harris) by newspapers
• Consulted by political parties before and during elections
• Used by political researchers as sources of up to date information

Question 51

Why might opinion polls not be reliable?

Answer 51

• Sampling errors (not representative, too small)
• People do not always respond truthfully
• People can change their minds and can be influenced by results of polls (see below)
• People may respond to questions but not bother to vote
• Interviewer bias could affect the result
• Questions could be poorly worded
• Timing of poll could affect results as don’t knows (floating voters) can swing an election so the polls are more reliable nearer the date of the election

Question 52

What is participant observation>?

Answer 52

The Aim of this method is to observe group behaviour as naturally as possible.

The choice of this method means that the researcher wants qualitative research with in depth information about feelings, interactions and processes.

It could be that the hypothesis comes from the research and is not presupposed.

The range of topics is wide and could include education, religion, deviance, crime and politics.

The scope is restricted by the size of the group as it would be intrusive if the group was small and impossible to observe behaviour if the group was too large.

This method could put the researcher in danger and can raise ethical considerations e.g. Is it moral to get involved in criminal action if you are observing gang behaviour.

Question 53

What are key features of participant observation?

Answer 53

is a primary source and provides qualitative data
* The observation can mean covert participation when the group studied will not know that their behaviour is being researched
* The observation can be overt which means the group do know that their behaviour is being studied
* If it is overt, it is possible only key people know the researcher’s true identity and the aims of the research
* There are three stages in the participation, ‘getting in’ ‘staying in’ and ‘getting out’.

Question 54

What are some examples of participant observation?

Answer 54

• Sudhir Venkatesh (2009) – “Gang Leader for a Day” - Study of the Black Kings, an African American gang who sold crack in Chicago.
• William Foote Whyte – 1937 study of an Italian-American gang in Boston. This classic study is called “Street Corner Society”
• James Patrick (1966) – “A Glasgow Gang Observed” – ‘Revealing insight into the parallel world of gangs. James Patrick wrote his book in the late 1960s but so much of it seems to speak to today and our growing worries about gang violence. In his book there is a map of Glasgow’s gang territories. A similar one exists today. The territories sit neatly within the poorest
  areas

Question 55

What are advantages of participant observation?

Answer 55

• Provides a realistic in-depth study of social behaviour and interaction
• It can produce small scale detailed research
• It is useful for studying interactions and processes over a lengthy period of time
• It is helpful for understanding the opinions of the group because behaviour is seen in its natural setting
• The researcher can establish empathy with the group through shared experiences which can help understand the feelings of the group
• It gives validity to an understating of the actions of the group as the researcher can learn what the group does rather than what it thinks it does
• A participant is going to learn more than an outsider
• It could provide a hypothesis for further research

Question 56

What are disadvantages of participant observation?

Answer 56

• The reliability of the research could be affected by the researcher’s role within the group.
• It requires a large time commitment from the researcher and this will increase the costs
• It is difficult to avoid bias especially when the observation is covert
• It can be difficult to record information accurately
• It lacks reliability because the research cannot be repeated and checked by other sociologists
• The validity of the research is questionable if you make generalisations about other similar groups because your finding only refer to the group which has been studied and that group may not be representative
• If the observation is covert, the presence of the researcher may change the group behaviour, this is called reactivity
• As the research is qualitative you can’t quantify the results
• The research will not be objective because it is unlikely that the researcher can make value free judgement

Question 57

What is observation?

Answer 57

The aim of this method is to observe group behaviour without the researcher taking part in the group activities.

The choice of this method is used when the researcher wants to study a group so that the group are unaware that they are being studied and therefore do not modify their behaviour.

The range of topics is limited to those that have a significant visual component, for example, studying the body language of social behaviour in public places.

The scope is wider and can provide information that gives a deeper understanding of behaviour than a questionnaire but does not give the depth of participant observation.

Question 58

What are they key features of observation?

Answer 58

• It is a primary source of information
• It may be overt or covert observation
• It can be qualitative and quantitative, for example, can watch and record information but also count different reactions (watch shop-lifters, count particular type of behaviour)
• It would probably involve video-recording
• It is quicker, cheaper and more objective than participant observation

Question 59

What are the advantages of observation?

Answer 59

• Video evidence can be examined and therefore verified any others which improves its reliability
• Easy to record data.
• The researcher cannot influence the behaviour so the method is fairly objective and unbiased
• It allows a useful insight into a phenomenon, and sidesteps the ethical and practical difficulties of setting up a large and cumbersome participation research project.

Question 60

What are the disadvantages of observations?

Answer 60

• Researchers can always be biased when analysing the data (true of most methods)
• Covert observation can raise the ethical questions of whether this is acceptable
• Overt observation may risk the ‘Hawthorne effect’ as people know they are being watched.
• Can be times consuming and expensive
• Meaning of what is observed can be open to different interpretations

Question 61

Summarise case studies

Answer 61

The choice of this method is used to provide a detailed and deep understanding of what is being studied. (Longitudinal or Cross Sectional Study)

Involves an in-depth study of a particular group of people, organisation or event.

The choice of this method is used to provide a detailed and deep understanding of what is being studied.

This method can be used for a broad range of topics like the study of the media coverage of the news to detect bias.

The scope is such that this method can provide detailed information about particular people, events or organization.

A primary source that provides quantitative and qualitative information

Question 62

Summarise case studies

Answer 62

The choice of this method is used to provide a detailed and deep understanding of what is being studied. (Longitudinal or Cross Sectional Study)

Involves an in-depth study of a particular group of people, organisation or event.

The choice of this method is used to provide a detailed and deep understanding of what is being studied.

This method can be used for a broad range of topics like the study of the media coverage of the news to detect bias.

The scope is such that this method can provide detailed information about particular people, events or organization.

A primary source that provides quantitative and qualitative information

Question 63

What are the advantages of case studies?

Answer 63

• Provides deep and detailed information
• Can enable an understanding of processes and interactions in a given situation
• Can stimulate ideas and understanding about similar groups or individuals
• Can provide clues that could lead to future and possibly broader research

Question 64

What are the disadvantages of case studies?

Answer 64

• Can be time consuming and expensive
• As it would be difficult to repeat the research, it cannot be checked, so this affects its reliability
• Findings could be influenced by the bias of the researchers
• Results only apply to a particular study so you cannot make generalisations about other similar people, events organisations

Question 65

Advantages of case studies?

Answer 65

• Provides interesting and relevant data about effect of society on peoples’ lives over a period of years
• Can provide quantitative or qualitative data
• It highlights the impact of social change and social forces

Question 66

Disadvantages of case studies?

Answer 66

• Method is extremely expensive and very long term
• Members of groups studied can change and data can be lost
• Takes a long time for the results to be published and would be difficult for the data to be checked and verified which affects validity

Question 67

What are longitudinal case studies?

Answer 67

Longitudinal Studies are studies which take place over an extended period of time, measuring the same factors within the same group of people/things to look at development and change

Question 68

Advantages of longitudinal studies?

Answer 68

Can see clear development and change in research, making it easy to watch trends progressing and see when variables change
Highly accurate when reporting said changes and developments in trends, can pinpoint when change happens
Far more detailed overall big picture as each time new info is given it adds to what researchers know on the subject - like adding another jigsaw piece to a puzzle

Question 69

Disadvantages of longitudinal studies?

Answer 69

People can die or drop out of these studies as time goes on, and the longer they go on the more likely and frequently that people drop out
They take a very long time to conduct and gather results for, which makes people lean more towards cross-sectional studies and can be very expensive to run meaning they cannot be done as frequently
They need a far bigger sample size to get good overall representation which a lot do not have, making them fairly unrepresentative and niche