Methodology Flashcards
Why we need people to research
To find out information about particular groups in society
People are adaptable
People can provide more in depth info
What issues do researchers research
Cultural impact Differences between genders Crime stats Rape Violence Ethnicity - offending rates Influences/behaviour Effects of the media
What are the 6 main research methods
Questionnaires Structured interviews Semi structured interviews Unstructured interviews Participant observation Non participant
What is a questionnaire
A list of written questions that are completed by a number of respondents. They are normally posted or handed out for self completion
What are the two types of questions that are asked in questionnaires
Closed questions
Open questions
What are closed questions
Often fixed choice and tick box
What are open questions
Questions you would ask if you wanted more in depth answers
Advantages of questionnaires
Reach to large numbers of people
Cheap
Standardised questions means you can compare findings
Provoke more truthful answers because they are anonymous
Disadvantage of questionnaires
Low response rate
People rush their answers
Cannot find peoples opinions if there is a lot of closed questions
Could get other people to fill it out for them (fraud)
What are structured interviews
The researcher reads a list of questions out to the respondent in a particular order. They typically contain closed questions and so produce largely quantitative data
What are unstructured interviews
Instead of having pre planned questions, the interviewer will just have some ideas and topics to cover. This should make the interview less formal & more like a conversation
What are semi structured interviews
Somewhere in between a structured and unstructured interview. Meaning that the interviewer can have pre-set questions but also has the flexibility to follow up on interesting answers given by the respondent
What are focus group interviews
Group interviews where respondents discuss something together, with the researcher present to listen, ask questions & make notes
Advantages of interviews
Respondents more likely to open up, if developed bond with researcher
Good response rate - people more likely to respond better to verbally asked questions
More depth from respondent allowing researcher to find out what they really think
Disadvantages of interviews
Interviewer bias - may encourage interviewee to respond in certain way
Interviewees may try to please interviewer and say what they think the interviewer wants to hear - social desirability
Success of interview lies on interviewer - if they don’t do well the data produced may be inadequate
Different types of observation
Non participant
Participant
Covert
Overt
What is non participant observation
The researcher simply observes the group or event without taking part in it e.g. a two way mirror to observe children playing
What is participant observation
The researcher actually takes part in the everyday life of the group while observing it
Examples of uses of observation
Training professionals Lesson observation in school - Ofsted Police interrogations Undercover police cases Media - Journalism Anthropological
What is overt observation
The researcher makes their true identity & purpose known to those being studied. The sociologist is open about what they are doing
What is covert observation
The study is carried out ‘undercover’. The researchers real identity and purpose is kept concealed from the group being studied. The researcher takes on a false identity and role, usually posing as a genuine member of the deviant or criminal group
Which type of data is obtained from observation
Qualitative
What are obstacles to ‘getting in’ to a group
A researcher’s age, gender, social class, ethnicity or personal appearance
Why is it a good idea to avoid taking leadership roles in participant observation
To not influence those you are observing and it also becomes difficult to get out
What is ethnography
The study of the way of life of a group of a group of people - their culture & the structure of their society
Advantages of overt observation
Avoids ethical problem by obtaining info by deceit
Allows observer to ask naïve but important questions only an outsider can ask
Observer can take notes openly
Allows researcher to use interview methods to check insights from observations
Disadvantages of overt observation
Risks creating Hawthorne Effect. This undermines the validity of the data
A group may refuse the researcher permission to observe them, or may prevent them from seeing anything
Advantages of covert observation
No risk of creating the Hawthorne Effect
Insight - best way to truly understand what something is like to experience it for ourselves
Disadvantages of covert observation
Immoral to deceive people
May have to participate in immoral or illegal activities
Researcher may have to lie about reasons to leave group
Cannot combine observation with other methods e.g. interviews
Primary data sources
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observation
Secondary data sources
Official statistics The mass media Letters Diaries Photographs Studies from other sociologists
Sources of primary data
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observation
Sources of secondary data
Official statistics Diaries The mas media Letters Photos Studies from other sociologists
Why is quantitative data useful
You can look for trends and pattern in the graphs
Its easy and quick to analyse
Problem with quantitative data
Can lack detail
Why is qualitative data useful
Rich in detail and description and can be used to conduct an in depth analysis
Problems with qualitative data
Time consuming
Expensive to collect
Qualitative data sources
Interviews
Questionnaires (open questions)
Observation
Focus group
Quantitative data sources
Surveys
Questionnaires (closed questions)
Graded questions
Why do sociologists use content analysis
To learn how issues are presented
As a statistical method - involving numbers, to gain quantitative data
To categorise behaviour
To count the number of times such behaviour appears
What is content analysis
A study of the media. It is used to find out how a social group, event or issue is presented. This is done by preparing relevant categories and then going through the media and counting how many times each category appears.
Advantages of content analysis
Easy to conduct
Possible to analyse a lot of information in a shorter time
Lots of content available to analyse, more relevant info
Cheap
Disadvantages of content analysis
Media can be biased
Media can provide misleading information,
The media can emit certain facts
Success depends on the quality of the categories
What is a sample
The group of participants that make up your research
What is the population
The term given to everybody in the group to be studied
Why have a sample
Researchers rarely have time to study the whole population
The entire population may not be willing to participate
May not be able to access the whole population
How do you gain generalisability
Finding a sample that is representative of the population
Things to consider before sampling
Time
Cost
Access
Topic of research
What is a sampling frame
A list of members from the population that are to be studied
Problems with sampling frames
Electoral role - doesn’t identify everyone i.e illegal immigrants
Phone directories - poor underrepresented - young people have mobiles and are not listed
Club/organisation memberships - only pro-active represented
4 types of sample
Random sample
Systematic sample
Stratified sample
Snowball sample
Advantages of random sample
Avoids bias - can’t choose participants who support the hypothesis
Gives everyone an equal chance
Quick, takes little effort
Advantages of systematic sample
Quick
Avoids bias - can’t choose participants who support the hypothesis
What is a systematic sample
Systematically selecting people from the sampling frame by choosing every nth
Disadvantages of random and systematic samples
May miss out certain types of people
Unrepresentative of the population
What is a stratified sample
The population is divided into separate strata in terms of characteristics e.g. age, gender, ethnicity
A sample is then drawn up which reflects the characteristics of the entire population
Advantage of stratified sample
Most reliable results as it increases representativeness and therefore we can generalise
Disadvantage of stratified sample
Researcher must have a lot of information about the population
Advantage of snowball sample
Uses a network of like minded people to identify participants
Can be used when the research population may not want to be identified
Disadvantage of snowball sample
Unlikely to produce a representative sample
Milgram experiment
People tend to follow authority without question
Triangulation
In order to check validity, sociologists will often carry out research using different methods i.e. interviews and observation
