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methods Flashcards

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1
Q

Primary research method - observation. What is covert observation?

A

The researcher is undercover and participants are unaware they are being researched

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2
Q

what type of research method is covert observation?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

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3
Q

what studies are linked to covert observation?

A

Lord Humphrey - Tea Room Trade

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4
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for covert observation?

A

low reliability, high validity

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5
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of covert observation?

A 
\:) = no Hawthorne effect
\:( = hard to replicate research, ethical issues, time consuming
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6
Q

what is overt observation?

A

the researcher makes their true identity and purpose known to group. Sociologist is open about what they’re doing

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7
Q

what type of research is overt observation?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

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8
Q

what studies are linked to overt observation?

A

Eliene Barker - Moonies,

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9
Q

what levels or reliability + validity does overt observation have?

A

low reliability, high validity

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10
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of overt observation?

A 
\:) = builds rapport, creates verstehen (picturing yourself in someone else's shoes)
\:( = unrepresentative, lacks objectivity
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11
Q

what is covert non-participant observation?

A

the researcher simply observes a group without taking part in it

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12
Q

what type of research is covert non PO?

A

Positivist, quantitative

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13
Q

what studies are linked to covert non-PO?

A

Ronald King - Wendy House

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14
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for covert non-PO?

A

high reliability, low validity

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15
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of Covert non-PO?

A

:) =no Hawthorne effect

:( = ethical issues, not able to build rapport

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16
Q

what is overt non participant observation?

A

the researcher makes their identity known. Participants know they’re present but researcher does not take part

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17
Q

what type of research is overt non-PO?

A

Quantitative, Positivist

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18
Q

what studies are linked to Overt non-PO?

A

OFSTED inspections

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19
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity linked to Overt non-PO?

A

high reliability, low validity

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20
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of overt non-PO?

A 
\:) = conducted systematically
\:( = Hawthorne effect, artificial - results may not be realistic/true
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21
Q

Primary research method - Interviews. What are structured interviews?

A

The research has pre-prepared a list of usually close-ended questions. Only questions on the list will be asked

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22
Q

what type of research are struc interviews?

A

positivist, quantiative

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23
Q

what studies are linked to struct invterviews?

A

Crime Survey of England and Wales

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24
Q

what are the levels or reliability and validity for struct interviews?

A

high reliability, low validity

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25
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of struct interviews?

A 
\:) = easy to train, focus on topic, quick to complete, representative
\:( = interviewer bias/interrogation, artificial, lack of detail/depth, inflexible
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26
Q

what are unstructured interviews?

A

the researcher has no set questions. Headings may be used to guide a free-flowing discussion, interviewee is free to talk about what they want

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27
Q

what type of research is unstruct interviews?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

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28
Q

what studies are linked to unstruc interviews?

A

Dobash + Dobash, Sue Sharpe (girls’ changing attitudes)

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29
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity linked to unstruct interviews?

A

Low reliability, high validity

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30
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses for unstruct interviews?

A 
\:) = lots of detail, less artificial, build rapport, flexible
;( = time consuming, need to be skilled, ethical issues, difficult to analyse results
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31
Q

what type of research are group interviews?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

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32
Q

what studies are linked to group int.?

A

Paul Willis - Learning to Labour

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33
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for group int.?

A

low reliability, high validity

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34
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses for group int?

A 
\:) = easier for participant to respond, stimulate discussions, gives greater power to participants
\:( = one participant dominates, difficult to record results, intimidation towards researcher, social desirability (lie to be accepted by group)
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35
Q

Primary research method - what are questionnaires?

A

the researcher will prepare a set list of mostly closed questions (although there are sometimes a few open). Usually in the form of multiple choice or yes/no

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36
Q

what are the types of questionnaires and what research are they?

A

postal and written, Positivist and quantitative

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37
Q

what studies are linked to questionnaires?

A

Shere Hites “love, passion, and emotional violence”, Connor + Dewson (2001)

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38
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for questionnaires?

A

high reliability, low validity

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39
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses for questionnaires?

A 
\:) = quick to complete, easy to analyse, representative, few ethical issues, objective, no additional training
\:( = lack detail/depth, people could lie, low response rate
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40
Q

Experiments - primary. What are lab experiments?

A

Researcher manipulates an independent variable and measures a dependent variable in a controlled environment

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41
Q

what type of research are lab?

A

Positivist, quantiative

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42
Q

what studies are linked to lab?

A

Milgram - obedience

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43
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for lab?

A

high reliability, low validity

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44
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses for lab?

A 
\:) = can be recreated in an artificial environment, hypothesis is tested + cause + effect relationships established
\:( = Hawthorne effect, ethical issues, small samples, can't control variables of the past
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45
Q

what are field experiments?

A

researcher manipulates independent variable and measure dependent variable in natural environment

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46
Q

what type of research are field?

A

Pos/Interp (for validity), quantiative

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47
Q

what studies are linked to field?

A

Sissons, Rosenthal + Jacobson - Pygmalion in classroom

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48
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for field?

A

low reliability, high validity

49
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses for field?

A 
\:) = behaviour should be more natural, can research natural life in "field" setting.
\:( = researcher has less control over variables, ethical - no consent
50
Q

what is comparative method?

A

Making comparisons between diff societies, between groups within 1 society and making comparisons across time

51
Q

what type of research is comparative?

A

quantitative, Positivist

52
Q

what studies are linked to comparative?

A

Max Weber - Protestant ethic + spirit of capitalism

53
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for comparative?

A

low reliability, high validity

54
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses for comparative?

A 
\:) = used to isolate variables, representative, reduces ethical problems
\:( = no guarantee that available data can isolate variables, less convenient than carrying out experiment
55
Q

Secondary research method - official statistics. What are the types of official stats?

A

Hard (numbers/graphs) and soft (opinion, suggestions, human intelligence) statistics

56
Q

what type of research are statistics?

A

Quantitative, Positivists

57
Q

what studies are linked to official stats?

A

Hard - Marriage/death certificates, Census (2011, 2001)

58
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for official stats?

A

High reliability, Hard - high validity, soft - low validity

59
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of official stats?

A 
\:) = representative - large scale, used to make comparisons between groups, free source
\:( = always out of date, definitions used by govs change over time, mismatches between sets of data
60
Q

what are personal documents?

A

Letters and diaries

61
Q

what type of research are personal docs?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

62
Q

what studies are linked to personal docs?

A

William Thomas and Florain Znanieck - Polish peasant in Europe + America
Scott (1990) 4 criteria for accessing documents: authenticity, credibility, representativeness, meaning

63
Q

what are levels of reliability and validity for personal docs?

A

low reliability, high validity

64
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses for personal docs?

A 
\:) = less ethical problems, time effective, cheap source, gain insight into people's lives
\:( = hard to access, consent may not be given, some groups aren't represented, difficult to check for bias
65
Q

what is content analysis?

A

studying documents by having different categories and tallying how much that category appears

66
Q

what type of research is content analysis?

A

Favoured by Positivists, deals systematically with contents of documents to produce quantitative data

67
Q

how does Ros Gill (1988) describe content analysis?

A

How it works: Decide on area of study (e.g. gender + subject choice), decided on categories you’re going to search for (STEM), study source material e.g., newspapers + tally the amount of times you see each instance, count up nos. in each category + draw out conclusions, can compare findings with official stats to get wider data

68
Q

what studies are linked to content analysis?

A

Tuchman (1978) - used content analysis to study portrayal of women in television - women stereotyped in media.

69
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of content analysis?

A

:) quick easy method that requires no training (very simple to do), Positivists see it as useful source of objective data (contains facts), produces quantitative data favoured by Pos, reliable instead of valid
:( = has been criticised for lack of depth, (can’t find meanings/actions behind quantitative data), data is difficult to find and may limit research - depends what you’re researching

70
Q

smaller research methods - what are life histories?

A

Ethnographic method in which researcher attempts to draw out an autobiography of a single subject (learn about person’s life) usually through interviews - person recounts life history

71
Q

what type of research are life histories?

A

Qualitative, Interpretivist

72
Q

what studies relate to life histories?

A

general studies - Chamberlain + Goulbarne - 60 families, Linda Hart - “phone at 9 just to say you’re alive”
Education studies - Mann - educational life histories of 60 female 6th formers

73
Q

what are levels of reliability and validity for life histories?

A

Low reliability, high validity

74
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of life histories?

A 
\:) = 1st hand account of people's experiences, used to check other sources of info, shows how people's lives changed over time
\:( = biased - person recounting may not be objective, unrepresentative - hard to generalise, heavily dependent on people's memory, researchers lead into areas they like
75
Q

What are longitudinal studies?

A

Involves repeated observations of the same variable over short or long periods of time

76
Q

what time of research are longitudinal studies?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

77
Q

what studies are linked to longitudinal?

A

General studies - 7 up (TV programme)

Education studies - Douglas - Educational careers of children

78
Q

what are the levels of reliability and validity for longitudinal?

A

Low reliability, high validity

79
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses for longitudinal studies?

A 
\:) = examine developments over time, provide in depth info, researcher can be sure no changes in makeup of sample if same people
\:( = "sample attrition" - less representative sample as people drop out, cost money + time, keeping same sample is difficult
80
Q

what type of research are case studies?

A

Interpretivist, qualitative

81
Q

what studies are linked to case studies?

A

General studies - Ken Roberts + Tony Lane - single strikes at Pilkington glass factory
Education studies - Elizabeth Burn, Jenny - primary school teacher

82
Q

what are levels of reliability and validity for case studies?

A

low reliability, high validity

83
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses for case studies?

A 
\:) = used to study exceptional cases, used in early stages of research to generate hypothesis, provide detailed insight into particular group
\:( = researcher bias, small scale - unrepresentative, based on subjective interpretation of researcher - hard to replicate
84
Q

what is sampling?

A

the process by which a researcher chooses participants

85
Q

how is the population linked to sampling?

A

these are the group of people from whom the sample is drawn from

86
Q

what is a sampling frame?

A

a list of the population where you draw your sample from, such as the electoral register

87
Q

what is random sampling?

A

every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected

88
Q

what are the strengths and weaknesses of random?

A 
\:) = no bias, fairest way to choose people
\:( = could get an unrepresentative sample if not done on large scale, need a sampling frame
89
Q

what is systematic (Quasi-Random) sampling?

A

select every 10/20th number on a list - selecting at regular intervals

90
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of systematic?

A 
\:) = less time consuming, no bias
\:( = not always random so could be unrepresentative
91
Q

what is quota sampling?

A

Interviewers are told how many respondents with particular characteristics to question, selected as you have certain characteristics

92
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of quota?

A 
\:) = control variables without sampling frame, reflects characteristics of population, could be representative
\:( = requires researcher to ask personal Qs, researcher bias
93
Q

what is stratified sampling?

A

classifying population into categories + choosing sample with people from each category

94
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of stratified?

A 
\:) = most representative form of sampling
\:( = time consuming, may not have characteristics of population to create sampling, limited to info from sampling frame
95
Q

what is volunteer (self-selected) sampling?

A

participants becoming part of a study because they volunteer in response to an advert

96
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of volunteer?

A 
\:) = don't always need sampling frame, sample that's willing to do research
\:( = unrepresentative, only selecting people interested in research
97
Q

what is a snowball sample?

A

using personal contacts to build up a sample of a group to be studied

98
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of snowball?

A 
\:) = no sampling frame needed, help researcher find more contacts as they know each other, good to research certain groups where it's difficult to find out what's part of it
\:( = unrepresentative (study part of contacts), requires an initial contact, small sample
99
Q

what is opportunistic sampling?

A

mostly used by sociology students. Consists of taking a sample from people who are available at time of study

100
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of opportunistic?

A 
\:) = easy to do (quick), no special training needed, don't need sampling frame
\:( = may be unrepresentative, may be researcher bias in way sample is chosen
101
Q

what is multi-stage cluster sampling?

A

selecting a sample from another sample

102
Q

what are strengths and weaknesses of multi-stage cluster?

A 
\:) = saves time and money, representative
\:( = sampling error increases
103
Q

factors influencing choice of method: Practical.

how do personal skills + characteristics influence choice of method?

A

choose unstructured interviews if have good personal skills. Sociologists who are good at using numbers might use statistical analysis as part of research

104
Q

Practical - how does subject matter influence choice of research method?

A

researching hidden things - use covert observation. If researching something in the past, might have to use historical documents

105
Q

practical - how does research opportunity influence choice of method?

A

if there is a riot and you’re interested in researching it, you would use non-participant observation rather than a questionnaire

106
Q

practical - how does requirement of funding bodies influence choice of research method?

A

government tend to want sociologists to use quantitative methods as they are a large sample of society

107
Q

practical - how does time and money influence choice of research method?

A

Longitudinal studies may not be chosen due to time and cost, official stats may be chosen as they’re easy to access

108
Q

why might researchers take ethical factors into account?

A

Breech ethical factors to “better” society, show they are a good researcher

109
Q

ethical - how does deception influence choice of method?

A

don’t choose covert participant observation as lying about your role, choose covert non participant observation instead

110
Q

ethical - how does confidentiality and privacy influence choice of method?

A

choose not to use personal documents/diaries as invasion of privacy + breeches ethical guidelines

111
Q

ethical - how does vulnerable groups influence choice of method?

A

unstructured interviews may be chosen to study children

112
Q

ethical - how does harm to participants influence choice of method?

A

lab experiments may not be used because of manipulation

113
Q

ethical - how does informed consent influence choice of method?

A

covert observation non-participant may not be chosen, questionnaire used instead as informed consent is part of it

114
Q

theoretical - how does reliability influence choice of method?

A

reject unstructured interviews, structured interviews chosen for reliability - easy to replicate. Big factor for Positivists

115
Q

theoretical - why are Interpretivists influenced by choice of method?

A

favour unstructured interviews as able to obtain truthful data due to rapport being built up

116
Q

theoretical - why are Positivists influenced by choice of methods?

A

use official statistics as they’re social facts, quantitative data

117
Q

theoretical - how does representativeness influence choice of method?

A

reject personal documents, hard official statistics/questionnaires may be used

118
Q

theoretical - how does validity influence choice of method?

A

participant observation may be used if you’re interested in validity - esp. important for Interpretivists

sociology year 12 revision (3 decks)

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