Methods

Question 1

Primary data

Answer 1

Data that is gathered by the researcher themselves

Question 2

Secondary data

Answer 2

Data that has already been gathered

Question 3

Quantitative data

Answer 3

Numerical data - statistics, figures and numbers

Question 4

Qualitative data

Answer 4

Normally expressed in words - much more subtle and complex than numbers

Question 5

Practical

Answer 5

Access
Time
Cost and funding
The researcher

Question 6

Ethical

Answer 6

Informed consent
Confidentiality
Effect of participants/harm
‘Guilty knowledge’ - might get told something illegal
‘Going native’ - get too involved with the research

Question 7

Theoretical

Answer 7

Positivist
Interpretivist
Validity
Replicability
Representative sampling
Quantitative
Qualitative
Verstehen - empathetic understanding
Objective
Subjective

Question 8

Random sampling

Answer 8

Everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected - quick, easy and representative

Question 9

Systematic sampling

Answer 9

Every nth person on a list is selected - quick, easy

Question 10

Stratified random sampling

Answer 10

Sample is divided into groups based on characteristics and then randomly chosen from each group list and combined

Question 11

Quota sampling

Answer 11

Go out looking for the right number of each sort of person e.g. aged 60 and male

Question 12

Snowball sampling

Answer 12

Sample is selected by the researcher with a unique characteristic, and asks them to introduce to others e.g. gang members

Question 13

Positivism and research methods

Answer 13

The study of social facts
The feelings, emotions and motives of individuals cannot be observed or measured and shouldn’t be studied
Durkheim used positive methods with his study of suicide

Question 14

Interpretivism and research methods

Answer 14

People’s behaviour is influenced by the interpretations they give things and a researchers task is to gain an understanding of these interpretations - verstehen
Micro approach with qualitative data

Question 15

The Hawthorne Effect

Answer 15

The presence of a researcher or the knowledge of the group changes the behaviour of the group

Question 16

Problems of the social survey

Answer 16

Validity - fail to fully capture reality due to distorted data
Generalisation - lack of representativeness
Reliability - the results may not be found again

Question 17

General problems of interviews

Answer 17

Validity - artificial situation, might not provide comparable data
Interviewer bias - results may be distorted by the presence of an interviewer

Question 18

Lab experiments

Answer 18

Theoretical - high levels of control, allowing replicability
Ethical - easy to secure informed consent

Theoretical - lacks validity
Practical - limited sample size

Question 19

Field experiments

Answer 19

Theoretical - easier to have validity
Theoretical - allows you to identify cause and effect by isolating variables

Theoretical - limited validity by imposing artificial constraints
Practical - less control over the setting

Question 20

Closed questionnaires

Answer 20

Practical - more data, cheap, quick and easy to distribute
Theoretical - more data makes it more replicable, positivist

Practical - may not get a high response rate
Theoretical - limited validity - imposition problem

Question 21

Open questionnaires

Answer 21

Theoretical - greater chance of validity
Practical - may be quick, easy and cheap to gather depending on the method

Practical - time, cost, response rate
Theoretical - lacking replicability

Question 22

Overt participation observation

Answer 22

Theoretical - validity
Practical & ethical - not difficult to set up with consent

Theoretical - risk of ‘going native’
Practical - access

Question 23

Covert participation observation

Answer 23

Theoretical - no Hawthorne effect
Practical - cheap and easy

Theoretical - limited validity
Ethical - no informed consent