Methods

Question 1

What are postal and self completion questionnaires?

Answer 1

• Where a questionnaire is sent out to respondents and they complete it without ever meeting the researcher.

Question 2

Give at least two advantages of postal and self completion questionnaires.

Answer 2

At least two from:

• Controversial and personal questions are more likely to be answered because the researcher is not present.
• Researchers do not have to pay for interviewers, so it’s cheaper.
• Results can be obtained quickly.

Question 3

Give at least two disadvantages of postal and self completion questionnaires.

Answer 3

At least two from:

• Not everyone responds to online/postal questionnaires.
• Possible problems with validity.
• People may interpret questions differently, or give untruthful answers due to dishonesty or or forget-fullness.

Question 4

What is ethics?

Answer 4

• Moral principles that govern a persons behaviour or the way in which an activity such as sociological research is conducted.

Question 5

What ethical considerations are there when conducting sociological research?
Give at least three considerations.

Answer 5

At least three from:

• Socially inclusive
• Informed consent
• Research self-protection
• Confidentiality and anonymity
• Protection from harm
• Gatekeepers
• Right to withdraw

Question 6

What must researchers consider in terms of being socially inclusive before conducting research?

Answer 6

• Making sure that research does not exclude anyone from taking part on the basis of race, class, gender, age or disability.

Question 7

What must researchers consider in terms of informed consent before conducting research?

Answer 7

• Participants should give their consent to take part in the research, and should not be manipulated, and should be fully aware of the topic that is being researched and the method used.
• If the research could affect the participant physically or emotionally then they have the right to know in advance.

Question 8

What should researchers consider in terms of the right to withdraw before conducting research?

Answer 8

• Participants have the right to withdraw from any piece of research at any time without feeling guilty.

Question 9

What should researchers consider in terms of protecting themselves, before conducting research?

Answer 9

• A researcher should never place themselves at risk.

For example: research on criminal gangs would need to be carefully planned to avoid any personal risk to the researcher.

Question 10

What must researchers consider in terms of confidentiality and anonymity, before conducting research?

Answer 10

• Researchers should not use the names of their participants in their research.
• The participants should remain anonymous and their names should be changed or removed.
• Participants should be made aware of any identifying information that will be kept private.

Question 11

What must researchers consider in terms of protection from harm, before conducting research?

Answer 11

• Participants have the right to not be harmed physically or psychologically by the research carried out.
• The participant should finish the research in the same state of mind they were in when they started.
• If the research upsets the participant then it could be classed as emotional harm.

Question 12

What must researchers consider in terms of gatekeepers, before conducting research?

Answer 12

• Children are more vulnerable than adults because:
  1) They may not fully understand what is happening, so even if they agree to take part, they are not fully informed.
  2) Children often think of adults as figures of authority, so may feel that they are not able to withdraw from the research.

It is important to ask gatekeepers for permission before carrying out research on vulnerable groups - these are people who can limit your access to participants (parents in the case of children)

Question 13

What practical factors are involved in choosing which research methods to use?

Answer 13

1) Time and Money:
- Different research methods require different amounts of money.

Example:
- Large scale surveys may employ dozens of interviewers and other staff so will be costly, and small a small scale survey would be less costly but take more time to complete.

2) Subject Matter

3) Personal Skills and Characteristics:
- Each sociologist will have different skills and this may affect their ability to use different methods.

4) Research Opportunity:
- Sometimes the opportunity to carry out research comes about unexpectedly, meaning it may not be possible to use structured methods such as questionnaires as they take a long time to prepare.

5) Requirements of Funding Bodies:
- Institutions that fund the research may specify the results to be in a particular form.

Question 14

What ethical factors are involved in choosing which research methods to use?

Answer 14

1) Informed Consent:
- Research participants should have the right to choose not to be involved.
- The researcher should tell the participants about all the relevant aspects of the research so that they can make an informed decision.
- Consent should be obtained before the research begins.

2) Vulnerable Groups:
- Extra care should be taken where participants are particularly vulnerable because of the following:
* Age
* Disability
* Physical or mental health

For example, when researching in schools, the researcher should obtain consent from both the children and their parents, using language appropriate for the children.

3) Covert Research:
- This can create serious ethical problems because it means that the participants are likely to be lied to or deceived in order to gain their trust or access to information.
- It is hard to gain informed consent when the research purpose is not disclosed.

4) Harm to participants:
- Researchers need to be aware of the effects of their work on the people they study.
- Wherever possible, participants should anticipate and prevent harm.

5) Confidentiality and Privacy:
- Researchers should keep the identity of the participants private to help prevent the research having negative effects on them.
- Personal information about participants should be kept private.

Question 15

What theoretical factors are involved in choosing which research methods to use?

Answer 15

1) Methodological Perspective:
- This would be the researchers view of what society is like and how it should be studied.
- This influences the method used when research is conducted.
- Positivists prefer quantitive data and are keen to discover patterns of behaviour.
- Interpretivists prefer qualitative data.

2) Validity:
3) Reliability
4) Representativeness

Question 16

Give two practical advantages of laboratory experiments.

Answer 16

At least two from:

• Easy to attract funding because of the widespread respect of science.
• These experiments are easy to conduct because it will take place in one place.

Question 17

Give two practical disadvantages of laboratory experiments.

Answer 17

At least two from:

• It is not practical to observe a large scale social processes in laboratory.
• The researcher won’t be able to get enough people into the laboratory to be able to make accurate generalisations about the findings of the topics being researched.
• This method will require the researcher to have small samples at any one time.
• Gaining a larger overall sample size would take the research a long time.

Question 18

Give two theoretical advantages of laboratory experiments.

Answer 18

At least two from:

• Researchers are able to precisely measure the exact effect of one thing on another.
• It has good reliability as researchers can easily repeat the exact same conditions and there is a good level of detachment between the researcher and participant.

Question 19

Give two theoretical disadvantages of laboratory experiments.

Answer 19

At least two from:

• Human behaviour cannot be explained through simple cause and effect relationships and needs to be looked at in a more realistic setting.
• They lack external validity as the environment is artificial and far removed from real-life so the results tell us very little about how respondents would actually act in real life.
• The results may also lack validity because participants may act differently as they know they’re part of an experiment.

Question 20

Give two practical advantages of questionnaires.

Answer 20

At least two from:

• One of the most affordable ways to conduct research and gain qualitative data.
• Online and mobile surveys have a very low cost and can reach a large amount of people.
• They are quick and easy for participants to complete, meaning that they are more likely to take the time to answer the questions.

Question 21

Give two practical disadvantages of questionnaires.

Answer 21

At least two from:

• If the questionnaire is too long in length then people are less likely to complete it.
• The researcher may need to offer incentives such as prize draws for completion, which would cost them money.
• Postal questionnaires have a lower response rate meaning that the sample size is reduced.

Question 22

Give two ethical advantages of questionnaires.

Answer 22

At least two from:

• If the design and wording of the questionnaire is objective then it means the questionnaire is accessible and socially inclusive to all participants, making it more ethically acceptable.
• Respondents cannot be tricked or forced to answer a questionnaire, meaning if they do complete it, they are giving fully informed consent to do so.

Question 23

Give two ethical disadvantages of questionnaires.

Answer 23

At least two from:

• If the design and wording of the questionnaire is complicated then this is an ethical problem because it is not socially inclusive.
• If many open questions are used, then this would be less suitable for less educated respondents because open ended questions require high levels of writing skills which some potential respondents may not possess.

Question 24

Give two theoretical advantages of questionnaires.

Answer 24

At least two from:

• Positivists would see questionnaires as reliable.
• As questionnaires are completed with either no or very little contact with the researcher and respondent, respondents are more likely to provide more valid and reliable answers as they are less fearful of being judged.

Question 25

Give two theoretical disadvantages of questionnaires.

Answer 25

At least two from:

• A low response rate means that those who do return their questionnaires may have different attitude or opinion to those who don’t return their questionnaire, so results are likely to be unrepresentative of the group being studied.
• Busy people may fail to respond, where as people with more time on their hands are more likely to respond. This is a particular disadvantage if the ideal sample requires both busy people and people who are not so busy to respond, meaning that the findings may be unrepresentative.
• This may also impact on the validity as it may impact on the extent to which someone is able to provide a true picture of what something is like.

Question 26

Give two practical advantages of unstructured interviews.

Answer 26

At least two from:

• Questions are not pre-set which will save time for the researcher as they don’t have to think of the questions prior to the interview.
• Good to use in the event than an unexpected research opportunity arises due to low levels of prior preparation, and the fact that the interview should flow like a conversation.

Question 27

Give two practical disadvantages of unstructured interviews.

Answer 27

At least two from:

• The researcher doesn’t lead the interview, meaning that some of the information that the interviewee gives may not be particularly relevant, so the researcher would have to spend time choosing what information is relevant and what is not.
• The researcher has to interpret the information that the interviewee gave, which means that, there is a bigger risk of the researcher placing their own perspective on the information given to them.

Question 28

What is a possible ethical advantage of unstructured interviews?

Answer 28

• These interviews are usually led by the respondent which allows them to choose how much information to disclose to the researcher, meaning that the risks of harm for the respondents is kept to a minimum.

Question 29

What is a possible ethical disadvantage of unstructured interviews?

Answer 29

• It may be hard to not answer questions that may be sensitive or that interviewee doesn’t want to talk about - also issues with confidentiality or harm if sensitive topic.

Question 30

What is a possible theoretical advantage of unstructured interviews?

Answer 30

• Group unstructured interviews are likely to give a valid, accurate picture of what something is like, due to the expression of multiple opinions/reasons for something from multiple people.

Question 31

What is a possible theoretical disadvantage of unstructured interviews?

Answer 31

• If lots of the information collected is found to be irrelevant, then it could mean that the researcher has a small amount of information, increasing the risk of unrepresentative data.

Question 32

Give two practical advantages of structured interviews.

Answer 32

At least two from:

• Compared with unstructured interviews, they are fairly easy to conduct.
• Easily produce quantifiable data which is quick to analyse and make generalisations from.

Question 33

Give two practical disadvantages of structured interviews.

Answer 33

At least two from:

• Preparation time would be longer than unstructured interviews, as it requires questions to be decided upon prior to the interview.
• This method wouldn’t be useful if the research opportunity came about unexpectedly because it requires questions to be pre-written, which may not be possible.
• The time limit of the interview prevents interviewees from raising new issues as the researcher has already chosen what should be spoken about.
• The wording of the questions may be open to interpretation and their is a limit to how far the researcher can explain the meaning of the question. This could make the process more time consuming.
• Employing and training interviewers incurs a cost and even relatively brief structured questionnaires are not as cheap to carry out as mailed questionnaires.

Question 34

What is a possible ethical advantage of structured interviews?

Answer 34

• Face to face interviews often have higher response rates because the participant is able to understand the nature and purpose of the research and give their full informed consent to take part.

Question 35

Give two ethical disadvantages of structured interviews,

Answer 35

At least two from:

• The wording of the questions may be open to interpretation, which could cause the interview to not be inclusive for people with poorer literacy skills or who are unable to read and write.
• Asking someone a list of questions can be quite off-putting and not particularly useful in investigating sensitive issues where a bond of trust and empathy is needed.

Question 36

Give two theoretical advantages of structured interviews.

Answer 36

At least two from:

• They are easy to conduct so a larger sample can be interviewed and therefore produce more representative results.
• The more representative results collected which would allow the researcher to make generalisations.
• They have a higher response rates, which helps to ensure the sample is representative of the wider population.
• As every interviewee’s response rate is measured in the same way, structured interviews are a form of standardised measuring. This would mean the data from different interviews is directly comparable.

Question 37

Give two theoretical disadvantages of structured interviews.

Answer 37

At least two from:

• Fixed response questions may prevent the interviewee from saying what they really think, and anything that limits how the interviewee responds reduces the validity of the data collected.
• It is difficult to know if the respondent is telling the truth or not. Although this is a problem with all interviews, it is particularly so with structured interviews, because, the researcher cannot deviate from the list of questions to check the answers they are given.
• Interviewer effect may reduce the reliability of the answers given, because, although the same questions are given to each interviewee, interviewers are going to have different social characteristics and the interview setting may also vary and this means the interview may not be exactly replicable.

Question 38

What is a possible practical advantage of semi-structured interviews?

Answer 38

• This method is a very simple, efficient and practical way of getting data about things that cannot be easily observed, feelings and emotions for example.

Question 39

Give two practical disadvantages of semi-structured interviews.

Answer 39

At least two from:

• This method depends on the skill of the interviewer and their ability to think of questions in the interview.
• The method is both time consuming and expensive.
• The in-depth qualitative data can be hard to analyse.

Question 40

Give two ethical advantages of semi-structured interviews.

Answer 40

At least two from:

• A few pre-set questions are involved, the interviewer is not pre-judging what is and is not important information.
• The interviewee can express the information that they feel is important to the subject matter, with minimal fear of being judged for the answers they give.

Question 41

What is a possible ethical disadvantage of semi-structured interviews?

Answer 41

• The interviewer may give out unconscious signals to guide the respondent to give the answers expected bu the interviewer and the interviewee could then feel pressured to disclose information that they don’t particularly want to and this could cause harm to the respondent.

Question 42

Give two theoretical advantages of semi-structured interviews.

Answer 42

At least two from:

• Allows for a positive relationship between the interviewer and interviewee.
• Interviewers and interviewees are able to talk about something in depth but the interviewee is able to speak for themselves with little direction from the interviewer which produces more valid results.
• The interviewer can probe areas suggested by respondent’s answers, picking up information that had not occurred to the interviewer. This would increase the extent to which the sample is representative of the whole group.

Question 43

Give two theoretical disadvantages of semi-structured interviews.

Answer 43

At least two from:

• Could be difficult to exactly repeat a semi-structured interview.
• Respondents may be asked different questions which results in the interview being non-standardised.
• Samples tend to be small which reduces the representativeness of the data collected.
• The personal nature of the interview may make it harder for interviewers to make generalisations.
• The interviewer has no way of knowing if the interviewee is lying or not which reduces the validity.

Question 44

What is a possible practical advantage of group interviews?

Answer 44

• Participants are likely to stimulate each other’s ideas and therefore require less input from the researcher.

Question 45

Give two practical disadvantages of group interviews.

Answer 45

At least two from:

• The data could be hard to analyse or quantify from the group discussion.
• Depending on the interviewers ability to keep the conversation on track, it could be easy for the group to get distracted, which could cause the interview to take a long time.

Question 46

What is a possible ethical advantage of group interviews?

Answer 46

• Participants are likely to be more relaxed and more likely to open up about a situation or topic that they wouldn’t want to do in a 1-1 interview.

Question 47

What is a possible ethical disadvantage of group interviews?

Answer 47

• One or two people may dominate the discussion and stop other members of the group from contributing.

Question 48

Give at least two examples of general practical issues with using research methods.

Answer 48

At least two from:

• Time and money
• Personal requirements of funding bodies.
• Personal skills and characteristics of the researcher.
• Subject matter
• Research opportunity

Question 49

Give at least two examples of general ethical issues with using research methods.

Answer 49

At least two from:

• Informed consent
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Covert methods
• Vulnerable groups
• Harmful effects

Question 50

Give at least two examples of general theoretical issues with using research methods.

Answer 50

At least two from:

• Reliability
• Validity
• Representativeness