Methods and Research Flashcards
What are the qualities of survey research?
- Quantitative
- Systematic data collection with standardised questions.
- interview/postal/telephone
What is a sample?
a selection of people from the target population
What is a sampling frame?
complete list of the population
What types of sampling allow probability of repetitiveness to be calculated? (5)
- Simple
- Stratified
- Systematic random
- Cluster
- Multistage
Forms of sampling which do not allow probability to be measured? (4)
- Convenience
- Purposive
- Quota
- Snowball
How can ideas and concepts be operationalized?
Empirical measures and indicators
Qualities of official statistics (4)
- Important sources of data produced for administrative and political purposes.
- Constructed by social processes of definition and decision making (Interactionist claim)
- crimes may not be reported, recorded, taken seriously, detected and convicted
- Problems overcome by self-report studies and other research.
What is ethnographic research?
The study of small scale settings or groups
How is ethnographic research conducted?
Participant observation, face to face interviews and documentary analysis
What sort of data does ethnographic research collect?
Qualitative: rich, detailed, meaningful descriptions
What does ethnographic research aim to do?
Understand the world from the insider’s perspective
Qualities of documentary research
- Text can be inscribed on paper, film, computer files, stone, clay, canvas…
- Documents include:
letters, diaries, newspapers, videos, pictures, photographs, stamps, maps, official records
What are Scott’s (1990) 4 criterias for evaluating documents
- Authenticity
- Credibility
- Representativeness
- Meaning
