Methods in context Flashcards
What are some practical concerns?
Time
Money
Funding bodies may request the research to be done in a specific form
Personal skills
Subject matter / personal characteristics
Opportunity
What are some ethical issues
Deception
Right to withdraw
Informed consent
Protection from harm
Confidentiality
Vulnerable groups
Covert research
What are some theoretical issues?
Reliability
Validity
Representativeness
What is primary data
Data collected by sociologists themselves
What is secondary data?
Data collected by someone else and used by sociologists
What is quantitative data?
Data based on numbers and statistics and are mostly collected by positivists
What is qualitative data ?
Data based on descriptions of events and social interactions and are words or images. They are mostly collected by interpretivists
What is a strength of lab experiments?
Its reliable because its standardised
What are 2 weaknesses of lab experiments
Hawthorne effect
Free will- interpretivists argue humans differ from plants - behaviour cannot be understood in terms of cause and effect
What is an example of a field experiment
Zimbardo
Made test to exclude psychological disorders
Took place in a school
No social solidarity
Goal = will they conform to roles given = yes
What are some ethical issues with zimbardo experiment
News paper advert said nothing about it - no informed consent
Hawthorne effect - guards knew they were being watched
Harassment + disturbing sleep
Didnt know where they were - deception
8612 tried to leave- couldnt immediately- right to withdraw
Strengths of field experiments
Takes place in natural surroundings - more valid
Manipulate variables
More natural than lab
Weaknesses of field experiments
Less control over variables so less scientific + more difficult to prove causation
There are also a range of ethical issues e.g. zimbardo
What is the comparative method?
a “thought experiment”
takes 2 groups alike in all major respects except one variable we are interested in
compares them to see if the one difference between them has any effect
even less control over variables
structured observations - in questions assume they are unstructured unless said otherwise
uses observation to count things they see to collect quantitative data
e.g. Flanders interaction analysis is used in schools to observe classrooms
strengths of structured observation
standardised + reliable
quantitative - can make comparisons e.g. between groups
weaknesses of structured observations
quantitative - so does not produce in-depth data
lack validity
requires interpretation of the categories
strengths of questionnaires
practical= quick+ cheap
easy to quantify closed questions
theoretical= reliable
no researcher present= no Hawthorne effect
large sample = representative - Pos. see this as scientific
positivists prefer it for testing hypothesis about cause and effect relationships between different variables
poses few ethical issues
weaknesses of questionnaires
practical= data often limited
may need to offer incentive (cost)
often low response rate
inflexible (cannot prompt, probe)
snapshot
theoretical= lacks validity due to detachment (interpretivists), cant write in own words, pre selective answers cause issues, literacy
lying, forgetting “right answer”
what are structured interviews
it is a standardised set of questions and often uses closed questions
conducted in the same standardised way each time e.g. same order, same words, same tone
it allows clarification but no prompting and probing
strengths of structured interviews
training is cheap
samples can be large
easy to quantify as it is often closed questions = look for trends
higher response rate
reliable
weaknesses of structured interviews
more costly than questionnaires
samples not as large as sending questionnaires
often those willing to take part may be similar making the sample bias (e.g. lonely)
lacks validity
no prompting/ probing
interviewer characteristics may play a role e.g. gender/ ethnicity of interviewer - social desirability
formal setting= teacher in disguise
strengths of unstructured interviews
builds rapport
free to express views in own words
interviewer can check and clarify
flexible to prompt and probe
can explore unfamiliar topics
interpretivists prefer this
weaknesses of unstructured interviews
time+training= costly
takes long time = small sample = less representative
not reliable- not standardised
open ended= hard to quantify
interviewer effect
interviewer bias
artificial nature can influence validity
ethical issues= may feel under pressure to answer
strengths of group interviews
may feel comfortable in a group
stimulate each others ideas
useful initial study which can lead to follow up research
weaknesses of group interviews
dominating characters
issues keeping group focused on the topic
peer group pressure
difficult to analyse
ethical issues (confidentiality)
what is a longitudinal study?
same sample, return to them every nth months / years
carry out questionnaires or interviews
e.g. 7 up
strengths of longitudinal studies
valid
builds rapport
not just a snapshot
easy to track trends
weaknesses of longitudinal studies
sample attrition - lose sample - difficult to track sample
ethics?- recording through tough times- can you really consent as a child
not reliable
invasion of privacy
large data can be hard to analyse
can be costly
hawthorne effect
interviewer bias
what is triangulation?
use in conclusion
in reality sociologists often use a combination of methods to overcome the limitation of one method
this is sometimes called mixed methods or triangulation
what is an ethnography
the study of the way of life of a group of people e.g. Evans Pritchard
strengths of an ethnography
spends a long time with a group- builds rapport- open up
true picture through obs. - valid
vestehen - deep understanding - empathy
weaknesses of ethnography
researcher becoming bias + loose objectivity
lacks reliability
commitment- time + money
hawthorne effect (?)
difficult to analyse
not representative
Case studies +&-
focuses on one person/ group in-depth
can be atypical/ typical
+) can give real insight into the case
+) can be used to study exceptional circumstances
-) not representative
content analysis +&-
deals systematically with document-used to analyse documents produced by the mass media e.g. tv shows, news papers
+) cheap, easy to find resources, produces quantitative data
-) tells us little about the meaning
What is a simple random sample
Pick at random e.g. name out of a hat or using a computer system
What is the Quasi/ systematic random
Every nth name from the sample frame
What is Stratified random
Divide into groups before selecting at random e.g. boys + girls
What is quota sampling
The sociologist makes a decision about the types of people they need in their samples and then select them personally
What is snowball sampling
The sociologists find one person they are interested in and then ask them if they know anyone else who is willing to take part
What is opportunity sampling
Use those easiest to access
