Methods in context

Question 1

What are some practical concerns?

Answer 1

Time
Money
Funding bodies may request the research to be done in a specific form
Personal skills
Subject matter / personal characteristics
Opportunity

Question 2

What are some ethical issues

Answer 2

Deception
Right to withdraw
Informed consent
Protection from harm
Confidentiality
Vulnerable groups
Covert research

Question 3

What are some theoretical issues?

Answer 3

Reliability
Validity
Representativeness

Question 4

What is primary data

Answer 4

Data collected by sociologists themselves

Question 5

What is secondary data?

Answer 5

Data collected by someone else and used by sociologists

Question 6

What is quantitative data?

Answer 6

Data based on numbers and statistics and are mostly collected by positivists

Question 7

What is qualitative data ?

Answer 7

Data based on descriptions of events and social interactions and are words or images. They are mostly collected by interpretivists

Question 8

What is a strength of lab experiments?

Answer 8

Its reliable because its standardised

Question 9

What are 2 weaknesses of lab experiments

Answer 9

Hawthorne effect
Free will- interpretivists argue humans differ from plants - behaviour cannot be understood in terms of cause and effect

Question 10

What is an example of a field experiment

Answer 10

Zimbardo
Made test to exclude psychological disorders
Took place in a school
No social solidarity
Goal = will they conform to roles given = yes

Question 11

What are some ethical issues with zimbardo experiment

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Strengths of field experiments

Answer 12

Takes place in natural surroundings - more valid
Manipulate variables
More natural than lab

Question 13

Weaknesses of field experiments

Answer 13

Less control over variables so less scientific + more difficult to prove causation
There are also a range of ethical issues e.g. zimbardo

Question 14

What is the comparative method?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

structured observations - in questions assume they are unstructured unless said otherwise

Answer 15

uses observation to count things they see to collect quantitative data
e.g. Flanders interaction analysis is used in schools to observe classrooms

Question 16

strengths of structured observation

Answer 16

standardised + reliable
quantitative - can make comparisons e.g. between groups

Question 17

weaknesses of structured observations

Answer 17

quantitative - so does not produce in-depth data
lack validity
requires interpretation of the categories

Question 18

strengths of questionnaires

Answer 18

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

Question 19

weaknesses of questionnaires

Answer 19

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”

Question 20

what are structured interviews

Answer 20

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

Question 21

strengths of structured interviews

Answer 21

training is cheap
samples can be large
easy to quantify as it is often closed questions = look for trends
higher response rate
reliable

Question 22

weaknesses of structured interviews

Answer 22

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

Question 23

strengths of unstructured interviews

Answer 23

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

Question 24

weaknesses of unstructured interviews

Answer 24

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

Question 25

strengths of group interviews

Answer 25

may feel comfortable in a group
stimulate each others ideas
useful initial study which can lead to follow up research

Question 26

weaknesses of group interviews

Answer 26

dominating characters
issues keeping group focused on the topic
peer group pressure
difficult to analyse
ethical issues (confidentiality)

Question 27

what is a longitudinal study?

Answer 27

same sample, return to them every nth months / years
carry out questionnaires or interviews
e.g. 7 up

Question 28

strengths of longitudinal studies

Answer 28

valid
builds rapport
not just a snapshot
easy to track trends

Question 29

weaknesses of longitudinal studies

Answer 29

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

Question 30

what is triangulation?

Answer 30

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

Question 31

what is an ethnography

Answer 31

the study of the way of life of a group of people e.g. Evans Pritchard

Question 32

strengths of an ethnography

Answer 32

spends a long time with a group- builds rapport- open up
true picture through obs. - valid
vestehen - deep understanding - empathy

Question 33

weaknesses of ethnography

Answer 33

researcher becoming bias + loose objectivity
lacks reliability
commitment- time + money
hawthorne effect (?)
difficult to analyse
not representative

Question 34

Case studies +&-

Answer 34

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

Question 35

content analysis +&-

Answer 35

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

Question 36

What is a simple random sample

Answer 36

Pick at random e.g. name out of a hat or using a computer system

Question 37

What is the Quasi/ systematic random

Answer 37

Every nth name from the sample frame

Question 38

What is Stratified random

Answer 38

Divide into groups before selecting at random e.g. boys + girls

Question 39

What is quota sampling

Answer 39

The sociologist makes a decision about the types of people they need in their samples and then select them personally

Question 40

What is snowball sampling

Answer 40

The sociologists find one person they are interested in and then ask them if they know anyone else who is willing to take part

Question 41

What is opportunity sampling

Answer 41

Use those easiest to access