Methods In Context Flashcards
Outline and evaluate qualitative data (6)
AO1:
Any verbal data involving meanings and/or rich in detail
AO2 Application - collected through methods such as:
• UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
• OBSERVATIONS
• DOCUMENTS
AO3:
+ Good for researching sensitive topics
- Open to interpretation which leads to bias and subjectivity
Outline and evaluate quantitative data (6)
AO1:
Any data that can be represented as numbers/statistics and easily generalised to form a law of behaviour
AO2 Application - collected through methods such as:
• STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
• QUESTIONNAIRES
AO3:
+ More reliable as the collective methods are more objective
- Doesn’t provide meaning behind a behaviour
Outline and evaluate primary data (4)
AO1:
Collected first hand by a researcher to perfectly suit the hypothesis
AO3:
+ More valid
- Time consuming
- Could also possibly lead to research bias (as the researcher is aware of the aim of the study and may conduct their research in a way that favours their preferable outcome)
Outline and evaluate secondary data (6)
AO1:
Collected by other researchers and applied to modern hypotheses
AO2 Application - collected through:
• Newspapers
• Govt. consensus’s (GC’s are primary data that then becomes secondary data when applied to studies)
AO3:
+ Allows for comparison between past and present society
- May not be reliable
Outline objectivity (2)
Research is objective when all personal and emotional bias has been completely removed from it, including how the questions asked in an interview and how findings are interpreted
Outline and evaluate structured interviews (4)
AO1:
Structured questionnaires read out face to face or over the phone
AO3:
+ High reliability due to objectivity
- Provides no meaning behind behaviours
Outline and evaluate unstructured interviews (4)
AO1:
A conversation guided by a few open questions which is then further guided by the answers given
AO3:
+ High validity
- Low reliability
Outline and evaluate participant observation (4)
AO1:
The researcher either covertly or overtly involves themselves with a group of people in order to study them
AO3:
+ High validity as participants won’t display the Hawthorne Effect due to the covert nature
- Ethical issues regarding informed consent and deception in terms of covert methods
- Hawthorne Effect in terms of overt methods
Outline and evaluate non-participant observation (4)
AO1:
The researcher studies a group of people from afar
AO3:
+ High reliability as it tends to be structured
- Ethical issues regarding consent
Outline and evaluate experiments as a research method (6)
AO1:
Aim to measure the effect of one variable on another, and establish a cause and effect relationship
AO3:
+ Lab experiments have high validity due to controlled environment that thus removes extraneous variable
+ Field experiments reduce the Hawthorne Effect due to the casual nature of the environment invoking natural behaviour/responses from
- Low reliability in lab studies due to likelihood of Hawthorne Effects
- Extraneous variables may affect results in field experiments
Outline and evaluate personal documents (4)
AO1:
Secondary sources of data gained from items such as diaries, letters and blogs
AO3:
+ Look into detail about a meaning behind a behaviour
- Hard to generalise findings to a wider population
Outline and evaluate official statistics (4)
AO1:
Secondary sources of data collected by govt. agencies
AO3:
+ Reliable
- May not always be able to be directly applied to research questions
Outline Social Facts (3)
AO1: DURKHEIM
They are aspects of social life that influence and shape an individual’s behaviour and attitudes
They’re apart of society but are separate from individuals and impose an effect on individuals
For example; norms, values, ideologies and social structures
Outline positivism (2)
AO1:
Assumes society exerts influence on it’s members
Outline and explain why sociologists might choose self-completion questionnaires over interviewee present questionnaires [(5) social sensitivity]
One reason why sociologist might choose self-completion questionnaires over interviewer present questionnaires is due to social sensitivity. One of the main advantages of self-completion questionnaires is that respondents can complete the questionnaire at their own leisure. This allows them to think about their responses without being hurried as in an interviewer present questionnaire. However, a further advantage is that they may be able to answer potentially sensitive questions without fear of judgement, especially if they are able to do this anonymously. Some topics, such as their economic position, employment status, parental styles or attitudes to issues such as immigration, gender equality and racism might elicit a different response from respondents if there was an interviewer present. Using a self-completion questionnaire therefore reduces the interviewer effect and allows for respondents to give honest and truthful responses.
