other forms Flashcards
strengths of longitudinal studies
t - examine developments over time
t - same sample used throughout - any changes in behaviour not due to change of sample
p/t - recording events as they happen is more reliable than asking respondents about the past
limitations of longitudinal studies
p - sample attrition - drop out - smaller sample and less representative
p - steps can be taken to minimise sample attrition but this requires effort and huge resources
p - cost a lot of money and can take several years
t - changes in the demographics may make your sample unreliable
t - hawthorne effect may occur as people are exposed to the project on a regular basis - alter behaviour
strengths of case studies
t - validity - provide rich and detailed detail than research based on large samples
t - hypothesis development - useful for generating new hypotheses - tested in later studies
t - case examples - can provide useful information as a part of larger research project
t - testing of theories - can be tested to see whether they apply in particular situations
limitations of case studies
t - representativeness - limited and unrepresentative - cannot be used as basis for generalisation
p - personal skills - multiple methods may be used - must take care that sociologist can conduct each part of research with accuracy
strengths of life histories
p - marginalised groups - can be useful tool to get information from marginalised groups where larger studies are difficult to perform - access to viewpoints that not usually recorded in other ways
t - verstehen - help researcher understand past events on the point of view of the participants
limitations of life histories
t- validity - relies on memory that can compromise validity
t - subjective - reflects their attitudes and opinions so may not be accurate representation
t - bias - temptations for researchers to direct the course of research so their own values influence the course of discussions / interpretation of data
