Paper 2 B: Research Methods Flashcards
What is positivism?
The search of looking at a study as a whole
Includes qualitative data e.g statistics
Primary Data:
Collected firsthand by the researcher (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations).
Secondary Data:
Data that already exists, collected by other researchers (e.g., official statistics, documents, previous studies).
Qualitative Data:
Non-numerical data focused on meanings and experiences (e.g., interviews, focus groups).
Quantitative Data:
Numerical data, used for statistical analysis (e.g., surveys, experiments).
Surveys
Structured questionnaires or interviews to collect large-scale data.
Advantages: Large sample size, easy to analyze.
Disadvantages: May lack depth, issues with validity (e.g., social desirability bias).
Interviews
: Can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.
Advantages: In-depth insights, flexible.
Disadvantages: Time-consuming, interviewer bias.
Participant observation
Researcher observes participants in their natural environment.
Advantages: Naturalistic data, rich insights.
Disadvantages: Ethical issues (e.g., informed consent), researcher bias, time-consuming.
Experiments
Controlled studies to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
Advantages: Control over variables, replicable.
Disadvantages: Artificial settings, ethical concerns.
Practical Considerations
Time, cost, access to participants, and researcher skills.
Ethical Considerations
Whether the research adheres to ethical guidelines.
Theoretical Considerations:
Theoretical perspective influencing choice of method.
Reliability
Consistency of results over time or with different researchers.
High reliability means the study can be replicated with similar results.
Validity
The extent to which a study measures what it claims to measure.
Internal Validity: The degree to which the results are due to the independent variable.
External Validity: The extent to which the findings can be generalized beyond the study context.
