PET Flashcards
what is a practical factor?
how suitable is the method to the topic being studied?
what are examples of practical factors?
- cost/funding
- time
- deadlines
- access to the group
- characteristics of the researcher
- recording of information
- professional specialisms
what are examples of ethical factors?
- harm
- consent
- deception
- privacy and confidentiality of data
what was Nigel Fielding’s study and why was it ethically concerning?
- conducted a study of the National Front, which many including Fielding considered to be a vicious, racist organisation concerned with white supremacy.
- Avoided protection from harm as was racist towards individuals.
- Involves deception as he concealed his real reason for being at NF.
what was Val Hey’s study and why was it ethically concerning?
- Val Hey studied friendship between girls and her research was based on observation in two schools.
- she would sometimes give the girls small gifts and even excuses to miss lessons in exchange for cooperating in her research.
- she avoided protection from harm as she was emotionally manipulating the children with gifts
what happened during Howard Parker’s study and why was it ethically concerning?
- In their study of illegal drug use, him and his colleagues found that some of the responses to their questionnaires revealed that some of the individuals were not coping with their drug use.
- The researchers had to decide whether to offer help and advice or to maintain confidentiality they had promised.
What are the top - down approaches to structuralism?
- The best way to see society is to view it as a “real” thing that exists above us all as individuals.
- Society shapes our lives and generally our role is to conform.
- Researchers should be looking for general patterns of behaviours.
Which type of sociologists favour structuralism?
positivists
What are the bottom-up approaches (social action)?
- The best way to see society is to view it through the eyes of the individual.
- Society is shaped by the activities and beliefs of individuals that make up the social world.
- Researchers must start from the bottom and work their way up, by seeing the world from the perspective of those being studied.
Which type of sociologists favour the bottom-up approaches (social action)
Interpretivists.
What is positivism and what does it aim for, what type of data does it favour?
- Attempts to use methods and concepts of natural sciences to study society.
- Aims to be objective and “value free” - neutral view.
- favours quantitative data.
- Believes that “social fact” exist externally to the individual and this is what influences behaviour.
What are social facts and what are examples?
Facts are things that exist outside of the individual, but mould and constrain their behaviour.
E.g. institutions, statuses, roles, laws, beliefs, population distribution, urbanisation etc.
Which theorist mentions social fact and what did they say about it?
- Durkheim said the aim of sociology should be to study social fact.
- Durkheim believed these facts should be treated as “things” - like objects in the natural sciences.
What do interpretivists believe and what type of data do they use?
- Rejection of the “scientific” method.
- Rejection of neutrality.
- Emphasis on validity and “verstehen”.
- Smaller scale, less concern for generalisability.
- Qualitative data to gather detail and death.
What is verstehen and who was it found by?
- Coined by Max Weber.
- Translates to “understanding”.
- Sociologists should attempt to produce an understanding (verstehen) of people’s actions and produce explanations for why they behave in the way that they do.
- Before the cause of an action could be ascertained you had to understand the meaning attached to it by the individual.
