questionnaires Flashcards
key studies
Uk census
british social attitudes survey
types of questionnaires
self-completion questionnaire
postal questionnaire
interview questionnaire
practical strengths of questionnaires
cost - cheap - printing and postage
time - can cover large population - Connor and Dewson - nearly 4,000 questionnaires to students at 14 higher education institutions
access - nationwide
easy to quantify
no need to train staff
practical limitations of questionnaires
cost - to encourage participation - often send follow up questionnaires and offer financial incentives eg prize draws
time limit on questionnaire content
delivery
ethical strengths of questionnaires
informed consent
confidentiality and privacy - only identified by code number
causing harm - not obligated to answer
ethical limitations of questionnaires
anonymity
theoretical strengths of questionnaires
reliability
detached
re-testing data - quantitative data can be re-analysed by other sociologists
hypothesis testing - reveal cause and effect
objectivity
validity - positivists
representativeness
theoretical limitations of questionnaires
superficial - questionnaires need to be brief
inflexible - questionnaires are locked down once research starts
truthfulness
mass data
sociologist values
forcing boxes
coding into categories - open-ended questions
response rates
who responds
detachment - no way to clarify what is meant
snapshot
positivist perspective
favour questionnaires - reliable, objective and representative data - quantitative form
allows for correlations to be discovered - cause and effect
help identify social facts and social laws of society
believe data is a valid reflection of people’s feelings
interpretivist perspective
questionnaires do not produce valid, accurate data
force people into predetermined responses - limited and inaccurate information
cannot reveal how interactions occur and only a snapshot
cannot answer why
feminist perspective
represent a patriarchal view of research as they impose the researcher’s views onto the respondents
creates unequal power relationships
you cannot discover the real experiences of women through questionnaires
