Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Sociology > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

-Complete

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Write 3 methods which could be used to gather primary data.

A
  1. Observations
  2. Questionnaires
  3. Interviews
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Write 2 methods that can be used to gather secondary data.

A
  1. Historical records

2. Government reports

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Is qualitative data linked to numbers or written, in-depth responses?

A

Written, in-depth responses.

Quantitative is linked to numbers and stats.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Can you give an example of a quantitative primary data source and a qualitative primary data source?

A 
Quantitative= Questionnaire
Qualitative= Unstructured interview
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

“High in validity, as in-depth feelings and meanings can be captured”. This is a strength of qualitative data. Are you able to give a weakness of the method?

A

Qualitative data can be difficult to establish patterns due to its layout method.
It can also cause the researcher to be baised when recording the data as it is emotional.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

“Closed questions can stop the participant being able to explain their true meanings”. This is a weakness of quantitative data, can you give a strength of this data collection technique?

A

It is easy to compress to be able to observe the trends.

It can also be more representative as more people can be asked- as the questions are shorter and quicker.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Practical issues can have an impact of the method used. Can you give 3 examples of practical issues?

A
  1. Funding Bodies
  2. Time and Money
  3. Access and Safety of the Researcher. EG: Gang Leader for a day.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Informed consent, Covert Observation Techniques, and vulnerable groups are all issues which need to be understood when picking which method to use. Which umbrella term would these come under?

A

Ethical issues

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the 3 important theoretical issues?

A
  1. Reliability- If the researched is repeated, will you get the same results?
  2. Validity- Is it truthful?
  3. Representativeness- Do the results enable you to make an accurate generalization?
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Can you give an example of an effective research method that will solve the 3 theoretical issues?

A
  1. Reliability- Questionnaire
  2. Validity- Covert Observation, Unstructured Interview
  3. Representativeness- Questionnaire
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Which research methods do Interpretivists prefer?

A

Qualitive. This is because the researcher can interpret the meanings and feelings of the participant which makes the result more valid, but not as reliable.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Which research method do Positivists prefer?

A

Quantitative. This is because they can generate a cause and effect relationship through their statistics. This makes the result less valid but will be very reliable.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is methodological pluralism?

A

This is where the researcher employs more than one method of research at one time to build up a full picture of the social dynamic. These can build up the “Why”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is triangulation?

A

Use of mixed methods to cross-check and verify the validity of the data. This usually involves combining both quantitative and qualitative methods.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What does fitness for purpose mean?

A

This is when the researcher doesn’t mind whether the results bring back qualitative or quantitative data, but they are just using the method that best fits the purpose.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Can you give an example of a large-scale social survey in the UK?

A

The Census- carried out every 10 years.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What are the 5 sampling techniques?

A
  1. Simple Random Sampling
  2. Systematic Sampling/ Quasi-Random
  3. Stratified Random Sampling
  4. Snowball Sampling
  5. Quota Sampling
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Give 1 reason why a researcher may not use representative samples.

A

Respondents may refuse to take part in the survey, or may not be able too such as through a language barrier. This is a practical issue.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What does Stratify mean?

A

This is when people are divided into levels or classes based on social status, education, or income.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What do each of the 5 sampling techniques include?

A
  1. Simple Random Sampling (Where every member of the population has an equal chance of being sampled)
  2. Systematic Sampling/ Quasi-Random (Where every nth person in the sampling frame is selected)
  3. Stratified Random Sampling (The researched stratifies the population in the sample and makes the sample group representative of this)
  4. Snowball Sampling (This method relies on referrals from initially sampled respondents to other persons believed to have the characteristic of interest)
  5. Quota Sampling (The population is stratified and then the researcher is given a quota who fill their sample).
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is a positive of a longitudinal survey?

A

They can trace developments over a long period of time and avoid a snapshot of a single moment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is an example of a longitudinal survey?

A

Child Health and Education Survey. Over 13000 were traced in 1975.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What are 3 negatives/weaknesses of a longitudinal survey?

A
  1. Sample Attrition- People may drop out.
  2. It is very expensive- Parker’s drug use cost £380,000
  3. Hawthorne Effect- People may behave differently under observation.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Why does the Hawthorne effect cause issues in data collection?

A

People may behave differently if they know that they’re being observed. This causes issues in validity.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Can you give one example of an advantage of questionnaires, and give one disadvantage?

A 
Advantage= Cheap and easy (Practical)
Disadvantage= Low response rate, and can be distorted by certain people not answering (Theoretical)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Are structured interviews reliable, valid or representative? You can pick more than one.

A

Reliable.

27
Q

Are unstructured interviews reliable, valid or representative?

A

Valid.

28
Q

What can semi-structured interviewers do?

A

They have a set of questions which can be asked in any order, and are allowed to probe for extra information. They can used open-ended and closed questions.

29
Q

Is this an advantage or disadvantage of group interviews, “Cheaper compared to individuals which makes them more representative as more people can be asked” ?

A

Advantage! (Obviously LOL)

30
Q

Is this an advantage or disadvantage of group interviews, “People may lie to fit in, which impacts validity” ?

A

Disadvantage!

31
Q

Is this criticism of structured interviews practical or theoretical, “Interpretivists argue that pre-coded questions influence the answers” ?

A

Theoretical. It is known as interviewer bias.

32
Q

What does Rapport mean and how is it relevant to unstructured interviews?

A

Rapport is the idea of trust building between the interviewer and the participant. This links to unstructured interviews as the interviewer can build trust and empathy to get more valid results.

33
Q

How does Social Desirability impact validity within structured interviews?

A

This impacts validity as the interviewee may answer the questions based on what they think that the interviewer would like to hear, making the results not valid. It also includes the over-reporting of desirable attributes such as giving to charity.

34
Q

How did Mead suffer from cultural differences in her interview?

A

Mead was misled by girls during their interviews as they used language with terms that were unfamiliar to her or which had multiple meanings. This is known as cultural differences.

35
Q

What type of observation did Patrick undertake?

A

He used Covert, Participant Observation to study Glasgow gangs which were violent.

36
Q

Who studied homosexual activity in public toilets, and pretended to be a ‘Gay Voyeur’ but didn’t join in?

A

Humphreys (1970)- Covert, Non Participant Observation.

37
Q

Who prefers participant observation, Interpretivists or Positivists?

A

Interpretivists

38
Q

True or False, all observation leads to the Hawthorne effect?

A

True. Either in the sense of them being watched, or the dynamic of the group changes when the researcher joins in.

39
Q

Why are Humphreys (1970) observation techniques criticised?

A

Humphreys ‘lied’ about who he was, which is unethical. He then used information from the homosexuals who used the ‘tearooms’ to find their addresses and a year later performed a ‘health check’ on them.
1. He didn’t receive their consent (ethical)

40
Q

Sudhir Venkatesh took what kind of observation role when researching the ‘Black King’ gang in Chicago over 7 years?

A

Overt, Participation- to the leader but not to the rest of the gang.

41
Q

Why do Positivists favour laboratory experiments?

A

They believe the method is reliable as the experiment can be reproduced.

42
Q

What kind of data do ethnographic observations produce?

A

Qualitative

43
Q

Can you briefly outline which experiment Rosenthal and Jacobson came up with and acted?

A

Teachers’ expectations on children’s academic progress.

  • Children were chosen at random
  • R and J told the teachers these children had been tested and had great intelligence.
  • Within the year, these children had done much better than the others.
  • This was seen as evidence that teacher expectations impacted progress.
44
Q

Why was Rosenthal and Jacobson’s School Field Experiment controversial?

A

It was unethical as they hadn’t asked any of the participants permission, they could’ve halted other students’ progress as well.

45
Q

What was Rosenhal’s Field Study about?

A

Attitudes to Mental Health.
The researchers lied that they had schizophrenia to get access, and then were treated like they were unwell regardless of the things they said- such as that they were ok.

46
Q

Did Rosenhal’s Study get permission from the hospital staff?

A

No, and they wasted valuable hospital time and resources.

47
Q

What is the Comparative method about?

A

This has no ethical issues.
All in the mind of the researcher.
They chose two groups which are the same- but with one variation which they use to establish cause and effect relationships.

48
Q

Why do sociologists not like laboratory experiments?

A

Artificial Environments

49
Q

What is an example of the Comparative Observation Method?

A

Durkheim’s Suicide 1895.

People with lower levels of integration are more likely to commit suicide.

50
Q

What is an example of a low level of integration according to Durkheim?

A

Unmarried, Old, No children

51
Q

True or False, lab experiments are usually used by sociologists?

A

False- used by scientists

52
Q

What is a hard statistic?

A

Cannot be manipulated- eg Deaths

53
Q

What is a soft statistic?

A

Socially constructed- eg Unemployment

54
Q

Give an example of a hard statistic?

A

Births

55
Q

Give an example of a soft statistic?

A

League Tables

56
Q

Are sample sizes for statistics large or small (generally)?

A

Large, making them representative. However, they can be manipulated such as in hospitals when bed were being placed in corridors to claim that there were enough treatment areas.

57
Q

Which group doesn’t like statistics because “They’re socially constructed”?

A

Interpretivists

58
Q

Marxists believe ‘what’ when looking at statistics?

A

They believe that statistics represent the views of the ruling class. For example, there is less reporting of white collar crime.

59
Q

Atkinson found what relating to suicide?

A

That different coroners had differing views on suicide- such as the leaving of a note. This means the statistics may not be accurate as it is subjective.

60
Q

Give 3 examples of documents (secondary sources).

A
  1. Personal documents (Diaries)
  2. Literature
  3. Historical documents (Paintings- Aries studied paintings to discover how childhood had changed)
61
Q

Give an example pf how personal documents can be inaccurate.

A

They can be fake, especially if the person has died. EG- The Hitler Diaries
This is linked to the authenticity.

62
Q

What is a helpful abbreviation to describe how personal documents can be unhelpful?

A

PASTA- also Scott came up with a similar set of 4 aims. (Thanks Mr Ellis)

63
Q

What is content analysis?

A

Content analysis is the process of looking at media sources- such as newspapers, and seeing how often a topic was mentioned.

64
Q

Who favours content analysis, and why?

A

Positivists
Generates quantitative data which can be analysed and is reliable. However, the topic may be taken out of context to meet a quota, or just not understood fully.

Sociology (5 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions