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Sociology > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

what is a hypothesis?

A

an educated prediction on what you think you’ll discover in your study

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2
Q

what is reliability?

A

the ability to replicate a study in the same way multiple times

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3
Q

what is validity?

A

how accurate and truthful the data collected is

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4
Q

what is triangulation?

A

the use of multiple research methods to increase validity

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5
Q

what is a correlation?

A

relationship between variables (positive or negative)

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6
Q

what is a case study?

A

a small scale study that focuses of a single person or a small group

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7
Q

what’s a pilot study?

A

a “test run” or a smaller copy of the study that happens before the study to make sure everything works

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8
Q

what is a sampling frame?

A

a method by which you select the participants of your study

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9
Q

what is the hawthorne effect?

A

when a person changes their behaviour because they know they’re being watched

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10
Q

what is social desirability?

A

when a person changes their behaviour to appear more socially acceptable

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11
Q

what are demand characteristics?

A

when a participant changes their behaviour to what they think the researcher wants

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12
Q

what is the “screw-you affect”?

A

when a participant behaves the opposite to what they think the researcher wants (opposite to demand characteristics)

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13
Q

what is generalisability?

A

the extend to which the study findings can be applied to a larger population

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14
Q

what are the factors that can influence the choice of research topic?

A 
personal interest,
access,
funding,
theoretical position/ political view,
in vogue topics,
ethics/sensitivity.
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15
Q

what are all the practical factors affecting method choice? (what do they all mean)

A

access, type of data, personal characteristics, time availability and funding

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16
Q

what are the ethical factors that affect method choice? (what are do they mean)

A

informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, harm, the right to withdraw and debriefing

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17
Q

what are theoretical factors that affect method choice?

A

reliability, validity, representative means and generalisability

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18
Q

who are gate keepers?

A

people that you need to gain permission from to have access to participants

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19
Q

what are all the types of interviews?

A

structured, unstructured and group (+ semi-structured)

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20
Q

what are structured interviews?

A

a conversation where between ppt and researcher where the questions are set in advance

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21
Q

what are unstructured interviews?

A

a conversation between ppt and researcher where the questions are based on the response given, improvised

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22
Q

what are group interviews?

A

structured or unstructured interviews that involve more than one person

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23
Q

PET strengths of interviews

A

p- flexibility of questions, clarity of question
e- good for sensitive topics
t- highly reliable

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24
Q

PET limitations of interviews

A

p- time consuming/ cost of training interviewers
e- questions can cause harm if sensitive
t- small sample(cant generalise)/ demand characteristics

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25
Q

what are the different types of observations?

A

overt, covert, participant, non participant, structured and unstructured

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26
Q

what’s an overt observation?

A

where the researcher tells the ppt that they are being observed and what for

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27
Q

what’s a covert observation?

A

where the researcher doesn’t tell the ppt that they’re being watched and tell them after the study is complete

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28
Q

what is a participant observation?

A

where the researcher becomes a member of the group they’re studying

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29
Q

what is a non participant observation?

A

where the researcher watched the group from the outside without taking part

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30
Q

what is a structured observation?

A

where the researcher has a list of behaviours they are looking to find

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31
Q

what is an unstructured observation?

A

where the researcher observes the group and noted the behaviours to later be analysed

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32
Q

PET strengths of observations

A

p- flexible, reliable (s), researcher can ask questions (o)
e-
t- in depth data

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33
Q

PET limitations of observations

A

p- time/cost/relies on memory/researcher effects
e- lacks informed consent/privancy can be breached
t- hawthorne affect/small sample

34
Q

what are the types of experiments?

A

laboratory and field

35
Q

what is a laboratory experiment?

A

a experiment that takes place in an artificial setting where all the variables are controlled

36
Q

what is a field experiment?

A

an experiment that takes place in a real-life setting eg work place or street

37
Q

PET strengths of experiments

A

p- controlled variables
e-informed consent
t- reliable(f), in depth data

38
Q

what are the types of questionnaires?

A

open, closed, web based, hand and postal

39
Q

what’s an open questionnaire?

A

a self complete form with questions that allow as much detail as the ppt wants

40
Q

what’s a closed questionnaire?

A

a set of questions which are pre set and they chose answers

41
Q

what are web based questionnaires?

A

a self completed form done through the internet

42
Q

what are postal questionnaires?

A

a self completed form send out through the post with a pre paid envelope

43
Q

what are hand questionnaires?

A

self completed forms given out by hand

44
Q

what are PET strengths of questionnaires?

A

p- easy/cheap/quick to analyse
e-informed consent given/anonymous
t- detailed date(open)/reliable/large sample

45
Q

PET limitations of questionnaires?

A

p- low response rate/can misunderstand question
e- questions may be sensitive
t- may lie/ right answerism

46
Q

what is right answerism?

A

when people give answers that they think are socially acceptable

47
Q

what are official statistics?

A

numerical data produced by the government (eg gcse results or orated reports)

48
Q

what are unofficial statistics?

A

numerical data collected by charities and other organisations

49
Q

what is prior research?

A

research that has been carried out in the same area or on the same/similar topic eg a pilot study in that area

50
Q

who are funding bodies?

A

groups or organisations that provide the financial resources for research

51
Q

what is a longitudinal study?

A

a study that takes place over a long period of time

52
Q

what is the right to withdraw?

A

can decide to stop taking part in the research, after giving consent to be in it.

53
Q

what is debriefing?

A

telling the ppt what the intent of the actual study is and if they agree with the terms, their results/data is used

54
Q

PET limitations of experiments

A

p-time and cost
e-deception(in order to deal with researcher effects), harm to ppts-stress
t-validity(L), small sample, researcher effects

55
Q

what are semi-structured interviews?

A

conversation between researcher and ppt where they have some questions prepared but also add questions if they think they’re relevant

56
Q

evaluate using offical statistics when conducting research

A

+ cheap, accessible, large sample/representative, valid, reliable
- may not ask questions specific to research/er, manipulation by the government

57
Q

evaluate the use of using unofficial statistics when conducting research

A

+ cheap, accessible, large sample/representative, valid, reliable
- may not ask specific questions to the research/er, could be biased from the organisations view

58
Q

evaluate using prior research when conducting research.

A

+ cheap, easy to access, time efficient

- may not have the exact same aims as the research you want to conduct

59
Q

name types of secondary research methods

A

un/official stats, prior research, personal documents, public documents, historical documents

60
Q

what are personal documents?

A

documents such as diaries, letters, medical records

61
Q

what are public documents?

A

government documents that have been released, eg OFSTED reports

62
Q

what are historical documents?

A

original documents that contain important historical information about a person, place or event. eg anne franks diary, policies

63
Q

evaluate personal documents

A

+ cheap, in depth and detailed data
- can be hard to access, invasion of privacy, confidentiality and possibly consent, open to interpretation, personal view and unreliable

64
Q

evaluate public documents

A

+some can be easy to access, in depth and detailed data

- can take time to gain access due to Freedom of Information Act, -unreliable, open to interpretation and biased

65
Q

evaluate historical documents

A

+ cheap, doesnt take alot of time, can be easy to access, in depth and detailed
- may not be specific to research conducted, unreliable, person view, open to interpretation

66
Q

what is a sample

A

those who are taking part in your study

67
Q

what is a research population

A

the group of people that you wish to study

68
Q

what does representativeness mean

A

the extend to which a sample mirrors a researchers target population and reflects its characteristics

69
Q

what is random sampling?

A

a sample where everyone has an equal chance of being chosen, eg names out of a hat

70
Q

evaluate random sampling

A

+easy and fast to create and can be made by a computer

-can lead to an unrepresentative sample

71
Q

what is stratifed sampling

A

where the sample reflects the proportions of different groups in the research population eg if 33% if RP are female, 33% of sample should also be female

72
Q

evaluate stratified sampling

A

+ provides representative sample

- can be complicated to create the sample

73
Q

what is snowball sampling

A

researcher finds ppts ans asks them to find more ppts

74
Q

evaluate snowball sampling

A

+ useful when struggling to access groups

- sample can be unrepresentative

75
Q

what is systematic sampling

A

picking every nth term from all ppts, n being the number of people in the RP or number needed for sample

76
Q

evaluate systematic sampling

A

+ easy to recreate

- can be unrepresentative

77
Q

what is quota sampling?

A

sample needs to fit into certain quotas, eg need 30/90 to be female and 5/30 have to be unemployed

78
Q

evaluate quote sampling

A

+ representative sample

- can be difficult to find enough people to fill the quota

79
Q

what is opportunity/convenience sampling

A

people from target population who are available at the time and are willing to take part (convince)

80
Q

evaluate opportunity sampling

A

+ quick and easy

- can be unrepresentative

Sociology (6 decks)

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