research methods Flashcards
what is primary data?
information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes, may be to obtain a first-hand picture or to test a hypothesis
e.g. surveys, participant observation ect
advantages and disadvantages of primary data?
advantages: sociologists can gather precisely the information they need to test their hypothesis
disadvantages: costly and time consuming
what is secondary data?
information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, which the sociologist can then use
e.g. official statistics, documents
advantages and disadvantages of secondary data
advantages: quick and cheap
disadvantages: may not provide exactly the information that sociologists need
what is quantitive data?
information in a numerical form
e.g. official statistics, surveys, opinion polls
what is qualitative data?
gives a feel for what something is like
e.g. participant observation, in depth interviews
what are practical issues?
time and money
personal skills and characteristics (may affect their ability to use different methods)
research opportunity
ethical issues
informed consent
confidentiality and privacy
vulnerable groups (e.g. children)
covert research (can’t get informed consent)
theoretical issues
validity: produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like
reliability: replicable, can be repeated for another research
representativeness: typical cross-section of the group we are interested in, so generalisations can be made
methodological perspective: positivists or interpretivists
what factors influence choice of topic?
sociologists perspective (e.g. feminist more likely to study domestic violence)
society’s values (e.g. rise of feminism/ environmental issues, green crimes)
practical factors: inaccessibility of certain situations to the researcher
funding bodies: research requires funding from external body, they determine topic
what sampling techniques can be used to obtain a representative sample?
random sampling: selected by chance, large sample should reflect population
systematic sampling: every nth person in the sampling frame is selected
stratified random sampling: researcher stratifies sampling frame by age, class gender etc, sample is created in the same proportions
quota sampling: populations is stratified and then each interviewer is given a quote of a certain characteristic
researching pupils
power and status: between teachers/researchers and pupils, overcome by group interviews instead of one on one
ability and understanding: pupils vocabulary, thinking skills, confidence more limited, overcome by taking care when wording questions
vulnerability: pupils limited power and ability, informed consent from parents, pupil should also be informer, ‘gatekeepers’ create practical issues
researching teachers
power and status: teachers have more power and status and have a duty of care towards their pupils, classroom reinforces power so researchers develop a ‘cover’
impression management: teachers are used to being observed and scrutinised, highly skilled at ‘impression management’, manipulating the impression others have
researching classrooms
classroom is a highly controlled setting (activities, noise, language) so behaviour may not accurately reflect what they really think and feel
mostly two social roles in the classroom - teacher and pupil, so straightforward to observe and analyse
gatekeepers: access to classrooms controlled by head teachers and child protection laws, difficult to obtain access
peer groups: when in school-based groups pupils more sensitive to peer pressure and the need to conform
researching schools
schools’ own data: marketisation means lots of secondary data publicly available about schools (exams results, truancy), some records confidential so researchers can’t gain access, schools could falsify data to look better
the law: law requires pupils to attend school, so researcher knows where everyone is, but since role is education, teachers see research as interfering in schools function
gatekeepers: head teachers and governors can refuse access, often view research negatively (discipline adversely affected, bad for classroom relationships)
school organisation: have rules and hierarchies and researchers could become part of hierarchy (students see them as teachers, teachers view them as inspectors)
researching parents
parents can influence education e.g. primary socialisation, parental choice
access to parents: most parent-child interaction takes place in the home which is closed to researchers. difficult to contact without schools cooperation
researchers own experience of education
researchers need to be aware that their personal characteristics and their own experience of education can influence their research
advantages of lab experiments
- generates quantitive data
- control of variables
- reliable
- experimenter detatched
disadvantages of lab experiments
- artificial (low validity)
- Hawthorne effect
- ethics
- small scale (unrepresentative)
- interpretivists say innapropriate for studying people because they have freewill
advantages of field experiments
- less artificial, set in real-world situations
- validity, in usual social environment so people will act normally and genuine
disadvantages of field experiments
- less control over variables
- limited application, few situations that can be adapted to be a field experiment, only measure what they do, not why
- ethical problems, don’t usually gain informed consent
what is the Hawthorne effect?
where the subjects of a research study know they are being studied and begin to behave differently as a result, thereby undermining the study validity
what is the comparative method?
a ‘thought experiment’ that involves identifying two groups that are the same except for one characteristics e.g. religion
Durkheim compared suicide rates of otherwise similar protestants and catholics, concluded that catholics lower suicide rate was caused by their higher levels of social integration
