research methods Flashcards
what are the steps in the research process?
- observation
- question
- literature search
- hypothesis
- research method + sampling
- analyse data
- conclusion
what are examples of research methods?
interviews, observation, and government statistics.
what are the positives and negatives of interviews?
positives
- you’re talking to someone directly
negatives
- social desirability bias
- ^ leads to questioning the validity
what are the positives and negatives of observation?
positives
- you can see the bigger picture
- ^ that means you can observe patterns
negatives
- observer bias
- we sometimes observe through media, which can be bias
what are the positives and negatives of government statistics?
positives
- they are likely accurate
- they use large samples
negatives
- political bias
- ^ the government can adjust definitions etc. to make their time in office appear more positive
why do we carry out research in sociology?
- to prove our theories
- to find patterns
- to predict human behaviour
what are sociologist’s 3 aims in research?
- to make their research valid and reliable
- to use a representative sample and to make their results generalisable
- to be objective and avoid bias
what is the overarching aim of sociological research?
to explain social phenomena
what are the two theoretical perspectives that research methods broadly stem from?
positivism and interpretivism
what do positivist’s believe mould people’s ideas and actions?
causes, also known as external forces. things such as law, morals and religion
what did durkheim call external forces?
social facts
how do positivists approach research?
- they are objective in their approach
- they favour quantitative research methods
what are some key ideas of positivism?
- structural forces shape the behaviour of individuals
- looks at the bigger picture (macro perspective)
- looks to obtain objective and quantitative data
- society can be studied scientifically in the same way as natural sciences
what are positivist research methods?
- experiments (lab/controlled/field)
- comparative method (comparison of official statistics across time, location and social groups)
- surveys (closed questionnaires and structured interviews)
- non-participant observation
what are the strengths of the positivist research methods?
- they can demonstrate cause and effect relationships or correlation between events (experiments)
- they produce quantitative data which is seen as more objective and scientific (comparative method)
- they are preferred by governments as they advise on social policy (macro scale allows for generalisations of different groups) (surveys)
- they are reliable - they can be replicated and the results can be checked (falsification principle) (non-participant observation)
what are the limitations of the positivist research methods?
- they can lack validity, they may demonstrate trends but not explain why (experiments)
- they neglect the action of individuals and focuses on structural forces instead (comparative method)
- they can be too fixed - they may not reflect the fluidity and diversity in contemporary society (surveys)
- they don’t gain an insight into the lives of individuals and focuses on what they do, not why they do it (non-participant observation)
what do interpretivists believe influences behaviour?
the interpretations and meanings individuals give to social situations
what did mead suggest researchers need to develop?
empathy with their subjects
how do interpretivists approach research?
- they are subjective in their approach
- they favour qualitative research methods
what are some key ideas of interpretivism?
- society is constructed of individuals who have free will
- looks at individual meanings (micro sociology)
- looks to obtain qualitative data and is more subjective
- individuals are unique in their interpretations of events and cannot be studied scientifically
what are interpretivist research methods?
- observations (participant and non-participant)
- secondary sources (personal documents, historical documents, media reports etc.)
- surveys (open questionnaires and unstructured interviews)
what are the strengths of the interpretivism research methods?
- they are higher in validity than positivist methods as they uncover meanings and motivations of people’s actions
- they produce qualitative data which reveals hidden meanings
- they champion the “underdog” in society, giving a voice to those unheard
- they gain an insight into hard-to-reach groups
what are the limitations of the interpretivist research methods?
- they are difficult to replicate methods (loses reliability)
- they can be overly influenced by researcher’s interpretations of actions (lacks objectivity)
- the small scale nature of the methods means it’s unable to generalise to the wider population
- they are seen as unscientific (difficult to falsify the conclusions of research)
what are the key features of primary data?
- collected first hand
- recent
- you choose your method and can make it as valid and reliable as possible
- can be expensive
- time consuming
- can have researcher bias
what are the key features of secondary data?
- information that already exists
- quick and easy to collect
- studies the past, not the present
- may not be valid or reliable
- don’t have to worry about consent
- no researcher bias
what are the key features of qualitative data?
- valid but not very reliable
- detailed description of behaviour
- meanings and motives
- difficult to repeat (unreliable)
- small scale so not representative
- open to interpretation
what are the key features of quantitative data?
- reliable but not very valid
- establishes cause and effect relationships
- easy to analyse
- can repeat (reliable)
- large sample means it’s generalisable
- no meanings
- can be politically biased
