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Research Methods Flashcards

1
Q

What is a questionnaire?

A

A set of questions that respondents/participants complete by themselves

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2
Q

What kinds of questionnaires are there?

A

Telephone, email, online, postal, face to face

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3
Q

What kinds of questionnaires are there?

A

Telephone, email, online, postal, face to face

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4
Q

KEY STUDY: Census (2001)

A

Structured postal questionnaires sent out by the government every 10 years to every household in the country. Collects information on jobs, health, age, religion, etc.

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5
Q

KEY STUDY: Connor & Dewson (2001)

A

Posted 4,000 questionnaires to students at 14 different universities in the UK to look at what influences the decisions of working class students at university

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6
Q

What are some practical strengths of questionnaires?

A

Do not need to train interviewers
Quick & cheap to do in large numbers (postal/email)
Quick & easy to analyse data
Data can be analysed by computers

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7
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of questionnaires?

A

Limited & superficial (not very deep) data; answers are often brief
Cannot be sure that the named respondent completed the questionnaire (reduces validity)
Lacks flexibility; once the questionnaire has been finalised, questions cannot be changed
Could have a low response rate

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8
Q

What are some ethical strengths of questionnaires?

A

Confidential (if anonymous)
Respondents do not have to answer questions they don’t want to (e.g. on sensitive topics)
Informed consent; if respondents don’t want to complete it they don’t have to

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9
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of questionnaires?

A

Difficult to explore sensitive issues as respondents may not feel comfortable doing so through a questionnaire
Deception; if data is shared without respondents’ knowledge

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10
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of questionnaires?

A

Positivists like this method as it is highly structured, making it highly reliable
Gains quantitative data
Representative - large sample sizes
Unbiased data - increases validity

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11
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of questionnaires?

A

Interpretivists dislike this method as there is no way to gain verstehen
No way to clarify the meanings of questions, leading to inaccurate answers (reducing validity)
Only provides a snapshot of people’s lives. Their answers could reflect their current mood (reducing validity)
Respondents may lie, forget, not know, not understand questions

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12
Q

What is a structured interview?

A

A set of standardised questions (interview schedule) that a researcher asks to a participant

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13
Q

KEY STUDY: British Crime Survey for England & Wales

A

Has measured crime every year since 1981. Asks members of the public about their experiences of crime over the last 12 months. Approximately 40,000 households are contacted each year - on average 75% take part

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14
Q

KEY STUDY: Young & Wilmott (1973)

A

Interviewed 933 families in East London about their ideas of the family. Developed the idea of the symmetrical family (where men and women perform similar domestic roles)

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15
Q

KEY STUDY: Goldthorpe & Lockwood (1980)

A

Interviewed 10,000 men to find out about their class compared to their fathers

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16
Q

What are some practical strengths of structured interviews?

A

Training researchers is cheap and easy as they only have to read from the interview schedule
This also makes them quick and cheap to conduct
Can cover large numbers of people
Data is easily analysed because they use close-ended questions

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17
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of structured interviews?

A

Compared to questionnaires, they are more costly and time-consuming
Can cover large numbers, but not as many as questionnaires

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18
Q

What are some ethical strengths of structured interviews?

A

Interviewees do not have to answer questions they don’t want to
Interviewees can be kept anonymous
Informed consent can be gained as participants do not have to take part if they don’t want to

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19
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of structured interviews?

A

Not suitable for sensitive topics because there is no opportunity to develop rapport and trust

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20
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of structured interviews?

A

Positivists like them as they gain quantitative data
Generally have a higher response rate than questionnaires
Highly reliable; easy for the researcher to standardise/repeat because of the interview schedule
Less interviewer bias compared to unstructured interviews

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21
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of structured interviews?

A

Interpretivists dislike them as they use close-ended questions, reducing validity
Data can lack verstehen as there is no opportunity for participants to give more information
Interviewer bias; different tones of voice and body language can affect responses

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22
Q

What is an unstructured interview?

A

Where a researcher will ask a participant questions, but without an interview schedule. They will have an idea about what they want to find out, but will improvise and adapt the questions as the interview goes on

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23
Q

KEY STUDY: Dobash & Dobash (1979)

A

Carried out 8-hour long unstructured interviews with victims of domestic violence. They argue that marriage legitmates violenc against women by giving men power and authority over their wives

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24
Q

KEY STUDY: Dean & Taylor-Gooby

A

Carried out 90 minute interviews with 85 participants to investigate experiences of unemployment

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25
Q

What are some practical strengths of unstructured interviews?

A

Easy to build rapport, encouraging interviewees to give more detailed answers
Researcher and interviewee can both check that they understand the questions/answers
Highly flexible; researchers can change the interview as they go
Useful for researching topics that the researcher doesn’t know much about as the interviewee leads the conversation

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26
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of unstructured interviews?

A

Time consuming
This can mean that fewer interviews can be carried out
Training; the researcher needs to be able to come up with questions on the spot, and needs sociological knowledge so they can identify when something important is said
Interpersonal skills; the researcher needs to be able to build rapport

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27
Q

What are some ethical strengths of unstrucutred interviews?

A

Building rapport can make it easier and more comfortable to investigate sensitive topics
Interviewees do not have to reveal anything they don’t want to (privacy)
Informed consent is gained, as interviewees do not have to participate if they don’t want to

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28
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of unstructured interviews?

A

Interviewees could be uncomfortable discussing sensitive issues face to face
Psychological harm may occur when participants recall negative experiences

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29
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of unstructured interviews?

A

Interpretivists like them as it gives greater freedom than sticking to a script
Verstehen can be gained through building rapport
The flexibility of the questions, and the fact they are mostly open-ended, increases validity

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30
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of unstructured interviews?

A

Positivists dislike them as they are unstandardised and unique, making them impossible to repeat (low reliability)
Hawthorne Effect; interviewees may lie or exaggerate answers
Leading questions & interviewer bias; tone of voice, body language, and the questions created could reduce validity
Smaller sample sizes as they take longer, reducing representativeness

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31
Q

What is a group interview?

A

A structured or unstructured interview with more than 1 interviewee

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32
Q

KEY STUDY: Willis (1977)

A

“Learning to Labour”. Group interviews and non-participant observations with 12 working class ‘lads’ who created an anti-school subculture. Willis believed they were working class heroes who were going against capitalist ideas

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33
Q

What are some practical strengths of group interviews?

A

Less time consuming than other interviews as you can interview multiple people at once
Subject matter; can be a useful way of generating initial ideas which can be followed up in later research

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34
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of group interviews?

A

Data can take a long time to analyse as the group interactions are more complex
Large groups can be difficult to control and manage
Researcher may struggle to keep the group focussed on the discussion topic

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35
Q

What are some ethical strengths of group interviews?

A

Informed consent is gained, as interviewees do not have to take part if they don’t want to
Can be used to observe group dynamics and norms
Suitable for use with pupils (methods in context) as it creates a safe peer environment which they are used to from school

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36
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of group interviews?

A

Can be uncomfortable for some interviewees being in a group dynamic, especially for sensitive issues
Interviewees may feel unable to withdraw from the interview or certain questions due to the group dynamics

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37
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of group interviews?

A

Interpretivists like them as they collect qualitative data, and you can build rapport/verstehen with participants
Flexible as you do not have to stick to a script. Also means researcher and interviewees can ask for clarification on questions/answers
Participants may be more comfortable speaking around others, increasing validity
Participants can stimulate each others’ thinking/give each other ideas (increasing validity)
Includes more people, increasing representativeness

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38
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of group interviews?

A

Positivists dislike them as they are impossible to repeat exactly (low reliability)
Hawthorne effect; participants may change behaviour because of the researcher AND the other participants (peer pressure)
Some participants may dominate the discussion, stopping others from talking (reducing validity)
May not be representative as not all interviewees may contribute

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39
Q

What does covert mean?

A

The researcher’s identity is NOT known to the participants

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40
Q

What does overt mean?

A

The researcher’s identity is known to the participants

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41
Q

KEY STUDY: Humphreys (1970) - Covert

A

“Tearoom Trades”. Investigated gay men engaging in secretive sex in public spaces when homosexuality was illegal. Used participants’ number plates to track them to their houses, then asked them further questions claiming it was for market research

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42
Q

KEY STUDY: Patrick (1973) - Covert

A

A teacher who joined a gang in Glasgow known as the ‘Young Team’. Observed their violent behaviours before fleeing Glasgow to protect his identity

43
Q

KEY STUDY: Patrick (1973) - Covert

A

A teacher who joined a gang in Glasgow known as the ‘Young Team’. Observed their violent behaviours before fleeing Glasgow to protect his identity

44
Q

KEY STUDY: Griffin (1962) - Covert

A

Investigated racism against black people in the southern USA. Used UV lamps and medication to dye his skin black, then interacted with people in public. Found that racism was much was than he thought it was, despite being a university professor on race issues

45
Q

KEY STUDY: Venkatesh (2009) - Overt

A

“Gang Leader for a Day”. Spent 18 months over 7 years with a crack-dealing gang in Chicago. Lived with gang members and observed their illegal activities

46
Q

KEY STUDY: Barker (1984) - Overt

A

“Making of a Moonie”. Spent 6 years with the Unification Church to investigate claims they were brainwashing people. Her conclusion was that they were not

47
Q

What are some practical strengths of participant observations?

A

Gains firsthand information on group activities, especially with groups where questioning would be ineffective
Overt observations allow the researcher to ask naive but important clarification questions
Access; some groups may say no to research, meaning they can only be reached covertly

48
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of participant observations?

A

Difficult to get in, stay in, and get out when performing covert observations
Have to gain trust and cooperation of those observed, e.g. Venkatesh had to help beat up the boyfriend of an abused teenager
Getting out can involve issues, e.g. Patrick faced threats to his safety after he published his work
Covert observations require the researcher to maintain a disguise 24/7
Groups may refuse the researcher permission to observe them
In covert observations, researchers cannot ask questions which may give them away

49
Q

What are some ethical strengths of participant observations?

A

Overt observations do not involve deception and avoids the researcher taking part in illegal activities
Overt observations can gain informed consent
Debrief; participants can be told after the study that they were being studied, and what for
Confidentiality; anonymity can be ensured

50
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of participants observations?

A

Covert observations involve deception, and cannot gain informed consent
Researchers may have to lie about their reasons for leaving the group for their own safety (e.g. Patrick)
Researchers may have to participate in immoral or illegal activities (e.g. Venkatesh, Griffin)

51
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of participant observations?

A

Interpretivists like them as they can gain verstehen, qualitative data, and avoid the Hawthorne Effect (if covert)
Open minded approach; allows the researcher to discover things that other methods may miss
It is the best way to understand the meanings of social activities for certain groups

52
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of participant observations?

A

Positivists dislike them as they are impossible to repeat exactly (low reliability)
Usually small sample sizes, making them time consuming and not representative
Analysing data can be biased as the researcher cannot remain objective
Hawthorne Effect takes place if overt
Reduces validity as there is a lot of subjectivity

53
Q

What are non-participant observations?

A

A study where the researcher watches a group taking part in activities, but does not get involved

54
Q

KEY STUDY: Willis (1977) - Overt

A

“Learning to Labour”. Group interviews and non-participant observations with 12 working class ‘lads’ who created an anti-school subculture. Willis believed they were working class heroes who were going against capitalist ideas

55
Q

What are some practical strengths of non-participant observations?

A

Observation schedule; if it is structured then it can take less time to complete than participants observations
Reduces the impact that the researcher has on the participants as they are not getting involved
Can be easy to gain access as they are usually conducted in natural settings

56
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of non-participant observations?

A

Difficult to gain access to certain groups, e.g. criminals
Time-consuming as it takes time to see participants’ true behaviour

57
Q

What are some ethical strengths of non-participant observations?

A

Informed consent is gained as participants are aware they are in a study (if overt)
Safer for the researcher as they do not need to prove themselves to gain the group’s trust

58
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of non-participant observations?

A

Lack of informed consent; researchers may not reveal the true meaning of the study in order to gain valid data
Lack of informed consent; non-participant observations may be used with groups that are unwilling to cooperate

59
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of non-participant observations?

A

Positivists like them as, if they are structured, they are easy to repeat, making them reliable
No risk of researchers going native
Little risk of interviewer bias as they do not get involved, increasing validity

60
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of non-participant observations?

A

Interpretivists dislike this method, as it does not gain verstehen because they do not get involved
Hawthorne effect takes place (if covert)
Reduces validity as there is a lot of subjectivity

61
Q

KEY STUDY: Milgram (1974)

A

Investigated obedience to authority. Deceived participants by telling them they had to give an electric shock to a fake ‘learner’ every time they got a question wrong. The voltage was increased with each wrong answer up to lethal levels. Participants were forced to continue even when they resisted

62
Q

KEY STUDY: Mayo (1927)

A

This study is where the Hawthorne Effect comes from. Mayo was asked to investigate productivity at the Hawthorne Plant (factory). Changed many variables which they thought would increase or decrease productivity. Found that all changes led to an increase, so Mayo concluded that the participants changed their behaviour because they knew they were being watched

63
Q

What are some practical strengths of lab experiments?

A

Quick, especially for small-scale research
Cheap. Only need a lab/space to conduct the study

64
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of lab experiments?

A

Cannot always be used in sociology as society cannot fit into a lab
Impossible to identify and control all variables which could affect the experiments (extraneous variables)
Cannot be used to study the past
Can only be used to study small samples

65
Q

What are some ethical strengths of lab experiments?

A

Informed consent is gained as participants do not have to take part
Debriefs can be given after the experiment
Supporters of Milgram argue that, even though his study was unethical, it was worth doing to find out what it takes to force a person to do something

66
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of lab experiments?

A

Lack of informed consent, if deception is involved
Could cause harm and distress to participants
Could rely on deception

67
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of lab experiments?

A

Positivists like them as they are reliable, thanks to being highly controlled and gaining quantiative data
Can be repeated on different participants to increase representativeness
Objectivity; standardised, so little chance for the researcher to influence the study

68
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of lab experiments?

A

Interpretivists dislike them as verstehen cannot be gained, and they are low in validity (they only find out what happens, not why)
Hawthorne effect can take place
Lacks ecological validity as it is an articial setting
Expectancy effect; participants may do what they think the researcher wants them to do, reducing validity

69
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of lab experiments?

A

Interpretivists dislike them as verstehen cannot be gained, and they are low in validity (they only find out what happens, not why)
Hawthorne effect can take place
Lacks ecological validity as it is an articial setting
Expectancy effect; participants may do what they think the researcher wants them to do, reducing validity

70
Q

KEY STUDY: Rosenthal & Jacobsen (1968)

A

Performed IQ tests on students at a school and told teachers that a random 20% of them were ‘spurters’ who would make quick progress. A year later, they found that the spurters had made the most progress, suggesting that teacher labelling has a large impact on educational achievement

71
Q

KEY STUDY: Rosenhan (1973)

A

Sent fake patients into mental health hospitals in California complaining of schizophrenic symptoms. Once they were admitted to the hospital they would stop complaining about these symptoms, but would still be treated by hospital staff as schizophrenic, suggesting that the label ‘schizophrenic’ is what leads to them being treated as sick, not their symptoms

72
Q

What are some practical strengths of field experiments?

A

Easy to access a natural environment than a controlled (lab) one

73
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of field experiments?

A

Cannot be used too study complex problems
Less control than a lab experiment
Difficult to control extraneous variables

74
Q

What are some ethical strengths of field experiments?

A

Debrief can be given after the experiment
Less likely to cause harm as they usually involve making a small change to something that is already happening

75
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of field experiments?

A

Informed consent may not always be gained in natural settings
Deception; participants may be lied to during the study

76
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of field experiments?

A

Positivists like them as they are in a natural environment, meaning results are more generalisable
Some structure so they are somewhat reliable
No Hawthorne Effect if participants are not aware they are in the study
High ecological validity

77
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of field experiments?

A

Interpretivists dislike them as they lack verstehen and depth (they only show what happens, not why it happens)
Low validity as you cannot control extraneous variables

78
Q

KEY STUDY: Anne Frank (1947)

A

Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl kept hidden from the Nazis by her neighbours during WW2 Germany. She kept a diary of her experiences. She later died in a concentration camp, but her diary has become a published and famous piece of work

79
Q

KEY STUDY: Hey (1998)

A

Carried out a study into the formation of schoolgirl friendships. Collected notes that girls had passed to eachother in lessons. Also asked to see their diaries; in order to gain their trust in this, Hey gave the girls her diary to read as well

80
Q

What are some practical strengths of documents?

A

Historical documents may be the only source of information for studying parts of the past
Can be used along with primary methods to check findings
Quick and cheap because someone else has gathered the information

81
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of documents?

A

Authenticity; is the document what it claims to be? Could it be a hoax? E.g. the so-called ‘Hitler Diaries’ were later proven to be fake
There may not be documents available for the topic sociologists want to research
Access; could be difficult to access some documents, e.g. personal
Some public documents can be kept classified for up to 30 years, making research time consuming
Analysis of large scale government documents could be time consuming

82
Q

What are some ethical strengths of documents?

A

Produced by someone else, so few ethical concerns for the researcher using them
When using historical documents, researchers do not need to gain informed consent

83
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of documents?

A

Unique challenges; e.g. Anne Frank is dead and never intended her work to be published. Is it still appropriate to use it?
This could impact the author’s family and friends
Informed consent must be specifically gained when using personal documents

84
Q

What are some theoretical strenths of documents?

A

Intepretivists like them because they have high validity can gain verstehen, giving a real insight into how individuals think
Personal documents are especially high in validity as the author had no reason to alter the truth if they only ever intended it to be for their own use

85
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of documents?

A

Positivists dislike them as they only use small sample sizes, making them unrepresentative
Unstandardised and unreliable; based on subjective interpretations of events. Makes it hard to generalise results
Researcher bias; researchers could misinterpret documents, or apply their own meanings to them
Hoax documents are, by definition, very low in validity
Certain groups may be unrepresented, such as the illiterate (who can’t read or write) or historical working classes who didn’t have the leisure time to keep diaries

86
Q

KEY STUDY: Cohen (1972)

A

Looked at media representations of two youth subcultures of the time: the Mods and the Rockers. There was an initial minor conflict between the groups, but Cohen found that the media exaggerated and distorted events to make it seem much worse than it was (an example of a moral panic)

87
Q

KEY STUDY: Lobban & Tuchman (1978)

A

Analysed gender roles in children’s reading schemes and TV shows. Found that females were portrayed in a set of roles that was both limited and stereotyped, typically performing domestic roles

88
Q

What are some practical strengths of content analysis?

A

Easy access; there is plenty of material to be analysed, such as newspapers, TV, radio, etc
Cheap to use as sources already exist
Allows the discovery of things that may not be obvious, e.g. whether gender role stereotypes really occur across children’s books

89
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of content analysis?

A

Can be time consuming to go through lots of content, especially if it is qualitative

90
Q

What are some ethical strengths of content analysis?

A

Serves public interest to help them understand how manipulative the media can be
No participants means no harm can be caused

91
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of content analysis?

A

If researcher bias takes place, this could be used to justify certain questionable viewpoints

92
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of content analysis?

A

If researcher bias takes place, this could be used to justify certain questionable viewpoints

93
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of content analysis?

A

Interpretivists like qualitative content analyses thanks to the depth of the data
Positivists like quantiative content analyses as they are based on objective, scientific data, which is highly reliable (there are only a fixed number of each word/phrase in a particular document)
Qualitative content analysis can be used to gain verstehen in certain situations
No participants, removing some of the subjectivity involved with, for example, the Hawthorne Effect

94
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of content analysis?

A

Positivists dislike qualitatitive content analyses as they are based on the researcher’s personal interpretation
Based on subjective interpretations of research, reducing validity
Interpretvists argue that simpy counting up the number of times something appears in a document tells us nothing about its meaning

95
Q

KEY STUDY: Durkheim (1897)

A

Compared suicide rates across European countries, finding patterns and trends which suggested suicide has some social factors. For example, marital status, children/childlessness, and religion all affects a country’s suicide rate. He used these results to argue that Sociology is a science

96
Q

KEY STUDY: Crime Survey for England & Wales (yearly)

A

Every year, provides data on the experiences of crime in the general public. In 2011, found that only 38% of crimes were actually reported to the police, and the police did not record all of these

97
Q

KEY STUDY: Crime Survey for England & Wales (yearly)

A

Every year, provides data on the experiences of crime in the general public. In 2011, found that only 38% of crimes were actually reported to the police, and the police did not record all of these

98
Q

What are some practical strengths of official statistics?

A

Allows comparisons between different groups, e.g. the educational achievement of different genders or ethnicities
Collected regularly, so can be used to show patterns and trends, or ‘before and after’ comparisons to show cause and effect, e.g. of new legislation
Easily accessible. Usually published online, saving time and money

99
Q

What are some practical weaknesses of official statistics?

A

Government collects statistics for their own purposes, so sociologists may not find the information they want
Definitions used by the government may be different to those used by sociologists, e.g. poverty
Definitions can change over time, making comparisons difficult
Marxists would argue the government can manipulate statistics in order to serve the needs of capitalism, e.g. the definition of unemployment has changed multiple times over the years to make it seem that numbers are going down

100
Q

What are some ethical strengths of official statistics?

A

No participants so no risk of causing them harm

101
Q

What are some ethical weaknesses of official statistics?

A

Inappropriate to study suicide or domestic violence as it is dehumanising

102
Q

What are some theoretical strengths of official statistics?

A

Positivists like them as they are highly reliable (being collected in a standardised way) and scientific. This can make it easy to spot patterns and trends
Covers very large numbers, making them representative
Objective; no researcher bias as the researcher has no connection with the subjects of the research
Usually much bigger than sociologists could carry out themselves. E.g. the Crime Survey for England & Wales 2014 had a sample size of 50,000 people
Hard statistics have higher validity as they generally contain all the information they claim to

103
Q

What are some theoretical weaknesses of official statistics?

A

Interpretivists dislike them as the data is usually gathered by someone else, so they cannot be sure there weren’t leading questions, reducing validity
No verstehen
Soft statistics have lower validity as they generally don’t contain all the information
Some statistics may be less representative as they are only based on a sample, not the whole population

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