Research Methods Flashcards
Describe Questionnaires
- list of pre set questions that are put in a fixed order.
- distributed face to face, email, test messages, or mailed.
- closed, open questions, multiple choice, scaled questions.
-preferred by positivists
Evaluate questionnaires
Strengths:
-practical less time consuming and cheaper than other methods.
-standardised provide a structured framework which eliminates ambiguity, ensure consistency and facilitate easier analysis and comparison.
Weakness:
-lack of detail doesn’t allow participants to explain
-low response rates sub groups may not answer and their experiences and perspectives may be underrepresented.
Describe structured Interviews
Involves the researcher reading a list of closed questions from an interview schedule and ticking boxes or writing down answers according to pre-set fixed categories. Interviewer plays a passive, robotic role. Preferred by positivists.
Evaluate structured interviews
Strengths:
-Scientific, positivist like it because the use of closed Q and fixed tick boxes generates large amounts of quantitative factual data.
-practical, conducted quite quickly b/c they follow a pre-set range of Q which means a lot of people can answer. Representative.
Weakness:
- interview bias, people may respond with suspicion giving evasive, partial or false information. Affects validity
-inflexible, stick to Q rigidly interpretivists note that this makes it impossible to pursue interesting leads.
Describe unstructured interviews
-Informal guided conversation
-probe response,follow up interesting leads, investigate motives and feelings in ways questionnaires could never
-can be preferred by both
Evaluate unstructured interviews
Strengths
-gain a rapport, puts interviewee at ease so they may open up and say what the really feel and mean more valid data
-rich data, flexible so can delve and follow up interesting responses.
Weaknesses:
-can be objective in the end. Lots of data means the interviewer has to be selective in what to publish could lead to data only showing the data that supports the researcher’s hypothesis.
-tend to use less participants less representative of the research population so difficult to generalise to similar populations.
Describe Semi-structured interviews
-Verbal conversation
-list of areas of investigation and discussion is drawn up in advance provides a guide.
-Closed questions to generate facts but also open questions.
-interpretive
Evaluate semi structured interviews
Strengths:
-gather both qualitative and quantitive data. Facts and explanations.
-high validity, scope for probing, reflection and clarification on initial responses from the interviewee.
Weaknesses:
-not reliable, some interviews may need more probing than others every interview different, dats can’t be comparable.
-sample will be small due to time and costs unrepresentative and not generalisable
Describe Focus groups
-variation of unstructured interviews
-participants encouraged to talk to each others
-small groups, non sensitive topics, prompted by stimulus material.
Evaluate focus groups
Strengths:
-valid, they’re dynamic probe each others views defend their own views.
-practical, reach a group in the same itd take to interview one person.
Weakness:
-not reliable, moderated carefully louder people need to be controlled, different levels of data depth
-not practical, unstructured analysing and transcribing the material is difficult and time consuming process.
Ethnography
-Small scar fieldwork
-produces qualitative data
-natural setting
-observe and interview
-Interpretivists real experience understand people’s stories thoughts and experiences.
-achieves verstehen
Evaluate ethnography
Strengths:
-high level of validity rich insight into peoples lives relies on observation.
-overcome sensitive nature by building a rapport and internal feelings of being judged being overcome, feelings of empathy to be created.
Weakness:
-small case study not representative so can’t be generalised.
-lose objectivity, by becoming too friendly/connected to the sample and make biased conclusions.
