RESEARCH METHODS Flashcards
why:
support theory’s(disprove or prove), create new theory, inform gov, raise profile of sociologist/institution carrying out research
worsley social problems
effects large numbers of people>resulting in calls from public for gov to act (eg rape in marriages)
worsley sociological problme
an issue in society we wish to make sense off or attempt to discover new knowledge about subject
research methods involve
interveiw/experiment/media/diaries/statistics/questionnaires/observations
primary data
collected by sociologist themselves
secondary data
already collected , accessible sociologist can use
quantitative data
numerical data - form of statistics
-structured data
-statistical analyse
-survey experiments
1 right answer
qualitative data
non numerical data form of words eg interveiw
thermatic analysis (analyse all interviews>theme)
subjective conclusions , unstructured data
qualitative data strengths
interviews aren’t restricted, feels are revealed/motivations , multiple methods inc validity
qualitative data weakness
cant make population levels summary’s, hard to get people to speak out , interviewer bias , time consuming
quantitative data strength
large sample , high in representive/generalisation, trends standardise methods in collecting, avoid bias as cant impose opinion
quantitative data weakness
cant understand why something is changing , low validity , leading questions, truthfulness of findings, maybe vauge
positivism
try use more scientific approaches>social facts in society can be descoverd.
favour quantitative data
correlations need to be tested, undercover correlations between social facts , change the cause lead to change in effects (1 exact reason)
interpretivism
(anit pos) not possible to make cause/effect statement about human behaviour
people have free will and their behaviour can’t be explained over 1 overall true cause
favour qualitative data + primary
-truth only gained by understanding society from pov on indv
choosing a topic/issue/problem to investigate
1.personal intrest
2.political beflis
3oppurtunitu and access
4funding
5invouge topics
6ethica and sensitivity of topic
process of planning research
choose topic, gather bg reasearch, develop a hypothesis or q, decide on methodology/sampling frame, conduct a pilot study, conduct research, analyse data , draw conclusions, evaluation study
why gather bg research
help form hypothesis
found out what has been done/add?
help determine research methodologies
hypothesis
informed guess - statement can’t be tested either supported by evidence or refuted
research
sets out what researcher is planning to investigate, clear focus to study
factors that influence method
practical issues
time/money(qualitative more time/expensive>secondary cheap quick). personal skills/characteristsics(methods easier)
funding bodies(business funding rq results to be particular form)
research opportunity(certain rm)
factors that influence method
ethical
consent/confidentiality/privacy/harm to research partiicpants/vunerable groups/covert research
(known of aims/can withdraw/idenity/speical care/hidden)
factors influence choice of topic
sociologist perspective eg feminist, society values (influenced) practical factors eg inacccesability/ funding body
why sample
make sure representative - make sampling frame of interested in studying
random sampling
by chance
stratified radnom sampling
breaks down population
practical reasons that effect sampling
characteristics may not be known.not all criminals are convicted, rescue of participants
theretical issues/factors that influence
validity (genuine) reliability(repeated)representivness(sample/genralisations)
