research methods

Question 1

What are the 4 practical issues?

Answer 1

Time
Cost
Characteristic of the researcher
Access

Question 2

What are the 4 ethical issues?

Answer 2

Informed consent
Deception
Protection from harm
Privacy and confidentiality

Question 3

What is the difference between positivists vs interpretivists? (4)

Answer 3

Positivists-looks at INSTITUTIONS in society, referred to as a ‘macrosociology approach’, quantitative data, reliable research methods.
Interpretivists-look at INDIVIDUALS in society, ‘microsociology’, qualitative data, valid research methods.

Question 4

Give some examples of the characteristics between the positivists and interpretivists.
Where does Vestehen and Rapport fit?

Answer 4

-Positivists-Statistics, objective, closed questionnaires, measurable data, establish cause and effect.
-Interpretivists-Unstructured interviews, ppt observations, Vesthehen, Rapport, subjective.

Question 5

Give some examples of the characteristics between primary and secondary data.
Evaluate

Answer 5

-Primary-interviews, questionnaires, observations, experiments, time-consuming, expensive, dangerous to collect, researcher bias.
-Secondary-official statistics, diaries, TV documents, newspapers, avoids ethical issues, quick, cannot always gain access.

Question 6

Give some examples of the characteristics between qualitative and quantitative data.
Which one is representative and why?

Answer 6

-Qualitative-interviews, diaries, ppt observation, newspaper, interpretivists, valid, subjective, unrepresentative
-Quantitative-official statistics, closed questionnaires, percentages, positivists, reliable, objective, representative (easy to get numbers on everyone in the study, rather than words)

Question 7

What is representativeness?

Answer 7

Data collected from the ppts in the research that can be generalised to the wider population.

Question 8

What is Verstehen?

Answer 8

To form an empathetic understanding, by seeing the world as the ppt sees it.

Question 9

What is Rapport?

Answer 9

Close and harmonious relationship, where the people concerned understand each others feelings/ideas and communicate.

Question 10

What are interviewer effects?

Answer 10

ANSWERS given in an interview may be influenced by the presence of the interviewer.

Question 11

What is the Hawthorne effect?

Answer 11

The PRESENCE of a researcher influences behaviour of a group.

Question 12

What is the imposition problem?

Answer 12

The risk that the researcher might IMPOSE their own viewpoints on the people being researched.

Question 13

How should you structure a method in context question?

Answer 13

1. Issue-practical, ethical or theoretical (interpretivism/positivism?)
2. Give a strength or weakness
3. Identify what
4. Identify who
5. Increases/decreases validity, reliability or representativeness

Question 14

When answering a 10 marker, how should you structure it?

Answer 14

2 PEEL paragraphs (point, explain, elaborate, link):
-key terms
-links to sociological ideas
-ends with validity, reliability or repetitiveness

Question 15

Give a strength for questionnaires for each issues (practical, ethical and theoretical)

Answer 15

-Ethical=if ppt doesn’t want to answer the question, they can leave the question out.
-Practical=questionnaires are cheap (cost), require little skill and effort (time), can be distributed to many people>representative (access).
-Theoretical=closed questionnaires collect data that is easy to analyse>increases reliability.

Question 16

Give a weakness for questionnaires for each issues APART FROM ETHICAL (practical and theoretical)

Answer 16

-Practical=only ppts who have time, effort and responsibility will respond>bias>sample is unrepresentative.
-Theoretical=nobody is there to clarify questionnaires, some questions may be misunderstood>decreases validity.

Question 17

What is an interview?

Answer 17

A researcher directly asking a series of questions to one or more interviewees

Question 18

What are the 3 types of interviews? Explain

Answer 18

-Unstructured=without pre-planned questions. Researcher might have headings to guide a free-flowing conversation
-Semi-structured=mostly prepared questions. Interviewer can deviate from o.g. questions>qualitative data
-Structured=sticks rigidly to a pre-written set of questions. Open or closed questions or a mixture of both

Question 19

What two sociological groups prefer interviews? Explain

Answer 19

Feminists e.g. Dobash and Dobash on domestic violence
Interpretivists, especially unstructured interviews

Question 20

What is an ethical, practical and theoretical strength of interviews?

Answer 20

E: Useful for sensitive issues as rapport can be built
P: High response rate as ppts are present with the researcher and agree to be interviewed beforehand
T: Structured interviews have high reliability as the same interview can be repeated

Question 21

What is an ethical, practical and theoretical limitation of interviews?

Answer 21

E: Researchers cannot guarantee confidentiality to students when interviewing students, they must disclose to the authorities any worrying info
P: Highly time consuming
T: Unstructured interviews have low reliability as it is hard to repeat the same ‘conversation’

Question 22

What is the biggest limitation of interviews? Explain

Answer 22

Interviewer effects:
The interviewee will be influenced by the presence of the interviewer, and might give the responses they think are desired, rather than share their honest opinions or experiences

Question 23

What are group interviews also known as?
What are strengths and weaknesses of group interviews?

Answer 23

-Focus groups:
S: provides moral support>ppts are likely to open up on sensitive topics
W: peer pressure>ppts feel they have to give the same answer as their peers>copying answers, people are afraid of saying the wrong thing incase they get judged