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research methods Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

what is primary data?

A

collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes
to obtain a first hand picture to test a hypothesis

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2
Q

what is secondary data?

A

collected by other sociologists, government departments or official bodies or individuals

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3
Q

examples of primary data

A
  • questionaires
  • interviews
  • experiments
  • participant observation
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4
Q

examples of secondary data

A
  • news papers
  • articles
  • govt data
  • document
  • official stats
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5
Q

advantages of primary data

A

specific and more trust worthy - valid

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6
Q

disadvantages of primary data

A

time consuming, expensive, not practical

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7
Q

advantages of secondary data

A

fast, easy to obtain , cheap, scale - representative

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8
Q

disadvantages of secondary data

A

may lack relevant data, less specific

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9
Q

what type of theorist favors quantitative data?

A

positivists

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10
Q

what type of theorists favors qualitative data?

A

interpretivists

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11
Q

define triangulation

A

where both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to counteract the limitations of each method

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12
Q

define qualitative data

A

descriptions of peoples feelings and experiences
provides rich descriptions of people’s lives - an insight

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13
Q

define quantitative data

A

information in numerical form

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14
Q

describe interpretivists

A
  • society cannot be measured
  • prefer qualitative methods
  • the individual constructs their own reality - social action theory
  • prefer participant observation (validity)
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15
Q

describe positivists

A
  • society can be measured objectively
  • prefer quantitative methods
  • society exerts influence over its members and shapes their behaviour - structural
  • want to produce reliable and representative data
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16
Q

advantage of quantitative data

A

can spot trends and compare data sets over time

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17
Q

disadvantage of quantitative data

A

does not provide an insight into peoples view

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18
Q

advantage of qualitative data

A

provides a rich insight into a persons views or feelings

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19
Q

disadvantage of qualitative data

A

hard to compare and analysis can be time consuming

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20
Q

what practical factors affect choice of method?

A
  • time and money
  • funding body requirements
  • personal skills
  • subject matters
  • research opportunity
21
Q

what does each letter stand for in PERVRT?

A

Practical
Ethical
Reliable
Valid
Representative
Theorists

22
Q

what ethical factors affect choice of method?

A
  • informed consent
  • confidentiality / privacy
  • harm to participants
  • vulnerable groups
  • covert research
23
Q

what theoretical factors affect choice of method?

A
  • positivists vs interpretivists
  • reliability
  • representative
  • validity
24
Q

what factors may affect the choice of topic?

A
  • theoretical perspective
  • social change and value
  • funding bodies
  • practical factors
25
Q

what does it mean for data to be reliable?

A

it can be replicated

26
Q

what does it mean for data to be valid?

A

it gives a true picture

27
Q

what does it mean for data to be representative?

A

we can generalise it

28
Q

summaries what the hawthorne effect is

A

people behave differently when being watched

29
Q

research context : researching pupils

A

-power and status
-ability
-vulnerability and ethical issues

30
Q

research context : researching teachers

A

-power relationships
-teachers are overworked
-teachers are used to being scrutinized - hawthorne effect

31
Q

research context : researching classrooms

A

-controlled, closed social settings
-disguise real thoughts
-peer pressure as an influence

32
Q

research context : researching parents

A

-interactions: teachers, choice, children
-mostly outside school (harder to access)
-who may be more willing to participate in research?

33
Q

research context : researching schools

A

-formal organizations and hierarchies
-head teachers = gatekeeper
-legal framework makes certain requirements

34
Q

what are the four steps of planning research?

A

step 1 : decide on a hypothesis
step 2 : operationalise concepts
step 3 : complete a pilot study
step 4 : choose your sampling frame and technique in order to gain a sample

35
Q

what does it mean to operationalise?

A

the process of turning a sociological concept or theory into something measurable

36
Q

what is a pilot study?

A

a small-scale trial run, usually of a social survey, conducted before the main study

37
Q

why might sociologists do a pilot study?

A

to iron out any problems,
clarify questions and their wording,
allow researchers to practice their skills and
make some changes before the main study takes place

38
Q

what is the usefulness of a hypothesis?
and which sociologists favour this?

A

gives direction to the research
positivists favour this, they seek cause and effect relationships

39
Q

how is operationalising concepts necessary?

A

defining key concepts and terms allows us to clearly measure them

40
Q

what is a sampling frame?

A

a list of everyone in the target population from which a sample is drawn

41
Q

describe the process of random sampling?

A

every member of a population has an equal chance of being selected

42
Q

advantages of random sampling

A

practical : easy to conduct

43
Q

disadvantages of random sampling

A

might not be representative as you might end up with a sample that is not a true reflection of society

44
Q

what is systematic / quasi random sampling?

A

similar to random sampling but completed systematically
systematically select people from the sampling frame by choosing every 5th or 15th person

45
Q

advantage of systematic sampling

A

can easily replicate the method

46
Q

disadvantage of systematic sampling

A

data might still end up being unrepresentative

47
Q

what is stratified random sampling?

A

dividing the target population into important strata
selecting members in proportion that they occur in the population

48
Q

advantages of stratified random sampling

A

representative because we can make generalisations and it reflects the population

49
Q
A

sociology education (9 decks)

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