Research methods

Question 1

Primary data

Answer 1

researcher collects data themself eg questionnaire

Question 2

Primary data pros + cons

Answer 2

pros
- brand new data
cons
-time consuming
-unethical without informed consent
-researcher bias

Question 3

Secondary data

Answer 3

data already collected by secondary sources eg. offical statistics

Question 4

Secondary data pros + cons

Answer 4

pros
- quick and esy to access
- useful in comparisons
- no concern with informed consent
cons
-may not be valid or reliable
- may not find any
- research bias from og researcher

Question 5

Qualitative data

Answer 5

words,details and opinions (subjective)

Question 6

Qualitative pros + cons

Answer 6

pros
- detailed insight sees meaning and motive
- allows for raport between researcher and participant
cons
- not reliable
- small scale
- lacks credibility due to interpretation

Question 7

Quantitative

Answer 7

numerical data (objective)

Question 8

Quantitative pros + cons

Answer 8

pros
- can test hypothesis - cause and effect
- compare stats
- easy to analyse
- reliable
- large samples
cons
- stats can hide reality
- no motives or meaning
- can be politically biased

Question 9

Positivism

Answer 9

scientific approach, argue we should treat people as objects who can be observed and measured (macro)

Question 10

Positivism pros + cons

Answer 10

pros
- uses society to form scientific laws of how it operates
- viewed as more credible
cons
- society cant be studied scientifically
- ignores free will and individual experiences
- research affected by bias
- potential ‘male stream’ society

Question 11

Who is the historical positivist?

Answer 11

Emile Durkheim

Question 12

Interpretivism

Answer 12

rejects scientific sociology, focuses on how individuals make sense of social world

Question 13

Interpretivism meanings + experiences

Answer 13

beleive socirty is socially constructed and in order to understand society we need to understand individual experiences

Question 14

Interpretivism pros and cons

Answer 14

pros
- society cant be studied scientifically
- reflexivity allows movement away from male dominated sociological research
- truth always subjective
cons
- patterns and trends needed to confirm generalisability
- reflecivity can lead to paralysis - researcher obsessed with own assumptions they dot draw conclusions

Question 15

Reliability

Answer 15

consistency in research

Question 16

validity

Answer 16

whether you measure what you set out to measure