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Sociology - Education > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

define primary data

A
  • primary data = data collected first hand from sociologists for their own use
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2
Q

define secondary data

A
  • secondary data = data collected by other sociologists, Gov departments or official bodies (e.g. charities) or individuals
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3
Q

give examples of primary data

A
  • interviews, questionaries, experiments
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4
Q

give examples of secondary data

A
  • official statistics (crime rates, league tables), documents (newspapers, diaries)
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5
Q

outline the advantages + disadvantages of primary data

A
  • A: more accurate/ specific to the topic being studied. more trustworthy
  • D: time consuming, expensive, cant be compared over time
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6
Q

outline the advantages + disadvantages of secondary data

A
  • A: cheaper, quicker
  • D: less accurate/ specific to topic being studied
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7
Q

define + give examples of quantitative data

A
  • quantitative data = data in the form of numbers
  • e.g. percentages, statistics
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8
Q

define + give examples of qualitative data

A
  • qualitative data = data in the form of everything other than numbers
  • e.g. interviews, documents, pictures
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9
Q

what are the advantages + disadvantages of quantitative data

A
  • A: can spot trends and compare data throughout time
  • D: doesn’t provide thorough insight into peoples views
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10
Q

what are positivists 5 main viewpoints

A

1) society can be measured objectively
2) prefer quantitative data + methods
3) society exerts influence over its members + shapes their behaviour
4) P seek objective + scientific laws of cause and effect that determines behaviour
5) P prefer questionnaires, structured interviews, experiments, and official stats as they produce reliable and representative data

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11
Q

what are interpretivists 5 main viewpoints

A

1) society cannot be measured objectively
2) prefer qualitative data + methods
3) individuals construct their own reality
4) I seek to gain a subjective understanding of individuals meanings
5) I prefer participant observation, unstructured interviews + personal documents as they produce valid data

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12
Q

what are the advantages + disadvantages of qualitative data

A
  • A: provides rich insight into peoples feelings + views
  • D: hard to compare and analysis can be time consuming
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13
Q

define triangulation

A
  • triangulation = when both quant. and qual. methods are used to counteract the limitations of each method
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14
Q

outline Validity

A

Validity
- how close the results are to the truth

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15
Q

what 3 factors should be taken into consideration when researching teachers

A
  • power relationships; teachers have more power; may be translated on researchers. they should pose as TAs or supplies to equalise the power imbalance
  • teachers are over worked; may be less cooperative
  • teachers are used to being scrutinised (e.g. OFSTED)/ HAWTHORNE EFFECT(people behave differently when they know they’re being watched); may not give valid answers if it reflects badly on school
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16
Q

what 3 factors should be taken into consideration when researching schools

A
  • is a formal organisation and has a formal hierarchy; headteachers may disapprove of possible interruptions, or in same sex skls, an opposite gendered researcher may cause implications
  • head teachers hold the power; they are the gatekeepers who have the power to refuse researchers access to their school
  • legal framework creates certain requirements; there is a strict legal duty of care that schools have for their pupils
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17
Q

what does PERVRT stand for

A

Practical
Ethical
Reliable
Valid
Representative
Theoretical perspective

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18
Q

outline Practical

A

Practical
- the money, time, effort, access of a method that could limit the researcher

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19
Q

outline Ethical

A

Ethical
- informed consent; Participants made aware of all elements. can back out of/ refuse to take part in research
- confidentiality; identity of Ps kept private
- vulnerable groups; special care for vulnerable groups (children, disability, mental health)
- covert research; hiding the researchers identity and topic of research can cause ethical problems

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20
Q

outline Theoretical perspectives

A

Theoretical perspectives
- Interpretivists + Positivists perspectives

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21
Q

outline Reliable

A

Reliable
- can it be replicated to get the same results
- Positivists care about this

22
Q

outline Representativeness

A

Representativeness
- can the data be generalised to a wider population
- Positivists care about this

23
Q

what 3 factors should be taken into consideration when researching in classrooms

A
  • controlled social setting; highly controlled environment - behaviour observed may not be accurate
  • may disguise real thoughts; teachers + pupils are used to disguising true feelings; may conceal true feelings from researcher
  • peer pressure as influence; young people are more sensitive to peer pressure - reduces validity
24
Q

what 3 factors should be taken into consideration when researching young pupils

A
  • power and status; they have less power, may not feel comfortable
  • ability; comprehension skills + vocab are developing - researchers have to take more care when forming Qs (OPERATIONALISING)
  • vulnerability; are more vulnerable to physical + psychological harm
25
Q

outline the 4 steps of the research process

A

1) deciding on hypothesis/ aim; a statement outlining what you intend to study -e.g. ‘does class affect achievement’
2) operationalise concepts; turning sociological concepts into measurable data - e.g. to find someone’s social class ‘what is your job?’
3) pilot study; a small scale trial run done to find any flaws to save money + time for the real study
4) choose your sampling frame (e.g. electoral roll) and technique to find a sample

26
Q

what 3 factors should be taken into consideration when researching parents

A
  • interactions; parents raise their kids individually + differently - not all kids react the same way
  • are mostly outside of school and so harder to research; parents play a vital role in child’s education but most of their interactions happen at home which is closed off to research
  • some may be more/ less willing to participate than others; class, gender, ethnicity play in apart in how willing they are- e.g. M/C parents more likely than W/C parents - creates unrepresentative data
27
Q

outline simple random sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected; e.g. pulling names out of a hat
  • A: practical, easy
  • D: might not be representative
28
Q

outline systematic random sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • systematically selecting people from the sampling frame by choosing every 5th or 15th person, for example
  • A: replicable
  • D: may be unrepresentative
29
Q

outline stratified random sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • selecting members in proportion to what % of the population they make up. e.g. 2.5% of Brits are of Indian origin, so 2.5% of the sample will be of Indian origin
  • A: representative - it reflects society accurately
  • D: is time consuming
30
Q

outline volunteer sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • made up of individuals who have decided to be involved in a study; e.g. through a newspaper advert
  • A: practical
  • D: not representative
31
Q

outline snowball sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • finding participants based on contacts. participants find other participants through word of mouth
  • A: practical; easy
  • D: not representative
32
Q

outline quota sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • separating a sample into catergories (e.g. male and female) and then looking for specific qualities of that sample (a quota) (e.g. 100 males, 100 females)
  • A: representative
  • D: lacks practicality
33
Q

outline opportunity sampling + its As and Ds

A
  • selecting those who are easiest to access at the time; e.g. interviewing people on the street
  • A: practical; quick, cheap, easy
  • D: may not be representative of population
34
Q

outline laboratory experiments

A
  • lab experiments = experiments in a controlled environment that use scientific methods to test a hypothesis
35
Q

outline lab experiments in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, is more difficult to conduct, costly, time consuming
  • E: lacks, lacks informed consent, deception - e.g. Milgram, Zimbardo
  • R: has, is repeatable due to standardised procedure + researcher is detached
  • V: lacks, Pos; is a controlled environment - isnt the real world, Hawthorne effect
  • R: lacks, will probs have a smaller sample and so is less generalisable
  • T: Pos favour it, Int dont
36
Q

outline field experiments in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, gatekeepers can prevent access to an environment (e.g. school). can be time consuming, cant control all variables
  • E: lacks, potential for harm, lack of informed consent, e.g. Jacobsen + Rosenthal
  • R: lacks, procedures may differ in different settings and so reduces reliability
  • V: has, is a less artificial setting. people are unaware of them being studied - lack of Hawthorne Effect
  • R: lacks, hard to obtain a perfectly representative sample
  • T: favoured by Int, not by Pos
37
Q

outline questionnaires in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: has, easy, cheap + quick to send off, are accessible to all, easily quantifiable to identify trends
  • E: has, are few ethical issues, you can choose to not answer the questionnaire
  • R: has, easy to repeat due to standardised nature, easily comparable
  • V: lacks, close-ended Qs with pre set answers restrict the interviewee’s responses. pre set answers may not reflect the respondent’s view - doesn’t give true picture. ‘right-answerism’
  • R: lacks, opportunity sampling leads to lack of representation, certain people are more likely to respond - e.g. unemployed
  • T: Pos. like close ended Qs, Int prefer open ended
38
Q

outline unstructured interviews in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, is time consuming, must train interviewers, unable to quantify data easily
  • E: has, is good for researching sensitive issues as researchers can build a rapport + a relationship. e.g. Dobash and Dobash
  • R: lacks, due to natural flow of conversation - its not replicable and wont give you the same results
  • V: has, no set Qs and so interviewee can speak at length about topic - gives rich qual. data
  • R: lacks, there are fewer interviews due to lengthy nature of them and so a less generalisable sample
  • T: Int. highly favour it due to the rich qualitative data
39
Q

outline structured interviews in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: has, is quick, cheap to conduct
  • E: may lack if researching vulnerable groups, e.g. children
  • R: has, pre set Qs allow procedure to be repeated with similar results, easily comparable
  • V: lacks, close-ended / pre set Qs create limited choice for answers - leads to invalid data
  • R: has, quick nature of interviews allows for a large number of people to be studied
  • T: disliked by Int. - doesn’t provide in depth data
40
Q

outline overt observation in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, hard to gain access to schools, have to work around timetables/ holidays, and schools may be less likely to allow your access if they know you’re a researcher
  • E: has, has informed consent, no deceit
  • R: lacks, gives qual data
  • V: lacks, doesn’t as provide in depth info + Hawthorne Effect/ impression management
  • R: has, schools are representative of population
  • T: pos: like structured NPO; can easily quantify data - don’t like PO. Int: like PO - gives rich data
41
Q

outline covert observation in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, issue of access - headteacher acts as gatekeeper
  • E: lacks informed consent - issue of deceit
  • R: gives qual data
  • V: has, more valid data - no Hawthorne effect/ no impression management. lacks, cant openly take notes - take them from memory
  • R: has, schools are representative of population
  • T: Positivists dislike, Int like
42
Q

outline participant observation in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, time consuming, must be trained, issue of access. has, PO may be the only option - e.g. deviant people suspicious of RM like questionnaires, interviews etc
  • E: lacks, if covert, there is issue of deceit
  • R: lacks, doesn’t have a standardised procedure, so not easily replicable. also, produces qualitative data so cant easily compare data / identify trends
  • V: has, provides rich qualitative research, ‘verstehen’
  • R: lacks, PO study groups are small + the sample wont perfectly reflect population in the way a stratified random sample would
  • T: Int like PO. pos: argues the results from PO will be subjective to the researchers way of thinking and so lacks V
43
Q

define verstehen

A
  • verstehen = understanding something due to living that experience
44
Q

outline non-participant observation in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: lacks, time-consuming, issue of access, must be trained
  • E: lacks, if covert - issue of lack of informed consent
  • R: lacks, no standardised procedure, so not easily replicable. also, produces qualitative data - cant easily compare data / identify trends
  • V: lacks, wont be as much of a true picture
  • R: lacks, PO study groups are small + the sample wont perfectly reflect population in the way a stratified random sample would
  • T: Pos like structured NPO
45
Q

outline documents in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: has, cheap + easy access for most Ds - not all. lacks, is it authentic
  • E: has, may lack consent of the person who owns that D (esp. if historical)
  • R: lacks, Ds are unique + not standardised
  • V: has, verstehen. lacks, Ds can be personal + not objective - can create a false view of someone - e.g. diaries - was it written to be published?
  • R: lacks, with Hist. Ds, may not be representative + typical of all views of that period. also, aren’t many Hist Ds - cant generalise
  • T: preferred by Ints
46
Q

outline Scott’s 4 criteria for assessing documents

A

1) authenticity: is the D what it claims to be, are there missing pages, who wrote it
2) credibility: is it believable + sincere, diaries of politicians may be intended for publication, does it historically match up to the events of the time?
3) representativeness: are other Ds of the period typical to that one, not all survived Ds are available for public use,
4) meaning: the researcher may need special skills to understand a D - e.g. translate from another language. also, meanings change over time

47
Q

outline official statistics in terms of PERVRT

A
  • P: has, are a cheap source of lots of data, allows comparison of trends/ patterns between groups over time. lacks, the stats are made for Govt use - not sociologists’ - may not offer vital sociological data, definitions used may be different + change over time
  • E: has, compared to other methods
  • R: has, has a standardised procedure. lacks, may be random errors in filling out the forms or in coding the data
  • V: there can be a ‘dark figure’ of unrecorded data which skews the V of OS. e.g. some births, marriages go unrecorded
  • R: has, OS like the Census are taken by the whole population so offers a very R sample
  • T: pos; they like - ‘OS are social facts’. int; OS lack V as OS are socially constructed - they represent labels
48
Q

define soft statistics

A
  • soft statistics = data that is difficult to measure as its people’s opinions or feelings
49
Q

define hard statistics

A
  • hard statistics = reliable + measurable data taken from official or organisational bodies
50
Q

outline ‘going native’

A
  • ‘going native’ refers to a danger of participation observation where one over-identifies with the group and forms a bias
  • they have stopped being an objective observer and have become a member of the group
51
Q

outline relationship to education for RM analysis

A
  • the research group may have a more positive or negative relationship with education
  • how will this impact the findings
  • how will the method interact with this issue
  • e.g. ethnic minorities/ WC may have a negative relationship with education
52
Q

define rapport

A
  • rapport = a relationship built between the researcher and the participant(s)
  • allows researcher to possibly be more valid and in depth

Sociology - Education (8 decks)

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