Research Methods

Question 1

What are all the different types of research methods?

Answer 1

Experiments, questionnaires,observations, official statistics and documents.

Question 2

What research methods are primary sources of data?

Answer 2

Experiments and observations, interviews, questionannaires.

Question 3

What research methods are secondary sources of data?

Answer 3

Official statistics, documents.

Question 4

What is the positivists view in terms of research methods?

Answer 4

measurable, objective social reality that exists, like the physical world. Our behaviour is a result of social forces shaping what we do. Aim of their research is to discover the underlying causes of our behaviour. Reliable and representative data.

Question 5

What type of data is obtained by positivists?

Answer 5

Reliable and representative quantitative data.

Question 6

What is the interpretivists view in terms of research methods?

Answer 6

no objective social reality, just subjective meanings that social actors give to events. Research uncovers actors meanings or worldview.

Question 7

What type of data is produced by interpretivists?

Answer 7

Valid, qualitative data.

Question 8

How would a research method be reliable?

Answer 8

For a method to be reliable it must be replicable. Uses standardised forms of measurement.

Question 9

What type of sociologists prefer reliable data?

Answer 9

Positivists. This is because they prefer a scientific approach that can be repeated.

Question 10

How can we make data representative?

Answer 10

Through studying a small sample of a group you are studying. The characteristics of this small sample need to reflect those of the wider group. The sociologist will then make generalisations on the basis of the evidence from the sample.

Question 11

What type of sociologists prefer data to be representatives?

Answer 11

Positivists emphasis representativeness as they wish to discover general patterns about social behaviour.

Question 12

What is validity?

Answer 12

Refers to how authentic and true the data is

Question 13

What sociologists prefer valid data?

Answer 13

Interpretivists, prefer unstructured so that they can develop true answers

Question 14

What’s the difference between validity and reliability?

Answer 14

Validity is a true account of people’s meanings whilst realibility involves measuring a standardised way that can be repeated. Methods that are strong on validity are usually weak on reliability and vice versa.

Question 15

What are all of the different types of sampling?

Answer 15

Random sampling, stratified,quota,snowballing,opportunity and qasis random/systematic.

Question 16

What is random sampling?

Answer 16

Where each person has an equal chance of being selected. For example a random generator.

Question 17

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 17

When the sampling frame is divided into subcategories that the researcher is interested in such as gender age and class. And then a certain number of people are randomly selected from each of these subcategories.

Question 18

What is quota sampling?

Answer 18

Like stratified sampling but the researcher is given a quota that they need to reach. The researcher may need to find 30 women between ages of 25 and 35 to answer a question and the first 30 women will fill the quota.

Question 19

What is snowballing sampling?

Answer 19

Used when it is difficult or impossible to obtain a sample of people to research on. It is used when the research is highly sensitive or deals with secretive or deviant groups as individuals may not want or be identified.

Question 20

What is opportunity sampling?

Answer 20

When the researcher themselves approach who is available and willing to participate.

Question 21

What is quasi random or systematic sampling?

Answer 21

When people are selected by choosing every Nth name from the sampling frame.

Question 22

Adavantages and disadvantages of random sampling?

Answer 22

It is unbiased because everyone has an equal chance of being selected. May not be representative because certain subgroups aren’t chosen.

Question 23

Advantages and disadvantages of stratified sampling?

Answer 23

Reduces sampling error as it assumes that all the subgroups of the population are proportionally represented. A weakness is that it is time-consuming to set up.

Question 24

Advantages and limitations of quota sampling?

Answer 24

It is less time consuming and less expensive. It can lead to a biased sample as the chosen sample may not be representative of the whole population.

Question 25

Advantages and disadvantages of snowballing sampling?

Answer 25

A strength is that it provides a valuable insight into social groups. A disadvantages is that it relies on a very small network of people who have come through recommendations so data is difficult to evaluate.

Question 26

Advantages and disadvantages of random sampling?

Answer 26

Quick and practical and it is the easiest and most practical way of finding a sample of participants. It is prone to bias and choosing who is available to take part means that the sample will be unrepresentative of the target population.

Question 27

Advantages and disadvantages of quasi random or systematic?

Answer 27

It is more evenly spread. Can lead to bias sample as it’s not totally random

Question 28

What are the 5 main groups and settings in education?

Answer 28

Pupils, teachers, parents, classrooms and schools.

Question 29

What did Hill in 2005 say are the 3 major differences between studying adults and young people?

Answer 29

Power and status, ability and understanding, vulnerability. These can all be linked to methods in context when a study studies children

Question 30

Who are the type of people who refuse access to schools from sociologists?

Answer 30

Gatekeepers like headteachers or governors.

Question 31

What are the characteristics of a lab experiment?

Answer 31

Tightly controlled, artificial environments. Used to see is one variable has an impact on another. Experimental group which is manipulated and a control group that is measured.

Question 32

What is the reliability like for lab experiments?

Answer 32

Experiments can be replicated exactly again and they should produce the same results every time. Favoured by positivist sociologists. However lack validity.

Question 33

What are some example of laboratory experiments?

Answer 33

Stanford prison experiment, bandura bobo doll, Milgrams obedience.

Question 34

Practical issues of lab experiments?

Answer 34

Small samples - can’t generalise. Hawthorne effect from the artificial environment. Possibly the expectancy effect - when what a researcher expects to happen influences the actual outcome.

Question 35

Ethical issues of laboratory experiments?

Answer 35

Informed consent - need to give informed consent. However, this can be self defeating due to demand characteristics. Harm to subjects - treatment should be made available.

Question 36

Theoretical issues of lab experiments? (Positivists and interpretivists)

Answer 36

Positivists favour due to reliability. Interpretivists would say lack validity. Cannot be sure these experiments are reflective of wider population - external validity. This is due to Small sample sizes and the high level of control.

Question 37

How can lab experiments be used in education - methods on context

Answer 37

Teacher expectations, classroom interaction, labelling, pupils self concepts, self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 38

Characteristics of field experiments

Answer 38

Takes place in subjects natural surroundings, those involved don’t know they are the subjects of an experiment, researcher isolates and manipulates one or more of the variables to see effect on subjects of the experiment.

Question 39

What are some examples of field experiments?

Answer 39

Brown and Gay (1985) - studied racial discrimination in employment. Sent a white actor and black actor for interviews for the same posts. Subjects were matched in every other way than ethnicity. Wood et Al (2010) - similar study, sending applications to over 1000 jobs apparently from 3 applications of different ethnicities.

Question 40

Evaluation of field experiments

Answer 40

- More natural and valid for real life - Avoids the artificiality of lab experiments - less control over variables as natural env. - unethical as subjects have no knowledge or consent.

Question 41

Characteristics of the comparative method?

Answer 41

Carried out in the mind of the sociologist. Re qnalyses secondary data Designed to discover cause and effect relationships. Identify 2 groups that are alike except for one variable and then compare the 2 groups to see if this one difference has any effect.

Question 42

Evaluation of the comparative method

Answer 42

- avoids artificially - used to study past events - avoids ethical problems of harming or decievinv subjects - less control than field experiments

Question 43

What’s a field experiment that is linked to teacher expectations?

Answer 43

Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) - pupils given IQ test, teachers then told that these identified 20% of pupils who were likely to spurt. Pupils were actually chosen at random.

Question 44

Characteristics of questionnaires

Answer 44

Easy way to gather data Distributed at home or in person. Use either close ended questions or open ended questions.

Question 45

What are the 6 advantages of questionnaires?

Answer 45

Practical, reliability, hypothesis testing, detachment and objectivity, representativeness,ethical issues

Question 46

What are the 7 disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 46

Practical, low response rate, inflexibility, snapshots, detachment, lying forgetting and right answerism, imposing the researchers meanings.

Question 47

Practical advantages of questionnaires?

Answer 47

- Quick and cheap way of gathering large amounts of quantitative data from large sample. - data usually easy to quantify - cheaper than other methods.

Question 48

Practical disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 48

- data can be limited/brief - offer of incentives adds to cost - low response rate -Inflexible - Snapshots

Question 49

Ethical issues of questionnaires?

Answer 49

- few ethical issues - not obliged to answer questions - gain informed consent Confidentiality easy to guarantee

Question 50

How can questionnaires be used? (Methods in context)

Answer 50

- subject and university choice - bullying and the experience of schooling - achievement and school factors - parental attitudes to education

Question 51

What is a structured interviews

Answer 51

It is where each interview is conducted in the same way with exactly the same questions working, order tone etc.

Question 52

Characteristics of structured interviews

Answer 52

Close ended questions, quantitative data. Social interaction. Many of same strengths and weaknesses as questionnaires

Question 53

Practical adavantages of structured interviews?

Answer 53

- Can cover large number of people - easily quantifiable - training is straightforward and inexpensive - response rates higher than questionnaires

Question 54

Practical disadvantages of structured interviews

Answer 54

- Inflexible - snapshots taken at one moment in time - unsuitable for studying unfamiliar topics

Question 55

Ethical issues of structured interviews?

Answer 55

Relatively few: - social interaction can make the interviewee feel pressures. - informed consent - right to anonymity and confidentiality

Question 56

Theoretical issues of structured interviews

Answer 56

Favoured by positivists. Produces representative and generalisable findings. Can establish correlations between variables.

Question 57

How are structured interviews reliable?

Answer 57

- easy to standardise and control - east for other researchers to recreate and replicate. - answers can be compared easily to identify similarities and differences.

Question 58

How are structured interviews representative?

Answer 58

Quick and cheap to conduct = large sample. High response rates and sampling improve representativeness.

Question 59

How can structured interviews be used in educational research?

Answer 59

-Pupils subcultures - pupils experience of health and sex education - class, ethnicity and language - gender identity and the male gaze - class and parental choice of schools

Question 60

Positives and negatives of group interviews?

Answer 60

X - answers could be influenced by peers X - cannot standardise questions / - creates a safe peer environment / - reduces power imbalance / - revellers interaction between pupils.

Question 61

What are the characteristics of official statistics?

Answer 61

- secondary data - produced by government or other official bodies - data not collected by sociologists

Question 62

Practical advantages of official statistics?

Answer 62

- free source of huge amounts of quantitative data - allows us to make comparisons between groups x- can show trends and patterns over time

Question 63

Practical disadvantages of official statistics?

Answer 63

- data made for governments own purpose - may be mismatches between sets of data - definitions of the state may be different to that a sociologist would use. - some stats collected infrequently such as the ten yearly census

Question 64

Theoretical issues of official statistics

Answer 64

- positivists favour official stats as objective facts about society - interpretivists see them as social constructs. Marxists and feminist see them as performing an ideological function

Question 65

Characteristics of unstructured interviews?

Answer 65

- interviewers is free to vary the questions, wording or order. - can pursue whatever line of questioning they wish - can produce rich, detailed qualifications data

Question 66

Practical issues of unstructured interviews?

Answer 66

- interviewer can develop a rapport - training needs to be more thorough - long time - costs - large amounts of data = time

Question 67

Theoretical issues of unstructured interviews?

Answer 67

Validity can only be obtained by getting close to people’s experiences and meanings. - see the world through interviewers eyes.

Question 68

Why do interpretivists use the grounded theory whilst conducting unstructured interviews?

Answer 68

As the grounded theory allows them to build and modify there hypothesis during the course of the research based on what they discover.

Question 69

What is Ann Oakley view of unstructured interviews?

Answer 69

She believes they are value committed as frees women from patriarchal oppression. - aims for equality and collaboration - requires researchers actual involvement

Question 70

What are the 2 types of participant observation and explain them.

Answer 70

Non participant observation - researcher observed the group without taking part. Participant observation - researcher takes part in the life of the group whilst observing it.

Question 71

Characteristics of participant observation

Answer 71

- used more often than non-participant - preferred by interpretivists - positivists sometimes use structured non- participant observation

Question 72

What is overt observation?

Answer 72

Where the researcher reveals their true identity and purpose to those being studied and asks their permission to observe

Question 73

What is covert observation.

Answer 73

Where the research conceals their true identity and purpose, usually posing as a genuine member of the group.

Question 74

What are the 3 main issues when it comes to observing a group?

Answer 74

Getting in, staying in and getting out

Question 75

Practical issues of overt observation

Answer 75

- the researcher can behave normally and does not have to put on an act. - group may refuse to let an outsider join them or restrict what they see - researcher can take notes openly - researcher has ability to opt out of any dangerous or illegal activities. - risks Hawthorne effect.

Question 76

Practical issues of covert observation

Answer 76

- researcher must keep an active up. - researcher may need knowledge of norms before joining - may see things they wouldn’t be able to if non-participant - usually has to rely on memory to take notes - may have to engage in dangerous activities - less risk of a,teeing groups behaviour

Question 77

Ethical issues - observation

Answer 77

- unethical to deceive people - covert observers may have to lie about why they are leaving the group at the end of their research or Abondon them, - participant in immoral or illegal activities is unethical.

Question 78

What type of sociologists prefer Participant observation

Answer 78

Interpretivists - produces qualitative data. - high in validity - high in flexibility

Question 79

Why do positivists reject use of participant observation?

Answer 79

- lack of representativeness - lack of reliability - bias and lack of objectivity Lack of validity - due to subjectiveness.

Question 80

How might observation be used in studies of education? (Methods in context)

Answer 80

- gender and classroom behaviour - teacher expectations and labelling - speech codes in the classroom -Pupil subcultures - Teacher and pupil racism - the hidden curriculum

Question 81

What are the different type of texts that can be used as documents?

Answer 81

Written texts - like diaries, letters, emails,SMS texts. Other texts- paintings, drawings, photographs

Question 82

What are public documents.

Answer 82

Documents produced by organisations such as government departments, schools, welfare agencies, ousted.

Question 83

What are some example of personal documents?

Answer 83

Facebook pages, letters, diaries, photo albums, autobiography .

Question 84

What are historical documents?

Answer 84

Personal or public documents created in the past.

Question 85

Practical advantages of documents?

Answer 85

-May be the only available source of information - may be free or cheap sources of large amounts of data - save the sociologists time

Question 86

Practical disadvantages of documents

Answer 86

- not always possible to gain access to them - individuals and organisations create documents for their own purposes. Therefore may not contain answers to the kinds of questions the sociologists wishes to ask.

Question 87

Ethical issues of documents.

Answer 87

- present fewer ethical problems than primary sources - - use of an organisations unpublished documents may raise ethical issues. - if public documents have been ‘leaked’ to the researcher informed consent hasn’t been gained.

Question 88

What type of sociologists are documents favoured by?

Answer 88

Favoured by interpretivists as it can give the researcher a valid picture of actors meanings. It is also more likely to be authentic of authors views as they are not written in the sociologist mind.

Question 89

How May a document lack validity? (3 ways)

Answer 89

- a document can only yield data if it is authentic. - issue of credibility- wether it’s believable. - danger of misinterpreting what the document meant to the author and the audience.

Question 90

How reliable are documents

Answer 90

Positivists see documents as unreliable sources of data. - documents aren’t standardised

Question 91

Representativeness of documents?

Answer 91

Some groups may not be represented in documents for example the illiterate and those with limited leisure time are unlikely to keep diaries

Question 92

What is formal content analysis (documents)

Answer 92

Documents are normally qualitative forms of data, formal content analysis enables us to quantify data. Gil (1988) describes how formal content analysis might work:

Question 93

What is thematic analysis?

Answer 93

- Qualitative analysis of media content - used by interpretivists and feminists - Select a small number of cases for in depth analysis. Aim is to reveal the underlying meanings that have been encoded in the documents, uncovering the authors ideological bias.

Question 94

How does content analysis work?

Answer 94

- select a representative sample - decide what categories are to be used - study the stories and put them into chosen categories (coding) - quantify how women are characterised in the stories by counting how many in each category