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sociology > Research methods > Flashcards

Research methods Flashcards

1
Q

Questionnaires

A

Main method for gathering data in social surveys
list of questions handed or posted to respondent for delf-completion

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2
Q

Questionnaire design (open and closed)

A

closed - series of questions accompanied by a choice of answers (quantitative result)
open - open-ended questions - respondent writes how they feel or experienced something (qualitative)
semi-structured - combination of both open and closed questions

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3
Q

Questionnaire study

A

Calendar and Jackson - postal questionnaire sent out about rates of students going to university/ higher education
extremely low response rates impacted research

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4
Q

Questionnaire strengths

A

larger and more representative samples
can be used with geographically dispersed research population
less time consuming
reasonably cheap
useful for researching embarrassing or insensitive questions - guaranteed anonymity being done in private
minimum contact - researcher bias
positivists argue use of questionnaires is scientific
high reliability (repeated to get similar results)
statistical data can be compared and correlated

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5
Q

Questionnaire disadvantages

A

low response or even non-response
may not be representative of research population - undermines validity
postal questionnaires suffer from even worse response rate - eligibility for free prize draw drives costs up
difficult to go in depth on questionnaire (interpretivist - low validity)
real life too complex to be categorised into closed questions
misinterpretation - undermines validity
only literate can complete
technical/ vague language - some cant understand (language barriers elaborated/ restricted)
artificial devices - not normal part of everyday life so could be responded to with suspicion (validity not guaranteed)
partial truth
imposition problem - measure what sociologist thinks is important rather than what the respondent feels

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6
Q

Interviews

A

most successful carried out in private, neutral, and unthreatening venues
interviewers trained in interviewing skills such as listening skills and body language

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7
Q

Interviews - structured interviews

A

researcher reading out a list of closed questions from an interview schedule
based on pre-set fixed categories
interviewer passive role - cannot deviate from questions
converted to quantitative form (very similar to questionnaires)

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8
Q

Structured interview study

A

Chubb and Moe
parental attitudes towards education
can have an impact on educational outcomes

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9
Q

Structured interviews - positivists

A

very keen on method as theyre seen as scientific
highly reliable and easily repeatable

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10
Q

Structured interviews strengths

A

use of closed questions allows for quantitative factual data
conducted quick quickly
possible for representative sample as many interviews can take place
interviewers can explain the aims and objectives of the research to clarify instructions
better response rate than questionnaires
pre-coded answers increase reliability

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11
Q

Structured interviews disadvantages

A

artificial devices, suspicion, reduce reliability
discomfort and unease
inflexible due to rigid structure - impossible to pursue interesting leads
dont capture dynamic and changing nature of social life
may be interpreted differently to the interpretation intended by respondent - undermining validity
interpretivists argue closed interviews suffer from imposition problem (measure what sociologist thinks is important instead of what respondent thinks)

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12
Q

Unstructured interviews

A

guided, informal conversation
researcher plays active role keeping subject to the researcher
more flexible without interview schedule
happy to follow respondent and follow up ideas and responses
investigates motives and feelings

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13
Q

Unstructured interviews study

A

Becker
Chicago school teachers stereotypes
labelling of school children ultimately impacts educational outcome

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14
Q

Unstructured interviews - interpretivists

A

Keen as they are concerned with understanding the meaning and interpretations that underpin social life (how people interpret the world around them)
qualitative, valid

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15
Q

Unstructured interviews strengths

A

interpretivists as they allow researcher to establish an interaction/ relationship with the respondent - more likely to open up (build rapport)
allow researcher to get in the heads leading to more valid, qualitative data
respondent placed at centre of researcher
more likely to discuss sensitive or painful experiences (rapport)
flexible - may lead to new hypotheses
provide richer more vivid and colourful data therefore more valid

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16
Q

Unstructured interviews disadvantages

A

positivists - unscientific as they lack reliability (cannot be repeated and checked)
lack of objectivity due to the personal relationship established leading to bias results (interviewer bias)
a lot of data - data selected to be published may be bias to researchers thoughts and views
no pre-coded answers so difficult to analyse and impossible to quantify
fewer participants so less representative of the research population as its difficult to generalise
expensive as interviewers need to be trained
time consuming

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17
Q

Semi structured interviews

A

contain a lot of closed questions along with some open questions
allow interview some flexibility to ask for clarification of vague answers
adds depth and allow interviewer to assess whether the answers are truthful
reliability questioned as some interviewees need more probing than other
interviews cannot be compared as each one is difficult

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18
Q

Semi structured interviews study

A

Myhill and Jones
students’ perspectives on treatment of boys/ girls

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19
Q

Group interviews

A

carried out in groups rather than individuals
interviewer talks to a group (often used for children who feel threatened in interviewed one on one with adult) - status difference
offers reassurance
investigate dynamic of how particular group operates
more valid picture of behaviour may arise when in a group
peer pressure can appear when there’s one or two stronger personalities in the group undermining the validity of the data

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20
Q

Group interviews study

A

Willis
observed how ‘lads’ developed anti-school subcultures despite values pushed by teachers

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21
Q

Observation

A

interpretivists interested in how people live their everyday lives - argue observation is the best way to understanding into peoples’ behaviours as it gives first-hand insight into how people interpret the social world around them

22
Q

Non participant observation

A

Overt - sociologist joins in activities but some or all of the group know that the researcher is a sociologist
researcher plays passive role in research - only observes
researcher is detached meaning it is unbiased and objective
the group should not be influenced by observer
observing is artificial and behaviour can change due to presence (Hawthorne)
positivists - set of behaviours (quantifiable)
representative
ethical - informed consent, vulnerable groups, gaining access (gatekeepers)
teacher in disguise
natural environment

23
Q

Participant observation

A

Covert - researcher conceals the fact they are doing research pretending to be a member of the group
sociologist immerses themselves in the lifestyle of the group they wish to study
participate in the same activities to be able to research and observe their everyday lives
important to have similar social characteristics to make it valid
interpretivist - qualitative and valid

24
Q

Observation study

A

Flanders
structural observations schedule to study interactions within the classroom

25
Q

Participant observation strengths

A

naturalistic setting - validity
able to see things through the eyes of others
verstehen (Weber) - sociologist can empathise with the group and understand why they do what they do
focusing on looking and listening leads to very valid data
what people do and say are widely different - really capture the truth
allowed to ask informal questions that can lead to developed relationships in order to clarify motives (building rapport)
can generate new ideas and lead to new insights
has better chance of understanding meanings and definitions of people’s behaviour in natural context
practical methods meaning they can reach hard-to-reach groups like criminal gangs (anti-school subcultures)

26
Q

Participant observation disadvantages

A

difficult to gain entry and accepted - needs to share characteristic and be good actor (gaining entry, going native, getting out)
observer/ researcher effect - presence of observer may force group to act less naturally as they know theyre being observed
settling period recommended
may become attached to group, losing objectivity
ethics - deception and manipulation no informed consent (immoral)
observer may have to take part in immoral/ criminal activity
great danger (e.g., Pryce murdered whilst observing)
time consuming (sometimes months/ years) and expensive
difficult to take notes without seeming suspicious (research diary - relying on memory)
postivists - unreliable and impossible to verify data collected
cannot be repeated
lack representativeness as usually observing smaller numbers impossible to generalise within a large research population

27
Q

Laboratory experiments

A

main means of conducting research in natural sciences
tests hypothesis with the variables being controlled by the researcher
can isolate independent variables that result in particular effects
experiment set up in 2 groups control groups (subject to normal conditions) and the experiment group (conditions manipulated) and then compared

28
Q

Lab experiment study

A

Milgrim
obedience test involving ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’
deceived and emotional trauma, electric shock

29
Q

Lab experiment strengths

A

can test hypotheses under controlled conditions
easier to isolate and manipulate causes of effects
preferred by positivists as they’re very scientific - repeatable and objective without bias
lots of statistical data can be controlled and correlated

30
Q

Lab experiments disadvantages

A

difficult to use in sociological research as social events arent often result of a single variable as social life is complex and cannot be isolated and manipulated like in a lab
unethical to experiment on people without knowledge (informed consent)
Hawthorne - behaviour changing because of their presence of the researcher instead of the changing variables
begin to act artificially instead of naturally
only for small scale research

31
Q

Field experiments

A

situation set up in a naturalistic context - one variable is manipulated by the researcher and observes the reaction of those being studied
control group not always apparent

32
Q

Field experiment study

A

Rosenthal and Jacobson
studied teacher expectations using IQ test performance in Californian school

33
Q

field experiments strengths

A

interpretivists use these to uncover meaning or interpretations that underpin social behaviour
unravel the often-hidden processes of natural everyday social life and behaviour
get very close to people’s interpretations of everyday life
produce qualitative information that is high in validity

34
Q

field experiments disadvantages

A

dont involve informed consent - deception and manipulation (e.g., Rosenthal and Jacobson deception behind truth of the IQ testing)
may become emotionally or psychologically damaged
Hawthorne
can never be sure if the variable theyve isolated is the cause of the behaviour

35
Q

Secondary data

A

any data used by sociologist which they didnt collect by themselves

36
Q

Official statistics

A

numerical data collected by state agencies (e.g., education sector)
usually gathered through surveys (e.g., the census)
some surveys collect information on the health services about domestic and personal information (e.g., diet, exercise, smoking and drinking habits, housing etc)
registration data (important insights into morality and life expectancy)

37
Q

Official statistics study

A

Durkheim
looked into suicide rates in European societies overtime

38
Q

Official statistics strengths

A

easy and cheap to access
usually extremely contemporary
involve large representative sample
positivists see them as hard reliable facts as they are collected in a scientific fashion (highly representative)
statistical relationship[s can be identified by comparing different surveys
can find trends overtime
easy to generalise
by responding giving informed consent

39
Q

Official statistics disadvantages

A

may not present a complete picture - crime statistics may only cover crimes reported to the police (doesnt cover unreported crimes)
stats can be abused by governments for political advantages
statistics socially constructed - result in someone making a judgement, sometimes selective and bias
tell us very little about human stories and interpretations that underpin them (no valid)
may be misinterpreted/ misleading
marxists argue they reflect interests of RC
falling crime/ better achievements
RC protecting WC
aids false class consciousness

40
Q

personal/ expressive documents

A

diaries, letters and other documents are sources of qualitative data (e.g., about feelings, attitudes, emotions, motives for behaviour etc)

41
Q

Expressive document study

A

Gewirtz
studied how schools sell themselves through brochures and reports giving selected and distorted impression

42
Q

Expressive documents strengths

A

usually used to supplement quantitative secondary data such as official statistics
rich, detailed and valid insight into everday experiences and practices of people in their natural environment
often only insight into the past
insight into how society has developed
provides historical dimension

43
Q

Expressive documents disadvantages

A

always danger of them being bias and therefore invalid
unreliable as it cant be checked for accuracy
unrepresentative as theyre not typical (personal feelings and emotions)
doubts about authenticity - can be forged
may be interpretated differently to how they were intended
positivists
no informed consent from author to be used in research

44
Q

Public documents

A

can be contemporary or historical
allows comparison
show effectiveness of social policy measures
doubts about authenticity
validity and objectivity questioned
not regarded as reliable as they cant be checked
open to misinterpretation

45
Q

Mass media reports and products

A

tell us about society we live in, sociologists use them to examine and analyse values, prioritise or concerns of society at one point
two techniques used to analyse - content analysis and semiotics

46
Q

content analysis

A

quantitative involving counting the frequency of a certain image (in newspapers/ magazines or headlines)
usually design a content analysis schedule - a list of things a sociologist is looking for in media
positivists

47
Q

Semiotics

A

qualitative
involving analysis of language or images to work out how it might symbolise a particular political or cultural position

48
Q

mass media report study

A

Glasgow media group
studied descriptions of coalminers on strike
found they used harsh and aggressive vocabulary

49
Q

mass media reports strengths

A

very cheap
allows sociologists to compare over time
regarded as reliable as other sociologists can repeat and check results by using the same content schedule
different perspectives of the event (interpretivist)
highly practical and accessible
different views improves validity, can check researcher bias

50
Q

mass media reports disadvantages

A

very time consuming
very subjective - depending on the interpretation of the researcher
could take the meaning of an image or set of words out of context (misinterpret)
assumption of the content having an effect on an audience - may not be the case
may only tell us of the beliefs of those who produce the products (marxist - RC)
social desirability

sociology (9 decks)

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