Research Methods

Question 1

What is quantitative data?

Answer 1

Quantitative data consists of data in numerical form.
For example, the number of females and males passing an exam.

Question 2

What is qualitative data?

Answer 2

Qualitative data is any data that is not numerical.
Such as written description (filed notes), diary entries, photographs, recorded music or radio programmes.

Question 3

What are primary sources?

Answer 3

Primary sources are those sources of data that are produced directly by a sociologist conducting research.
Such as the results of experiments or the answers obtained from questionnaires and interviews.

Question 4

What are secondary sources?

Answer 4

Secondary sources consist of existing data produced by someone else.
For example government statistics, or the results of an experiment conducted by another researcher.

Question 5

What do positivists believe?

Answer 5

Positivism refers to the belief that there are ‘social facts’ that can be studied objectively using methods that are similar to the natural sciences.
Positivist methods produce quantitative data on social patterns and trends which can be used to explain society.

Question 6

What research methods do positivists use?

Answer 6

Positivist research methods include:
Laboratory experiments.
The comparative method.
Social surveys.
Structured questionnaires.

Question 7

What do interpretivists believe?

Answer 7

Interpretivism implies that people are conscious of their personal beliefs, meanings, values, and interpretations, and that these influence the way they act. The researcher attempts to gain an in-depth understanding of how people see and understand the world around them by putting themselves in the position of those being studied; to understand things from their point of view.

Question 8

What research methods do interpretivists use?

Answer 8

Interpretivists use qualitative methods in order to study social phenomena, including:
Uncontrolled field experiments.
Open-ended questionnaires.
Unstructured interviews.
Overt and covert participant and non-participant observation.
Personal accounts, using personal documents such as diaries and letters.

Question 9

What is a hypothesis? Which sociologists favour it?

Answer 9

A hypothesis is a general explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence that can be proved or disproved. Positivists favour this approach as it is scientific.

Question 10

What is an aim? Which sociologists favour it?

Answer 10

An aim outlines what the researcher intends to study. 
Interpretivists  favour this approach as it allows the research to be guided by the participants. 

Question 11

What does operationalise mean?

Answer 11

This is where the concepts within the sociologists aim/hypothesis are broken down to identify how they will be measured.
E.g. identify how to measure the concept of social class. 

Question 12

What is a pilot study?

Answer 12

 A pilot study is a draft version of the research which is carried out on a small sample.  

Question 13

What is meant by reliability?

Answer 13

Reliability refers to whether the method can be replicated, or repeated, by others to check the results.
The same or similar results should be obtained if the study is carried out by a different researcher – the same or similar results would suggest that the method is reliable.

Question 14

What is meant by representativeness?

Answer 14

Representativeness refers to whether the method enables the findings to be generalised to similar groups.

Question 15

What is meant by validity?

Answer 15

Validity refers to whether the chosen method provides a true, genuine or authentic depiction of what is being studied.
Qualitative data generally has high validity but is less reliable.

Question 16

What are examples of practical issues?

Answer 16

Time and funding available.
Access.
Researcher characteristics .
The availability of existing data.
The career interests and need for researchers to meet deadlines and publish findings.

Question 17

What is meant by ethical issues?

Answer 17

The researcher has a duty to protect participants and ensure that their needs are met.
The researcher must ensure that they:
Avoid any harmful consequences of either those being researched or the researcher.
Avoid deception (not being honest about the intentions of the study).
Ensure that they gain freely given informed consent of those taking part.
Respect the privacy, interests and anonymity of those taking part (confidentiality issues).

Question 18

What is meant by theoretical issues?

Answer 18

Whether a functionalist, Marxist or feminist approach is adopted, and how this impacts the choice of topic.
Whether a positivist or interpretivist approach is adopted and how this influences choice of research method.

Question 19

How do positivists conduct their research?

Answer 19

Positivists argue that sociology is a scientific discipline and therefore they use the most scientific research methods to conduct their studies, such as laboratory experiments and official statistics.
These methods are high in reliability and objectivity.

Question 20

How do interpretivists conduct their research?

Answer 20

Interpretivists choose to study individuals in society.
They argue that sociology should not be associated with science and they therefore choose to use non scientific methodologies. Interpretivists methods include unstructured interviews and participant observations.

Question 21

How do Marxists and functionalists conduct their research?

Answer 21

Marxists and functionalists use positivist methodologies as they believe that through science we can move forward as a society.

Question 22

Describe experiments.

Answer 22

Experiments are used to test a hypothesis.
Experiments are used by either positivists or interpretivists.

Question 23

What is the difference between a field and lab experiment?

Answer 23

Field experiments are conducted in real-world settings, but variables remain tightly controlled.
Laboratory experiments control variables and, as such, are usually conducted in artificial environments.

Question 24

What are the strengths of experiments?

Answer 24

The hypothesis can be tested in a controlled environment.
It is easy to isolate and manipulate variables to identify the causes of events (except in field experiments).
High reliability.
Experiments allow for comparisons to be made with other experimental research.
The researcher is seen as a detached, objective observer which is considered to be more scientific.

Question 25

Describe field experiments.

Answer 25

Field experiments are conducted in real-world environments and are therefore considered to be high in validity.
Field experiments are seen by interpretivists as producing more valid information.

Question 26

Weaknesses of experiments.

Answer 26

It’s difficult to isolate a single cause of a social issue.
There are ethical problems, in that the researcher needs to treat one group of participants differently to another, raising the possibility of negative consequences on one group.
Experiments often involve deception, where the researcher isn’t honest with the participants about certain aspects of the experiment, making it difficult to obtain informed consent.
Experiments are often only practical in small-scale settings, which may be unrepresentative.
Conditions are often artificial so they cannot always be applied to real-world settings.
The risk of the Hawthorne effect can undermine validity.
In field experiments, researchers can’t control all variables, making it difficult to establish cause and effect.

Question 27

What is the comparative method?

Answer 27

The comparative method retains the main principles of the experiment but collects data on different societies or social groups and then compares them with another society or group.

Question 28

Describe field experiments.

Answer 28

Surveys are used to collect primary quantitative data from large groups of people.
They are usually carried out using structured questionnaires or interviews.

Question 29

What is random sampling?

Answer 29

Every individual in the survey population has an equal chance of being picked out for investigation.

Question 30

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 30

The sampling frame is subdivided into a number of smaller sampling frames based on particular characteristics (e.g. gender, social class).
A random sample is then taken from this frame.

Question 31

What is systematic sampling?

Answer 31

Names are selected from the sampling frame at regular intervals e.g. every nth term until the desired size is reached.

Question 32

What is quota sampling?

Answer 32

The survey population is stratified and interviewers then find a quota of people who fit the criteria.

Question 33

What is snowball sampling?

Answer 33

Used when a sample of a sampling frame is hard to obtain.
The researcher identifies a small number of people with desired characteristics and asks them to introduce them to other people who might be willing to cooperate.

Question 34

Describe close-ended questionnaires.

Answer 34

These involve a number of pre-set, closed questions with the choice of a limited number of multiple-choice answers.
Structured questionnaires are the preferred choice of positivists.

Question 35

Advantages of close-ended questionnaires.

Answer 35

They are quick and cheap to complete and process.
They produce easy to classify quantitative data.
They have high reliability, as they are easy to repeat and check findings.
The data collected may produce new theories or test existing hypotheses.
They enable comparisons to be made between different groups and populations because all people are answering the same questions.
They are objective because the researcher remains detached from and less involved with the respondents.
There are a few ethical problems because people can choose not to answer.

Question 36

Disadvantages of structured questionnaires.

Answer 36

There may be problems related to literacy, as some people may not be able to read or fully understand the questions.
The meaning of the questions might be ambiguous or unclear.
Extra questions cannot be added and respondents cannot expand in their answers.
Interpretivists claim that they impose meanings and frameworks and a choice of answers which may not apply to the respondent (the imposition problem).

Question 37

Describe open ended questionnaires.

Answer 37

Open-ended questionnaires will still have a number of pre-set questions but without any pre-set choice of answers.
Open questions allow respondents to write their own answer or dictate them to the interviewer.

Question 39

Advantages of questionnaires- Practical advantages

Answer 39

They are quick and cheap: many can be posted or sent online.
No need to recruit and train interviewers or observers to collect the data.
Data is easy to quantify as if close ended questions are used and can be quickly processed by computer.

Question 40

Advantages of questionnaires- Reliability

Answer 40

If repeated by another researcher the questionnaire should give similar results.
When repeated an identical questionnaire is used, so new respondents are asked the same questions as original respondents.
Online/ postal questionnaires the researcher is not present to influence the respondents answers.
Results can be obtained to compare two different societies or at two different times.

Question 41

Advantages of questionnaires- Hypothesis testing

Answer 41

It can be used to test cause and effect relationships between variables.
Analysis of respondents answers can show correlations.
This can be used to make a statement about the possible causes and explains of why this is favoured by positivists as they take a scientific approach and seek to discovers laws of cause and effect.

Question 42

Advantages of questionnaires- Detachment and objectivity

Answer 42

It is an unbiased method so favoured by positivists, the sociologists involvement is limited.
Postal questionnaires are completed at a distance so no contact with the respondent.
Positivists see them as a good way of maintaining detachment and objectivity.

Question 43

Advantages of questionnaires- Representativeness

Answer 43

Can collect information from a large number of people so us more representative of the wider population.
Researchers using questionnaires tend to pay more attention to obtain a representative sample.
Therefore findings are more likely to name accurate generalisations about the wider population.

Question 44

Advantages of questionnaires- Ethical issues

Answer 44

Fewer ethical issues than other research methods.
Questionnaires may ask sensitive questions but respondents generally under no obligation to answer.
Researchers should gain respondents informed consent to make sure they kept anonymous and make clear they don’t need to answer what they do not wish to.

Question 45

Disadvantages of questionnaires- Practical issues

Answer 45

Data tend to be limited and superficial becuase it is fairly brief, otherwise pps wouldn’t answer long, time-consuming questions.
Respondents may need to be persuaded eg entry into a prize draws, adding to the cost.
Postal and online questionnaires, researchers cannot be sure whether the potential respondents have actually received the questionnaires and whether or not they have completed it.