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Sociology > Research Methods > Flashcards

Research Methods Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Laboratory Experiments

A

-favoured by positivists
-highly controlled environment

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2
Q

advantages of laboratory experiments

A

-highly reliable,

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3
Q

disadVantages of laboratory experiments

A

-the Hawthorne effect (a lab is not a formal or natural environment)
-ethical issues (reseacher needs informed consent of the participants

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4
Q

field experiments

A

-take place in real social world
-those involved are usually unaware of the research taking place

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5
Q

advantages of field experiments

A

-less artificiality
-validity ( people are unaware of the experimental situation

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6
Q

disadvantages of field experiments

A

-ethical issues ( experiment carried out on people without their informed consent)
-limited application

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7
Q

structured interview

A
  • positivist favoured method
    -face to face or over the phone
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8
Q

advantages of structured interview

A

-practical(easy and cheap to administer)
-reliable (structured process provides a recipe for reproducibility)
-quantifiable because they use close ended questions

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9
Q

disadvantages of structured interview

A

-lack of validity: people may lie or exaggerate
-+ the use of close ended questions can restrict information

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9
Q

unstructured interview advantages

A

-flexibility (the interviewer is not restricted to a fixed set of questions
-valid (people can be open and truthful due to opened ended questions

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10
Q

unstructured intervierws

A

-interpretivist favoured
method
-open ended question

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11
Q

unstructured interview disadvantage

A

-practical ( time consuming and costly due to interview training)
-unrepresentative ( small research samples)
-not reliable (due to how the questions are open)

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11
Q

questionnaires

A

-favoured by positivists
-via post email or handed out in person

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12
Q

questionnaires advantages

A

-practical (cheap and quick)
-quantifiable data
-representative (reach a geographically widespread research sample

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13
Q

questionaires disadvantages

A

-response rate (postal questionnaires in particular is very low)
-low validity (people may be more willing to lie)
-unrepresenative (people are too busy)

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14
Q

observations

A

-either be participant or non participant (meaning researcher is involved in one)

15
Q

participant observations (researcher joins in the activities of the group they are researching) advantages

A

-valid (groups are observed in a natural settings + detailed data

16
Q

disadvantages of participant observation

A

-unreliable (open ended questions cannot be replicated)
-unrepresentative (small scale groups)
-not valid (Hawthorne effect)

17
Q

non participant observation

A
  • the observer avoids any direct involvement with the researchers group
18
Q

advantages of non participant observation

A

valid- limited risk of the researcher going native

19
Q

disadvantages of non participant observation

A

not reliable
-not representative (involves a small scale sample )

20
Q

overt observations

A

the researcher explains their research intention to the group so participants are aware

21
Q

overt observation pros

A

-less ethical issues that covert as participants know they are being researched
-higher level of reliability than covert

22
Q

overt observation cons

A

-practical (time consuming)
-lacks validity (Hawthorne effect)
-less reliable (difficult to repeat )

23
Q

covert observation

A

researcher keeps their real identity an purpose secret from search subjects

24
Q

advantages of covert observation

A

-more valid than overt because lack of hawthorn effect
-research obtained is more valid because you have a first hand insight

25
Q

disadvantages of covert observation

A

-ethical issue (immoral to decive people)
-reasercher has to gain trust and acceptance (may be time consuming)

26
Q

official statistics

A

quantitative data collected by government bodies
-favoured by positivist

27
Q

pros of official statistics

A

-practical (cheap, easy to access)
-representative ( often cover large groups of people eg crime stats incorporate whole country)

28
Q

cons of official statistics

A

the government collects the stats for their own benefit, is they may not cover what sociologists specifically want to study

29
Q

documents

A

secondary data favoured by interpretivists which are created by individuals or groups
-mainly comprising qualitative data

30
Q

pros of personal documents (diaries, letters)

A

-valid (written for personal purposes so have a high degree of validity)
-practical (cheap and save researchers time)

31
Q

cons of personal documents

A

-some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as letters their views aren’t represented while those with time and literacy skills may be overrepresented

32
Q

quantitative data (numbers) pros

A

-practical ( collect information quickly eg surveys)
-allows for a larger sample size
- preferred by positivists as they are looking to establish trends and patterns

33
Q

quantitative data cons

A
  • can’t understand why something is changing as it doesn’t go into detail
    -low validity (dont know If someone is lying )
34
Q

qualitative data (words) pros

A
  • more in depth data
  • more ethical (useful for sensitive topics)
    -prefered by interpretivists
35
Q

qualitative data cons

A

-low reliability ( hard to repeat)
-practical issue (time consume + costly)
-low representativeness ( small sample)

36
Q

primary methods of data collection

A

-questionaires
-interviews
-observation
-experiments

37
Q

secondary sources of data

A

-documents
-official statistics
-personal diary
-historical documents

Sociology (9 decks)

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