Research Methods Flashcards
What are practical issues that affect Research Methods?
- Factors affecting the Sociologist as they carry out the research
- Time and money
- Personal Skills
- Gaining access to group
What are ethical issues that affect Research Methods?
- Moral issues and guidelines that the Sociologist should follow
- Informed Consent
- Right to withdraw
- Confidentiality
What are theoretical issues affecting Research Methods?
- Factors affecting the outcome of the data and what it achieves
- Representativeness
- Verstehen
- Validity and Reliability 📈📉
What is Positivism?
Sociologists that prefer objective and quantitative data. They use macro research to look at trends/patterns.
What is Interpretivism?
Sociologists that prefer qualitative and valid information. They want to gain verstehen with their participants to give them an understanding.
What key terms should be considered when discussing questionnaires?
- “Right Answerism”: Respondents changing their answers to what they feel is correct and not what they think is correct
- Leading Questions: Questions that encourage you to give a specific answer
What are the 2 studies of Questionnaires?
- The Census: a legally required questionnaire
- Connor and Dewson: were investigating working class university choices
What are the positives of the Census?
- Legal requirement raises response rate
- No deception
- Representative of the whole population
What are the negatives of The Census?
- Not time efficient to send and collect
- Answers aren’t confidential to the govt
- Sometimes not taken seriously (Jedi as a religion in 2001)
What are the positives of Connor and Dewson’s Questionnaire?
+ No need to train interviewers
+ Data was processed by computers because of closed questions
What are structured interviews?
Conversations with standardised (pre set) questions. The interviewer is given strict instructions
What are the 2 key studies of Structured Interviews?
- Young and Wilmott: they researched 933 people’s extended family in London, using standardised questions to limit alternative answers
- British Crime Survey for England + Wales: Since 1981, it asks participants their experiences of crime over the last 12 months. 75% of 40,000 people took part
What are unstructured interviews?
Guided conversations between the interviewer and interviewee
What are the key studies of Unstructured Interviews?
- Dobash and Dobash: used 8hr unstructured interviews with domestic violence survivors and found the main trigger was challenging male authority
- Dean and Taylor Gooby: Used 90 min unstructured interviews with claimants about their experiences of unemployment. Inappropriate questions were removed
What are Group interviews?
Multiple individuals having a conversation with the interviewer
What is the example of Group Interviews?
- Willis: Learning to labour
What are Participant Observations?
- When a researcher takes part in the target group/ sample activities
- Can be overt or covert
What are the 3 Covert Participant Observation studies?
- Laud Humphreys: was a “watch queen” for gay men
- Griffin: investigated racism by dying his skin and hair black
- Patrick: was a teacher that was invited to a young gang, fled after 3 months
What are the 2 Overt Participant Observation key studies
- Venkatesh: spent 18 months spread across 7 years with a Chicago gang, saw illegal acts but also saw a sense of community
- Barker: observed the Unification Church and concluded that it wasn’t a cult, contrary to popular belief
What is a Lab Experiment?
- An investigation that took place in an artificial environment
What are the 2 key studies of Lab experiments?
- Milgram: told participants to increasingly shock another volunteer taking a test
- Mayo: investigated factors affecting work productivity (e.g. lighting, heating)
What are Field Experiments?
Investigations set in their natural environment
What are the 2 key studies of field experiments?
- Rosenthal + Jacobson: Spurters
- Rosenhan: Investigated patients that were labelled as schizophrenic but stopped showing symptoms
What is Secondary Data?
Information gathered by another researcher
What are Official Statistics?
Data produced and provided by the government
What are the 2 key studies of Official Statistics?
- Durkheim: looked at the link between suicide and religion (England > Italy)
- Public Statistics: collected for govt policies (e.g. census used for no. of houses)
What are the 3 types of Documents?
- Personal: written for their own purpose
- Public: accessible and well known
- Historic: written in the past
What are the 2 Key studies of Documents?
- Hey (personal): Wanted to investigate school girls’ relationship, used notes and swapped diaries
- Anne Frank (historical/personal): wrote a diary about her experiences as a Jew during the Nazi regime
What are the 2 types of Content Analysis?
- Quantitative: looking at how many times a word/phrase is repeated
- Qualitative: unpicking underlying meanings
