research methods 2

Question 1

What are the 2 observation types in sociology?

Answer 1

Participant vs non-participant
Covert vs overt

Question 2

Strength and weakness of participant vs non-participant observations? vv

Answer 2

Participant:
S=researcher gains greater insight as they are experiencing the same experiences the ppts do, increasing the validity
W=researcher may become too involved aka ‘going native’, findings are less objective
Non-participant:
vv

Question 3

Strength and weakness of covert vs overt observations? vv

Answer 3

Covert:
S=demand characteristics are reduced
W=unethical, ppts privacy is being invaded
Overt:
vv

Question 4

What is official statistics?
Examples? (2)

Answer 4

Data collected by the government
E.g. official crime statistics, unemployment figures

Question 5

Practical, ethical and theoretical strength of official statistics

Answer 5

P: free and mostly easy to access
E: data is annonymous and easily available to the public>confidentiality is protected
T: objective>free from bias

Question 6

Practical and theoretical weakness of official statistics

Answer 6

P: some statistics aren’t available e.g. private schools
E: X
T: Doesn’t explain why or how>lacks validity

Question 7

What are the 2 types of experiments in sociology? Explain
Give examples
What do positivists and interpretivists prefer?

Answer 7

Field- IV manipulated in a natural setting, e.g. classroom :) interpretivists
Lab- IV manipulated in a controlled setting e.g. laboratory :) positivists - scientific

Question 8

What is a DV?

Answer 8

Variable researcher measures

Question 9

What is an IV?

Answer 9

Variable researcher manipulates

Question 10

What is an EV?

Answer 10

Variables, other than the IV, which may have an effect on the DV, if not controlled for

Question 11

What is cause and effect?

Answer 11

The relationship between 2 variables, where one of the 2 is the direct and only cause of the other

Question 12

What is ecological validity?

Answer 12

Whether the findings of a study is true in real-world settings

Question 13

Give examples of the difference between personal and public documents

Answer 13

Personal- diary, passport, text messages, social media
Public- birth certificate, criminal record

Question 14

Strengths and weakness of public documents?

Answer 14

S: Easily accessed by researchers
W: Not all historical documents will survive e.g. lost or damages (personal + public)

Question 15

Strengths and weakness of personal documents?

Answer 15

S: Give deep insights into the authors perspective>high validity
W: Access may be an issue as they might not want to share.

Question 16

What is the sampling frame? E.g.

Answer 16

List of everyone in the target population, from which a sample is drawn
E.g. electoral roll

Question 17

What are the 5 sampling methods in sociology?

Answer 17

Random
Opportunity
Stratisfied
Systematic
Snowball

Question 18

What is snowball sampling?

Answer 18

Sample starting with 1 or a few individuals, then they suggest more people to be in the study

Question 19

Give a strength and weakness of snowball sampling

Answer 19

S= Good for studying difficult groups in society e.g. deviant criminal groups, because it gains trust
W=Likely to be unrepresentative