Research Methods Flashcards
What does reliable mean?
Reliable research is when the study can be repeated to get the same results
What does validity mean?
Valid is when you are able to get a true picture of what the researcher is trying to measure
Why might a some research not be reliable?
Participants may forget information, exaggerate or lie
Why do sociologists use a sample?
It’s impossible to research the whole population so sociologist use a sample which they try to make representative of the population as a whole
What does a researcher aim to do during their study?
Be objective and avoid any bias
What is primary data?
Primary data is when the researcher collects the data first hand
What is secondary data?
Secondary data is when the researcher uses any existing data
Give three examples of secondary data?
Officials statistics, diaries, letters, documentaries and newspapers
What are advantages on primary data?
1) it doesn’t rely on another sociologists email so you can chose a method to make it as reliable and valid as possible
2) it is up to date information
What are disadvantages of primary data?
1) it can be expensive and time consuming
2) some methods can be unethical if you don’t get informed consent and it may put the researcher in a dangerous situation
What are the advantages of primary data?
1) you can quickly and easily gather the data
2) it allows you to study past events and societies
What are the disadvantages of secondary data?
1) the data may not be valid or reliable
2) you may not find the information needed
What is quantitive data?
Quantitive data is numbers and statistics
What are the advantages of quantitive data?
You can test your hypothesis looking for cause and effect relationship
You can compare stats against previous ones looking for trends over time and between society
What are the disadvantages of quantitive data?
Quantitive data gives a detailed picture of what people do think and feel using words
Advantages of qualitative data?
It provides insight into social interaction
Allows you to find the meanings and motives behind behaviour
Let’s you build trust and research sensitive topics
Disadvantages of qualitative data?
Qualitative investigations are difficult to repeat and aren’t reliable
They are often small scale so don’t always represent the whole population
What are the main two theoretical approaches to society?
Positivism and interpretivist
What methods do positivist use?
They use reliable methods that give quantitive data
How do positivist think behaviour is influenced?
They think behaviour is influenced by external social factors
Why do positivist analyse social facts?
They think sociology should be scientific and analyse social facts as they affect behaviour and can be easily measured
What do positivist use to measure relationships between different factors?
Statistics
What method is used by interpretivists?
Valid method that gives qualitative data
How do interpretivists understand human behaviour
They believe you can only understand human behaviour by using empathy. It’s important to uncover and understand the meaning individuals give to their actions and to the actions of others
What do interpretivists think about positivist research
Scientific methods don’t tell you a lot about how individual people act in society and that social facts don’t exist
What does rapport mean?
A feeling of mutual trust and understanding
How does time have an impact on e method?
Some methods need a lot more time such as covert participant observation
Why does cover participant observation take more time?
The researcher has to get into the group they are studying and get their trust before starting the research
How does money impact the method?
Money effects the length and method of the research. Money is needed to pay the researcher, transportation and resources
How much did the census cost in 2011?
£480 million
How does the characteristics and skills of the researcher impact the choice of method?
Some characteristics makes it difficult to be involved in a participant observation. Example an adult can’t joint a group of kids
Some researchers may be ok with dangerous situations and other may prefer sitting at a desk
How does access and opportunity impact choice of method?
Some researchers don’t have access to certain groups so may have to use secondary data
What are the four ethical issues sociologist try to?
Consent
Avoidance of deception
Confidentiality
Avoidance of harm
What does consent mean?
All participants have agreed to take part in the study
What does avoidance of deception mean?
Researchers should be honest about the study and the implications
What does confidentiality mean?
The details of participants and their results should be kept private
What does avoidance of harm mean?
Participants shouldn’t be physically or psychologically harmed
Why are covert studies criticised?
They don’t get informed consent or avoid deception
What study did laud humpreys do?
Tearoom trade which was a covert observation of secretive homosexuality activity
What did Laud Humphreys do in the tea room trade study?
He studies men who engaged in homosexual activities in public places (mainly toilets)
Homosexuality was taboo in mainstream society, sexual activity in public is against the law and ,any were married
Why did laud humphreys decide to do a covert study?
He wouldn’t have gained access or informed consent from the group if he was open and honest. If they did give him consent they were like to change their behaviour
Why did laud humphreys pretend to be?
Someone who watches homosexual acts for a sexual allowed him to gain the trust of the group
When a report is completed what needs to be done to make it confidential
Participants must be made anonymous using false names
How does funding and cooperation for research impact the choice of topic?
The organisation which funds the research can be called the gatekeeper as it has the final say in the choice of topic
How does the research here career in sociology effect the choice of topic?
Researchers are more likely to do a study that Improves their employability
What happens when a sociologists chooses a topic of research?
Hey narrow down the focus of their research so they can go into lots of detail. To do this they come up with a single research question
What is a hypotheses?
Hypothesis are statements that make predictions that can be tested
What data do questionnaires generally provide?
Quantitative
What kind of questions are mostly used in questionnaires
Closed questions and multiple choice answers
That is an open ending question?
Gives you some insight into meaning and motives
Who prefers closed questionnaires
Positivists
Who prefers open questions?
Interpretivists
What are 5 things that a questionnaire should have?
1) clear simple questions
2) clear instructions
3) clear layout
4) range of options on multiple choice questions
5) measure what you are trying to measure
What 5 things shouldn’t questionnaires do?
1) Ask embarrassing or threatening questions
2) ask two questions instead of one
3) be too long
4) use sociological that people won’t understand
5) lead the respondent to answer a question in particular
What is the crime survey of England and Wales?
The crime survey for England and Wales is a questionnaire that is carried out continually by the British government
What are the advantages of a questionnaire?
1) easy to collect lots of data in a short time
2) reliable
3) anonymous
4) it is easy to use a large sample so is more likely to be representative
What are the limitations of questionnaires?
1) aren’t very valid
2) questions may be misleading
3) participants can’t provide any extra information
4) the researcher can’t explain any questions
5) postal questionnaires have a low response rate
What is a interview?
A conversation between the researcher and participant where the researcher asks lots of questions
What is a structures interview?
They are like a face to face version of interview as the interviewee has to stick to a certain set of questions
Advantages of a structured interview?
Reliable
The interviewer can explain and clarify the question
Higher response rate
What are the disadvantages of structured questionnaires?
They are more expensive and time consuming then questionnaires
What data is given during a unstructured interview?
Qualitative
Why can unstructured interviews be useful?
It allows the researcher to gain trust so that they can ask questions about sensitive issues
What are the advantages of unstructured interviews
They are valid
Flexible
Good for researching sensitive interviews
What are the disadvantages of unstructured interviews?
The interviewee needs to have skill so they can find out about more detail
Not as representative as they use small samples
It takes a long time to write up an unstructured interview
How can the interviewer effect people’s answer?
Participants may give the answer the researcher wants to hear….or the exact opposite
Interviewer may give leading question without realising
What is a case study?
They are detailed investigations of a specific thing such as a person, group, institution or an event
Give an example of a case study?
Willis
Who likes case studies?
Interpretivists as they provide detailed data
Why don’t positivists like case studies?
They often have a small sample size so aren’t representative of the wider population
What is a focus group?
It is a small group that talk about a certain issue allowing a natural conversation which is recorded so sociologists can analyse it later
What is a longitudinal study?
A study that takes place at regular intervals over a lo period of time
What are the strengths of a longitudinal study?
You can analyse changes and make compromises over time
You can study how the attitudes of the sample change with time
What are the disadvantages of a longitudinal study?
It’s hard to recruit people who will stay
It’s difficult to keep in contact with everyone
You need long term funding
Relays on interviews and questionnaires which may lack reliability or validity
What does ethnography mean?
Ethnography is the of scientific descriptions of a specific culture by someone who has experienced it first hand
The advantages of an ethnography study?
It’s valid as you can study behaviour in the natural setting you can also use different methods to get different types of data but it is mainly qualitative
What a disadvantage of ethnographic study?
It’s difficult to make a generalisation from a small scale research so may not be reliable
What are official statistics?
They are a source of secondary data produced by the government
What are hard statistics?
Hard statistics are objective they can’t change. This would include birth death and marriage statistics
What is a soft statistic?
Soft statistics are more subjective and can be changed especially by politics. Soft statistics include stats on crime poverty and unemployment
How often is the census done?
10 years
Why do sociologists compare different secondary documents?
They look for similarities and differences between secondary documents
