Research Methods Flashcards
What is the Hawthorne effect?
The alteration of behaviour by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed
What are the views of interprevists?
They like qualitive research because they seek the meaning behind interactions.
What is meant by practical issues?
Issues that are practically problematic to your experiment like cost, time and access
What are the views of Positivists?
They study society with key focus of cause and effect therefore they like quantitative research
What is primary research?
Data you collect yourselves; for example questionnaires, interviews, observation
What is Quantitative data?
Numerical data
What are the (6) different concepts of Research Methods?
Validity Reliability Generalisation Ethics Representative Objectivity
What is meant by valid?
Accurate, legitimate
What is meant by reliable?
Research can be replicated with similar results
What is meant by generalisation?
Applying findings to the wider population
What is meant by ethics?
It is a system of moral principles, it is the right or wrong way to behave
What is meant by objectivity?
Being objective to your study - remaining neutral to a study
What is meant by representative?
Accurately reflects research population
How many strengths are there of questionnaires?
8
What are the (8) strengths of using questionnaires?
- You can collect numerical data so positivists like it
- They have Anonymity so people are not pressured/embarrassed
- They are representative because they are have a big sample size
- They are reliable
- They have few practical issues for example they are cheap and don’t need a skilled researcher
- They have few ethical issues
- They are objective
- They are good at hypothesis testing because of the cause and effect relationship testing
How many weaknesses are there of questionnaires?
6
What are the (6) weaknesses of Questionnaires?
- They’re not valid because people may still lie
- People may misunderstand the question because you can’t clarify
- They limit participant response, what they really want to say
- Low response rate meaning they can sometimes be unrepresentative and results are skewed
- They lack detail so interprevists don’t like them
Describe the two positive case studies of questionnaires?
(1) Hypothesis testing on educational achievement - Answers could show whether there is a correlation between a students achievement and family size (cause and effects)
(2) Cooper and Dawson 2001 Practical advantage -She posted nearly 4,000 questionnaires to students across the UK in their study study of factors influencing the decisions of working class students going to university. (Low cost, time,)
Describe the negative case study of questionnaires
Hite 1991 ( Low response rate) “Low passion and emotional violence” - In America Hite sent out 100,000 questionnaires but only 4.5% were returned. Using follow up questionnaires increases this but it adds to cost an time.
What is meant by participant observation?
The researcher actually takes part in the event or the everyday life of the group being studied
What is meant by non participant observation?
The researcher simply observes the group on an event of the everyday life of the group
What is meant by Overt observation?
When the researcher makes their identity and purpose to the group known
What is meant by Covert observation?
The study is carried out undercover. The researchers identity and purpose is not known by the group
List the five case studies of observation
- Patrick: A Glasgow gang observed
- Griffin: Black like me
- Laud Humphrey’s: Tearoom trade
- Vankatesh: Gang leader for a day
- Mark Daley: The Secret policemen
Describe Laud Humphries tearoom trade
It is a Covert observation
A study of homosexual encounters in public toilets “cottaging”
Humphries acted as a “watchqueen” a look out so the illegal acts were not caught
54% of his subjects were outwardly heterosexuals
He was able to reach hard to reach groups using Covert observation
Describe Vankatesh’ gang leader for a day
An example of participation observation
He was involved for 7 years
He observed how it felt to be black and poor in the roughest gangs USA
Became emotionally attached
Costly time consuming process
Encountered harm - he was held captive in his first 24 hours
Describe Mark Daley’s secret Policeman
A Covert observation
He showed how hard it was to access hard to reach groups like the Police
He uncovered vast amounts of racist behaviour
To get in he had to undergo eye surgery
A 2 year process
Ethical issues like deception, consent
He was arrested at the end because he wouldn’t show the police the video
Not representative because small scale
Asked leading questions - not valid
Describe Patrick A Glasgow gang observed observation
He gained access to the Glasgow gang because he had taught one of them
He nearly got uncovered because he fastened his buttons the wrong way
He was faced to end his observation early as he could no longer face the violence that the group carried
Describe Griffins black like me observation
To gain acceptance to the black culture in apartheid America Griffin used sun lamps and medication to turn his skin black
What are the (4) positives of participant overt observation?
Notes can be taken open and freely
The researcher can asks more questions without worry or being found out
Avoids ethical issues of deception
Researcher can check observation for validity
What are (2) negatives of participant overt observation
Rejection from the group
The Hawthorne effect
What are the (2) positives of participant Covert observation
It is made easier to access hard to reach groups like the police
Reduces the Hawthorne effect
What are the (6) weaknesses of using participant Covert observation?
Cannot openly take notes
May participate in immoral or illegal activities
Hawthorne effect is still a problem
Cannot ask certain questions or cover would be blown
There are ethical issues; eg deceit and consent
You are morally bound to report illegal behaviour
What are the (3) positives of using non participant overt observation?
There are no ethical issues
It is easy to take notes on the study
You can check the understanding
What is the negative to using non participant overt observation?
Subject to Hawthorne effect
What is the positive to using non participant covert observation
It is valid because there is no Hawthorne effective
What are the (2) negatives of non participant covert observation
There are ethical issues
Your data may be invalid because of misinterpretation
Why are unstructured interviews?
Where there is no set of predetermined questions. Interview is more relaxed, more like a conversation
What are structured interviews?
They are a standardised set of questions
What are semi structured interviews?
A list of topics but interviewers are allowed to deviate and go off topic
What are group interviews?
When more than one person can be interviewed at a time
What are focus groups?
A specially selected group of people are interviewed together
How many positives are there of structured interviews?
5
What are the (5) positives of structured interviews?
1- They use a large sample size so are representative
2- They are reliable because you can repeat them and get similar results
3- They are practically good because they’re cheap and don’t need a skilled researcher
4- Positivists like them because it obtains quantative data
5- They are cheaper than unstructured interviews
How many negatives are there of structured interviews?
6
What are the (6) negatives of structured interviews?
1- They aren’t valid because they limit responses
2- They suffer from interviewer bias
3- People may not understand what is being asked
4- Feminists don’t like them because they can be dominated by men
5- Interprevists don’t like them
6- They are more expensive than questionnaires
Why are the two case studies for structured interviews?
Wilmott and Young - They studies the extended family in a the east of London. They interviewed 987 people and only 54 refused (high response rate and sample size)
British Crime Survey - annual survey of 50,000 households in the UK to see if people have been a victim of crime (sample size and reliability)
How many positives are there for unstructured interviews?
6
What are the (6) positives of unstructured interviews?
- You gain more rich detailed data so interprevists like them
- People feel more relaxed which is good for sensation people or issues
- You can develop questions
- You can build a rapport
- You can therefore establish empathy
- Feminists like this because it is in a relaxed non threatening environment
How many negatives are there for unstructured interviews?
10
What are the (10) negatives of using instructions interviews?
- A conversation can go off topic so you won’t collect the right data
- They are not reliable
- They’re not representative because you use a small sample size
- There are practical issues like time, expense and the use of a trained interviewer
- Positivists won’t like it because you can’t quantify data
- Interview bias is a problem- interviewer asks leading questions
- There is social desirability where someone - answers the way they think you want them to
- They are artificial despite being more relaxed
- Status and power inequality may affect participants willingness to answers (gender, ethnicity)
- Cultural differences may lead to misunderstanding
What are (4) case studies of unstructured interviews
1973 - William Labov
1992 - Dean and Gooby
1982 -Ann Oakley
1997 - James Nazroo
What is the William Labovs case study about?
He used formal interview technique to study black American children. However he found them linguistically deprived so he chose to use an informal style, allowing them to sit on the floor and have a friend which enabled a much better response rate
What is the Dean and Gooby case study about?
The use unstructured interviews to study unemployment. Their sessions used a tape recorder and would last up to 90 minutes. It gave the interviewers the opportunity to talk freely, especially as there was no set questions only prompts
What is the Ann Oakley study about?
This is an example of the interviewer bias. She admits that as a mother she found it difficult to detach and remain neutral when interviewing mothers about maternity and childbirth
What is the James Nazroo case study about?
He interviewed ethnic minorities on Britain’s health in the language of the interviewee, this is a solution to the problems of cultural differences
How many positives are there to group interviews?
3
What are the (3) positives to using group interviews?
- Can observe group dynamics and norms in combine questioning
- Participants may feel more comfortable and therefore more likely to open up
- Throwing ideas around produces richer and more reflective data
How many negatives are there for group interviews?
6
What are the (6) negatives to group interviews?
- 1or 2 individuals can dominate a discussion
- Feminists don’t like it because they could be dominated by men
- Data generated is complex and difficult to analyse
- Positivists won’t like it
- Peer pressure may lead to conformity
- The validity is compromised
What is an example of secondary research quantitative data?
Official statistics
How many positives are there of official statistics?
9
What are the (9) positives of official statistics?
- They avoid ethical issues
- They’re practical and cover a long time span
- They’re readily available and cheap to use
- They’re important for planning and evaluating social policy for example responding to house and transport needs
- They provide useful background information
- They are comprehensive in coverage, therefore they are representative
- They are reliable because they can be compared over time
- Sometime they are the only available source of data in a particular area of study
- They are quantifiable data so Positivists like them
How many negatives are there for official statistics?
6
What are the (6) weaknesses of official statistics?
They don’t give any detail or reasons for event
Official statistics are collected for other reasons than your research and therefore may not be as valid
Numerical statistics can skew results in certain ways
Categories change over time, therefore they are hard to compare
They are socially constructed and therefore potentially biased and lack validity
They cannot be taken at face value
What is the Atkinson case study about?
1978 - Atkinson Suicide statistics: Atkinson argues that suicide statistics reflect the behaviour of coroners, doctors and relatives and their definition of suicide. They tell us more about the decision making process than the intention of he deceased person.
What are the 2 case studies for official statistics?
1978 - Atkinson suicide statistics
Devon and Cornwall official crime statistics 2016-2017
What is the Devon and Cornwall official statistics case study about?
In the data:
There are vague categories like “other offences”
There is room for researchers to misinterpret data for example between “burglary dwelling” and “burglary non dwelling”
Data is not valid, the Police may be having a crack down on a certain crime and therefore in the given year it is reported more heavily
Give an example of secondary research Qualitative data?
Documents
What are public documents?
Documents which are produced by organisations such as government departments, welfare agencies and schools. Output is available to researchers such as Ofsted reports.
Give an case study of public documents
1980 - The black report: this looked at the inequalities in health
What are personal documents?
These a documents such as letters, diaries, photo albums and autobiographies. They are first person accounts which show feelings and attitudes
Give a case study of personal documents
1919 - Thomas and Znaniecki: The Polish peasant in Europe and America was a study of migration and social change. The researchers used these diaries to to find the meanings Polish people gave to their experience of migration
What are historical documents?
They are public or personal documents created in the past. They’re useful at studying the past because usually they’re the only source of information
What are three things to consider while assessing documents?
The authenticity
The credibility
Representativeness
How many advantages are there to documents?
5
What are the (5) advantages to using documents?
- Sometimes they can be the only source of information
- They give insight through their rich detailed data
- Interprevists like them
- They are cheap because someone else has already found the data
- Saves the researcher time
What are the three types of experiments?
Laboratory experiments
Field experiments
Comparative method
What is a laboratory experiment?
There are two groups, an experimental group and a control group. The scientist alters the variables in the experimental group in order to see what effect they have to identify a cause and effect relationship
What is advantage to lab experiments?
It is reliable. This is because it is a detached method. The researcher manipulated the variables and record the results, a lab can b created
How many disadvantaged are there to lab experiments?
5
What are the (5) disadvantages to lab experiments?
- There are practical problems: They are very expensive and costly to set up, you can only study events as they happen rather than comparing them
- They are not represent because they are small scale
- There are ethical problems: there is a lack of social informed consent, protection of participants (cause harm mental harm) and deception
- Suffers from the Hawthorne effect
- Doesn’t account for free will, it is deterministic and assumes all people react in the same way to certain conditions
Give an example of a lab experiment
1974 - Milgrim experiment: this was an experiment about obedience. Participants were told it was about learning and they were to administer electric shocks (increasing in voltage) if the person on the other end ( an actor) gave a wrong answer. Participants were seen to administer lethal electric shocks purely because a man in a white coat told them to.
What are field experiments?
A fields experiment is an experiment that takes place in a participants natural surrounding without participants being aware they’re being studied
Ow many advantages are there of field experiments?
2
What are the 2 advantages to a field experiment?
There is no Hawthorne effect because research is done without consent
It is higher in validity because it’s in its natural environment
How many disadvantages are there to field experiments?
3
What are the (3) disadvantages of field experiments?
There are ethical issues (lack of consent, deception and protection of participants)
Representativeness, small scale
They aren’t reliable, you can’t replicate the conditions in a field experiment
Name two case studies of field experiments
Rosenham 1973
Rosenthall and Jacobson
What is the case study by Rosenthall and Jacobson about?
The case study of Pygmalion in the classroom is an experiment where the R and J went into one high school class in the USA and told the teacher that 1/3 of randomly selected children were brighter. A year later these children performed better in tests. It showed how the labelling theory can create a self fulfilling prophecy, problems with ethics and reliability.
What is the Rosenham case study about?
Rosenham 1973 is about a pseudo patient experiment. He got people admitted to the Californian mental hospital complaining of voices. But when in the hospital they dropped the symptoms and behaved normally but they were still treated as though they were ill. It is more valid than a lab experiment however there are ethical issues
What is comparative method?
This is a though experiment and it is designed to look at cause and effect. It identifies two types of group which are alike in all ways but the variable and compares them to see if one difference has an effect
Give an example of Comparative method
Durkheims study of suicide (1897) - He compared Catholicism and Protestantism. Using two groups that were identical besides faiths, he identified that Catholicism creates more social integration and therefore has a lower suicide rating
How many advantages are there of Comparative method?
3
What are the (3) advantages of comparative method?
There is no artificiality
You can study past events
No ethical issues
What is the disadvantage of using comparative method
There is less control over the variable
