Research Methods

Question 1

What are ‘descriptive questions’?

Answer 1

Describing something or looking at the extent/amount of something

Question 2

What are ‘explanatory questions’?

Answer 2

Looking at ‘why’ something happens

Question 3

What are ‘evaluative questions’?

Answer 3

Weighing up whether something has worked or not

Question 4

What are ‘predictive questions’?

Answer 4

Working out what might be the likely outcomes/effects of something

Question 5

What are ‘empathetic questions’?

Answer 5

What it is like to experience something

Question 6

What type of question is:

“Why do men commit more crime than women?”
Descriptive, explanatory, evaluate, predictive, empathetic

Answer 6

Explanatory

Question 7

What type of question is:

“How many crimes were committed in Britain last year?”
Descriptive, explanatory, evaluate, predictive, empathetic

Answer 7

Descriptive

Question 8

What type of question is:

“Has anti-social crime decreased since ASBOs have been introduced?”
(Descriptive, explanatory, evaluate, predictive, empathetic)

Answer 8

Evaluative

Question 9

What type of question is:

“What is it like to be a member of a gang?”
Descriptive, explanatory, evaluate, predictive, empathetic

Answer 9

Empathetic

Question 10

What type of question is:

“Is drug related crime likely to be reduced if class A drugs are legalised?”
(Descriptive, explanatory, evaluate, predictive, empathetic)

Answer 10

Predictive

Question 11

What type of question is:

“What is the most commonly committed crime in Britain?”
Descriptive, explanatory, evaluate, predictive, empathetic

Answer 11

Descriptive

Question 12

Why might a sociologist decide to study a particular topic?

Answer 12

• getting payed to
• personal interest
• past experiences
• want to change views/raise profile
• political or theoretical

Question 13

What is the positivist tradition?

Answer 13

Scientific research

Question 14

What is the interpretivist tradition?

Answer 14

More qualitative data and is more sympathetic

Question 15

What are the missing worlds?
“Sociologist should try and be ______ and keep as much _______ __________ as they can from those that they are studying in order to be as objective as possible”

Answer 15

• impartial

- social distance

Question 16

What does the word ‘reliability’ mean in sociology?

Answer 16

Means the study can be replicated by other researchers

Question 17

What do you call the method where sociologists compare their data with other studies to see if there are any trends or patterns?

Answer 17

Comparative method

Question 18

What do you call it when sociologists use there findings from a sample of the population (representative of society as a whole) and then apply it to the rest of the general population?

Answer 18

Making a generalisation

Question 19

Who did a study on suicide?

Answer 19

Emile Durkheim

Question 20

What do sociologists with the interpretivist view argue?

Answer 20

They argue that human behaviour and social actions are so complex and varied, that it is impossible to generate a ‘social law’ that applies to everyone

Question 21

What are qualitative techniques?

Answer 21

Participant observation or informal interviews

Question 22

Why are qualitative techniques used?

Answer 22

Allow the researcher to understand the meaning which people attach to their behaviour

Question 23

What research did James Patrick carry out in 1960s?

Answer 23

Research on gangs in Glasgow

Book: ‘a Glasgow Gang observed’

Question 24

What is ‘random sampling’?

Answer 24

Every member of the sampling team has an equal chance of being selected

Question 25

What is ‘systematic sampling’?

Answer 25

Taking every ‘nth’ name (e.g. every 10th) from a list to produce a sample of the required size

Question 26

What is ‘stratified sampling’?

Answer 26

The target populated is divided into groups (class, age, gender) then random selection is made in correct proportions for each group

Question 27

What is ‘quota sampling’?

Answer 27

Researcher knows the groups of people they want to study and will pick respondents to fit the groups

Question 28

What is ‘snowball sampling’?

Answer 28

Researcher makes contact with someone from their target population.

Question 29

What is ‘volunteer sampling’?

Answer 29

This involves the researcher advising for people to come forward and agreeing to get involved in research

Question 30

What is ‘convenience sampling’?

AKA grab, opportunity

Answer 30

This simply means using people who are close at hand, readily available and convenient.

Question 31

What is a ‘social study’?

Answer 31

Large scale studies, usually seeking quantities data, hence questionnaires and structured interviews are often used.

Question 32

What is a ‘case study’?

Answer 32

This is the study of one group or event.

Question 33

What are ‘comparative methods’?

Answer 33

Two or more groups analysed for similarities and differences

Question 34

What is ‘cross sectional’ research?

Answer 34

Involves collecting data on a single occasion to gain a snapshot of the phenomenon and the people whom you’re studying at a particular moment in time

Question 35

What is ‘longitudinal’ research?

Answer 35

Involves studying the same sample of people at regular intervals over a long period of time (sometimes from birth to adulthood)