Research Methods Flashcards
what do positivists believe?
- social behaviour is a result of social facts
- society shapes individuals
- individuals do not have free will or choice
- puppets of society
what do interpretivits believe?
- social behaviour is the result of how people interpret their interaction with others and social institutions
- individuals have free will and choice
- people are architects of society
outline and explain three ethical factors
- informed consent: need to get consent of subjects or their subjects parents/guardians
- confidentiality: need to protect names, addresses etc by ensuring anonymity
- honesty: avoid deceit and be honest about purpose of research
outline and explain three practical factors effecting research method
- cost: some methods can be expensive
- time available: some methods are more suitable if sociologists have a limited period of time to carry the research out
- subject matter: if it is sensitive or embarrassing it could rule out face to face methods
outline and explain three practical factors effecting topic choice
- access: some people have the power to shut people out or deny them access or change their behaviour if suspicious
- source of funding: the. subject may be shaped by those who fund
- characteristics of the researcher: they may feel the need to highlight inequalities etc and be biased
what are the advantages to laboratory experiments?
- hypotheses can be tested under controlled settings
- it is reliable and objective as it is repeatable and bias is excluded
- produces lots of statistical data that be compared or make correlations
what are the disadvantages to laboratory experiments?
- the Hawthorne effect: the presence of the researcher may result in the research subjects changing their natural behaviour and starting acting artificially
- it is unethical to experiment on people without their knowledge or informed consent
- interpretivits argue that social life is complex and can’t be reduced to variables that can be isolated or manipulated in a lab
what are the advantages to social experiments?
- they can uncover the meanings or interpretations that underpin social behaviour
- they are carried out in the real world and it is natural behaviour
- they produce qualitative data that is valid
what are the disadvantages of social experiments?
- they are often carried out without peoples knowledge which is unethical as it is deceptive
- the aperient might have unethical results
what are the advantages of survey questionnaires?
- they can be distributed to a large sample of people
- quick
- low cost
- little contact between the researcher and respondent so less ethical issues
- confidentiality is confirmed
- easy to qualify data
what are the disadvantages of survey questionnaires?
- response rates can be low
- people may misinterpret the questions
- the wrong person might complete it
- people might lie
what are the advantages structured interviews?
- can be ensured that the right person answers the questions
- they can explain and clarify questions
- have a higher response rate
- they can be conducted with a high number of people
what are the disadvantages of structured interviews?
- training interviewers can be expensive
- not valid as there can be no follow up questions
- people might give false information
- interview bias may cause people to respond negatively to the interviewer
what are the advantages of group interviews?
- the interviewer and interviewee can ask follow up questions
- trust is established through listening skills and empathy
- validity is achieved as people can get close to people
what are the disadvantages of group interviews?
- time consuming
- expensive compared to other methods
- not reliable as there are different follow up questions so cannot be repeated
- qualitative data is difficult to analyse
what are the advantages of observation?
- the sociologists spends everyday in the natural environment and so gets a feel of it
- achieves verstehen
- it gets the researcher closer to the researcher closer to the behaviour than any other method
- people can’t tell lies as the researcher is observing for themselves
what are the disadvantages of observation?
- the Hawthorne effect
- sociologist might go ‘native’ and become too attached to the group and lose objectivity and be biased
- usually small scale and unrepresentative
- time consuming
- expensive
what are the advantages of official statistics?
- positivists see them as reliable, representative, valid, generalisable and objective
- easily accessible
- up to date
- allow researchers to see correlations
what are the disadvantages of official statistics?
- official definitions of an event or trend my differer to those used by sociologists
- may be biased as gathered for political purposes
- don’t tell people about feelings or experiences
what are the advantages of personal documents?
- they are highly valid sources of data
- it is a cheap source of data
- can act as sources of data which may not be able to get as it is a historical event
what are the disadvantages of personal documents?
- permission might be declined due to confidentiality
- their authenticity may be questionable
- unreliable as can’t be checked or verified
- lack scientific status
what are the advantages of public/historical documents?
- allow sociologists to access the past and cosiest historical change
- saves time
- often easily accessible
what are the disadvantages pf public/historical documents?
- the authenticity ay be questionable
- difficult to check credibility
- may be biased
- content may be miss interpreted
what is primary data?
- collected by the social researcher themselves
- e.g. experiments/ questionnaires/ interviews
what is secondary data?
- information that has been compiled by others
- e.g. letters/ official statistics/ media content
what is systematic sampling?
-when the researcher picks people according to a system
what is stratified sampling?
-dividing the frame into groups that reflect their presence in the larger group and then randomly selecting those groups in a systematic way
what is non-random sampling?
- if a sampling frame is unavailable, researchers are forced to use non-random sampling techniques
- all techniques are likely to produce biased and unrepresentative samples
- e.g. quota sampling/ snowball sampling/ opportunity sampling
what is random sampling?
- means that every member of the research population has an equal chance if being included in the sample
- aims to achieve objectivity and not bias
