research methods Flashcards
Research methods in context: pupils
- more difficult to gain informed consent , must also obtain from parents
- more vulnerable to physical + psychological harm
- safe guarding laws ensure that all researchers working with children have a criminal record
- however all children are legally required to go to school , Makkah it easier to obtain a sampling frame
Research methods in context: schools
- school data: large amounts of secondary data available due to marketization ( data rich ). However , school data is confidential so may not have access to them
- Gate keepers : head teachers have the power to refuse research
Research in context: teachers
- feel over worked and maybe less cooperative, short answers which restricts data
- impression management: used to being observed more willing for research . Goffman= Impression management ( highly skilled manipulating an impression )
- power and status : more power and legal responsibilities of duty of care, researchers may be seen as trespassers
Research in context: parents
- more sensitive research is less likely to give parental consent
- impression management: exaggerate about involvement in schools
- researchers can consent through letters but can’t guarantee they receive or return them
Research in context: classrooms
- Gate keepers: access to classrooms are controlled eg head teachers, child protection laws- more difficult to gain access
- peer groups: more sensitive to peer pressure and conformity , may affect research responses. The attitudes may be hidden behind dominant ones
Research in context: researcher
- Schools may seem ‘ natural ‘ to sociologist not aware of taken for granted assumptions
- class gender and ethnicity of researcher may affect research
- educational is a political issue ,aware that research may be become part of the political debate
What does primary data mean
Collected by sociologists themselves such as questionnaires , observations and experiments
What are the postives and negatives of pro art data
+ gather precise data
- costly and time consuming
What does secondary data mean
Info that has been created by someone else for their own purposes such as official statistics produced by the government and documents such as emails and newspapers
What are the positives and negatives of secondary data
+ quick and cheap
- may not provide exact information
What does quantitative data mean
(Quantity)
Numerical form eg numbers of girls who passed their GCSEs. Market research collects numerical data
What does qualitative data mean
( quality )
Words ‘feelings’ for something eg what it feels like to pass GCSEs. Observation and interview gives insight into feelings and experiences
What are the practical issues during research
- time and money
- subject matter= maybe header to study a particular group eg a male studying an all female group
- opportunity= sometimes research opportunity occurs when unexpected and it may not be possible to use a structured method
what are the ethical issues with research
- informed consent
- confidentiality= keep identity private. Respect privacy
- harm
- vulnerable groups=special care in regards to age….
- convert research- impossible to gain consent but can be justified for research for secretive groups
what are the theoretical issues with research
- validity= a method that creates true or valid results such as qualitative methods.
- reliability= when repeated by another researcher would it give the same results such as quantitative methods
- Representativeness= whether the people studied are typical of the population such as large scale quantitative surveys
- perspective= influenced by their won methodological perspective
what do positivists prefer
prefer quantitative data
what do interpretivists prefer
prefer qualitative data
what factors influence the choice of topic
- sociologists perspective=feminists eg are interested in women’s experiences
- society values= as values change so does research
- practical
- funding =
What does a hypothesis do
It gives direction and focus to a question
Why do positivists favour hypothesis
As we can discover cause and effect relationships
What is an aim
More general abs open minded which interpretevists prefer
What does operationalising concepts mean
Sociologists need to define their ‘concepts ‘ before the research ‘ working definition ‘ eg social class
‘ operationalisation ‘ is converting a concept into something that can be measured
( positivists please more emphasis on interpretivists do )
What is a pilot study
Carried out before a main study- this irons out any problems so the research goes smoothly. Such as young and willmott carried out pilot interviews to help them to word them
What is a sample
A smaller sub group drawn from a wider group to make the results more representative
How do you choose a sample
You need a sampling frame eg register
What does random sampling mean
Selected by chance
What does quasi Random mean
Every nth person is selected
What does stratified sampling
Breaks down by class , age etc
What does Quota
Stratified this researcher is given quota to fill
As not all samples can be representative what can be done
In this snow ball sampling can be used to contact individual who give suggestions
Research methods in context : practical
- quite time consuming
- coats money for cameras and equipment
- subject Matter= written questionnaires would be useless for nursery students
- research opportunity = young children are spontaneous so research occurs unexpectantly
