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
Research methods in context : ethical
- have to report what you see
- vulnerable groups of children
- informed consent= parents should be able to refuse the right for their children to be involved. Also teachers
- harm to research participants= researchers should be aware of the possible effects on children
Research methods in context: theoretical
- cameras affect validity ( children + teachers)
- perspective ( positivists and interpretivists )
- representativeness= ensure the children in the documentary are representative of he wider population ( nursery lacked diversity )
List the three types of experiments
1) laboratory
2) field ( natural setting )
3) comparative ( in your mind )
What is the experimental group
Exposed to variables under the investigation
What is the control group
Not exposed to variables
What is the IV
What you change ( casual factor )
What is the DV
What happens due to the change ( the effect )
What are the advantages of lab experiments
Reliability- once the experiment has been conducted, other scientists can replicate it in detail. Highly reliable
- identity cause and effect relationships
- positivists Fabius this method and the scientific approach
How do lab experiments produce the same results
1 original experimenter can precisely specify the stops so other researchers can follow
2 detached method: researcher only manipulates variables and record results not feeling or opinions involved
Why experiments are rarely used- practical problems
- it would be impossible to control all of the possible variables that exert influence
- cannot control past variables
- use only small samples this reduces representativeness
same a famous field study
Rosenhan (1973) researchers went to 12 mental health hospitals saying they had been haring voices and were admitted as schizophrenic. Once in hospital they acted normally but staff still treated them as if they were mentally ill
evaluate
+ this study shows the value of field experiments
- however less control over variables cannot be certain that causes are the correct ones
what are the ethical problems with lab experiments
- lack of informed consent ( difficult for vulnerable groups to understand the extent of what’s happening
- deception (morally wrong to mislead people as illustrated by Milgram)
- harm (Milgram caused distress, participants were ‘sweating, trembling and 3 seizures
what is the Hawthorne effect
situation where an individual or group of people know they are being observed and so change their behaviour accordingly.
what is a snowball sampling
contacting key individuals who are then asked to suggest others who could take part
what is stratified random sampling
list of members of the population of the population that could be studied
what is a pilot study
small scale study which identifies an errors or misconceptions before the real one
what is a sampling frame
researcher breaks down the sampling frame eg by gender and created in proportions
what is a hypothesis
possible explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence. All studies have one
who are positivists
sociologists who prefer quantitative data
who are interpretivists
sociologists that reject the view that sociology is a science
definition of representativeness
whether or not the people who are studied are typical of the wider population
what does reliability mean
Another word for replicability. If repeated would give the same results
what does validity mean
a true or genuine picture
what is covert research
when the researchers identity is hidden
what is the definition of informed consent
participants are aware of the research process and given the right to withdraw
what is primary data
information collected first hand
what is secondary data
information readily available
what does qualitative data
data in the form of words
what is quantitative data
data in the form of numbers
what was Harvey and slatin lab study
preconceived ideas. Sample 96, shown 18 pictures of children from different backgrounds. Asked to rate performance, parental attitudes etc. findings lower class children rated less favourably, based on similarities of children they taught. teachers label and prejudge students
evaluation of Harvey and slatin study
+ shows teachers label students- reliable
- unrepresentative, ethical issues on teachers
what was Rosenthal and Jacobsons field study
travelled to elementary schools and teachers were told that they were going to be late bloomers/ spurters. but the teachers were lied to as the students were picked at random. At the end of the year the students did well as the teachers had treated them better
evaluation of Rosenhan and Jacobson’s study
+ shows labelling does exist but the teachers may have subconsciously treated 5 students better
- unethical as it uses real children and deceitful to teachers
- not fair on other students
criticisms of Rosenhan’s and Jacobson’s study
reliability- simple and easy to repeat. within 5 years it has been repeated 242 times. but differences in school classes means it wouldn’t have been replicated exactly
ethical- some may have been held back academically. legal duty of care mean children have no care
validity-
how can questionnaires be disrupted
post, person , email and on the spot
what are close ended questionnaires
limited range eg yes, no (positivists . scientists)
what are open ended questionnaires
without preselected choices (interpretivists )
what are the practical advantages of questionnaires
Quick easy- gather large amounts of data
no need to request specialists
data easy to verify- processed quickly
what are the practical disadvantages of questionnaires
unlikely to be filled out, time consuming questions
low response rate- may people wont complete it and those that will are the same types of people
ethical issues with questionnaires
need to be clear that they are anonymous and must gain consent
what are the theoretical advantages of questionnaires
reliability is high- can be easily replicated. Allows comparisons to be made over time and between societies
representativeness- better chance of being representative with small numbers
what are the theoretical issues with questionnaires
snapshot- fails to produce a fully valid picture. Does not capture changes in social reality
detachment- cicourel: lack validity does not allow to get close to subjects no contact
what are non participant observations
without taking part eg two way mirrow
what are participant observations
take part
what are overt observations
identity exposed
what are covert observations
undercover
