Research methods and researching social inequalities Flashcards
How can a ‘theory’ be defined?
A model or framework which shapes what researchers expect to see and how sociologists interpret the data or evidence that they collect
How can ‘methods’ be defined?
The tools that sociologists use to collect data and how the social world is organised, how people behave and the way people view and interpret the world around them
What do positivists believe human behaviour is the product of?
Social laws or social facts which arise out of the way societies are socially organised or structured
How do positivists believe research should be carried out?
Research should be carried out under controlled conditions, as are experiments in labs- however sociologists rarely use labs but alternatively aim to achieve control through use of random sampling techniques and skilfully designed standardised and scientific measuring tools such as survey questionnaires and structured interview schedules
Why do positivists take a macro approach?
- they believe society is more important than the individual
- they see human/social behaviour as a product of social forces/laws over which people have little influence
- they therefore view people as puppets of society who behave in predictable ways
- positivists believe the job of sociologists is to uncover social laws and document trends
Who prefers positivist research methods?
Structural sociologists such as Functionalist and Marxists who are interested in large scale social processes
What is meant by value freedom or objectivity?
The sociologist should carry out research and interpret evidence with an open mind, setting aside their own prejudices, values and political and religious beliefs
Do positivists value subjectivity (personal views and values)?
No- they believe it undermines the reliability of research methods and results lack validity
Do positivists value representativeness?
Yes- makes it easy for researchers to generalise from their findings (to say that what is true of the researched group is also true of the wider group to which they belong)
Do positivists prefer Qual or Quant data?
Quantitative (statistical/ numerical data)- it has comparative value as it can be observed for patterns and trends- deduce ‘facts’ from human behaviour
What specific research methods are used a lot by positivists?
Social surveys which incorporate questionnaires and structured interviews, official statistics etc
What is meant by value freedom?
The notion that sociologists should be objective in research and that their subjective beliefs/attitudes should not bias how they organise their research or interpret the data they collect
What is objectivity?
The absence of bias or approaching research without any pre-conceived ideas
What is Validity?
Research findings give a true or authentic picture of what is being studied- it reflects reality
What is reliability?
A research tool is reliable if another sociologist can use it and obtain the same results
What is representativeness?
Relates to the sample of people who agree to take part in research. If the sample is representative, it means they are a good cross-section of the wider population in which the sociologists are interested
What is meant by ethical?
A set of principles of conduct that govern the behaviour of individuals/groups- usually based on our morals. In soc, ethics inform researchers on how to conduct research in a morally acceptable way
What does can do can’t do with participants stand for?
Consent
Deception
Confidentiality
Debrief
Withdraw (right to)
Protection from harm
What does practical mean?
How time/cost efficient and experiment is, if resources are needed- how easy is it to access them etc
What position does Interpretivism take?
Anti-positivism- it rejects the idea that social laws shape human behaviour
What approach do interpretivists take?
A micro approach- they believe the individual is more important than society- they suggest that society is the product of individuals interacting with each other in social groups
Why do interpretivists disagree with the idea that society is predictable?
They observe that humans have consciousness and free will so can therefore choose how they want to behave
What is subjectivity?
Appreciation of how the world looks from the point of view of those being studied
What is verstehen?
It is to walk in somebody else’s shoes- to see life from their point of view and to get inside the heads of those they are researching in order to document how they interpret reality
Why do interpretivists emphasise validity rather than reliability?
They believe that unique and trusting relationships should be established with those being studied so that a true and authentic picture of their lives can be constructed even if such relationships can be difficult to replicate
What is reflexivity?
The process by which sociologists periodically review the degree of objectivity that they’ve achieved, their rapport with their research subjects and the way they have collected and processed their data in order to ensure methodological integrity
What is respondent validation?
The observer cross-checking their interpretation of a particular situation with those who are being researched to make sure that researcher and researched agree on what was happening
What is ethnography?
This means that the research should be naturalistic and conducted whenever possible in the everyday environment
What is researcher imposition?
If the research tool undermines the validity of the data
What do interpretivists believe about positivist research methods such as questionnaires and unstructured interviews?
They are alien and artificial and consequently people may feel threatened by them and be tempted to give false or ingenuous answers
What do interpretivist research methods include?
Involve minimal interference with the everyday natural environment of the research subject, e.g. unstructured interviews resemble informal conversation and in participant observation the researcher is like a fly on the wall
What can be said about Qualitative data?
It regarded as richer in detail and validity than statistical data. It is usually presented as words (non-numerical) e.g. interview transcript
How does Durkheim use the positivist view?
He studied suicide statistics across Europe and found they remain constant over time, concluding that suicide rates aren’t the product of individual free will but was a social law/ fact caused by the social organisation of society- how well/badly it promotes social integration
What does Atkinson (Representing the interpretivist view) say about suicide stats?
Atkinson said that suicide stats are socially constructed by coroners, who investigate suspicious deaths, interpret and categorise some as suicides using their subjective experiences of past deaths.
How does Atkinson criticise Durkheim’s suicide stats study?
Says it fails to recognise the subjective factors that contribute to coroners reaching a suicide verdict e.g. interaction between dead and family before death, chosen means of death, interaction between coroner and family of deceased
What are the 4 main factors which influence the choice of research topic?
- interests/values of researcher
- current debates in the academic world
- funding
- access to research subjects (e.g. criminals tend to be unco-operative)
What are practical factors that influence the choice of research method?
- cost and funding (questionnaires and secondary data are cheap)
- time available
- participants required (some groups reject sociological research- too powerful e.g. police)
- the subject matter of the research (e.g. sensitive topics like discrimination could be researched using questionnaires- anonymous and confidential or female SA victims may be more comfortable with female researchers)
What is the organisation that implements the ethical rules of sociological experiments and what do they say?
Th BSA (British Sociological Association) insists that informed consent or permission should be given by the research subjects
What interpretivist method contradicts ethics?
Covert participant observation- it depends on deceit (pretends to be a member of the group)
How do interpretivists justify deceit when it comes to covert participant observation?
It helps to obtain rich results which are more valid
What is meant by the term ‘hypothesis’?
A proposition or inspired guess based on observation of phenomena that can be scientifically tested to work out whether a correlation or a cause and effect relationship exists between variables
What is primary data?
Data that’s gathered first hand by the sociologist using a variety of methods such as questionnaire or interviews or by observing people’s behaviour
What is secondary data?
Data that has been collected by people who are not sociologists, published, or written down e.g official stats on most aspects of life are collected and collated by the government
What other types of secondary data are there (excluding official stats)?
- Mass media reports (journals)
- Documents (autobiographies)
What is operationalisation?
The process of converting a hypothesis, concept or theory into something measurable e.g. an operationalised questionnaire which measures the influence of cultural capital
What is meant by a ‘pilot study’?
A dress rehearsal, usually using a small sub-sample of a proposed larger social survey aimed at testing the reliability of the research tool, excluding all forms of bias and judging both the representativeness and the validity of the data
What are longitudinal studies?
Studies that gather data from a single group over a long period of time e.g. the Census
What are the strengths of longitudinal studies?
- produce qual and valid data focused on people’s interpretation of reality- verstehen
- allows documentation of how the influence of social factors such as class impact people’s lives over a period of years
- Allow hypotheses to be modified as the impact of long term influences becomes clearer
What are the limitations of longitudinal studies?
- original sample may become too survey-research friendly and working out what the researcher wants and giving it to them- bias
- the original sample may drop out, or die and the remaining members may not be representative of the group originally studied
- original research team may change and lose sight of original goals
- expensive
What is meant by ‘social policy’?
Attempts by governments to influence how society is organised and how members of society should behave by bringing in new laws, controls and guidelines- aims to bring about social change
What is a social problem?
Any type of social behaviour that causes friction e.g. crime, poverty, educational underachievement may all be seen as social problems and the gov may be called to produce social policies to tackle it
What are sociological problems?
The focus on all the relationships that members of society enter into e.g. people get married and have children- sociologists are therefore interested in explaining why companionate marriage is more popular than open uncommitted relationships with a range of partners
What is a representative sample?
A group of people who have much the same characteristics as the wider group the sociologist is interested in
What is simple random sampling?
Involves selecting names randomly from a sampling frame- every member of research population has an equal chance of being selected
What is systemic random sampling?
Involves taking a sampling frame of names, randomly choosing a number from 1 to 10 and selecting every tenth member
What is stratified random sampling?
The most common type of random sampling method. It involves a sampling frame such as a school register being divided into a number of sub frames listing e.g. boys and girls. A systematic random sample is then taken from each of these sub-frames
What is snowball sampling?
May be used in order to access deviant or criminal groups e.g. a sociologist may gain access to a gang member who’ll introduce them to other gang members until the sample builds up
What is a danger with snowball sampling?
People who are willing to co-operate with researchers may not be representative of the group under investigation, especially is that group is committed to deviancy- normally secretive
What is purposive sampling?
The researcher will seek our specific groups to take part in the research on purpose because it would make no sense to other social groups e.g if researching drug use it makes no sense to target non-users
What is opportunity sampling?
Involves researchers making the most of the opportunities available to identify and locate a group that might take part in research
What is the danger with both purposive and opportunity sampling?
They may not be representative
What is quota sampling?
The researcher will approach people in the street who have the characteristics that they are looking for, e.g. housewives, or the elderly- often use by market researchers
What is a criticism of quota sampling?
It’s loaded with potential bias as it’s been demonstrated that researchers are more likely to approach people they believe to be co-operative- unconsciously neglect marginalised groups like homeless- not representative
What is volunteer sampling?
Can be used when the research subject may make it difficult to find a quota, purposive or snowball sample e.g. the study of sexual activity among uni students might put posters in the student union bar or ads in student newspaper asking for people to take part in research
What are Questionnaires?
The main method of gathering data of a large sample size. Usually self completion/sent through post. Most often made up of closed questions with fixed choice tick boxes- quant data produced
What are the strengths of Questionnaires?
- low cost
- not time consuming
- large sample size- increases representativeness
- usually accompanied by a letter asking for informed consent
- anonymous and confidential
- approved by pos- reliable, objective, lots of quant data
What are the limitations of Questionnnaires?
- can suffer from non-response
- questions could be misunderstood
- may lie if about deviancy or something embarrassing
- not approved by inter- low validity
What are structured interviews?
Interviews in which there are fixed questions
What are the strengths of structured interviews?
- interviewer can ensure right person responds- unlike postal questionnaires
- interviewer can explain aims/objectives (reduce potential non-response)
- approved by pos- scientific as standardised
- highly reliable (same questions, same tone etc)
What are the limitations of structured interviews?
- expensive
- time consuming
- inflexible- can’t pursue interesting leads
- not approved by inter- lack validity- artificial- may respond with suspicion
- interviewer effect- may feel judged or threatened and change answers
- facial expression/tone of voice/body lang of interviewer may influence responses
What are official statistics?
Numerical data collected by the government or state agencies such as the Home Office
What are non-official statistics?
Quantitative data produced by non-state organisations such as trade unions, businesses, charities etc in order to publicise a social problem
What are the strengths of statistics?
- easy and cheap to access
- normally very up to date
- patterns and trends are easily identifiable
- pos approve- reliable, representative
- usually no contact with people- no ethical concerns
What are the limitations of statistics?
- may not present the whole picture
- may be based on state definitions that sociologists may disagree with
- open to political abuse (manipulated by gov)
- inter disapprove- see official stats as a social construct, tell us little about human stories behind the stats too
What is content analysis?
Involves counting ways in which the media represent a group or issue, this might mean counting particular words that appear in headlines/media- produces mainly quant data
What are the strengths of content analysis?
- cheap
- allows comparison of media representations of groups or issues over a period of time (longitudinal)
- very reliable- others can cross check and verify results
What are the limitations of content analysis?
- can be time consuming
- assumes media content actually has an effect upon their audience
- only tells us about the personal and political beliefs of those who produce media products- prejudice of journalists and broadcasters
What is non-participant observation?
Involves the researcher sitting and observing an activity- the researcher plays no active role (researcher is detached and less likely to be bias however could involve Hawthorne effect)
What is participant observation?
Involves the sociologist immersing themselves in the lifestyle of the group they wish to study- ethnographic (takes place in the natural environment), generates qual data
What is meant by overt participant observation?
The researcher joins in the activities of a group by some or all of the group know that the researcher is a sociologist and is actively observing them
What is meant by covert participant observation?
The researcher conceals the fact that the research is taking place- pretends to be a member of the group
What are the strengths of observation?
- experience verstehen
- valid- cant lie as much if being observed
- can be supplemented with asking informal questions
- only practical method available to research hard to reach groups
What are the limitations of observation?
- Hawthorne effect leading to invalid results
- constantly taking notes (overt) can be off putting for participants
- expensive and time consuming
- covert- can’t get informed consent
- researcher may be forced to take part in criminal activity (dangerous)
- reports could cause harm to those in the group after released
- low reliability
- pos would say it’s not scientific
What are unstructured interviews?
Resembles an informal conversation- researchers usually have a list of topic areas but no pre-determined questions- open ended questions
What are the strengths of unstructured interviews?
- flexible
- often result in unexpected findings
- suited to researching sensitive groups
- trust is established- build rapport- valid- could reduce the interviewer effect
- ethnographic
What are the limitations of unstructured interviews?
- time consuming
- expensive
- pos say they’re unscientific
- pos say they’re unreliable/ too subjective
- qual data- difficult to analyse trends and patterns
- small samples- not representative
What are semi-structured interviews?
Contain lots of closed questions in order to generate facts but also contain a few open questions- maybe less reliable as every interview is different
What is ethnography?
Also known as field work which is carried out in the naturalistic and everyday setting or environment of the research subjects
What is triangulation?
The use of more than one method of research in order to assess the validity of one’s research methods and especially the data produced
What are the strengths of triangulation?
- can be used to check the accuracy of the data gathered by each method
- qual research can produce hypotheses which can be checked using quant methods
- use of 2 approaches can give a more complete picture of the group being studied
- qual research can illustrate the stats by focusing on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the patterns and trends uncovered
What is methodological pluralism?
The employment by the social researcher of more than one method of research- emphasis is not on the validity of the data rather it is to build up a fuller and more comprehensive picture of social life
What are the limitations of multiple/mixed methods approach?
- expensive and produces vast amounts of data which can be difficult to analyse
- the nature of the topic to be investigated will dictate which method(s) will be employed and will rule out other
