research methods- examples

Question 1

postal questionnaires

Answer 1

the largest postal questionnaire is the census which takes place in the UK every 10 years, the most recent census was in 20121 for England and Wales

Question 2

structured interviews

Answer 2

journalist asking interviewees why they vote for a particular party before an election, the interviewer will want to gain comparative data and so will ask the same questions to each respondent

Question 3

official statistics

Answer 3

British crime survey is a detailed crime survey published by the government each year based on data from police forces

Question 4

unstructured interviews

Answer 4

feminist sociologist ann oakley conducted a detailed study entitled ‘from here to maternity’ in 1981 based on conducting unstructured interviews with new mothers

Question 5

participant observation

Answer 5

james patrick used covert participation in his 1973 study, ‘a glasgow gang observed’ he joined a glasgow gant and adapted his speech, dress and behaviour to fit in and study life in a gang.

Question 6

non-participant observation

Answer 6

laud humphreys observed homosexual activity in male public toilets in the USA in his 1970 study ‘tearoom trade’

Question 7

case studies

Answer 7

eileen barker conducted the study ‘the making is a moonie- choice or brainwashing’ in 1984 by using many research methods to build up a detailed picture of the unification church in the USA

Question 8

surveys

Answer 8

Scottish crime and justice survey which is published annually and asks 5500 respondents for their perceptions and experience of crime