Research Methods G674 Flashcards
are positivists quantitative or qualitative?
quantitative
are positivists scientific?
yes
do positivists have hypothesis’?
yes
what 2 theories are close to positivism?
Marxism and functionalism
what reasearch method do positivists favour?
surveys
what are surveys?
interviews and questionnaires
what is a pilot study?
a small scale version of the full stuyd
why are pilot studies used
To test the quality and accuracy of the questions and sample and identify any problems and changes to be made
what are 2 types of surveys?
longitudinal and cross sectional
what are 2 disadvantages of longitudinal studies
high drop our rate and if people move its hard to stay in touch with people
what is a cross sectional survey?
a survey done at one time with no attempt to follow up those surveys e.g an opinion poll in a newspaper
what are 4 advantages of a cross sectional survey?
- quick and cheap
- data analysed quickly and easily
- good for finding out info about a specific topic at a specific time
- findings are generalisable
2 disadvantages of a cross sectional survey?
- questions must be accurate otherwise data wont be valid
- doesnt show changes over time
do surveys have a high or low response rate?
low
do positivists aim for representative research?
yes
