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
what 2 methods of sampling to positivists use?
random and quota
what is random smapling
everyone has en equal chance of being chosen
what is a sampling frame?
a list the sample is drawn from
what are the 4 types of random sampling?
simple random - picking names out a hat
stratified - the sample is split into categories then the sample chosen at random from the categories
systematic - choosing every nth person
cluster - when the researcher wants people from different locations they choose a few locations and choose some random people
2 advantges of random sampling
Easy
objective because you don’t choose the people
