research methods key terms

Question 1

Interpretivism

Answer 1

an approach to social research which tries to understand human action through the eyes of those acting.

Interpretivists want to know the meanings given to their own actions, what their interpretation of their action is.

They thus emphasise respondent-led qualitative methods to achieve insight, in-depth explanations and empathy, in order to realise a humanistic, empathetic understanding from the respondents point of view.

Question 2

Positivism –

Answer 2

Positivists believe the social world can be studied objectively using scientific [quantitative] methods.

Question 3

Primary data

Answer 3

is data collected first hand by the researcher herself. using

1. social surveys (normally using questionnaire), 2.interviews
2. experiments
3. observations.

Question 4

Qualitative data

Answer 4

information in the form of words, rather than numbers, which provides an in-depth account of people’s meanings and understandings. Alternatively, this point may be developed by citing a qualitative method

Question 5

Quantitative data

Answer 5

refers to information that appears in numerical form, or in the form of statistics

Question 6

Reliability

Answer 6

Reliability is a measure of the ability to repeat the research procedure and produce the same results

Question 7

research is representative if

Answer 7

the research sample reflects the characteristics of the wider target population that is being studied.

Question 8

Sampling

Answer 8

the process of selecting a section of the population to take part in social research.

Question 9

Secondary data

Answer 9

data that has been collected by previous researchers or organisations such as the government. it includes

includes:
1. official government statistics
2. government reports,
3. newspapers,
4. personal documents such as diaries
5. audio-visual content available online.

Question 10

Theoretical factors

Answer 10

validity, reliability, representativeness and whether research is being carried out from a Positivist or Interpretivist point of view.

Question 11

Validity

Answer 11

term used in sociology to describe data that gives a true measurement or description of what it claims to measure or describe.

Question 12

Subjective knowledge

Answer 12

is knowledge based purely on the opinions of the individual, reflecting their values and biases, their point of view

Question 13

Objective knowledge

Answer 13

is knowledge which is free of the biases, opinions and values of the researcher, it reflects what is really ‘out there’ in the social world

Question 14

Social Surveys

Answer 14

are typically structured questionnaires designed to collect information from large numbers of people in standardised form.

Question 15

Experiments

Answer 15

aim to measure as precisely as possible the effect which one variable has on another, aiming to establish cause and effect relationships between variables.

Question 16

Interviews

Answer 16

A method of gathering information by asking questions orally, either face to face or by telephone.

Question 17

Structured Interviews

Answer 17

are basically social surveys which are read out by the researcher – they use pre-set, standardised, typically closed questions. The aim of structured interviews is to produce quantitative data.

Question 18

Unstructured Interviews

Answer 18

also known as informal interviews, are more like a guided conversation, and typically involve the researcher asking open-questions which generate qualitative data.

Question 19

Participant Observation

Answer 19

involves the researcher joining a group of people, taking an active part in their day to day lives as a member of that group and making in-depth recordings of what she sees.

Question 20

Case Studies

Answer 20

involves researching a single case or example of something using multiple methods – for example researching one school or factory. An ethnography is simply a very in-depth case study.

Question 21

Longitudinal Studies

Answer 21

studies of a sample of people in which information is collected from the same people at intervals over a long period of time.

Question 22

covert participant observation

Answer 22

describes researchers becoming embedded in the group or organization that they are studying (Gephart, 2004), while the researchers conceal “their true identity and purports to play some other role”

Question 23

personal documents

Answer 23

secondary source of data covering areas such as personal letter, diaries, oral history, websites, social networking sites and photographs

Question 24

official statistics

Answer 24

created and published by the government they are a source of secondary data

Question 25

value free

Answer 25

the ability of the researcher to keep his or her own values (personal, political and religious) from interfering with the research process

Question 26

field experiment

Answer 26

studies using experimental design that occur in a natural setting

Question 27

laboratory experiments

Answer 27

experiments take place in a closed environment where conditions can be closely monitored and controlled.

Question 28

questionnaires

Answer 28

a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview

Question 29

overt participant observation

Answer 29

Overt observation is where those being observed are aware of the fact. The researcher may still participate in the activity being observed or might play no part and simply observe

Question 30

group interviews

Answer 30

respondents gathering to discuss a topic decided in advance by researcher

Question 31

different types of sampling

Answer 31

1.Random-everyone in the target population must have
equal chance of being chosen. e.g picking a name
from a hat or lottery

2.Systematic- used when target population is very
large. An example of a systematic sample would be
picking every 10th person on a list or register.

3.Stratified- To do this the sample frame will be divided into a number of smaller groups, such as social class, age, gender, ethnicity etc. Individuals are then drawn at random from these groups.

Question 32

operationalisation

Answer 32

converting a concept, such as social class or cultural capital, into something that can be researched and measured

Question 33

Hawthorne effect

Answer 33

changes in peoples behavior that result from their knowledge of being observed

Question 34

content analysis

Answer 34

research method used for the systematic analysis of media texts and communications

Question 35

pilot study

Answer 35

A pilot study is a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to test or check the study design prior to the full-scale one being carried out

Question 36

triangulation

Answer 36

the use of 2 or more research methods where the weaknesses of one method such as a quantitative interview, can be balances by the strengths of the another, such as qualitative participant observation to improve overall research reliability and validity.

Question 37

methodological pluralism

Answer 37

combining research methodologies in ways that allow each to complement the other to improve research reliability and validity

Question 38

focus group

Answer 38

a group of same-sex and similar backgrounds meeting to discuss a topic decided by the researcher this is done to prevent gender and class variables affecting the reliability and validity of data

Question 39

non- participant observation

Answer 39

when the researcher observes behavior without participating in that behavior