Research Methods: Practical, Ethical And Theoretical Considerations Flashcards
1
Q
What are the two theoretical approaches to research?
A
- Interpretivism and positivism
2
Q
What do positivists believe?
A
- research should be scientific (standardised, reliable and objective)
- focus on collecting quantitative data
3
Q
What do interpretivists believe?
A
- focus on collecting qualitative data
- research should document interpretations of reality (high in validity, opinions)
4
Q
Key words for positivism
A
- objective
- value freedom
5
Q
Objective meaning
A
- the practice of conducting research without personal bias, values, or opinions
6
Q
Value freedom meaning
A
- the idea that researchers should be able to conduct research without their own personal values or biases influencing their work
7
Q
Interpretivism key words
A
- reflexivity
- interpretation
- subjectivity
- Verstehen
- researcher imposition
8
Q
Reflexivity meaning
A
- form of self evaluation that involves researchers reflecting critically on how they organised the research process, everyday experience of it, how range of influences affect validity positively or negatively
9
Q
Interpretation meaning
A
- concentrates on meanings people associate to their social life
10
Q
Subjectivity meaning
A
- the idea that people have different perspectives and biases that influence how they understand the world
11
Q
Verstehen meaning
A
- understanding the meaning of actions from the respondents perspective, develop empathetic understanding
12
Q
Researcher imposition meaning
A
- when a researcher’s own views and framework influence the results of a study
13
Q
What are other methodological issues for evaluation?
A
- Hawthorne effect
- demand characteristics
- social desirability bias
- going native
- researcher bias
- confirmation bias
- interpretation bias
- rapport
14
Q
What is demand characteristics?
A
- Participants change their behaviour based on their interpretation of the aims of the study (either in a way to please the researcher, or doing the opposite of what they thing is expected of them).
15
Q
What is social desirability bias?
A
- Occurs when parts of the study relate to social norms or expectations, and participants want to present themselves in a socially acceptable way.
16
Q
What is researcher bias?
A
- When the researcher’s beliefs or expectations influence the research design or data collection process.
17
Q
What is confirmation bias?
A
- Tendency to search for/interpret information in a way that confirms one’s prior beliefs.
18
Q
What is interpretation bias?
A
- An information processing bias where a researcher may interpret the data in a way that the participant did not intend.
19
Q
What is rapport?
A
- Ease of the relationship between people - in this case a researcher and their subjects
20
Q
Impact of Hawthorne effect on research
A
- decrease validity, accuracy, generalisability
- false data, participants act differently
21
Q
Impact of demand characteristics on research
A
- decrease validity, accuracy, generalisability
- false data, participants act differently
22
Q
Impact of social desirability on research
A
- decrease validity, accuracy, generalisability
- false data, participants act differently
23
Q
Impact of going native on research
A
- decrease validity and accuracy
- become biased and lose objectivity
24
Q
Impact of researcher bias on research
A
- decrease validity, accuracy and generalisability
- if respondents not truthful due to biased nature of questions
25
Impact of confirmation bias on research
- decrease validity, accuracy and generalisability
26
Impact of interpretation bias on research
- decrease validity, accuracy and generalisability
27
Impact of rapport on research
- increase honesty, validity and accuracy
28
Which of these methodological issues are participant issues?
- Hawthorne effect
- demand characteristics
- social desirability bias
29
Which of these methodological issues are researcher issues?
- going native
- researcher bias
- confirmation bias
- interpretation bias
- rapport
30
Which practical problems will sociologists need to consider?
- Time - If a method of data collection is time consuming
- Cost - If the research requires paying other researchers to assist with the research, if travel is involved or if research is carried out on a large
cohort or over a long period of time
- Subject matter of research - some areas of social life are easier for researchers to access than others. For example, people may be happy talking about their work life, but less happy to talk about their intimate relationships.
- Social characteristics of researcher and those being researched - The status of the researcher in the eyes of those being studied may impact the research.
- Access - If the target population are difficult to access this may cause problems with the sample
31
How might practical issues of time impact the research? What impact might this have on the results?
- Time consuming methods can lead to a smaller sample size - This impacts generalisability as wider claims about the whole target population CANNOT be made
32
How might practical issues of cost impact the research? What impact might this have on the results?
- research costs a lot - Due to needing researchers / interviewers and also hired space etc - This impacts generalisability again as only a small sample can be gained if it is not a cost effective methods - This again means wider claims about the whole target population CANNOT be made
33
How might practical issues of the subject matter of the research impact the research? What impact might this have on the results?
- If a researcher picks an aspect of social life that is quite sensitive/personal, participants may feel uncomfortable discussing it/sharing information about it. As a result, the may be less likely to open up about it and be truthful which will affect the validity of the results as a true insight will not have been gained about the topic.
34
How might practical issues of social characteristics of the researcher and those being studied impact the research? What impact might this have on the results?
- If a researcher is a male for example and he is researching women’s experiences of childbirth, the participants may not feel very comfortable sharing their experiences as they may feel the male researcher may not understand their point of view or may misinterpret what they are saying. This may again impact the validity of the results as participants may withhold information or not give as much detail about their experiences which may reduce the accuracy of the findings and how true to life it is.
35
How might practical issues of access impact the research? What impact might this have on the results?
- If a researcher picks a topic in which they can easily access participants ... this means that
representativeness can be improved as it means the data reflects the target population being researched as they likely hold specific ‘characteristics’
36
What are ethics? What does the term ‘ethical’ mean?
- Ethics are practices that are seen as morally right and wrong when conducting research such as confidentiality, anonymity etc. One must be Ethical when doing sociological research and adhere to moral codes of conducts with regards to participants and the research itself.
37
What is the BSA?
- The British Sociological Association is the regulatory body that puts down ethical guidelines that sociologists should follow when conducting research.
38
What are the ethical guidelines?
- Confidentiality
- Privacy
- Anonymity
- Right to withdraw
- Avoiding harm to participants
- Protecting vulnerable groups
- Informed consent
- Ensuring legality
- Safeguarding
39
What is confidentiality?
- information kept between researcher and the respondent
40
What is the impact of confidentiality on research?
- more truthful, increase validity
41
What is privacy?
- where respondents are not invaded with private life (respecting boundaries)
42
What is the impact of privacy on research?
- more comfortable, increase validity, rapport and generalisability
43
What is anonymity?
- keeping participants identity hidden and not published
44
What is the impact of anonymity on research?
- more truthful, increase validity, increase generalisability, decreases socially desirable answers
45
What is the right to withdraw?
- participants have the right to back out when needed (information collected has to be destroyed)
46
What is the impact of right to withdraw on research?
- increases interpretation bias
47
What is avoiding harm to participants?
- avoiding mental, physical distress to participants (pilot study)
48
What is the impact of avoiding harm to participants on the research?
- increases ethics, increases truthfulness, increases validity and generalisability
49
What is protecting vulnerable groups?
- looking after groups that are at a higher risk
50
What is the impact of protecting vulnerable groups on the research?
- increases ethics, increases truthfulness, increases validity and generalisability
51
What is informed consent?
- permission of research granted by participants
52
What are the impacts of informed consent on the research?
- if no consent, could trigger participants, researcher and participant is at harm, less truthful, decreases rapport, reliability, generalisability and validity
53
What is ensuring legality?
- ensuring all aspects of the research is legal
54
What is the impact of ensuring legality?
- if legal, no negative impacts
- if illegal researcher can face lawsuits or jail time
55
What is safeguarding?
- guarding safety of participants
56
What is the impact of safeguarding on the research?
- increase rapport, increase truthfulness and validity, increase generalisability
