research methods topic 1

Question 1

primary data

Answer 1

data that the researcher collects themselves for the purpose of that study

Question 2

secondary data

Answer 2

data that is collected by someone other than the researcher and is already pre existing (eg. government statistics)

Question 3

positivist

Answer 3

prefer quantitative data and seek to discover patterns of behaviour, they see sociology as a science (functionalist and marxists) (value reliability and representativeness)

Question 4

interpretivist

Answer 4

prefer qualitative data and seek to understand social actors’ meanings, they reject the idea that sociology is a science (value validity)

Question 5

quantitative data

Answer 5

numerical data which is objective, easy to analyse and compare

Question 6

qualitative data

Answer 6

data which is rich in detail and subjective, typically an image or text, it is harder to analyse and compare

Question 7

validity

Answer 7

how accurate/truthful the results of a study are (typically qualitative data)

Question 8

reliability

Answer 8

how replicable the study is and how consistent the results of a study are (typically quantitative data)

Question 9

sampling

Answer 9

a way of selecting participants from the target or whole population

Question 10

stratified sample

Answer 10

diving the target or whole population into smaller strata (sub-groups)

Question 11

quasi-random sample

Answer 11

selecting participants every nth time (eg. every 4th house on a row)

Question 12

ethical issues

Answer 12

-informed consent
-confidentiality and privacy
-harm to participants
-vulnerable groups
-covert research

Question 13

representativeness

Answer 13

how well the sample represents the whole population

Question 14

objective

Answer 14

results that are impartial and not influenced by an external factors

Question 15

subjective

Answer 15

results that are not impartial and have been influenced by external factors