Research Methods Topic 1 : Starting Research Flashcards
Types of data : primary
Collected first hand by sociologists
Participant observations, surveys, experiments
Types of data : secondary
Collected by other people / institutions / companies and used by sociologists
Official statistics, school league tables, personal documents
Types of data : qualitative
Descriptions, Observed not measured, Open questions, Unstructured , Smaller samples, Relies on language
Interpretivists / interactionists more interested in understanding behaviour
Types of data : quantitative
Numbers, Measured, Closed questions, Structured, Large samples
Positivists more focused on trends and correlations
P E T
Practical - time, cost, safety
Ethical
Theoretical
Practical issues
Time and money - different RM use various amounts of resources (EG researcher may need to employ people - expensive - or participant observations take a lot of time)
Funding bodies - governments, businesses etc. may require different types of data and thus the researcher has limited choices
Personal skills and characteristics - researcher may need to blend in / skills / patience / memory
Subject matter - if topic requires opinion / feeling, or just plain facts and figures will affect method choice. Also sensitivity
Research opportunity - research opportunities may occur unexpectedly and thus affects researcher’s time and planning
Ethical issues
Consent - participants must give informed consent and should be able to refuse being researched
Confidentiality and privacy - participant identities should be kept confidential to prevent any negative effects. Participants have the right to refuse information
Danger and harm - no psychological or physical harm should come to the participants. They should not be placed in any illegal / immoral situations
Vulnerable groups - extra care should be given to any participants that are deemed as vulnerable in terms of age, gender, disability, ethnicity or mental health
Covert research - when a researcher goes under cover creates ethical issues of deceit, lying, lack of consent etc.
Theoretical issues
Reliability - will the same results be obtained when repeated by another researcher?
Validity - does the method produce a true picture of what is being studied
Representativeness - can it be generalised to the whole population?
Perspective - positivism (scientific) or interpretivism (empathy)
What may influence the choice of topic?
Theoretical perspective - the perspective a researcher affiliates with (EG feminists may study division of labour or wage differences)
Societies values - social, political and economic climate of society might influence which topics get studied (EG climate change is a recent topic)
Funding bodies - research is expensive so it needs funding. Funding comes from universities, charities, governments etc. so they get to dictate what should be studied based on what they think is ‘worth’ studying
Practical factors - time, geography, accessibility
Positivism - basic overview of what they believe and why they prefer their methods
Prefer quantitative methods - they have high reliability and representativeness
See society as shaping the individual and ‘social facts’ shape behaviour
Quantitative research gives an overview of society and uncovers social trends
We should use same methods used to study natural sciences - this way sociologists can uncover the laws that govern society
Correlations between two variables (comparative method)
Interpretivism - basic overview of what they believe and why they prefer their methods
Prefer qualitative methods because we are not puppets who react to external social forces
People are complex and experience different things so there is no universal objective reality - so scientific methods are not appropriate
Criticise scientific sociology - many of the statistics it relies on are social constructs
We need to achieve Verstehen
Features of structured interviews
Quantitative - providing statistical research
Interviewees are presented with the same questions
Closed questions - no room to elaborate
Large scale
Postivist
Advantages of structured interviews
Training interviewers is mostly straightforward and inexpensive
Can cover large samples with limited resources - cheap and quick to manage
Easily quantifiable
High response rates (EG Young and Wilmott study - only 54 refused to answer out of 987)
Reliable - easy for the researchers to standardise
Disadvantages of structured interviews
Only provides a small moment of someone’s life
Close ended questions limit validity
Standardised format - no freedom of expression which limits validity
People may lie / exaggerate
Interviewer bias - where values of the researcher interferes with the results
Features of semi structured interviews
Quantitative and qualitative data
Interviewer has pre-set questions but tend to propose new questions depending on what the interviewee says
Depending on the direction of the interview, a rapport may develop
Advantages of semi structured interviews
Provides quantitative and qualitative data, in depth and statistical findings allow for generalisations to be made
Easily quantifiable - suitable for hypothesis testing
Reliable to an extent as they are standardised to an extent
Higher validity as there is a better understanding of the individual’s life
Disadvantages of semi structured interviews
Time consuming acquiring relevant information
Interviewer skills required to establish a rapport
Expensive to train
Semi standardised - harder to replicate (unreliable)
Interviewer bias distorts the data - less valid
Features of unstructured interviews
Qualitative approach - provides meaningful information on findings
Questions are not pre-set, more like a conversation - space to elaborate
Rapport develops
Flexible
Advantages of unstructured interviews
Higher validity - researcher deeply understands individual’s meanings
Rapport built - allows individual to feel comfortable to elaborate
Effective when researching sensitive topics
No set questions - more opportunity to express views
Flexibility allows interviewer to explore more information - new hypotheses can be tested
Disadvantages of unstructured interviews
In depth explorations are time consuming
Training interviewer is required
Interviewer must have good interpersonal skills to establish a rapport
Non standardised format - unreliable (can’t be replicated)
Open ended questions - difficult to quantify and establish a cause and effect relationship
Interviewer bias distorts data - less valid
Definitions of:
Sample size
Sampling frame
Sampling method
Sample size - the number of people being researched
Sampling frame - list of names of those in the survey population (EG doctor’s patients list)
Sampling method - techniques used to select subjects for research
Definitions of:
Random sample
Stratified random sample
Systematic sample
Quota sample
Snowball sample
Opportunistic sample
Cluster sample
Random sample - each member has an equal chance of being selected (draw names from a hat)
Stratified random sample - (sample must reflect population, EG gender / age. Divide the sampling frame into these groups and take a random sample from each)
Systematic sample - every nth name from a sampling frame
Quota sample - interview people from certain groups / quotas
Snowball sample - ask one person who then puts you in touch with others
Opportunistic sample - give questions to anyone who is available
Cluster sample - certain areas chosen in UK and random samples taken in those areas
AO2 of when sampling goes wrong
Election polls - did not have enough access to elderly voters who were more likely to vote conservative
Unrepresentative sample and wrong predictions
Types of questions in questionnaires
Closed - fixed number of responses / pre coded / attitudes
Open - unique responses / qualitative / explains meanings
Usefulness of questionnaires
Cheap and quick method
Less intrusive than methods like observations
Broad range of responses - representative
Respondents are familiar with questionnaires
Practical issues with questionnaires
Response rates - if too low data becomes unrepresentative
Leading / ambiguous questions
Open questions can be time consuming to analyse
Ethical issues with questionnaires
Potentially sensitive topics could cause distress
Recording of information must be kept in accordance with GDPR guidelines
Respondents may only give information if anonymity is maintained
May disclose immoral / illegal responses that require reporting
Theoretical issues with questionnaires
Closed questions - lack validity due to fixed responses
Open questions - lack reliability as answers will be less likely to be repeated
Operationalising definition
Making something measurable
Response rate
Self completion often have low response rates
Interviews - higher response rates
Low response rates - unrepresentative sample
People who may respond may not be from a variety of groups - less valid (EG older people with more time - more likely to respond)
Longitudinal research
One advantage
One disappointment
One example
Research done over a long period of time
Advantage - researchers can record social change over time
Disadvantage - practical issue of cost
= funding bodies may be unwilling to commit to a longitudinal project
Example - Millennium Cohort Study
Millennium Cohort Study:
Who? What ages? Methods? What it proved?
Followed children born across UK in 2000-2001
Followed up to 5 times at ages 3, 5, 7, 11, 13
Methods: questionnaires, cognitive assessments (measured verbal, language and numerical abilities)
Proved how circumstances in early stages of life can influence later development
Personal documents:
Examples and case studies
Examples:
Letters, diaries, photos, social media
Case studies:
Hey’s study : Ethnography of Girls’ Friendships
= examined notes girls passed between each other (about their relationships)
Znaniecki : The Polish Peasant in Europe and America
= letters between immigrants to US and their families - hopes, and emotional experiences
Historical documents case study
Pearson’s ‘Hooligan’
Examines how hooligan behaviour has been around for centuries - draws upon articles, magazines and novels
Official documents
AO1
AO2 / 3
Produced by the government on a wide range of issues
Useful as it tells us about education - relationship between CAGE and education
AO2/3 : not objective
Bias - government shows itself in a good light
Vaganay - studies on gov reports show there IS bias regularly
Visual documents
Pictures, photos, paintings etc.
Content analysis - studying what the image shows
Semiotic analysis - study os symbols and how they create meanings
Sociological analysis - using CAGE
AO3 : assessing documents
Scott - 4 quality control criteria
Authenticity - tampered with? Original?
Credibility - author being honest?
Representativeness - representative of opinions?
Meaning - does the reader know what it means?
PERVERT
Practical
Ethical
Reliability
Validity
Example
Representativeness
Theoretical
