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Sociology > Reserach Methods > Flashcards

Reserach Methods Flashcards

1
Q

Primary data

A

Info collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes

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2
Q

Secondary data

A

Info that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but which the sociologist can then use

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3
Q

Quantitative data

A

Info in a numerical form

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4
Q

Qualitative data

A

Info in a letter form

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5
Q

Practice issue examples

A

Time and money
Requirements of funding bodies
Personal skills and characteristics
Subject matter
Research opportunities

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6
Q

Ethical issue examples

A

Informed consent
Confidentiality and privacy
Harm to research participants
Vulnerable groups
Covert research

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7
Q

Theoretical issue examples

A

Validity
Reliability
Representativeness
Methodological perspective

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8
Q

What does PERVERT stand for?

A

Practical
Ethical
Representative
Validity
Examples
Reliability
Theoretical

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9
Q

What do positivists favour?

A

Quantitative data
Scientific law
Prove hypothesis
Seek reliability and representativeness

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10
Q

What do interpretivist’s favour?

A

Qualitative data
Uncover the meaning that people give to their interactions
Seek validity through verstenen (emotional/empathetic understanding)

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11
Q

Random sampling

A

Simplest technique, where the sample is selected purely by chance

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12
Q

Systematic sampling

A

Where every nth person in the sampling frame is selected

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13
Q

Stratified random sampling

A

The researcher first stratifies the pop in the sampling frame by age, class, gender, etc

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14
Q

Quota sampling

A

Pop is stratified and then each interviewer is given a quota which they have to fill with respondents that fit these characteristics

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15
Q

Triangulation

A

When sociologists use two or more methods or sources to obtain a more rounded picture by studying the same thing from more than one viewpoint

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16
Q

How could a sociologists experience of education alter their research?

A

It can dull their awareness of just how different educational environments are from other social settings
The sociologist would have also had to have been successful in education which may make it difficult for them to empathise with students in an underachieving, anti-school subculture

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17
Q

What is a lab experiment

A

An experiment taken place in a laboratory where they can control the experiment

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18
Q

What was the aim of Bandura’s ‘Bobo Doll Experiment’?

A

To investigate if social behaviours can be acquired by observation and imitation. This is called social learning

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19
Q

What was the hypothesis of the Bobo Doll experiment?

A

The boys would be more aggressive then the girls
Children were more likely to copy adults of their gender
Children would act aggressively if they saw an adult act in that way

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20
Q

What was the method used in the bobo doll experiment?

A

There were 36 boys and 36 girls aged 3-6
24 children were exposed to aggressive adult behaviour, 24 were exposed to non-aggressive adult behaviour and 24 were the control group and were not exposed to any adult role models

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21
Q

What is a practical issue of lab experiments?

A

Can only study small samples
People may act differently as a lab is not a natural setting which can affect the results

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22
Q

What are the ethical problems of lab experiments?

A

Lack of informed consent
Deception
Harm

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23
Q

Hawthorn effect

A

Labs are not natural or normal environments, meaning people may behave differently. This will ruin the experiment, which depends on the subjects responding to the variables that the researcher introduces into the situation, not the fact that they are being observed

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24
Q

Field experiments

A

Conducted in a natural setting as opposed to the artificial environment created in lab experiments

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25
Q

What is Rosenhan’s 1973 ‘pseudo-patient’ experiment?

A

8 ‘pseudo-patient’ presented themselves at institutions across the country with the same symptoms, they reported hearing voices that said, “thud, empty, hollow”
They were all admitted and diagnosed with serious mental health disorders
The ‘pseudo-patient’ spent between 7 and 52 days in psychiatric institutions; not one hospital staff member identified the participants as fake patients

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26
Q

Comparative method

A

Involves comparing two or more similar societies or groups which are similar in some respects but varied in others, and looking for correlations. This can be across time and place. There are no research participants as such, it is a ‘thought experiement’

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27
Q

What is an example of a lab experiment used to investigate education?

A

Harvey and Slatin examined whether teachers had preconceived ideas about pupils in different social classes
They shows 96 teachers 18 photos of children from different social backgrounds and the teachers were asked to rate the students on performance, parental attitudes to education, etc
W/c children were rated less favourably, especially by more experienced teachers

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28
Q

Example of a field experiment used to investigate education

A

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s sputters experiment

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29
Q

Practical strengths of questionnaires

A

Quick and cheap so can gather large amounts of data
Data easy to quantify
No researchers needed

30
Q

Practice limitations of questionnaires

A

Tend to be limited and superficial
Has to be brief so people will do it

31
Q

Ethical strengths of questionnaires

A

Pose fewer ethics, problems
With sensitive questions, respondents are usually not obligated to answer

32
Q

Ethical limitations of questionnaires

A

May not be completely confidential of personal details

33
Q

Strengths of questionnaires for positivists

A

Reliable
Generalisable
Representative
Produces quantitative data

34
Q

Limitations of questionnaires for interpretivists

A

Fail to maintain validity

35
Q

How reliable are questionnaires?

A

There is no researcher present to influence the respondents answer
Can be repeated easily
However the answers are not always correct

36
Q

How representative are questionnaires?

A

Can collect into from a large number of people, the results stand a better chance of being truly representative of the wider population
Postal questionnaires can receive small samples because people cannot be bothered to post them back

37
Q

How valid are questionnaires?

A

Detached and objective as no personal involvement with researcher
You can’t know if the return questionnaire was actually completed by the person to whom it was addressed
You can’t guarantee that the potential respondent had actually received the questionnaire

38
Q

Structured interviews

A

Interviewer is given strict instructions on how to ask the questions
They are conducted in the same standardised way each time

39
Q

Unstructured interviews

A

Like a guided conversation
Interviewer has complete freedom to vary the questions, their wording, order, etc from one interview to the next

40
Q

Semi structured interviews

A

Each interview has the same set of questions in common, but the interviewer can also probe for more info

41
Q

Group interviews

A

Focus on discussions where participants can throw ideas around the group and stimulate each others thinking which produces richer and more reflective data

42
Q

Strengths of structured interviews

A

Training interviewers is straightforward and cheap
Suitable for gathering factual info
Results easily quantified

43
Q

Limitations of structured interviews

A

Closed ended questions restrict interviewees
Interviewers have little freedom to explain questions

44
Q

Strengths of unstructured questionnaires

A

Interviewer can develop a rapport with interviewee
Good for researching sensitive topics

45
Q

Limitations of unstructured interviews

A

Time consuming
Smaller sample size
Less likely to be representative of wider population

46
Q

What are the advantages of interviewing students to investigate education?

A

Access and response rate- if researcher can get support for the study then students can be released from lessons which will increase the response rate

47
Q

What are the disadvantages of interviewing students to investigate education?

A

Young people may not want to talk and may not understand questions
Contents of the interviews could be easily spread throughout the school
Unethical if students feel unsettled

48
Q

What did Patrick use participant observation to study?

A

Used a covert study to study a violent and delinquent teenage Glasgow gang
Patrick didn’t carry a weapon or engage in fights with rivals
Patrick left Glasgow quickly when the violence became too unacceptable for him and he felt threatened

49
Q

Overt observation

A

The researchers makes their true identity and purpose known to those being studied

50
Q

Covert observation

A

The study is carried out ‘under cover’. The researchers real identity and purpose are kept concealed from the group being studied

51
Q

What are the three problems of conducting a participant observation?

A

Getting in
Staying in
Getting out

52
Q

Practical advantages of participant observation

A

Sociologist can build a rapport with the group and gain their trust

53
Q

Practical disadvantages of participant observation

A

Time consuming
Researcher needs to be trained

54
Q

Ethical disadvantages of participant observation

A

You have to deceive people in order to obtain info about them
May have to participate in illegal or immoral activities

55
Q

Official stats

A

Any set if data collected by the government or other official body

56
Q

Practical strengths of official stats

A

Free source of huge amounts of data
Stats allow comparisons between groups
Show trends and patterns over time

57
Q

Practical limitations of official stats

A

Gov. collects stats for its own purpose and not for the benefit of sociologists, so there may be nine available for the benefit of the sociologist
The definitions that the state uses in collecting the data may be different from those that sociologists would use

58
Q

What are documents?

A

Sources with non-statistical content. They can be contemporary or historical

59
Q

Public documents

A

Produced by organisations such as gov. departments, schools, welfare agencies, businesses and charities

60
Q

Personal documents

A

Include items such as letters, diaries, photo albums, and autobiographies. These are first person accounts of social events and personal experiences

61
Q

Historical documents

A

A public or personal document created in the past

62
Q

What are the four potential limitations which might undermine the usefulness of documents according to Scott?

A

Authenticity
Credibility
Representativeness
Meaning

63
Q

Content analysis

A

A method used to analyse qualitative data. It allows the researcher to take qualitative data and turn it into quantitive data

64
Q

What are the practical issues with using official stats to investigate education?

A

Govs collect stats for their own policy purposes and these may not be the same as the sociologists

65
Q

Are official stats representative when used to investigate education?

A

Some official stats on education are highly representative
All state schools complete a census 3x a year- this collects info on pupils attendance, ethnicity, gender, numbers receiving school meals, etc

66
Q

Are official stats reliable when being used to investigate education?

A

Positivists favour official stats because their reliability means that they can be used to test and re-test hypotheses and thus discover cause and effect relationships

67
Q

Are official stats valid when used to investigate education?

A

Interpretivists question the validity of official stats. They argue that stats are socially constructed
Schools may manipulate their attendance figures by redefining their absence members as being on study leave it additional work experience

68
Q

What are the practical issues with using documents to investigate education?

A

Personal documents are mote difficult ti access- Hey made use of notes girls passed to each other in class to understand their friendship patterns. However, the notes weren’t always easy to obtain
Some educational documents are confidential so sociologists may be unable to gain access to them

69
Q

What are the ethical issues with using documents to investigate education?

A

There are more ethical problems over public documents
Hey collected notes that girls had passed to each other:
Some offered the notes freely
Some were collected from desks after the lesson
In one case a teacher took them from the bin and offered them to Hey
In this case she didn’t gain informed consent

70
Q

Are documents representative when being used to investigate education?

A

Some official documents are legally required if all schools and colleges so it is more likely that we can form a representative picture of certain incidents in schools across the country
Personal documents are less representative

71
Q

Are documents reliable when being used to investigate education?

A

Many public documents are produced in a systematic format which enables researchers to make direct comparisons

72
Q

Are documents valid when being used to investigate education?

A

Documents can provide important insights into the meanings held by teachers and students and can therefore be high in validity
However all documents are open to different interpretation

Sociology (5 decks)

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