Social Science Research Methods Flashcards
What are the two main groups of social research methods?
Quantitative
Qualitative
Briefly describe quantitative research
Collection of numerical data
Begins with idea/hypothesis
By deduction a conclusions can be drawn
Strengths = reliability and repeatability
Lists some quantitative research designs
Experimental study designs (e.g. RCTs)
Cohort studies
Case-control studies
Cross-sectional surveys
Secondary analysis of data from other sources
- Official statistics - e.g. census, economic and Social
Data Service
- Other national surveys - e.g. conducted by charities.
- Local and regional studies - e.g. university conducted.
Name one very common method in quantitative research.
A questionnaire
Give some points on how a questionnaire should be designed.
It should be:
Valid - Measure what they’re supposed to measure
Reliable - measure things consistently
- Differences in results come from differences
between participants, not from
inconsistencies in how items are understood
or in how responses are interpreted.
How do you ensure validity and reliability in Questionnaires?
By using published questionnaires.
Published questionnaires may have been tested for validity and reliability
Unpublished questionnaires are developed in specific contexts. Validity and reliability have to be established
What types of questions are best in a questionnaire?
Closed questions
But can have “other - please specify” option
And have some open - ended questions - like a text box
Need to plan in advance of how to interpret data
- Coding of free text responses into new or existing
categories
- More qualitative analysis
What are quantitative methods good at and bad at?
Good at:
- Measuring
- Finding relationships between things(e.g. ethnicity
and smoking)
- Allowing comparisons
But:
- May force people into inappropriate categories
- Don’t allow people to express things in the way they
want
- May not access all the important information
- May not be effective in establishing causality
Briefly describe qualitative research.
Aims to make sense of phenomena in terms of meanings people bring to them e.g. WHY don’t people stop smoking?
Need to listen to what people have to say, understand their perspective
Emphasis meaning, experience and views of respondents
Analysis emphasises the research’s interpretation, not measurement.
Can also provide insights into people’s behaviour (subject to caveats)
List some qualitative research methods.
Observation and ethnography
Interviews
Focus groups
Documents
What is ethnography?
Studying human behaviour in its natural context
What are the two forms of ethnography and observation?
Participant observation
Non-participant observation
What is observation in respect to a qualitative research method?
Observe what people actually do rather than relying on what they tell you
Briefly describe observation in terms of social research methods
Observation is labour intensive but can provide a valuable insight into what actually happens and can explore aspects of health and health care that other methods cannot get at
Commonly combined with more formal interviews and other sources of data in ethnographic studies
Describe interviews in terms of qualitative research
They are normally semi-structured interviews:
- Structured by prompt guide
- Clear agenda of topics - order not followed rigidly
- May seem conversational in style
- Emphasis on participants giving their perspective
A qualitative interview is:
Detailed, focused accounts relating to an issue of interest, but gives someone’s professed view of or explanation of the issue, not an unproblematic description of the issue itself
Briefly describe focus groups.
Flexible method
- can be a quick method for establishing parameters
- or for accessing group-based, collective
understanding of an issue
Not so useful for individual experience
May encourage people to participate
Some topics may be too sensitive for focus groups
Deviant views may be inhibited
Give some details on the difficulty of focus grouos
Can be difficult to arrange
Have to consider membership of group
Need fairly homogeneous group
Good facilitator is needed - managing a group dynamic is not easy
Briefly describe documentary and media analysis.
It is self explanatory
It uses independent evidence:
- e.g. medical records, patient diaries
- But it doesn’t give a full truth, just a reconstruction,
somewhere between observation and interviewing.
May provide historical context
Useful for difficult subjects to investigate - “inside story”
Can analyse television, newspaper and media stories
How is qualitative data analysed?
Ongoing iterative process - labour intensive
Often an inductive approach:
- Close inspection of data - reading and rereading
- Try to identify themes
- Produce specification for themes
- Assign data to themes
- Constantly compare data analysis against themes
What are qualitative methods good for and not so good for?
Good for:
- Understanding the perspective of those in a situation
- Accessing information not revealed by quantitative
approaches
- Explaining relationships between variables
Less good for:
- Finding consistent relationships between variables
- Generilisability (qualitative methods may be good at
identifying a range of views of an issue, but it would
be dangerous to infer propensity of those views from
a small sample that may not be statistically
representative)
What makes good qualitative research?
Transparency around sampling, methods and analysis is key
Good qualitative research will leave an audit trail
It should be carried out robustly
Debate over most appropriate criteria for assessing the quality of qualitative research
CASP offers one tool - rigour, credibility, relevance
What factors do you need to consider when choosing an appropriate study design?
Topic under investigation and research question
Research team’s preference/expertise
Time and money available
Funders and/or audience.
