sociology- research methods Flashcards
what are some disadvantages of questionnaires
?
-closed question
-biased respondent
-no way to raise queries
advantages of questionnaires?
-reliability is high
-avoids researcher effect
-target large sample-gain more data
disadvantages of interviews
-comparisons between findings is hard
-sample size is often quite small
-expensive
-recording errors
advantages of interviews
-speak face to face
-interviewer can be biased
-high response rate
-questions can be rephrased if not understood
disadvantages of official national statistics
-expensive to collect
-time consuming to collect
-comparisons sometimes difficult
advantages of official national statistics
-many freely available
-make historical comparisons
-spot trends
-less room for subject bias
what are the disadvantages of content analysis?
-media is often biased
-data not detailed enough
-decisions made by one person
what are the advantages of content analysis?
-can target a sample
-cheap
-easy to research
-reliable
what are the disadvantage of longitudinal studies?
-time consuming
-participant dropping out
-difficult to manage
-expensive
what are the advantages of longitudinal studies?
-allows for depth and detail
-recognise changes over time
-valid data
what are the disadvantages of covert observations?
-ethical issues
-not got consent
-could loose objective
-hard to take notes
what are the advantages of covert observations?
-understand from groups point of view
-avoids Hawthorne effect
-among groups who wouldn’t normally allow it
what is a covert observation?
an undercover observation
what are the disadvantages of overt obsevations?
-difficult to gain access to groups
-expensive
-longitudinal
-Hawthorne effect (people change behaviour)
what are advantages of overt observations?
-reliable data
-detailed qualitive data
-help understand group
what is an overt observation?
open/known observations
what is a representative sample?
reflects the characteristics of its population
what is qualitive data?
rich in description and detail, it is about quality
gather descriptions, beliefs, ideas of people or you might observe people
what is quantitive data?
information presented in numerical form
statistics, percentages, numbers
gives clear facts
what is a hypothesis?
when you take your aim, read around the topic area and come up with a prediction of what you think you will find
what does ethnography mean?
the study of people’s culture and practices in everyday settings, usually based on qualitive methods such as participant observation and unstructured interviews
what is a representative sample?
reflects the characteristics of its population
it is just like the population but a smaller version of it
what is triangulation?
cross checking the findings from a qualitative method against findings from a quantitive method
what is a sampling frame?
a complex list of all members of the population from which a sample is drawn
what is generalisability?
when designing their study, researchers think about the extent to which their research can be applied
