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Sociology > Sociology- Reserch Methods > Flashcards

Sociology- Reserch Methods Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Quantitive data

A

focuses on numeric and unchanging data and detailed

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2
Q

Qualitative data

A

Descriptions of peoples feelings about a particular subject or observation made

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3
Q

Primary data

A

Information that is collected first hand

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4
Q

Secondary data

A

Information that already exists and have been done by someone else

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5
Q

Validity

A

Produces a true picture of what something is really like

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6
Q

Reliability

A

When repeated by another researcher, gets the same results

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7
Q

Representativeness

A

Refers to weather the people they study are typical of the group they are interested in

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8
Q

Positivists

A

Prefer quantitative data, sociology is a science

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9
Q

Interpretivists

A

Prefer qualitative data and don’t see sociology as a science

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10
Q

Snowball sampling

A

Involves contacting a number of key individuals

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11
Q

Quasi random sampling

A

Where every nth person in the sampling frame is selected

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12
Q

Advantages of questionaires
Practical

A

-quick and cheap means of gathering large amounts of data
-returned themselves
-easy to quantify

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13
Q

Advantages of questionnaires
Ethical

A

-few ethical problems
-interviewed could ask intrusive questions
-still should gain consent

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14
Q

Advantages of questionnaires
Theoretical

A

-detachment and unbiased

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15
Q

Disadvantages of questionnaires
Practical

A

-the data can be limited
-won’t return long survey
-might have to offer incentive like prize draw
-might not receive survey

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16
Q

Disadvantages of questionnaires
Low response rate

A

-major problem
-study sent out 100,000 but only 4.5% were returned
-too complex can only be done by well educated
-different people might not be able to return therefore unrepresentative e.g full time work

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17
Q

Disadvantages of questionaires
Snapshots

A

-only accurate at one moment
-fail to produce a valid picture
-do not capture attitude and behaviour changes

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18
Q

Disadvantages of questionnaires
Right answerism

A

-invalid as they might not understand, lie or forget

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19
Q

Advantages Official statistics
Practical

A

-huge amounts of data
-free
-state conducted surveys
-conducted often so can recognise patterns and trends shows cause and effect

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20
Q

Disadvantages official statistics
Practical

A

-for governments purpose not sociologists
-not always on what you want to study
-definitions may differ from those collecting data and sociologists

21
Q

Advantages official statistics
Theoretical

A

-generally seen as reliable
-as they have to follow procedure

22
Q

Disadvantages official statistics
Theoretical

A

-not totally reliable
-can be errors and members of public may fill data in wrong

23
Q

Types of documents?

A

-public docs
-personal docs
-historical doc

24
Q

Disadvantages of documents
Theoretical

A

-could be false
-no proof of whose it is
-e.g hitler diaries were later proven to be fakes

25
Q

Disadvantages of documents
Theoretical

A

-may need special skills to understand e.g language barrier
-can be interpreted differently

26
Q

Advantages of documents

A

-rich qualitative data
-extra check on other data
-cheap as someone else collected information

27
Q

Advantages of Lab experiments
Theoretical

A

-very reliable as you can specify steps and manipulate variables
-very detached method

28
Q

Disadvantages of lab experiments
Practical

A

-can’t be used to study past
-usually only small samples,reducing representativeness

29
Q

Disadvantages of lab experiments
Ethical

A

-lack of informed consent
-deception (milgrim electric shocks)
-Harm (in milgrims study some had seizures)
-however milgrims study had 74% of participants said they’d learnt somthing of value

30
Q

Disadvantages of lab experiments
Hawthorne effect

A

Mayo
-if people know that they’re in an experiment they may behave differently
-act how they think they want the researcher wants them to act

31
Q

Field experiments

A

Rosenhan
-12 patents into mental hospital each hearing voices
-each was admitted with schizophrenic
-then once in acted normal
-hospital staff kept treating them as they were ill
-it was the label not the behavior
-less control but more valid
-can be seen as unethical

32
Q

Types of interviews

A

-structured
-unstructured
-semi structured
-group interviews

33
Q

Advantages Group interview

A

-might feel more comfortable in front of others
-can stimulate each others thinking

34
Q

Disadvantages
group interviews

A

-one or two may dominate interview
-peer pressure could lead to participants not saying the truth

35
Q

Advantages structured interviews
Practical

A

-quantifiable
-easy to gather stright forward data
- fairly cheap

36
Q

Advantages structured interviews

A

-reliable as it’s easy to control and done in set way
-similar results
-easy to compare similarities and differences

37
Q

Disadvantage structured interviews
Valid

A

-closed ended questions
-therefore answers might not be what interviewee wants to say therefore invalid
-little freedom to explain question

38
Q

Disadvantages of all interviews
Social desirability

A

-people often seek to win approval

39
Q

Disadvantages of all interviews
Interviewer bias

A

-can be asked leading questions
-less likley in structured interview
-facial expressions or tone
-difficulty to detach e.g Oakley and her mother

40
Q

Types of observation:

A

-Overt (known)
-covert (undercover)
-participation (takes part)
-non participation (observe not involved s.g two way mirror)

41
Q

Disadvantages of participant observation
Getting in

A

-depended on personal skills
-connections or chance
-getting accepted my be difficult due to features

42
Q

Disadvantages of participant observation
Getting out

A

Patrick
-had to halt and leave due to violence
-re-entering norms afterward can be difficult
-loyalty could prevent details being shared

43
Q

Disadvantages with overt observation

A

-a group may refuse the researcher permission
-Hawthorne effect

44
Q

Disadvantages with covert observation

A

-require researcher to keep up act
-cannot openly take notes
-immoral to decive people
-could stay loyal to group (bias)

45
Q

Advantages participant observation
Theoretical

A

-valid as it what they naturally do
-rich qualitative data
-‘verstehan’

46
Q

Advantages participant observation
Practical

A

-can be only viable method especially deviant
-this is mainly where they wouldn’t accept outsider

47
Q

Disadvantages participant observation
Practical

A

-time consuming
-has to be trained
-can be stressful and demanding
-personal characteristics could be required

48
Q

Disadvantages participant observation
Representativeness

A

-ussually small sample size
-not useful for making generalisations

Sociology (20 decks)

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