the process of research

Question 1

what is a hypothesis / an aim?

Answer 1

hypothesis= a testable statement that gets proved or disproved
ad-> gives direction of search, p- cause and effect

aim= more general and open ended, i- uncover people’s meanings

Question 2

what is an operationalising concept?

Answer 2

a working definition that can be measured, used within abstract concepts e.g. social class
BUT can be problematic if sociologists operationalize the same concept diff
v important to positivists

Question 3

what is a pilot study?

Answer 3

pilot studys are often used with social surveys before the main survey, a draft version to identify problems and clarify wording of qs

Question 4

what is sampling?

Answer 4

sociologists generalise their findings, sample population being studied= ensures sample is rep/typical of pop
imp for pos- make general laws

Question 5

what is random sampling?

Answer 5

participants are selected by chance, everyone has an equal chance, large random sample should reflect the pop

Question 6

what is systematic sampling?

Answer 6

every nth person is selected- used by young and willmott

Question 7

what is stratified sampling?

Answer 7

researcher stratifies the population into categories e.g. gender, samples rep total population selected

Question 8

what is quota sampling?

Answer 8

like stratified, but each category has a quota e.g. 50% female regardless of number in pop being studied

Question 9

what is snowball sampling?

Answer 9

researcher contacts individuals who then suggest others to be interviews etc, adding to the sample until enough data is collected- not rep of pop

Question 10

what is opportunity sampling?

Answer 10

convenience sampling, choosing those individuals who are easiest to access, not likely to be rep of the pop