Types of Studies Flashcards
what are longitudinal studies?
a study that follows, studies and monitors the same sample/group over a period of time, with various different methods being used at regular intervals.
name some examples of longitudinal studies?
- 7 UP study
- Perry Pre-school project
- Eileen Barker- Moonies study
- Douglas, 5632 children born at certain time period, studied through their schooling.
- National Child Development study
what are some strengths to longitudinal studies?
- informed consent + right to withdraw
- high validity due to the long time period
- results are rich in detail, and can provide quantitative/qualitative data, accurate and in depth
- researchers are able to trace developments over time, so is not just a snapshot.
- can identify causes, developmental analysis
what are some weaknesses of longitudinal studies?
- time consuming and expensive
- sample attrition, subjects can drop out/lose contact/even die
- may invade the participants privacy
- low reliability, people’s views can change, and the same results cannot be obtained
- researcher may go native, becoming too attached to the group, so study loses objectivity
- low representativeness, small sample size
- amount of data is hard to analyse, and can take ages to produce results
- rapport cannot always be maintained over time
what is content analysis?
a method which explores and examines the context of media/documents.
what are examples of things that are explored within context analysis?
newspapers, media posts, government documents, tv programmes, adverts, etc
what are the two types of context analysis?
1- traditional context analysis
2- thematic context analysis
explain what traditional context analysis is?
- researcher looks for certain context, counting and recording every time it is used
- this produces quantitative data
who uses traditional context analysis?
positivists
explain what thematic context analysis is?
- researcher will look for certain themes, and their deeper meanings
- eg= are women portrayed as sexual objects in adverts
- this produces qualitative data
who uses thematic context analysis?
interpretivists
what are some strengths about traditional CA?
- easy to gain access to broadcast/publication.
- easy/inexpensive to build a representative sample
- reliable, easy to repeat, using a standardised framework that can be applied across a wide range of media
- detached method, no interaction with people being studied, so there is no Hawthorne effect
what are some weakness of traditional CA?
- not as objective as it claims, as researcher makes choices on how to interpret particular forms of behaviour, so makes decisions.
- quantitative data does not tell us about the quality of relationships.
- time consuming
- researcher omissions, making errors when counting can lead to invalid results.
- describes rather than explains.
what are some strengths of thematic CA?
- deeper understanding, records abstract ideas
- easy to gain access
- detached method
- easy, can be easy to gain a representative sample
- can use data to compare to official sources (eg- gov statistics)
- can make generalisations
- can be valid
what are some weaknesses of thematic CA?
- skills needed to interpret
- interpretations can be different for different researchers.
- not as objective as claimed, as researcher makes decision on how to interpret behaviour
- describes rather than explains, no depth of behaviour recorded
- no clear pictures about the significance of the recorded behaviour
what is secondary research?
using data that already exists, ‘second hand’ data, which has been carried out/created by someone else
what are the 3 types of secondary sources?
- private
- public
- historic
what are some examples of secondary sources?
- league tables
- crime statistics
- ofsted reports
what are the 6 reasons why sociologists use secondary data?
- saves time
- cheap, often free
- scale (beyond means of sociologist)
- if funding is unavailable
- historical to study the past
- if access to a group is not possible
what is an important source of public docs that sociologists use?
official statistics
what are the 2 types official statistics, and explain what these are?
1- HARD= cannot be fixed/manipulated, they are accurate/true to life
2- SOFT= open to manipulation/distortion, they are socially constructed
what are some examples of hard and soft statistics?
- hard= birth rates. divorce rates, death rates, population
- soft=crime rates, poverty, exclusion rates, racism, unemployment
what is an AO2 example official statistics?
the UK Census
what are public documents?
created or collected by the government/agencies for the public.
PUBLIC= everyone is able to access it (easily accessible)
what should public documents be?
trustworthy
what are personal documents?
qualitative data produced by the individual, they are first hand accounts of events/personal experiences, including the writer’s feelings, emotions and attitudes.
what are some examples of personal documents?
diaries, letters, photographs
what are 2 AO2 examples of personal/historical documents?
- Anne Frank’s diary
- WW2 soldier letter to mother
what were John Scott’s 4 criteria when evaluating the usefulness of personal documents?
- authenticity
- credibility
- meaning
- representativeness
what is triangulation?
a technique that aims to obtain a more rounded picture, by studying the same thing from more than one viewpoint, using a number of different sources/methods
who is an example of who did triangulation method in their research?
BARKER, ‘Making of the Moonies.’
-used overt participant observation, unstructured interviews and questionnaires.
what are some strengths of official statistics?
- cheap, easily accessible, availability
- easy to analyse, so little skills needed
- no need to gain permission, as it already exists, confidentiality
- standardised counting training, reliability
- high validity
- good representativeness, as resources are often provided on a national scale.
what are the weaknesses of official statistics?
- human errors/omissions, effecting reliability
- definitions vary over years
- lacks meanings/empathy
- manipulation and bias
- dark figure of statistics
what are the strengths of documents, mainly personal?
- rich detail, so can gain a true understanding
- can gain empathy, which means a Verstehen is met
- may be the only info from that time
- may be only insight into sensitive topics
- realistic results
- high in validity
what are the weaknesses of documents?
- getting access can be difficult, gatekeeper and permission needed
- unethical, invasion of privacy, protection from harm, consent
- may be exaggerated/dishonest
- misinterpretations can be made, reduces validity
- reliability is low, as it cannot be repeated, personal and subjective
- can be only be done on a micro scale, which reduces the representativeness, generalisations can’t be made
- time-consuming
