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)
