Paper 2 A: Research Methods Flashcards
(23 cards)
What is positivism?
The search of looking at a study as a whole
Includes qualitative data e.g statistics
Primary Data:
Collected firsthand by the researcher (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations).
Secondary Data:
Data that already exists, collected by other researchers (e.g., official statistics, documents, previous studies).
Qualitative Data:
Non-numerical data focused on meanings and experiences (e.g., interviews, focus groups).
Quantitative Data:
Numerical data, used for statistical analysis (e.g., surveys, experiments).
Surveys
Structured questionnaires or interviews to collect large-scale data.
Advantages: Large sample size, easy to analyze.
Disadvantages: May lack depth, issues with validity (e.g., social desirability bias).
Interviews
: Can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.
Advantages: In-depth insights, flexible.
Disadvantages: Time-consuming, interviewer bias.
Participant observation
Researcher observes participants in their natural environment.
Advantages: Naturalistic data, rich insights.
Disadvantages: Ethical issues (e.g., informed consent), researcher bias, time-consuming.
Experiments
Controlled studies to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
Advantages: Control over variables, replicable.
Disadvantages: Artificial settings, ethical concerns.
Practical Considerations
Time, cost, access to participants, and researcher skills.
Ethical Considerations
Whether the research adheres to ethical guidelines.
Theoretical Considerations:
Theoretical perspective influencing choice of method.
Reliability
Consistency of results over time or with different researchers.
High reliability means the study can be replicated with similar results.
Validity
The extent to which a study measures what it claims to measure.
Internal Validity: The degree to which the results are due to the independent variable.
External Validity: The extent to which the findings can be generalized beyond the study context.
What are longitudinal studies and what are the strengths?
- studies that take place over a long period of time
- collect quantitative data makes them high in reliability
They identify trends and patterns
Limitations of longitudinal studies?
- time consuming
- low validity
What are questionnaires? What are the strengths?
- list of questions written down which respondent has to answer
- high in reliability
- representative
- free from interview bias
Limitations of questionnaires
Limited detail so unable to understand the why
Low validity
What are structured interviews? What are strengths?
- when researcher reads a list of closed questions and ticks boxes or writes answers according to set categories
- high in reliability
- identifies patterns and trends
- High generalisability
What is statistical data? Strengths?
- this is numerical data collected by government usually gathered by surveys
- high in reliability
- identifies trends and patterns
Limitations of statistical data
- low validity
What is content analysis? Strengths?
- involves sociologists analysing existing products created by other people
-high in reliability - identify patterns and trends
Disadvantages of content analysis?
- low validity
