practical, ethical, theoretical issues than influnece choice of research methods Flashcards
What are practical issues?
issues that can make carrying out research more difficult
How does time and money affect research methods?
for example, large scale surveys may need to employ dozens of researchers and data inputting staff which is likely to be expensive and time consuming to find the individuals to employ
however, small scale surveys are more likely to be less expensive and time consuming but this raises issues with the research sample (generalisability/validity)
How does the individuals who fund the research affect research methods?
for example, when investigating educational achievement, quantitative methods are likely to be used to test whether pass rates are being met (questionnaires, unstructured interviews)
How does personal skills of the researcher affect research methods?
for example, researchers who acquire a good level of social skills are likely to successfully carry out participant observation as they can mix well with others
researchers who can easily build a relationship based on trust and empathy (rapport) are more likely to successfully carry out an unstructured interview
How does characteristics of the researcher affect research methods?
researchers are likely to carry out research based on their interests - for example, it may be difficult for a male researcher to carry out participant observation based on an all female sample
James Patrick - Glasgow gang
the opportunity to carry out research may come unexpectedly - a Glasgow gang leader offered Patrick to spend time with his gang - with no time to prepare, Patrick had to carry out a participant observation; in other circumstances, he may have carried out a more structured method
What are ethical issues?
refers to moral issues of right and wrong (the British Sociological Association)
What is informed consent?
should be offered the right to refuse to take part in research at the beginning, the researcher should provide information of what the research is about so that the individual can make an informed decision
What is confidentiality and privacy?
identity of participants should be kept secret
What is harm to participants?
researchers should ensure that participants aren’t experiencing more stress than they do in their daily lives
What are vulnerable groups?
special/extra care should be taken for vulnerable groups - age, disability, mental or physical health may make participants more vulnerable than others
What is covert research?
can create serious ethical issues as the purpose of the research and the researchers identity is hidden from participants
What are theoretical issues?
refers to questions about what we think society is like and whether we can obtain an accurate, truthful picture of it
What is validity?
produces a true/genuine picture of what something is really like - for example, qualitative methods (participant observation, unstructured interviews) will give us deeper insight than quantitative methods (questionnaires)
what is reliability?
whether or not research can be repeated - for example, quantitative methods (questionnaires) tend to be more reliable than qualitative methods (unstructured interviews)
