primary sources

Question 1

2 ways interviews can be carried out?

Answer 1

via face to face
or via telephone

Question 2

structured interviews

Answer 2

• formal ​
• similar to questionnaires ​
• standardised​
• the interviewer is given strict instructions on what questions to ask. ​
• conducted in the same way each time, asking the same questions, in same order, tone of voice etc.

Question 3

unstructured interviews

Answer 3

• informal
• are like a guided conversation the interviewer has complete freedom to vary the questions, their wording, the order, etc. ​
• they pursue whatever line of questioning that seems appropriate at the time. ​
• follow up questions, probing more deeply​

Question 4

semi-structured interviews

Answer 4

• between these 2 extremes​
• interviews have the same set of questions in common, but interviewer can also probe for more info if needed e.g
  A02 = Aaron Cicourel and John Kitsus (1963) always followed up questions with “how do you mean?”​
• additional questions can be asked if the researcher thinks it is relevant

Question 5

group interviews

Answer 5

• up to a dozen participants
• participants are interviewed together
• ‘focus groups’ are a form of group in which the researchers asks participants to discuss certain topics and record their views

Question 6

(P e t) structured interviews

Answer 6

• quick, easy to train interviewers
• if cash incentive given – could be costly, ​
• good for straightforward practical info such as age, job, etc. ​
• easy to analyse = closed-ended questions + coded answers​
• can cover large no. of people with limited resources

Question 7

(p E t) structured interviews

Answer 7

feminists criticise structured interviews as they believe women find it difficult for them to express their experiences of oppression, not representing the unequal power dynamic between men and women

Question 8

(p e T) structured interviews

Answer 8

very reliable (positivist main goal)
- easy for the researcher to standardise and control them
- can replicate : each interview is conducted in the same way, with the same questions, in the same order, with the same wording and tone of voice (standardised procedure)
- all interviewees are asked the same questions = we can compare their answers easily to identify similarities and differences

not valid
- closed-ended questions : restrict interviewees to choosing from a limited number of pre-set answers. If none of these answers fits what the interviewee really wishes to say, the data obtained will be invalid.
- SI don’t allow respondents to answer in their own words.​
- little freedom given to interviewer to explain questions or clarify misunderstandings. ​
- people may lie or exaggerate = produce false data. The interview is a social interaction and so there is always a risk that the interaction between interviewer and interviewee will influence answers = interviewee’s desire to be seen in a favourable light

Question 9

(P e t) unstructured interviews

Answer 9

• flexible = not restricted to a set of questions = can explore different topics that may not have been intended
• the interviewers must be trained in order to probe and improvise their questions
• time consuming

Question 10

(p E t)

Answer 10

• gain a rapport of trust and understanding in unstructured interviews = puts interviewees at ease/more comfortable = allowing them to open up more

Question 11

(p e T)

Answer 11

high in validity (interpretivists main goal)
- receive qualitative data from the longer, worded answers
- gain reasoning behind the facts

lacks reliability
= not a standardised procedure
= every interview is unique and different
= not replicable

Question 12

group interviews

Answer 12

• up to a dozen participants
• participants are interviewed together
• focus groups are a form of smaller groups in which the researcher asks participants to discuss certain topics

Question 13

advantages of group interviews

Answer 13

participants may
- feel comfortable being with others = more likely to open up
- throw ideas around = stimulates other people’s thinking = richer and more valid data
- can combine questioning with observation = observe the dynamic of the group

Question 14

disadvantages of group interviews

Answer 14

• 1 or 2 individuals may dominate = inhibiting others to answer
• peer group pressure to inform ‘norms’ = impacts validity
• data is complex and difficult to analyse

Question 15

semi-structured interviews

Answer 15

• between structured and unstructured
• interviews have the same set of questions in common, but interviewers can probe for more information
  e.g aaron cicourel and john kitsus always followed up with ‘how do you mean?’

Question 16

participant observation

Answer 16

when the researcher actually takes part in the event or the everyday life of the group while observing it

Question 17

non-participant observation

Answer 17

when the researcher simply observes without taking part.​
e.g. use of a 2 way mirror to observe children playing

Question 18

‘o’vert observation

Answer 18

when the researcher is ‘o’pen with what they are doing, their true identity and purpose is known to those being studied

Question 19

‘c’overt observation

Answer 19

the researcher is ‘c’overed, the true identity and purpose is kept from the group

Question 20

getting in

Answer 20

making contact depends on :
- personal skills and characteristics
- having the right connections
- pure chance
e.g. James Patrick (1973) was able to join a Glasgow gang because he looked young and knew one of its members from teacher him in a young offenders’ institution​
acceptance:
- researcher must win their trust and acceptance
- researcher’s age, gender, class, ethnicity may be obstacle​
- suspicions must be overcome
observers role:
- must not disturb the group’s normal patterns​
- offer a good point of view from which to make observation​

Question 21

staying in

Answer 21

gong native:
- danger to becoming over-involved
- researcher might become biased = stop being objective observer and become a member of the group
or
at the other extreme: researcher may preserve their detachment to avoid bias
or
the more time a researcher spends with the group, the less strange its ways appear​ and after a while the researcher may cease to notice things

Question 22

getting out

Answer 22

• easier to leave than to enter a group
• in extreme situation researcher can simply leave​
• other can leave more gracefully especially if their study was overt​
• leaving a group with whom one has become close can be difficult
  e.g Patrick (Glasgow Gang) was sickened by the violence, he abandoned his study abruptly

Question 23

re entering the normal world

Answer 23

re-entering the normal world can be difficult​, can be worst if the research is conducted on and off over a period of time, with multiple “crossings” between the 2 worlds​

Question 24

loyalty to participants

Answer 24

loyalty may prevent them from fully disclosing everything they have learnt, from fear that this might harm members of the group
e.g criminal groups : exposing activities might lead to prosecution or reprisals
= reduces validity

Question 25

strengths of overt observations

Answer 25

avoids ethical (moral) problems such as ​ - obtaining info by deceit ​ - being expected to join in illegal activities - allows research to ask questions only outsiders could ask ​ - observer can take notes openly​ - can use interview to check insight derived from observations

Question 26

weaknesses of overt observations

Answer 26

- a group may refuse researcher’s permission to observe them​ - they may prevent them from seeing everything​ e.g Punch (Amsterdam Police) : 2 police officers to him “when you were with us, we only let you see what we wanted you to see”​ - may suffer from the Hawthorne effect = undermines validity of the data

Question 27

advantages of covert observations

Answer 27

- reduces the risk of people altering their behaviour (the hawthorne effect) - sometimes the only way to collect valid info – preserves naturalness of people’s behaviour​

Question 28

disadvantages of covert observations

Answer 28

- researcher need to keep up an act​ = cover might be “blown” = mistake​ - may need detailed knowledge about the group​ e.g Patrick was almost found when he bought a suit with cash instead of credit and when he fastened the middle button rather than the top one.​ - could put an end to research + physical harm ​ - can’t take notes openly = rely on memory ​ - can not ask any questions = no further information

Question 29

what are experiments used for in sociology?

Answer 29

they are used for testing people's reactions to certain situations or events, as it allows the researcher to observe the effect of variables under controlled conditions

Question 30

lab experiments are scientific

Answer 30

this means using a standardised procedure, which is a positivists main goal

Question 31

lab experiments explore cause and effect relationships because...

Answer 31

positivists want to ‘prove’ social fact and patterns of behaviour, experiments allows them to predict future patterns of behaviour

Question 32

lab experiments generate measurable, quantifiable data​ which...

Answer 32

are easily analysed to show patterns and focused on cause and effect

Question 33

lab experiments are objective and unbiased, this is good because...

Answer 33

lab experiments ensure detachment, the researcher observes the variables and records the results, the researcher will not bias the research with their own views

Question 34

lab experiments are (reliable or valid)

Answer 34

reliable - replicable procedure

Question 35

practical advantages of lab experiments

Answer 35

- easy to attract funding because of the prestige of science.​ - takes place in one setting so researchers can conduct research like any other day-job – no need to chase respondents

Question 36

ethical advantages of lab experiments

Answer 36

- legality – lab experiments rarely ask participants to do anything illegal.​ - findings benefit society – both Milgram and Zimbardo would claim the shocking findings of their research outweigh the harms done to respondents.​ - most laboratory experiments seek to gain informed consent, often a requirement to get funding

Question 37

theoretical advantages of lab experiments

Answer 37

- it is scientific = method standardised and systematic - good Reliability because it is easy to replicate the exact same conditions - produces quantitative data that is easily analysed - you can establish cause and effect relationships - you can collect ‘objective’ knowledge – about how facts ‘out there’ affect individuals

Question 38

practical disadvantages of lab experiments

Answer 38

- society is complex = impossible to control all possible variables that exert influence - it is impractical to observe large scale social processes in a laboratory - time = small samples, you will need to repeat if you want large samples.​ - can’t study the past​

Question 39

ethical disadvantages of lab experiments

Answer 39

- deception and lack of informed consent = it is often necessary to deceive subjects as to the true nature of the experiment so that they do not act differently (suffer from any Hawthorne effects) - harm to respondents – in the Milgram experiment: participants observed sweating, stuttering, trembling, groaning, biting their lips, digging their nails into their flesh​

Question 40

theoretical disadvantages of lab experiments

Answer 40

- human behaviour cannot be explained through simple cause and effect - the hawthorne effect - small scale = unrepresentative - lack external validity = artificial

Question 41

the Milgram study (1974)

Answer 41

Milgram lied to his subjects about the purpose of his research, telling them they were assisting in an experiment on learning, in which they were told by the researcher to administer electric shocks when the learner failed to answer the question properly​ in reality, the purpose was to test people willingness to obey orders to inflict pain, unknown to them, no electric shocks were used

Question 42

field experiments

Answer 42

are experiments in natural surroundings rather than artificial lab environments

Question 43

Rosenhan's "pseudopatient" experiment (1973)

Answer 43

researchers presented themselves to 12 Calfornia mental hospitals saying they had been hearing voices, each was admitted and diagnosed as schizophrenic. ​ once in the hospital they ceased complaining of hearing voices and acted normally, nevertheless, hospital staff treated them as if they were mentally ill = none was found out, showed we are treated as our 'labels' rather than our behaviours and the way we act

Question 44

Elton Mayo study (1972) the Hawthorne effect

Answer 44

working with 5 female volunteer workers who knew he was conducting an experiment. He altered different variables such as lighting, heating, rest breaks, and so on to see what effect this had on the workers productivity. surprisingly, not only did output go up when he improved the working conditions, but it continued to rise when the working conditions were worsened. ​ Mayo concluded that the workers were not responding ​to the change in conditions, but simply to the fact that ​they were being studied

Question 45

what is the comparative method?

Answer 45

identifying two groups of people that are alike in all respects except for the one variable that you are studying​ and comparing the two groups to see if this difference between them has any effect​ e.g Durkheim study on suicide

Question 46

advantages of field experiments

Answer 46

- more natural and realistic results = not artificial - avoids the artificial nature of lab experiments - no Hawthorne effect

Question 47

disadvantages of field experiments

Answer 47

- you cannot control all the variables = reduces validity and also reliability as it is no longer replicable - often lacks informed consent

Question 48

2 types of questions on questionnaires

Answer 48

close-ended questions open-ended questions

Question 49

close-ended questions

Answer 49

respondents must choose from a limited range of possible answers that the researcher has chosen in advance e.g yes or no

Question 50

open-questions

Answer 50

respondents are free to give answers in their own words

Question 51

practical

Answer 51

- quick and cheap = gather data from a large area and large number of people e.g census - no need to recruit and train interviewers to observe and/or collect the data - data is easy to quantify when pre-coded by close-ended questions - can be processed quickly by computers also

Question 52

reliability

Answer 52

- reliable method of collecting data = each questionnaire is identical - with postal questionnaires there is no researcher to influence answers - if differences do occur we can assume it is down to real differences between respondents and not at the result of different questions however, - data collected can be limited and superficial - normally brief, to ensure a higher response rate - cheap method to collect data however. sometimes. offer respondents incentives to take part - can not ensure postal questionnaire are completed by whom it was addressed to - questionaires are inflexible and researchers are stuck with what they have decided to ask, and cannot explore new courses of interests if they arise - only give a picture of social reality at the moment that the questionnaire was completed

Question 53

representativeness

Answer 53

large amounts of data collected = the results stand a greater chance of being representative of the population as a whole = easier to make generalisations

Question 54

ethical issues

Answer 54

questionnaires can ask intrusive or sensitive questions - researchers should gain informed consent and ensure anonymity

Question 55

response rate

Answer 55

- potential to collect data from a large range of respondents = low response rates can be a problem, especially with postal questionnaires a higher response rate will be achieved if ​ - follow up questionnaires are sent​ - questionnaires are collected by hand​ however, this adds cost and time - atypical respondents? e.g those with a lot of time on their hands e.g unemployed, kid free etc.

Question 56

validity

Answer 56

- interpretivists will argue that data from questionnaires lacks validity and does not give a true picture of what is being studied - they argue that you can only get a true picture, by using methods that allow you to get close to the subjects, and put ourselves in their place and see things through their eyes - cannot clarify any misunderstandings = can only assume that the researcher and respondent interpret questions in the same way