Quantitative methods Flashcards
Lab experiments (features)
-artificial/controlled environment
-cause and effect established:change in experimental group due to manipulated IV
Lab:practical issues
-no humans are exactly alike:impossible to match experimental+control fully
-smaller samples-difficult to study larger scale phenomena
-Hawthorne effect: pps may know they are being experimented on + act differently
Lab:ethical issues
-informed consent:nature+purpose of the experiment
-deception may be involved-to avoid Hawthorne effect
Lab:theoretical issues
-interpretivists criticise them-lacking validity-don ´ t study meanings
-positivists approve as they have high reliability-can be replicated
Lab:reliability
High reliability:
-standardised procedures:can be repeated
-quantative data objective: easily compared
-objective measures:manipulate variables+investigate effects
-easy to test hypotheses
Lab:representativeness
-lack external validity:small samples
-high level of experimental control:more unnatural the circumstance-may not be true in outer world
Lab:internal validity
-lack V-Hawthorne effect
Lab:interpretivism + free will
-people have free will-behaviour not caused by external forces
Field experiments
-natural setting
-pps not aware they are part of an experiment
-more natural behaviours-increased ecological validity
-lack of control of extraneous variables:lack internal validity
Comparative method
-carried out in the mind of the sociologist
-re-analyses secondary data
-identify two alike groups(excluding particular variable)+ comparing diff
e.g Durkheim´s study of suicide
-avoids artificiality +ethical issues
Questionnaires
-given out by post,email or in person
-close ended:limited no of possible answers
open ended: answer in their own words
Questionnaires: practical issues
-quick+ cheap method of gathering lots of data from large samples
-no need to recruit/train interviewers
-closed questions=easy to analyse+draw cause+effect from
Questionnaires:limitations
-limited data-fairly brief questions
-incentives may need to be offered- added cost
-cannot be sure intended ppt completed it
-very low response rates:too long/time consuming to do/no incentive given
-only snapshots:don´t reveal how attitudes+ behaviours change overtime
Questionnaires:theoretical issues
-positivists: large samples-generalised to wider population
-reliable,detached + objective-cause +effect+replication
-test hypotheses+identify casual relationships+correlations
Questionnaires: reliability
-Positivists:scientists findings checked/confirmed/falsified by others
-repeated:asked same questions to original=standardised measuring instrument
-assume diff responses are real differences-not based on questions
-allows comparisons to be made:diff times/samples
