Quantitative Research Methods

Question 1

Explain the interpretivist perspective on research methods?

Answer 1

Those who take an interpretivist perspective prefer research methods that produce qualitative data- that is information that gives us a ‘feel’ for what something is like.

Question 2

What are some examples of methods interpretivists prefer?

Answer 2

Unstructured interviews
Participant observations
Analysis of personal documents

Question 3

What is the positivist perspective on research methods?

Answer 3

Prefer research methods that produce quantitative data - information in numerical or statistical form

Question 4

Provide some examples of research methods favoured by positivists

Answer 4

Experiments
Questionnaires
Structured interviews
Analysis of official statistics

Question 5

How do positivists view society?

Answer 5

As an objective reality made up of social facts that exist ‘out there’, just like the physical world that natural sciences study.

Question 6

How is social reality structured?

Answer 6

Social reality is not random, it follows patterns that can be measured and observed.

Question 7

Why do these patterns exist?

Answer 7

According to sociologists, these patterns exist because society exerts an influence over its members, systematically shaping their behaviour in various ways.

Question 8

What do positivists believe about careful observation and measurement?

Answer 8

Positivists believe that through careful observation and measurement, they can discover laws of cause and effect that explain these social patterns

Question 9

What are the key features of labatory experiments?

Answer 9

Control; a controlled experiment, labs are an artificial environment where scientists can control different variables to discover what effect they have. Control has two groups; the experimental group and the control group

Cause and Effect; the condition of both groups measured before the experiment starts and again at the end. If we discover a change in the experiment group but none in the control group, we may conclude that this was caused by the different treatments the two groups received. We predict what will happen under the same conditions in the future.

Question 10

Explain the two groups that appear in control

Answer 10

The experimental group = are exposed to a variable (IV) that the researcher believes may have a particular effect

The control group = not exposed to the independent variable - conditions are kept constant