Questionaires / Validity/reliability/ Experiments/ Structured Interviews

Question 1

Structured interviews

Answer 1

Participants are directly questioned using pre set questions.more formal

Question 2

Strength/ limitation of structured interviews
(Practical)

Answer 2

Advantage:
Quick and cheap
Suitable for gathering factual information

Limitation:
More costly than questionnaires
Only provide a snap shot of people’s attitudes or behaviour changes

Question 3

Structured interviews advantages / limitations (ethical)

Answer 3

Advantage:
Ethical especially is mainly collecting factual information about a person.

Limitation:
Interviewer must conduct there questions appropriately
Interviewer may put themselves at harm if they interview someone like a criminal.

Question 4

Advantages/ limitations of structured interviews (theoretical)

Answer 4

Advantage: positivist
Provide scientific data as they provide objective reliable data
Show correlation between 2 things

Limitation: interpretivists
Would argue they are invalid as they cannot accurately obtain a clear idea about the meaning behind the action

Question 5

Experiments

Answer 5

Rarely used in sociological research with an exception for education this is because well controlled experiments are hard to set up

Question 6

Labatory experiments

Answer 6

Method involves the researcher controlling the independent variable and dependent variable in the study.

Uses standardised procedures and has strict control over confounding variables they take place in artificial settings.

Question 7

Independent variable

Answer 7

The factor that is internationally manipulated or changed by the researcher to observe its effect on the dependent variable.

Question 8

Dependent variable

Answer 8

Variable in which is assumed to be directly affected by changes in the independent variable.

Question 9

Limitations of investigating social phenomena

Answer 9

Lands are closed artificial systems with precise controlled environments. Society is open.

Question 10

Strengths and limitations of lab experiments(practical)

Answer 10

Advantages:
Controlled environment allows for replication and reliability

Disadvantage: expensive and time consuming to set up.

Participants may display alternative behaviours.

Question 11

Strengths and limitations of lab experiments (ethical)

Answer 11

Advantage:
Informed consent can be easily obtained in controlled settings.
Guidelines can be followed.

Limitation:
Potential psychological harm if deception is involved.

Question 12

Strengths and limitations of lab experiments (theoretical)

Answer 12

Advantage:
Highly scientific
Reliable and establish cause and effect

Limitation:
Participants are likely to know they are taking part in the experiment and may alter their behaviour.

Question 13

Filed experiments

Answer 13

Researcher still has some control over the independent variable and dependent variable but it takes place in a real life setting rather than an artificial one.

Question 14

Strengths and limitation of field experiments (practical)

Answer 14

Advantage:
Some control over the environment

Limitation:
Time consuming

Question 15

Strengths and limitation of field experiments (ethical)

Answer 15

Advantage:
Research should always seek to go good so the condition should not affect the participants.

Limitations:
Can be unethical if participants do not know they are in one - this is deception and lack of consent.

Question 16

Strengths and limitation of field experiments (theoretical)

Answer 16

Advantage:
Participants doesn’t know they are in an experiment they are going to act naturally so the results will be valid

Limitations:
Can’t be predicated in the exact
same way
Less control over the variables

Question 17

Reliability

Answer 17

refers to the consistency of a research method or measurement tool. A reliable method produces stable and consistent results when repeated under similar conditions.

Question 18

Validity

Answer 18

refers to the accuracy of a method or measurement tool in capturing what it is intended to measure. A valid measure accurately reflects the concept or phenomenon being studied.

Question 19

What is a sociological questionnaire?

Answer 19

A sociological questionnaire is a research tool used to collect data on social behaviors, attitudes, or characteristics by asking respondents a series of structured questions.

Question 20

Reliability in Questionnaires

Answer 20

A reliable questionnaire produces similar responses when administered repeatedly under the same conditions, minimizing random errors

Question 21

Validity in Questionnaires

Answer 21

A valid questionnaire ensures questions truly reflect the sociological phenomenon, like measuring social trust rather than unrelated factors

Question 22

Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended Questions

Answer 22

Open-ended questions allow respondents to answer in their own words, providing rich, qualitative data

Closed-ended questions offer fixed response options, enabling quantitative analysis