Research methods

Question 1

Questionnaires

Answer 1

Main method for gathering data in social surveys
list of questions handed or posted to respondent for delf-completion

Question 2

Questionnaire design (open and closed)

Answer 2

closed - series of questions accompanied by a choice of answers (quantitative result)
open - open-ended questions - respondent writes how they feel or experienced something (qualitative)
semi-structured - combination of both open and closed questions

Question 3

Questionnaire study

Answer 3

Calendar and Jackson - postal questionnaire sent out about rates of students going to university/ higher education
extremely low response rates impacted research

Question 4

Questionnaire strengths

Answer 4

larger and more representative samples
can be used with geographically dispersed research population
less time consuming
reasonably cheap
useful for researching embarrassing or insensitive questions - guaranteed anonymity being done in private
minimum contact - researcher bias
positivists argue use of questionnaires is scientific
high reliability (repeated to get similar results)
statistical data can be compared and correlated

Question 5

Questionnaire disadvantages

Answer 5

low response or even non-response
may not be representative of research population - undermines validity
postal questionnaires suffer from even worse response rate - eligibility for free prize draw drives costs up
difficult to go in depth on questionnaire (interpretivist - low validity)
real life too complex to be categorised into closed questions
misinterpretation - undermines validity
only literate can complete
technical/ vague language - some cant understand (language barriers elaborated/ restricted)
artificial devices - not normal part of everyday life so could be responded to with suspicion (validity not guaranteed)
partial truth
imposition problem - measure what sociologist thinks is important rather than what the respondent feels

Question 6

Interviews

Answer 6

most successful carried out in private, neutral, and unthreatening venues
interviewers trained in interviewing skills such as listening skills and body language

Question 7

Interviews - structured interviews

Answer 7

researcher reading out a list of closed questions from an interview schedule
based on pre-set fixed categories
interviewer passive role - cannot deviate from questions
converted to quantitative form (very similar to questionnaires)

Question 8

Structured interview study

Answer 8

Chubb and Moe
parental attitudes towards education
can have an impact on educational outcomes

Question 9

Structured interviews - positivists

Answer 9

very keen on method as theyre seen as scientific
highly reliable and easily repeatable

Question 10

Structured interviews strengths

Answer 10

use of closed questions allows for quantitative factual data
conducted quick quickly
possible for representative sample as many interviews can take place
interviewers can explain the aims and objectives of the research to clarify instructions
better response rate than questionnaires
pre-coded answers increase reliability

Question 11

Structured interviews disadvantages

Answer 11

artificial devices, suspicion, reduce reliability
discomfort and unease
inflexible due to rigid structure - impossible to pursue interesting leads
dont capture dynamic and changing nature of social life
may be interpreted differently to the interpretation intended by respondent - undermining validity
interpretivists argue closed interviews suffer from imposition problem (measure what sociologist thinks is important instead of what respondent thinks)

Question 12

Unstructured interviews

Answer 12

guided, informal conversation
researcher plays active role keeping subject to the researcher
more flexible without interview schedule
happy to follow respondent and follow up ideas and responses
investigates motives and feelings

Question 13

Unstructured interviews study

Answer 13

Becker
Chicago school teachers stereotypes
labelling of school children ultimately impacts educational outcome

Question 14

Unstructured interviews - interpretivists

Answer 14

Keen as they are concerned with understanding the meaning and interpretations that underpin social life (how people interpret the world around them)
qualitative, valid

Question 15

Unstructured interviews strengths

Answer 15

interpretivists as they allow researcher to establish an interaction/ relationship with the respondent - more likely to open up (build rapport)
allow researcher to get in the heads leading to more valid, qualitative data
respondent placed at centre of researcher
more likely to discuss sensitive or painful experiences (rapport)
flexible - may lead to new hypotheses
provide richer more vivid and colourful data therefore more valid

Question 16

Unstructured interviews disadvantages

Answer 16

positivists - unscientific as they lack reliability (cannot be repeated and checked)
lack of objectivity due to the personal relationship established leading to bias results (interviewer bias)
a lot of data - data selected to be published may be bias to researchers thoughts and views
no pre-coded answers so difficult to analyse and impossible to quantify
fewer participants so less representative of the research population as its difficult to generalise
expensive as interviewers need to be trained
time consuming

Question 17

Semi structured interviews

Answer 17

contain a lot of closed questions along with some open questions
allow interview some flexibility to ask for clarification of vague answers
adds depth and allow interviewer to assess whether the answers are truthful
reliability questioned as some interviewees need more probing than other
interviews cannot be compared as each one is difficult

Question 18

Semi structured interviews study

Answer 18

Myhill and Jones
students’ perspectives on treatment of boys/ girls

Question 19

Group interviews

Answer 19

carried out in groups rather than individuals
interviewer talks to a group (often used for children who feel threatened in interviewed one on one with adult) - status difference
offers reassurance
investigate dynamic of how particular group operates
more valid picture of behaviour may arise when in a group
peer pressure can appear when there’s one or two stronger personalities in the group undermining the validity of the data

Question 20

Group interviews study

Answer 20

Willis
observed how ‘lads’ developed anti-school subcultures despite values pushed by teachers

Question 21

Observation

Answer 21

interpretivists interested in how people live their everyday lives - argue observation is the best way to understanding into peoples’ behaviours as it gives first-hand insight into how people interpret the social world around them

Question 22

Non participant observation

Answer 22

Overt - sociologist joins in activities but some or all of the group know that the researcher is a sociologist
researcher plays passive role in research - only observes
researcher is detached meaning it is unbiased and objective
the group should not be influenced by observer
observing is artificial and behaviour can change due to presence (Hawthorne)
positivists - set of behaviours (quantifiable)
representative
ethical - informed consent, vulnerable groups, gaining access (gatekeepers)
teacher in disguise
natural environment

Question 23

Participant observation

Answer 23

Covert - researcher conceals the fact they are doing research pretending to be a member of the group
sociologist immerses themselves in the lifestyle of the group they wish to study
participate in the same activities to be able to research and observe their everyday lives
important to have similar social characteristics to make it valid
interpretivist - qualitative and valid

Question 24

Observation study

Answer 24

Flanders
structural observations schedule to study interactions within the classroom

Question 25

Participant observation strengths

Answer 25

naturalistic setting - validity able to see things through the eyes of others verstehen (Weber) - sociologist can empathise with the group and understand why they do what they do focusing on looking and listening leads to very valid data what people do and say are widely different - really capture the truth allowed to ask informal questions that can lead to developed relationships in order to clarify motives (building rapport) can generate new ideas and lead to new insights has better chance of understanding meanings and definitions of people's behaviour in natural context practical methods meaning they can reach hard-to-reach groups like criminal gangs (anti-school subcultures)

Question 26

Participant observation disadvantages

Answer 26

difficult to gain entry and accepted - needs to share characteristic and be good actor (gaining entry, going native, getting out) observer/ researcher effect - presence of observer may force group to act less naturally as they know theyre being observed settling period recommended may become attached to group, losing objectivity ethics - deception and manipulation no informed consent (immoral) observer may have to take part in immoral/ criminal activity great danger (e.g., Pryce murdered whilst observing) time consuming (sometimes months/ years) and expensive difficult to take notes without seeming suspicious (research diary - relying on memory) postivists - unreliable and impossible to verify data collected cannot be repeated lack representativeness as usually observing smaller numbers impossible to generalise within a large research population

Question 27

Laboratory experiments

Answer 27

main means of conducting research in natural sciences tests hypothesis with the variables being controlled by the researcher can isolate independent variables that result in particular effects experiment set up in 2 groups control groups (subject to normal conditions) and the experiment group (conditions manipulated) and then compared

Question 28

Lab experiment study

Answer 28

Milgrim obedience test involving 'teacher' and 'learner' deceived and emotional trauma, electric shock

Question 29

Lab experiment strengths

Answer 29

can test hypotheses under controlled conditions easier to isolate and manipulate causes of effects preferred by positivists as they're very scientific - repeatable and objective without bias lots of statistical data can be controlled and correlated

Question 30

Lab experiments disadvantages

Answer 30

difficult to use in sociological research as social events arent often result of a single variable as social life is complex and cannot be isolated and manipulated like in a lab unethical to experiment on people without knowledge (informed consent) Hawthorne - behaviour changing because of their presence of the researcher instead of the changing variables begin to act artificially instead of naturally only for small scale research

Question 31

Field experiments

Answer 31

situation set up in a naturalistic context - one variable is manipulated by the researcher and observes the reaction of those being studied control group not always apparent

Question 32

Field experiment study

Answer 32

Rosenthal and Jacobson studied teacher expectations using IQ test performance in Californian school

Question 33

field experiments strengths

Answer 33

interpretivists use these to uncover meaning or interpretations that underpin social behaviour unravel the often-hidden processes of natural everyday social life and behaviour get very close to people's interpretations of everyday life produce qualitative information that is high in validity

Question 34

field experiments disadvantages

Answer 34

dont involve informed consent - deception and manipulation (e.g., Rosenthal and Jacobson deception behind truth of the IQ testing) may become emotionally or psychologically damaged Hawthorne can never be sure if the variable theyve isolated is the cause of the behaviour

Question 35

Secondary data

Answer 35

any data used by sociologist which they didnt collect by themselves

Question 36

Official statistics

Answer 36

numerical data collected by state agencies (e.g., education sector) usually gathered through surveys (e.g., the census) some surveys collect information on the health services about domestic and personal information (e.g., diet, exercise, smoking and drinking habits, housing etc) registration data (important insights into morality and life expectancy)

Question 37

Official statistics study

Answer 37

Durkheim looked into suicide rates in European societies overtime

Question 38

Official statistics strengths

Answer 38

easy and cheap to access usually extremely contemporary involve large representative sample positivists see them as hard reliable facts as they are collected in a scientific fashion (highly representative) statistical relationship[s can be identified by comparing different surveys can find trends overtime easy to generalise by responding giving informed consent

Question 39

Official statistics disadvantages

Answer 39

may not present a complete picture - crime statistics may only cover crimes reported to the police (doesnt cover unreported crimes) stats can be abused by governments for political advantages statistics socially constructed - result in someone making a judgement, sometimes selective and bias tell us very little about human stories and interpretations that underpin them (no valid) may be misinterpreted/ misleading marxists argue they reflect interests of RC falling crime/ better achievements RC protecting WC aids false class consciousness

Question 40

personal/ expressive documents

Answer 40

diaries, letters and other documents are sources of qualitative data (e.g., about feelings, attitudes, emotions, motives for behaviour etc)

Question 41

Expressive document study

Answer 41

Gewirtz studied how schools sell themselves through brochures and reports giving selected and distorted impression

Question 42

Expressive documents strengths

Answer 42

usually used to supplement quantitative secondary data such as official statistics rich, detailed and valid insight into everday experiences and practices of people in their natural environment often only insight into the past insight into how society has developed provides historical dimension

Question 43

Expressive documents disadvantages

Answer 43

always danger of them being bias and therefore invalid unreliable as it cant be checked for accuracy unrepresentative as theyre not typical (personal feelings and emotions) doubts about authenticity - can be forged may be interpretated differently to how they were intended positivists no informed consent from author to be used in research

Question 44

Public documents

Answer 44

can be contemporary or historical allows comparison show effectiveness of social policy measures doubts about authenticity validity and objectivity questioned not regarded as reliable as they cant be checked open to misinterpretation

Question 45

Mass media reports and products

Answer 45

tell us about society we live in, sociologists use them to examine and analyse values, prioritise or concerns of society at one point two techniques used to analyse - content analysis and semiotics

Question 46

content analysis

Answer 46

quantitative involving counting the frequency of a certain image (in newspapers/ magazines or headlines) usually design a content analysis schedule - a list of things a sociologist is looking for in media positivists

Question 47

Semiotics

Answer 47

qualitative involving analysis of language or images to work out how it might symbolise a particular political or cultural position

Question 48

mass media report study

Answer 48

Glasgow media group studied descriptions of coalminers on strike found they used harsh and aggressive vocabulary

Question 49

mass media reports strengths

Answer 49

very cheap allows sociologists to compare over time regarded as reliable as other sociologists can repeat and check results by using the same content schedule different perspectives of the event (interpretivist) highly practical and accessible different views improves validity, can check researcher bias

Question 50

mass media reports disadvantages

Answer 50

very time consuming very subjective - depending on the interpretation of the researcher could take the meaning of an image or set of words out of context (misinterpret) assumption of the content having an effect on an audience - may not be the case may only tell us of the beliefs of those who produce the products (marxist - RC) social desirability