Research Methods Flashcards
(112 cards)
1
Q
What are the differences between positivism and interpretivism?
A
They choose different topics to explore, use different research, have different assumptions about the nature of society, and collect different types of data.
2
Q
What is Positivism?
A
An approach in sociology that believes society can be studied using similar scientific techniques to those used in the natural sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and biology.
3
Q
What is Interpretivism?
A
An approach emphasising that people have consciousness involving personal beliefs, values, and interpretations, which influence the way they act.
4
Q
What do Positivists believe?
(Peoples behaviours)
A
There are external social forces (structures) that exist outside individuals and independently of their mind, which constrain or mould people’s ideas and actions.
5
Q
What methods does positivism use?
A
- Experiments
- Social surveys
- Structured questionnaires
- Formal/structured interviews
- Non-participant observations.
6
Q
What do Interpretivists believe?
A
That people’s behavior is influenced by the interpretations and meanings they give to social situations.
7
Q
What is the PERVERT acronym?
A
Practical issues
Ethical issues
Reliability
Validity
Examples
Representativeness
Theoretical issues.
8
Q
What is primary research?
A
Methods where the researcher collects the data specifically for their study, e.g., observation, interview, questionnaires, and experiments.
9
Q
What is Covert observation?
A
Where the researcher goes undercover and the people being observed are not aware of it.
10
Q
What is Overt observation?
A
Where the researcher makes the participants aware that they are being observed.
11
Q
What is Participant observation?
A
Where the researcher plays an active role in the group they are researching.
12
Q
What is Non-participant observation?
A
When the researcher simply watches the group without taking an active part in the activities.
13
Q
What are the pros of observation research?
A
- Covert produces more valid data
- First-hand knowledge
- May be the only method available
- Natural environment
- Less chance of deception.
14
Q
What are the cons of Observation research?
A
- Covert is unethical
- Validity and reliability issues
- May miss important aspects
- Quotes may be incorrectly recalled
- Depends on the researcher’s personality
- Participants may change behavior
15
Q
What are Structured interviews?
A
Where the researcher has a set of questions they must ask and cannot deviate from them.
16
Q
What are Unstructured interviews?
A
Where the researcher has starter questions but creates questions based on participants’ responses.
17
Q
What are Semi Structured interviews?
A
Where the researcher has a set of questions but can deviate based on participant responses.
18
Q
What are Group interviews?
A
When the researcher interviews more than one person at the same time.
19
Q
What are the three types of delivery system questionnaires?
A
Postal, web-based, and hand.
20
Q
What are the pros of Structured interview research?
A
- More reliable data, results are comparable with other groups.
- Research can be replicated to check the findings.
- Usually closed questions - easy to put into quantitative statistical form
- Less interviewer bias as there is little involvement of the interviewer with the interviewee beyond basic politeness
- Non-responses like with postal questionnaires is much rarer.
(Skilled interviewers can persuade people to answer questions, and problems of illiteracy are overcome.)
21
Q
What are the cons of Structured interview research?
A
- Schedule/questionnaire may impose limits on what the respondent can say: Limited depth of understanding of what the respondent may mean.
- Not suitable for exploring highly personal or sensitive topics: there is no opportunity to establish rapport.
- More time-consuming and costly than postal and other self-completion questionnaires & interviewers have to be paid.
- Possibility of interviewer bias
22
Q
What are Open questionnaires?
A
Questions that allow respondents to explain their responses.
23
Q
What are Closed questionnaires?
A
Questions that provide a selection of responses or a Likert scale.
24
Q
What are Laboratory experiments?
A
Research in an artificial setting where variables are manipulated by the researcher.
25
What are Field experiments?
Research in a natural setting where the researcher manipulates the variables.
26
What is a research population?
The group that you are going to study.
27
What is a sample?
The people who will actually take part in the study.
28
What are the different types of Sampling frames?
ROSS QS
* Random
* Opportunity
* Systematic
* Stratified
* Quota
* Snowball.
29
What are the pros of random sampling?
Lack of bias, simple to organise, no specific skills needed.
30
What are the cons of random sampling?
Requires a full population list, can be expensive, sample size may not be representative.
31
What are the pros of opportunity sampling?
Easy to gather data quickly, very practical.
32
What are the cons of opportunity sampling?
Selection bias, may not be representative, difficult to replicate.
33
What is systematic sampling?
Selecting every Nth person.
34
What are the pros of systematic sampling?
High control over participants, value-free researcher.
35
What are the cons of systematic sampling?
Requires a population list, original sample needs to be randomized, may not be representative, time-consuming.
36
What is stratified sampling?
The sample frame is divided into small groups, and random selection is made from these groups.
37
What are the pros of stratified sampling?
Good representation, generalizations can be made, cost-effective.
38
What are the cons of stratified sampling?
Can't be used in all studies, requires more planning.
39
What is Quota sampling?
The sample frame is divided into smaller groups, and a set number is taken from each group.
40
What are the pros of quota sampling?
Representative of the groups.
41
What are the cons of quota sampling?
May not be representative of the population.
42
What is Snowball sampling?
Researchers find a few participants, who then find more participants.
43
What are the pros of snowball sampling?
Easy to gather a sample.
44
What are the cons of snowball sampling?
May be time-consuming, unrepresentative of the population.
45
What are the three main secondary research methods?
Statistics, documents, prior research.
46
What is Official statistics?
Compiled by government agencies and made freely available to the public.
47
What is Unofficial statistics?
Compiled by charities, businesses, and other agencies.
48
What are the Pros of Statistics?
Often the only available data, readily available, large samples, allow for comparisons, avoid ethical issues.
49
What are the Cons of Statistics?
Collected for admin purposes, may not provide a complete picture, validity issues, relies on true responses.
50
What is personal documents?
Qualitative data reflecting an individual's or group's experiences, feelings, attitudes, and motives.
51
What is historical/public documents?
Documents produced by government departments or state agencies.
52
What is prior research?
Research that has been carried out on the same or similar topics.
53
What are the Pros of evaluating documents and prior research?
May provide valuable information, useful for interpretivists, allows for comparisons.
54
What are the Cons of evaluating documents and prior research?
May not be authentic, credible, or representative, may not be complete.
55
What is the Questionnaire Example?
| TARKI
A social research company in Hungary asked people about their opinion of immigrants from the nation of **Piresa**. 68% said Piresans shouldn't be let into the country as they were 'scroungers'.
## Footnote
Highlights issues of validity of using questionnaires as there is no such place as Piresa.
56
What is the Unstructured Interview Example?
**Sue Sharpe** investigated changes in girls' attitudes to role socialisation.
## Footnote
Girls in the 1970s were more focused on being housewives, while those in the 1990s were more assertive and committed to gender equality.
May not be representative and hard to duplicate
57
What is the Structured Interview Example?
**Beron and Farkas** investigated the verbal skills of parents and children.
## Footnote
Found that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have poorer verbal skills.
58
What is the Group Interview / Non-participant observation Example?
**Willis - Learning to Labour (1997)**
Used group interviews to discover why W/C children get W/C jobs.
* Identified two groups, the 'lads' and the 'ear 'oles'.
* Combined with non participant observation to produce rich, detailed findings about class patterns in education
59
What is the Participant Observation Example?
**Venkatesh** spent 18 months participating in the life of the Black Kings gang.
## Footnote
He lived with gang members to gain insights into life in a poverty-stricken community.
60
What is the Non-Participant Observation Example?
**Troyna and Hatcher** explored racism in children's lives through observation.
## Footnote
Found that where black students are a relative minority, racism and harassment are much more likely.
61
What is the Field Experiments Example?
**Rosenthal and Jacobson** tested the hypothesis that teachers' expectations affect pupils' academic performance.
## Footnote
Students labelled as 'late bloomers' made more progress than others.
62
What is the Lab Experiments Example?
**Milgram** researched how far people would go in obeying instructions that harm others.
## Footnote
65% of participants delivered the highest shock.
63
What are Longitudinal Studies?
Where a researcher collects data at regular intervals over time, allowing for comparison.
64
Who created interpretivism?
Weber.
65
What do interpretivists value over objectivity and reliability?
Validity, as the positivist emphasis on reliability can result in research imposition.
66
What is research imposition?
Where respondents may not express their true feelings due to limited questions.
67
What is an ethnographic approach?
Understanding social behavior by studying societies in their own environment.
68
What do interpretivists believe about rapport?
Unique and trusting relationships should be established with those being studied.
69
What is Verbatim?
(Word for word) recollection of expression, such as recorded interviews.
70
What is reflexivity?
Self-evaluation involving researchers reflecting on their research process.
71
What are criticisms positivists make about interpretivism?
Not scientific, researcher involvement can influence behavior, difficult to replicate.
72
What is the Hypothetico-Deductive Method?
A method involving hypothesis, falsification, empirical evidence, and theory formation.
73
What does Value-free mean?
Sociologists should be neutral and not allow personal values to bias research.
74
Describe the planning process of a research methods question.
1. Deconstruct the question
2. Identify potential participants
3. Identify research considerations
4. Evaluate strengths and limitations
5. Help or hinder?
75
What is PET?
Practical, Ethical, Theoretical.
76
What are possible Practical issues with conducting research?
Suitability, time and cost, access, characteristics, secondary data availability.
77
What are possible Ethical issues with conducting research?
- Duty of care
- Access issues
- Informed consent
- Confidentiality.
78
What are possible Theoretical issues with conducting research?
Data type, information objectivity, perspective alignment, studied topic.
79
What are Practical Strengths of Questionnaires?
Cheap and quick.
80
What are Practical Weaknesses of Questionnaires?
Language and characteristics.
81
What are Ethical Strengths of Questionnaires?
- Informed consent easy to get
- Anonymity possible
- Less intrusive
82
What are Ethical Weaknesses of Questionnaires?
Confidentiality issues.
83
What is a DBS check for schools?
A DBS check is a background check required for individuals working in schools to ensure the safety of children.
84
What is informed consent?
Informed consent is the process of obtaining permission from participants before conducting research.
85
What is confidentiality in research?
Researchers need to keep private information secure and not disclose it without permission.
86
What are possible theoretical issues with conducting research?
Data type - Qualitative, quantitative? Information objectivity - Any biases? Perspective alignment - Positivism, Interpretivism?
87
What are practical strengths of questionnaires?
They are cheap and quick.
88
What are practical weaknesses of questionnaires?
Language and characteristics can be issues.
89
What are ethical strengths of questionnaires?
They can ensure participant anonymity and confidentiality.
90
What are ethical weaknesses of questionnaires?
Confidentiality can be a concern if not properly managed.
91
What are theoretical strengths of questionnaires?
They can provide a structured way to gather data.
92
What are theoretical weaknesses of questionnaires?
They may not capture the depth of participants' experiences.
93
What are the advantages and uses of qualitative secondary sources?
- Provides valuable or the only sources of information in an area.
- Useful for interpretivists to gain insights into worldviews or ideologies.
- Helpful for assessing people's concerns or worries.
94
What are the disadvantages of qualitative secondary sources?
They may lack reliability and may not be representative.
95
What were the findings in Scott's 'A Matter of Record' (1990)?
4 criteria for judging secondary data:
Meaning,
Authenticity,
Representativeness,
Credibility.
96
What are the advantages of content analysis?
- Relatively cheap means of research.
- No involvement with people, reducing distortion of results.
- Reliable method producing quantitative data.
- Enables discovery of non-obvious insights.
97
What are the disadvantages of content analysis?
- Depends on categories chosen by the researcher.
- Mainly descriptive, not explanatory.
- Interpretation may vary between researchers.
98
What are the Advantages and uses of official statistics?
- Important for planning and evaluating social policy.
- Often the only available data source.
- Readily available and cheap.
- Comprehensive coverage and long timespan for trend analysis.
- Allow intergroup and international comparisons.
- Provide useful background material for research.
- Avoid ethical issues as they are publicly available.
99
What are the Disadvantages and uses of official statistics?
* May lack validity due to bias in data collection (e.g., underreporting of crime).
* Definitions and categories may not match sociological concepts.
* Collected for government purposes, not sociological research, so may be misleading.
* Can lack depth and qualitative insight.
* Possible political influence affecting how data is presented.
* Changes in data collection methods make long-term comparisons difficult.
* Some statistics (e.g., crime or unemployment) may be manipulated for political reasons.
100
What contexts related to teachers could you be tested on?
- Labelling
- Teacher-pupil interactions
- Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Differences in educational achievement
- In-school processes such as streaming and setting.
101
What are practical teacher issues?
- Limited time to participate.
- Headteachers may be unwilling.
- Teachers may feel judged.
102
What are ethical teacher issues?
- Issues with consent.
- Maintaining anonymity.
- Ensuring no long-term harm.
103
What are theoretical teacher issues?
- Teachers may lie to protect their reputation.
- May require small-scale research.
- Possibility of gaining in-depth data due to verstehen.
104
What are practical student issues?
- Awareness of legal and educational rules - DBS check.
- Time-consuming.
- May not be able to read.
- Researchers' social characteristics may influence data.
105
What are ethical student issues?
- Researcher cannot negatively affect respondents.
- Anonymity must be protected.
- Obtaining permission may be time-consuming.
106
What are theoretical student issues?
- Possible Hawthorne effect.
- Qualitative data may lack a large sample size.
- Quantitative data may restrict pupils from freely expressing their opinions.
107
What are Research Subjects
Parties that are getting researched
Eg. Students, Parents & Teachers
108
All Practical Issues
| TRAMPS
Time
Research Opportunity
Access
Money
Personality
Sampling
109
All Ethical Issues
| DRIPP
Deception
Right to Withdraw
Informed Consent
Protection from harm
Privacy
110
All Theoretical Issues
| PIQQ
Positivism
Interpretivism
Quantitative
Qualitative
111
What are the pros of Unstructured Theories
* Greater flexibility increases validity by building trust and rapport (e.g., Oakley’s research on motherhood).
* Allows deeper probing and access to unique insights.
* Ambiguities in questions and answers can be clarified.
* Interviewer can adapt questions and develop new ideas during the interview.
* Enables assessment of honesty and validity of responses.
* Group interviews/focus groups encourage discussion, yielding richer data.
112
What are the cons of Unstructured Theories
* Time-consuming and costly, limiting the number of interviews and reducing representativeness.
* Less reliable as questions vary, making results hard to replicate (a positivist critique).
* Success depends on the interviewer’s skills, meaning different researchers may get different results.
* Hard to compare responses as interviewees may contradict themselves or express views differently.
* Group interviews may lead to peer pressure, exaggeration, or reluctance to share personal views.
* Interviewer bias can affect responses due to close involvement with participants.
