research methods

Question 1

official statistics - advantages

Answer 1

provides info on whole pop, cheap, fast bc readily available, good indicators of brand trends, primary source.

Question 2

official stats - dis

Answer 2

may use dis indicators from researchers preferred definitions, may be incomplete numbers, gov may have own bias, inaccuracies can be caused from how terms defined, categories may be limited, may be out dated.

Question 3

official stats - ex

Answer 3

home office (police), asb, crime survey England and Wales.

Question 4

structured interviews - adv

Answer 4

results easy to quantify, good for gaining factual info, good response rate, cheap, quick, respondents can ask for clarification, standardised questions means interviewer doesn’t influence answer, checked by others.

Question 5

structured interviews - dis

Answer 5

large sample size means time consuming, small means unreliable, issues cant be deeply explored, face to face problems, phone or internet interview problems.

Question 6

postal questionnaires - adv

Answer 6

fairly cheap, easy, straight forward access to people, easy access to random and large samples, other researchers can check results, respondents have time to answer.

Question 7

postal questionnaires - dis

Answer 7

time consuming (bc respondents submission times), lower response rate effects sample size, not good for groups who don’t have addresses, impossible to ensure rep sample bc anyone could be answering, cant clarify questions.

Question 8

analysis of paper and media - adv

Answer 8

cheap, available info, up to date, can give diff perspectives, follows developing stories, includes quotes and commentary from various experts on diff topics, secondary, large range.

Question 9

analysis of paper and media - dis

Answer 9

newspapers aren’t objective, popular press can depersonalise meaning real issue lost, popular press can dumb issues down, coverage may be negative, journalists may lack expertise in issue, secondary

Question 10

face to face surveys - adv

Answer 10

higher response rate, responses can be elaborated, questions can be clarified, standardised questions, quicker

Question 11

face to face surveys - dis

Answer 11

could be costly for good interviewer, time consuming if big sample size, face to face probs, interveiwer bias, respondents may give answers they think they need to give.

Question 12

face to face - ex

Answer 12

crime survey England and Wales

Question 13

observation - adv

Answer 13

primary, video can be examined, video can be looked at by others, good for groups, research cant influence behaviour, uncovering hidden behaviour may not get another way, natural setting, sensitive topics

Question 14

observation - dis

Answer 14

researcher can always be biased when analysing, covert raises ethical questions, overt may risk how people behave, time consuming, expensive, what’s observed can be open to interpretation, gaining access to whats being observerd could take time.

Question 15

case studies - adv

Answer 15

very in depth detailed source, qualitative or quantitive, muliple methods can be used, can stimulate ideas and understandings for sim groups, rich qualatitive data, good for complex issues, allows for deep investigation, usueful for senstive topics

Question 16

case studies - dis

Answer 16

time consuming, expensive, loss of reliability bc its difficult to repeat, findings can be influences by researcher bias, cant make generalisations.

Question 17

cast studies - ex

Answer 17

‘illegal leisure’: normalisation of adolescent recreational drug use.

Question 18

focus groups - adv

Answer 18

wide range of views art lots of topics, good to see group influence, gains large sample size at once, empowering for participants, qualitative, primary

Question 19

focus groups - dis

Answer 19

expensive, time consuming, small groups means not stat valid, not easy to organise, strong personalities could take over overshadowing, could be a misrepresentation of peoples opinions, strong leader/moderator is important, weak leader ruins results.

Question 20

focus groups - ex

Answer 20

public attitudes to youth crime report on focus groups (HO)

Question 21

participant observation - adv

Answer 21

primary, qualitative, realistic, in depth study, useful for long period studies, can provide further hypothesis, researcher can establish empathy with subjects, small scale means more detail.

Question 22

participant observation - dis

Answer 22

reliability could be affected w researchers role in group, long term commitment, lacks reliability bc cant be checked, cant be generalised meaning less valid, difficult to accurately record info, dangerous for researcher, difficult to access groups sometimes.

Question 23

participant observation - ex

Answer 23

James paretics ‘observersed’

Question 24

semi structured interviews - adv

Answer 24

questions/concepts can be clarified.

Question 25

semi structured interviews - dis

Answer 25

participants could forget/lie, interviewer could influence answers, interviewer bias consciously or unconsciously, harder to analyse with open responses, sample sizes.

Question 26

unstructured interviewes - adv

Answer 26

primary, qualitative, can be recorded, open ended questions, not always preset questions, good response rate, examines motivations, options and attitudes, in depth info, researcher can clarify points, allows participant to give new info they may not have considered.

Question 27

unstructured interviwers - dis

Answer 27

hard to maintain focus, open to interviewer bias, difficult to ensure objectivity w/o standardised questions, time, expensive, takes skills to be good interviewer.

Question 28

phone questionnaires - adv

Answer 28

higher response rate, cheap, easy access, sensible responses if good interviewer, fairly anonymous, reaches large geographical areas.

Question 29

phone questionnaires - dis

Answer 29

not good for those without phone, people use mobiles more often than landlines, cant be 100% rep bc don't truly know who's answering, ppl may not take seriously bc its over phone.

Question 30

internet questionnaires - adv

Answer 30

fairly cheap, anonymous, plenty of time to consider answers, access to large geographical area.

Question 31

internet questionnaires - dis

Answer 31

sample restricted to those w no Internet, may not take seriously, could take longer for a response rate.

Question 32

pilot study - adv

Answer 32

avoids time and money waisted on inadequate studies, improves designs of surveys, sharpens focus, helps develop interviewer skills, ensures questions are clear, problems are dealt with before main.

Question 33

pilot study - dis

Answer 33

can be time consuming and expensive for just a trial, survey may be out of date by the time pilot study is finished.

Question 34

longitudinal studies - adv

Answer 34

shows change over long period of time, tracks trends, behaviours, patterns, can see how factors influence, detailed, qualitative insight, useful for study of development, can combine methods, real life experience=more valid.

Question 35

longitudinal studies - dis

Answer 35

time consuming, expensive, participants may drop out over time, people may change behaviour if they know they being studied, cant really generalise, researcher bias.

Question 36

cohort studies - adv

Answer 36

tracks real life social change, examines how early life factors influence life later outcomes, good for policy making, quantitative and qualitative, large samples

Question 37

cohort studies - dis

Answer 37

money, time, cant always generalise to wider pop, people may drop out, ethics.