RM practical, ethical and theorical considerations Flashcards
(23 cards)
What is the positivist approach?
Positivists believe in the application of scientific methods to sociology. They favor methods that yield quantitative and generalisable results, such as social surveys and structured interviews.
What is the interpretivist approach?
This approach focuses on gaining an in-depth understanding of social behaviour. They favour qualitative methods, like unstructured interviews and participant observations, which allows them to explore individuals’ meanings and interpretations.
What’s an objective?
Observing without personal bias
What’s value freedom?
Keeping personal values out of research
What’s reflexivity?
Examining one’s own role in research
What’s an interpretation?
Assigning meaning to data based on context
What’s subjectivity?
Influence of personal experiences on perception
What is the verstehen?
Empathetic insight into others’ perspectives
What is researcher imposition?
Potential influence of the researcher on study outcomes.
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Participants behave differently if they know they are being observed.
Will impact reliability & Validity due to untruthful response.
What are demand charactristcs?
Participants changing behavior on there interpretation of the studies aims to please researcher or do opposite of what is expected.
reduces validity due to dishonesty
What is social desirability bias?
When a study relates to social norms, participants portray themselves in socially acceptable ways.
Becomes less valid as acting like this makes study less reliable and unreproducible.
What is going native?
Researchers talk to participate like any other group member
Decreases validity as it is biased and loosens the objectivity of the aim.
What is researcher bias?
The beliefs or expectations of the researcher influence data.
less reliable, lower validity due to bias/leading questions.
What is confirmation bias?
Interpreting information to conform to one’s beliefs.
Lowers validity as beliefs impose research.
What is interpretation bias?
Information that the researcher misinterprets in a way that the participant did not want.
What is rapport?
Ease of the relationship between people
good for sensitive topics
What practical impacts does time have on research?
If the data collection method is time-consuming, the data collected could be rushed, so less valid/ reliable.
What practical issues of cost will impact the research?
If the research is expensive, it can impact the generalisability as smaller samples are not cost-effective.
How might the subject matter of the research impact the research?
This is when some aspects of life are more easily accessible to sociology.
Participants may lie about answers because they feel offenders/uncomfortable.
How can the practicalities of social characteristics of research and those being researched affect the data?
The researcher’s status in the eyes of those being studied may impact the research.
May cause some misinterpretations by the researcher, which reduces validity.
How might practical issues of access impact the research?
If the target population are difficult to access, it will cause problems in the sample.
Reps can be improved as data reflects the target population that holds specific characteristics.
What is confidentiality and it’s potential impact on research?
