Theory and Methods - Paper 1 Flashcards

Question

What is a sample?

Answer 1

A group selected from the target population to take part in the study

Answer 2

A list of individual sampling units from which a sample is drawn e.g., the electoral roll

Answer 3

1. Complete 2. Without duplications 3. Accurate 4. Up to date 5. All in one place

Answer 4

Random, stratified, quota, opportunity, snowball and purposive

Answer 5

People selected randomly. Could be done by drawing names from a hat or by a computer program

Answer 6

Everyone has an equal chance of being selected

Answer 7

Chance of the sample not being fully representative of all groups

Answer 8

The researcher divides the population into sub groups. Each strata should be represented in the sample

Answer 9

Each sub group of the target population is represented

Answer 10

We need to know a lot of information about the survey population in order to split them into subgroups

Answer 11

Non-random form of sampling. The researcher decides the number of people they want from different categories and then finds the first people who fit

Answer 12

Easier sample to find because you don't need a sampling frame or persuade those selected to participate

Answer 13

The type of sample you get can depend on where you look, the time of dat and your abilities to get people to take part. Researcher bias, less likely to be representative as random

Answer 14

The researcher picks a group of people specifically to study

Answer 15

Lockwood and Goldthorpe chose a specific group of workers to test the idea that wealthy members of WC were developing MC aptitudes, picked highly paid car workers

Answer 16

Researcher bias in selection

Answer 17

One of the least random sampling techniques. The researcher asks someone to take part then asks them to suggest someone else

Answer 18

It snowballs and grows. Laurie Taylor studied professional criminals - used when no other method would work

Answer 19

People are difficult to find so would be hard to access a sampling frame

Answer 20

Most common form of sampling because of convenience - no sampling frame. These people that are able and willing to take part put themselves forward

Answer 21

Extremely quick and easy to conduct

Answer 22

May be difficult to generalise results as the group may not be representative

Answer 23

Post, given out, emailed, online, receipts

Answer 24

- Quick/time efficient - closed - Accessible - Cheap - send online - No researcher bias and background of researcher doesn't matter

Answer 25

- Open take time to analyse qualitative - If sent online - digital divide - Time to wait for reply - Access - get a large distribution - Hard to get past gatekeepers

Answer 26

- Can provide info confidentially - Informed consent

Answer 27

- Protection from harm - if anonymous, hard to debrief and give help if difficult topic - Possible deception

Answer 28

- Open questions can provide verstehen - representative - people can give out to certain groups so can generalise - Reliable as they're standardised

Answer 29

- Could have low response rate which reduces representativeness and validity because answers will lack depth and detail with closed questions - Imposition bias - May misinterpret questions

Answer 30

Connor and Dewson - Social class and higher education, Michael Schofield - Sexual behaviour of young people in 1965

Answer 31

Conducted research to try and understand why some people from the lower classes don't attend uni. They took a sample of individuals from higher and lower class backgrounds, studying 3 groups Group 1 - Pre entry A Level students - using focus groups to ask about where they had applied Group 2 - Current students - sent 4000 postal questionnaires to 23 unis; dealing with a gatekeeper in each. They then received 41% response rate; this had mainly closed questions Group 3 - Non students - held phone surveys with 176 young people who had not gone to uni with mainly closed questions Found that many issues affected an individual's decision if to go onto HE such as future job security and self-worth. Main reason not to attend was debt; this meant choosing a local uni

Answer 32

P - background of researcher E - protection from harm, informed consent T - different methods so lacks reliability, looked at different amount of individuals so not valid, used closed questions in group 2 and 3 so no verstehen

Answer 33

Schofield sent out a detailed questionnaire to teenagers aged 15-19 within schools to gain an insight into their sexual behaviour. This was sent a variety of class and ethnic backgrounds. It also covered both male and females and consisted of open and closed questions. He asked "are you a virgin?" and one student responded "no not yet" which leads us to question the accuracy of the data. He found people tend to bend the truth when it comes to sex, however it does give us an insight into what young people were willing to disclose. 20 years later his study has been replicated by the National Lifestyles Survey to gain comparable data

Answer 34

P - Access and gatekeepers, under 18 and sent to schools E - Some under 18 so need parental consent, asking vulnerable groups personal questions T - Variety of class and ethnic backgrounds so representative, study replicated, open and closed questions

Answer 35

Using 3 different methods

Answer 36

Structured/formal, unstructured/informal, semi-structured and group

Answer 37

Similar to a questionnaire where the interviewer is given strict instructions on how to ask the questions. Interview is conducted in the same standardised way each time, asking each interviewee the same questions word for word. Provide RELIABLE DATA

Answer 38

Positivists

Answer 39

More like a guided conversation. Interviewer has complete freedom to vary the questions, their wording, order and so on from one interview to the next. The interviewer can ask follow-up questions

Answer 40

In between a structured and unstructured interview. Interview has the same set of questions, but the interview can probe for more information

Answer 41

Several people being interviewed together, at the same time. Focus groups are a form of interview where the interviewer asks the group to discuss a certain topic

Answer 42

Interpretivists

Answer 43

Positivists and interpretivists

Answer 44

Interpretivists

Answer 45

- Can easily compare answers - Retrieve answers you are looking for directly - Time effective

Answer 46

- Cannot elaborate or give reasoning - May be confused by questions

Answer 47

- CHEAP - training is simple as interviewer reads out standardised questions - ACCESS - response rate. Generally have a high number of respondents as Wilmott and Young found as they are quick to conduct

Answer 48

- COST - although they are relatively cheap, they cost more than questionnaires - ACCESS - following up responses can be more costly and the researcher won't be able to access as many participants as a survey would

Answer 49

- INFORMED CONSENT - there is no deception as people will only answer the questions if they want to - PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - the participant has the right to withdraw from the interview at any time

Answer 50

- PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - Feminists such as Graham argue that they are patriarchal and oppressive to women due to the nature of the questions and how the researcher (traditionally male) is in control and the female is subordinate - DECEPTION - if the true aim of the research is hidden

Answer 51

- RELIABILITY - you can repeat the study easily because it is standardised and controlled - REPRESENTATIVE - as this method is easier to use with a larger sample, you are more likely to be able to generalise findings

Answer 52

- VALIDITY - lacks depth and detail, also if the researcher wrote the questions with an idea of what answer they would like, this would be IMPOSITION BIAS. People may lie in their answers and are unable to elaborate on their responses due to the method being so inflexible - VERSTEHEN - can be subjective and lack empathetic understanding

Answer 53

Young and Wilmott

Answer 54

Study into WC families using structured interviews to investigate extended family in east London. 933 people interviewed. Interviews were formal and standardised, the questions precise and factual, with a limited range of alternative answers, on straightforward topic like people's age, job, religion, birthplace etc. The interviewers' task was to ring the appropriate code-number opposite the answer they received or, at a few points to the interview, to write in a fairly short and simple reply. Each interview took between ten and 30 mins, depending on the number of relatives possessed by a particular informant

Answer 55

Working class families in east London

Answer 56

P - access of WC families (background of researcher. Consent - talking about other family E - confidentiality of age, job, religion, protection from harm and distress from marginalisation T - Formal and standardised - reliable. Closed q - limited range, validity or verstehen

Answer 57

Oakley, Dobash and Dobash

Answer 58

Carried out a series of intesnsive, onfiromal interviews with 66 young mothers before and after their babies were born. All the women were attedning the same London hospital. The women were all asked 'can you describe your feelings when you first held the baby?'. The participants responded in detail and depth. Feelings on first holding the baby: Not interested - 70% Amazed, proud - 20% Euphoric - 10% Interviewees are not passive respondents but asked questions back. At the end, she asked 'Do you feel that being involved in this research has affected your experience of being a mother in any way?' No - 27% Yes - 73% Thought about it more - 30% Found it reassuring - 25% A relief to talk - 30% Changed attitude - 7% Oakley asked some set questions in each interview, they were largely informal, flexible and focused on the interviewees themselves, as she wanted to establish a feel for their experiences

Answer 59

1. CHEAP - it is cheaper than conducting longitudinal research/lab experiments 2. ACCESS - people are more willing to open up about issues such as domestic violence due to the relaxed nature of the interview and interviewer

Answer 60

1. TIME - takes a long-time to conduct and analyse as participants may drift off topic, and training of the interviewers takes time, limiting the number of people who can be interviewed 2. BACKGROUND OF RESEARCHER - the researcher needs certain characteristics and skills - need to be able to build a rapport

Answer 61

1. INFORMED CONSENT - the only respondent is in control so only volunteers the information that they are happy to 2. PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - the relaxed environment of unstructured interviews makes interviewees feel more comfortable compared to alternative methods e.g., structured

Answer 62

1. PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - there may be sensitive issues in the interview which may upset participants 2. DECEPTION - if the true aim of the research is hidden

Answer 63

1. VALIDITY - as unstructured interviews are more flexible, respondents are more likely to open up, exploring unfamiliar topics 2. VERSTEHEN - interviewers can build rapport and emphasise with participants due to the flexible and informal nature of questioning

Answer 64

1. REPRESENTATIVENESS - the small number of participants involved means the results will be hard to generalise 2. RELIABILITY - they are unreliable as the questions are not standardised and respondents can go 'off-topic' with their answers

Answer 65

Research with women into domestic violence

Answer 66

They interviewed victims of DV and people who had worked with and helped the victims. They used questions on a variety of aspects such as socialisation inot the use of violence. There were constant interviews between 2-12 hours, which took place within a few days after the women's arrival at a DV refuge. They found that DV was more likely to take place if men felt that their authority had been threatened

Answer 67

1. ACCESS - may be easier to get people to take part if it is in a group 2. FUNDING BODY - it should not be difficult to get funding in order to carry out the research, due to the method satisfying ethical and practical matters e.g., time

Answer 68

1. BACKGROUND OF RESEARCHER - researcher needs the skills/ability to keep a large group on task 2. TIME AND MONEY - data generated from group interaction is more complex and difficult to analyse, therefore costing more money and taking more time afterwards

Answer 69

1. INFORMED CONSENT - the respondent may be more likely to be willing to do the research in a group environment 2. PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - due to the fact there are other participants and witnesses present, it is more difficult for a group to be emotionally harmed

Answer 70

1. CONFIDENTIALITY - there is no discretion or way of keeping your identity hidden as the rest of the group can see you answering questions 2. VULNERABLE GROUPS - may be more inclined to 'go with the flow' and can be more easily manipulated in groups

Answer 71

1. VALIDITY - participants may feel more comfortable around others so more likely to open up 2. REPRESENTATIVENESS - large numbers can be interviewed at once, so it has the potential of being more representative

Answer 72

1. REPRESENTATIVENESS - one or two individuals may dominate the discussion 2. VALIDITY - peer group pressure may lead to socially desirable responses

Answer 73

Studied: 12 working class boys and wanted to find out their experience of education Part of his research required him to carry out focus groups with the boys He wanted to find out if there was an anti-school subculture and if this was linked to social class

Answer 74

A distortion of response related to the person questioning informants in research

Answer 75

The idea that participants' answers may be influenced by the behaviour, phrasing, background or mere presence of interviewer. To overcome interviewer bias, interviewers are trained to be non-directive

Answer 76

Nazroo, Becker and Kinsey

Answer 77

Conducted research into the health of Britain's ethnic minorities and ensured interviews were conducted in participants' language of choice, as well as matching the ethnicity of the interviewer to that of the participant

Answer 78

Took an aggressive approach when interviewing schoolteachers, aiming to 'squeeze' information out of participants, 'playing dumb' and playing devil's advocate

Answer 79

In his research into sexuality, asked rapid questions, repeated questions later to check, and conducted follow-up interviews 18 months later

Answer 80

Interpretivists

Answer 81

Involves researcher joining in with the activities of the group being studied

Answer 82

When a researcher simply watches a situation or interaction, and collects data from what they see, without interacting with the group being observed

Answer 83

When the participants are aware that they are being observed, therefore they give consent

Answer 84

When the group being observed is unaware that they are being researched, and the researcher has to adopt a cover story to explain their presence in that situation

Answer 85

1. BACKGROUND OF RESEARCHER - may be able to use their characteristics to get into a group 2. MONEY - either type of observation does not require expensive lab equipment

Answer 86

1. ACCESS - this may be difficult especially if attempting to research marginal groups e.g., criminals. May need a gatekeeper 2. TIME - observations tend to be a very time-consuming method, especially if participant observations are used

Answer 87

1. PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - if non-participant then researcher will not be getting directly involved in participant behaviour 2. CONFIDENTIALITY - researchers can ensure confidentiality as they can hide the names of those they are observing, especially if its non-participant

Answer 88

1. HARM TO RESEARCHER - if participant, the researcher could be in danger, especially if covert participant e.g., observing criminal behaviour 2. INFORMED CONSENT/DECEPTION - this can be an issue if the research is covert participant as the researcher will need a cover story and conceal their real motives

Answer 89

1. VALIDITY - researchers can see the participants 'in action', in their natural setting, and therefore are unlikely to lie/behave differently especially if covert 2. VERSTEHEN - especially if participating as the researcher has the ability to see the world from the participant's point of view

Answer 90

1. RELIABILITY - if participant, it can be virtually impossible to repeat this research to verify the findings due to the group and situation being observed being unique 2. REPRESENTATIVENESS - observations especially participant tend to be focused on a small group within society therefore findings cannot be generalised

Answer 91

1. BACKGROUND OF RESEARCHER - researchers' characteristics will have less impact if it is overt 2. MONEY - funding bodies may be more willing to support research that is overt as it is likely to be much more ethical

Answer 92

1. ACCESS - this may be difficult especially if covert, researchers will need to find a way into the group, they may need a gatekeeper 2. TIME - covert observations can take a long time as researchers may need to gain trust before being accepted and may need to stay after to avoid suspicion

Answer 93

1. INFORMED CONSENT - this is gained if observation is overt as participants know they are being researched, therefore there is no deception 2. CONFIDENTIALITY - researchers can ensure confidentiality as they can hide the names of those they are observing

Answer 94

1. HARM TO RESEARCHER - if covert, the researcher could be in danger, especially if their cover story is blown and researching dangerous groups 2. INFORMED CONSENT/DECEPTION - if covert then cannot be gained and therefore the participants are being deceived

Answer 95

1. VALIDITY - participants don't know they are being researched so should act naturally 2. VERSTEHEN - the researcher is fully immersed in the groups' secret world and has the ability to see the world from their point of view

Answer 96

1. VALIDITY - if overt, participants know they are being researched therefore could cause the Hawthorne effect. If covert, recording data at the time is difficult, they may have to write up findings later, possibly forgetting detail 2. RELIABILITY - if covert then it will be very difficult to carry out the research again, unlikely to be accepted in the group and observe the same behaviour

Answer 97

Gang leader for a day and Willis - learning to labour

Answer 98

Originally entered the housing projects with the aim of conducting interviews with young black men living in property. The gang was reluctant to talk to him at first and he was met with open hostility and threats of violence. He was imprisoned by the gang, until JT agrees to the research. He befriended JT and gained trust to lead the group for a day His research was regarded as highly valuable for the insight it gave into gang culture in America and the impact of a gang on area. The people int he area were aware that Venkatesh was from the uni and that he was observing lfie in their area. He was an overt observer, but kept the topic of research confidential. Venkatesh found the structure of the gang was hierarchal and highly organised

Answer 99

He studied 12 WC lads. He spent a total of 18 months observing the lads in school and then a further 6 months following them into work. The study aimed to uncover the question of how and why WC kids get WC jobs. Willis concentrated on a particular boy's group in a secondary school. They were all white, although the school also contained many pupils from West Indian and Asian background. With a small sample size, it would be relatively easy for people who knew them to guess which lads Willis and been focussing on Willis attended all school classes, options and career classes which took place at various times. This allowed Willis to immerse himself into the social settings of the lads and gave him the opportunity to ask the lads questions about their behaviour that day or the night before encouraging them to explain themselves in their own words which included detailed accounts of the alds getting in trouble The research was very time consuming - 2 years of research and then a further 2 years to write up the results. He witnessed the lads getting into fights, their racism and homophobia, as well as them vandalising school property

Answer 100

Black like me, a view from the boys

Answer 101

John Howard-Griffin, was a middle-aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. Deeply committed to the cause of racial justice and frustrated by his inability as a white man to understand the black experience, Griffin decided to take a radical step: he decided to undergo medical treatment to change the colour of his skin and temporarily become a black man. He found a contact in the black community and began a dermatological regime of exposure to ultraviolet light, oral medication, and skin dyes. Eventually, Griffin looked in the mirror and saw a black man looking back, he then set out to explore the black community. Griffin expected to find prejudice, oppression, and hardship, but he was shocked at the extent of it: everywhere he went, he experienced difficulties and insults. The word "n*****" seemed to echo from every street corner. Over time, this racism started to cause Griffin psychological harm and he became depressed. Once the research was complete, he stopped his medication entirely, permanently returning his skin colour to white. However, following the publishing of the research, in Mansfield, his hometown, the prevalent attitude was that of racism, and Griffin and his family became the subject of hateful reprisals.

Answer 102

P - access, background of researcher (cultural experiences as white man different, cost E - Deception, unethical - he doesn't have to face discrimination forever, didn't consult black people T - unreliable method of research, verstehen, validity, not representative - only one state so can't be generalised

Answer 103

Parker covertly participated to find out about the lives of a criminal gang of adolescent boys from Liverpool. It is possible to see that it would have been difficult for Parker to have gained access to the group. However, he was easily able to gain access as he had met some of the boys previously at a country holiday centre set up for Liverpool's deprived children, plus Parker's appearance, "young, boozy and ungroomed, whilst knowing the score about theft behaviour and sexual exploits" helped him to gain acceptance. Parker studied the group in great detail, over a period of time, gaining qualitative data. Parker defended his position as a covert participant observer, by fitting in with the gang that he would have not been able to do had he told them his real identity, stating “it would have been impossible to carry out the study in any other circumstance”. Parker's involvement with the gang (although covert) changed their behaviour not because of his presence in the group but because of his actions as part of the group. For example, Parker frequently tried to stop gang members from stealing cars. He also provided legal advice to gang members charged with theft, showing at times he lost sight of his research. Parker frequently found himself in the position of engaging in criminal activity whilst in the gang, he joined in some of their activities and admits he got so involved that he actually kept watch while they stole car radios. Parker also chose to withhold some data from publication to protect the participants.

Answer 104

P - Access, time, background of researcher (didn't have to go through gatekeeper bc of background) E - No informed consent, illegal protection of researcher - he wasn't observing T - reduces validity and representativeness, verstehen, reduces reliability

Answer 105

Cecile Wright - The impact on children, OFTSED observations

Answer 106

The study was based on the observation of four inner city primary schools, over 2 years, where it was implicated that teachers perceive and treat ethnic minority children differently. Wright needed consent from a gatekeeper and the parents of the children involved in the research. Wright observed, at nursery level Asian children were expected to be linguistically backward and Asian girls were ignored. Afro-Caribbean children were expected to pose discipline problems and were likely to be punished more than white children for similar offences. Racism was prevalent among children and this was expressed outside the classroom when she observed the staff room behaviour. At the time that Wright was carrying out her research (1992) there were few black teachers and she found her African Caribbean ethnicity produced antagonistic reactions from some white teachers. On the other hand, she found that many black pupils held her in high esteem and would ask her for support in the classroom.

Answer 107

Another example of Overt non-participant observations that collect qualitative data (as well as quantitative data) is OFSTED inspectors in the classrooms. Schools and teachers are aware that the inspectors are in the classrooms as OFSTED inform the school prior to their visit Observers do not get involved in the lessons as they do not want to disrupt teaching and learning, the behaviours they are there to watch. As OFSTED are government funded and backed, they cannot be refused access. This method of observation is also reliable, in the sense that it can be repeated in different schools. Although when collecting qualitative data, it can be subjective to the inspector who is observing.

Answer 108

Humphrey - The tea room trade

Answer 109

In 1970 Laud Humphreys conducted research into gay men’s sexual encounters in public toilets and chose to use covert non-participant observation as his method claiming, ‘there is only one way to watch highly discreditable behaviour and that is to pretend to be in the same boat with those engaging in it.’ He played the non-participant role of the ‘watch queen’, the person responsible for alerting the participants if a stranger or police officer was entering the toilets. Humphreys knew the locations of where these encounters occurred, and he was able to gain trust quickly, due to his gender and age. Humphreys, while playing ‘watch queen’ was also able to record the registration plates of the men who visited the toilets and then, by using a cover story, request the home addresses of the men from police records. He then posed as a researcher, interested in family issues and visited the homes of the men in question in order to find out their true backgrounds. He discovered that many of the men in question were married with children and appeared to be living ‘double lives’! Humphreys’ research is one of the most controversial studies ever carried out.

Answer 110

Flanders system of interaction analysis categories

Answer 111

One example of a structured observational schedule favoured by positivists is the Flanders system of interaction analysis categories. This has been used to measure the pupil-pupil and pupil-teacher interaction quantitatively. The observer uses a standard chart to record interactions at 3 second intervals, placing each observation in one of the ten pre-defined behaviour categories. Observations can then be easily converted into quantitative data. Flanders (1970) found that in a typical American classroom, 68% of the time is taken up with teacher talk, 20% by pupil talk and 12% is lost in silence or confusion

Answer 112

The factor researchers change and manipulate to test the effect

Answer 113

What researchers want to measure to see how it is affected by the IV. Researchers do not manipulate this

Answer 114

a prediction, or an educated guess about something. This is put to the test in an experiment

Answer 115

During the 1960s, Albert Bandura conducted a series of experiments on observational learning, collectively known as the Bobo doll experiments. Bandura (1961) conducted a study to investigate if social behaviours (i.e., aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation. The researchers tested 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old. The researchers pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behaviour on four 5-point rating scales. It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behaviour. In the experimental conditions, children were individually shown into a room containing toys and played with some potato prints and pictures in a corner for 10 minutes while either: 1) 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) watched a male or female model behaving aggressively towards a toy called a 'Bobo doll'. The adults attacked the Bobo doll in a distinctive manner - they used a hammer in some cases, and in others threw the doll in the air and shouted "Pow, Boom." 2) Another 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were exposed to a non-aggressive model who played in a quiet and subdued manner for 10 minutes (playing with a tinker toy set and ignoring the bobo-doll). 3) The final 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were used as a control group and not exposed to any model at all. Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups. The findings support Bandura's (1977) Social Learning Theory. That is, children learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning - through watching the behaviour of another person. This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children.

Answer 116

This type of experiment takes place in the real world, under normal social conditions, but follows similar procedures to the lab experiment

Answer 117

Jane Elliott decided to teach her class about discrimination by splitting them based on their eye colour. She decided to base the exercise on eye colour rather than skin colour in order to show the children what racial segregation would be like. On the first day of the exercise, she designated the blue-eyed children as the superior group. Elliott provided brown fabric collars and asked the blue-eyed students to wrap them around the necks of their brown-eyed peers as a method to easily identify the minority group. She gave the blue-eyed children extra privileges, such as second helpings at lunch, access to the new jungle gym, and five extra minutes at recess. The blue-eyed children sat in the front of the classroom, and the brown-eyed children were sent to sit in the back rows. The blue-eyed children were encouraged to play only with other blue-eyed children and to ignore those with brown eyes. Elliott would not allow brown-eyed and blue-eyed children to drink from the same water fountain and often told the brown-eyed students off when they did not follow the exercise's rules or made mistakes. She often highlighted the differences between the two groups by singling out students and would use negative aspects of brown-eyed children to emphasize a point. At first, there was resistance among the students in the minority group to the idea that blue-eyed children were better than brown-eyed children. To counter this, Elliott lied to the children by stating that melanin was linked to their higher intelligence and learning ability. Shortly thereafter, this initial resistance fell away. Those who were deemed "superior" became arrogant, bossy, and otherwise unpleasant to their "inferior" classmates. Their grades on simple tests were better, and they completed mathematical and reading tasks that had seemed outside their ability before. The "inferior" classmates also transformed – into timid and subservient children who scored more poorly on tests, and even during recess isolated themselves, including those who had previously been dominant in the class. These children's academic performance suffered, even with tasks that had been simple before. The next Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, making the brown-eyed children superior. While the brown-eyed children did taunt the blue-eyed children in ways similar to what had occurred the previous day, Elliott reports it was much less intense.

Answer 118

Involves collecting data about different societies or groups in the real world and then comparing these to another group to identify conditions that may be present in on group, but not another, that could be used to explain the cause of a social event

Answer 119

Durkheim conducted a study in 1897 of suicide. He used the comparative method to do so. Durkheim hypothesised that low level integration of individuals into social groups caused high rates of suicide. Durkheim analysed differences between Protestants and Catholics. He found a lower rate of suicide among Catholics, and hypothesised that this was due to stronger forms of social control and cohesion among them than among Protestants. Durkheim tested this by comparing the suicide rates of Catholics and Protestants who were similar in all other respects in terms of where they lived marital status etc. His prediction was supported by official statistics on suicide and showed Catholics have a lower rate of suicide therefore his hypothesis was correct. Additionally, Durkheim found that suicide was less common among women than men, more common among single people than among those who are romantically partnered, and less common among those who have children. Further, he found that soldiers commit suicide more often than civilians, and that curiously, rates of suicide are higher during peacetime than they are during wars. Based on what he saw in the data, Durkheim argued that suicide can be caused by social factors, not just individual psychological ones. Durkheim reasoned that social integration in particular is a factor. The more socially integrated a person is-connected to society and generally feeling that they belong and that their life makes sense within the social context- the less likely they are to commit suicide.

Answer 120

*These sociologists wanted to test whether teachers’ expectations had an effect on pupils’ achievement. *They told teachers that 20 of their students had been found to have high levels of intelligence and were now expected to make rapid progress in their education. *These students were actually chosen randomly and were no different to the others in the class. *At the end of the year, these 20 students had made much more progress than the rest of the class. *Rosenthal and Jacobson said that the teacher’s expectations had influenced the achievement of these students.

Answer 121

data that has already been collected by other researchers

Answer 122

Crime statistics, suicide statistics

Answer 123

These are offences either detected by or reported to the police and recorded by them. There is a 'dark figure of crime', those that go unreported and unrecorded. Victim surveys try to address this problem. Only about 3% of all crimes are estimated to result in an offender being convicted

Answer 124

These survey the victims of crime and include unreported and unrecorded crime. They give a more accurate picture than police recorded crime. From the CSEW, it emerges that only about a quarter of all crimes get reported, so there is a lot more crime than police statistics show. An example of this is the CSEW

Answer 125

These are anonymous questionnaires in which people are asked to own up to committing crimes, whether or not they have been caught. An example of this is the Home Office's Offending, Crime and Justice survey. These surveys can only use participants that are aged 16 and over; this age group is often a high crime group

Answer 126

These reveal some of the characteristics of offenders who have been caught

Answer 127

Many say crime stats aren't reliable as there may be inconsistencies.

Answer 128

Used suicide statistics across different countries in Europe to discover the following: religion, family size, political/national crises, economic conditions, occupational groups and the divorce rate

Answer 129

Increase - if a religion is against homosexuality, someone who is may feel their only choice is to commit suicide because their family believe it is wrong Decrease - in christianity it says you should not commit suicide

Answer 130

Increase the suffering from not being able to afford food, shelter etc. may drive someone into depression causing them to commit suicide

Answer 131

You have a higher chance of being able to speak to someone about suicidal thoughts, reducing chances of being alone and thing it's the only option

Answer 132

They argue that statistics tell us more about the decision-making process of the living than the intentions of the dead, and the real number of suicides. Coroners cannot ask dead people if they meant to kill themselves, so they can only guess at the truth by looking for ‘clues’ in the circumstances surrounding the death. Atkinson has suggested that there are 4 main factors that coroners take when deciding on whether a death is suicide or not: 1. Whether there was a suicide note. 2. The way the person died; for example, by hanging, drowning or a drug overdose. Death in a road accident rarely gets categorised as suicide. 3. The place the death occurred and the surrounding circumstances. For example, a drug overdose in a remote wood would be more likely to be categorised as suicide than if it occurred at home in bed. 4. The life history and mental state of the dead person, such as the state of their health or whether they had debt problems, failed an exam or got divorced. Coroners do not always agree on the way they interpret these clues, e.g. One coroner placed importance on clothes been neatly folded on the beach, in a drowning incident, whereas another coroner did not place any importance on this.

Answer 133

Contain non-numerical data. These can be in the form of diaries, letters, documents, reports and much more

Answer 134

Produced by organisations such as government departments, schools, welfare agencies, businesses and charities. Some of this output may be available for researchers to use e.g., OFSTED reports

Answer 135

Include items such as letters, diaries, photo albums and autobiographies. These are first-person accounts of social events and personal experiences, and they generally also include the writer's feelings and attitudes

Answer 136

A personal or public document created in the past. If ew want to study the past, historical documents are usually the only source of information. Aries - was interested in how society changed its perception of children from the Middle Ages to present day. He analysed historical documents including paintings from historical periods of time to analyse how children were viewed

Answer 137

Authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning

Answer 138

Is the document what it claims to be? Are there any missing apges and is it a copy? is it free from errors? Who actually wrote the document?

Answer 139

Is the document believable? Was the author sincere? Politicians may write diaries intended for publication that inflate their own importance. Polish migrants may have lied in their letters home to ensure their families did not worry about them

Answer 140

Is it typical of the population at that time? If not, we cannot know if it is safe to generalise the information to the rest of the population. Not all documents survive – are the surviving ones typical of others? Not all documents are available – 20-year rule (some government documents only get released to the public after 20 years) / some may be classified / some private documents may never become available. Therefore, the evidence in the documents we DO have access to may not be representative of the ones we DON’T have access to.

Answer 141

Researcher may need special skills to understand the document – e.g., a translator or understanding of how the meanings of words change over time. Different sociologists may interpret same documents differently

Answer 142

1. ACCESS - a lot of documents will be available online therefore easy to access 2. MONEY - documents will only need to be printed off so therefore will be quite cheap to use

Answer 143

1. INFORMED CONSENT - no need to gain consent especially with public documents as consent has already been granted 2. PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS - researchers can ensure confidentiality as they can change the names of individuals

Answer 144

1. ACCESS - personal documents such as diaries may be difficult to gain access to 2. BACKGROUND OF RESEARCHER - they may lose objectivity if the topic is personal to them. May need skills to interpret and understand the documents

Answer 145

1. CONFIDENTIALITY - do people always know that their documents are being used in a study 2. VULNERABLE GROUPS - documents containing information or photographs involving children need to have consent

Answer 146

1. VALIDITY - may give more depth and insight into a particular event or time period, not obtainable by any other method 2. VERSTEHEN - documents can give a real understanding about what life is like, especially if they are historical

Answer 147

1. RELIABILITY - if they are personal, they can be hard to replicate as each one is unique to the individual e.g., diaries 2. VALIDITY - it is hard to check the authenticity of some documents. It may be possible that some of the information is incorrect/biased or has been manipulated

Answer 148

Thomas and Znaniecki (Polish letters) and Hey (School girl letters)

Answer 149

An interactionist study of migration and social change which used a variety of documents. These included 764 letters written by the Polish migrants to their families back home, detailing their experience of moving to America. Also, they analysed autobiographies, newspaper articles, court and social work records. They used the documents to reveal the meanings individuals gave to their experience of migration and any events that they may have been involved in.

Answer 150

Carried out a study about the formation and thoughts concerning school girl friendships. Hey used notes the girls passed to one another in lessons and their diaries. In order to collect this data, Hey gained the trust and friendship from the girls and even swapped her own personal diaries in order for the girls to share their thoughts

Answer 151

argues that there is very little vetting of the information on these internet sites. Unlike most written publications, there is no need for submissions of proposals to publishers and editors. For this reason, internet sources should be used with caution. He suggests that the following criteria need to be considered when using the internet as a secondary source: authorship, authority of the author, authority of the material, authority of the organisation, currency and objectivity

Answer 152

They need to consider if the authorship is clear or whether the author is different to the person or company that compile the page

Answer 153

How credible are they in terms of qualifications and previous publications?

Answer 154

The material has more authority if there are references to sources etc.

Answer 155

There is a reasonable assumption that information on a site such as a university site has much more authority than a personal website. Even the most reputable companies’ web pages should be used with caution.

Answer 156

must consider if the page is up to date and accurate.

Answer 157

As is the case of other secondary sources, we need to ensure we remember the interests of those who have produced the work as it could be biased. However, this does not mean it will not be useful.

Answer 158

A method of dealing systematically with the contents of documents. Qual --> quant

Answer 159

Describes how content analysis works as follows. Imagine we want to measure particular aspects of a media message; for example, how many female characters are portrayed as being in paid employment. We decide categories, then tally the number of times each one appears

Answer 160

An exploratory, descriptive or explanatory analysis of a person, group or event

Answer 161

Little hans and Willis' learning to labour

Answer 162

Attempts to overcome this problem by selecting a sample sometimes called a panel and collecting data from them over a period of years

Answer 163

The census and parker et al - studied illegal drug use among 1125 people aged 14 for 5 years between 1991 and 1996 using a combination of self-completion questionnaires and interviews

Answer 164

Involves a researcher having 3 or more different methods or sources of data. This tends to result in a researcher using two primary research methods, as well as a secondary source

Answer 165

Cross checking answers, facilitation and complementary

Answer 166

Check answers using a variety of methods e.g., the responses from questionnaires by conducting interviews

Answer 167

Using one method to develop another method e.g, using in depth interviews to devise questionnaire questions

Answer 168

Combining methods to gain data for different aspects of research - questionnaires discover the pattern, and observations are then used to reveal the reasons behind this pattern

Answer 169

Wright and Hobson

Answer 170

*Combined four methods to investigate racism in primary schools *She observed the teachers’ behaviour in the classroom (overt non-participant) *She examined documents to discover the effect of racism on test results (secondary sources) *She interviewed head teachers to discover schools’ anti-racism policies and she held informal interviews to discover teachers’ unobservable attitudes.

Answer 171

1. He used questionnaires to obtain over 300 trainees views 2. He then used informal interviews with 20 of the trainees. 3. He used observations to watch the training process. 4. He also used secondary stats to check the success of the course.