Topic 1 Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is reliability?
You repeat the experiment you get the same results.
What is validity?
It is accurate and trustworthy. Also means the degree to which an instrument, such as a survey question, measures what it is intended to measure.
What does it mean by ethical?
The moral issues of right or wrong.
What are advantages of closed questionnaires?
Quick to complete, quantitative data, easy to repeat, allow comparisons to be made.
What are disadvantages of closed questionnaires?
The answers can’t be properly explained, no follow up questions can be asked to get richer data, participant may not agree with any answers in a question.
What are closed questionnaires?
Very structured with the participant having a few set answers to choose from.
What are open-ended questionnaires?
Less structured, a set of questions with No set answers to choose from, usually interview rather than written questions.
What are advantages of open questionnaires?
Participant can truly express their meaning with no set answers, provide richer data such as follow up questions and qualitative data.
What are disadvantages of open questionnaires?
Qualitative data is hard to quantify and analyse and therefore harder to compare, possible misinterpretations.
What does it mean by interviewer bias?
Where the interviewer makes assumptions based on the participant and therefore misinterprets.
What is participant observation?
Where it involves the observer joining in with subjects to understand and describe research.
What are advantages of participant observation?
Natural environment (valid), when covert minimises the possibility of subjects changing their behaviour because they are being observed, when covert allows access to groups whose behaviour may be illegal, secret or shameful, allows greater understanding of motives etc.
What are disadvantages of participant observation?
theoretical: more scientific to be detached from subject, sharing the view of the subject could lead to bias, cannot be replicated or verified
practical: time consuming, difficult to gain access (class, ethnicity, age), asking questions can be limited without arousing suspicion, discovery can lead to danger
ethical: researchers may witness or have to take part in criminal behaviour, deception of subjects (no consent), published information of subjects without consent.
What are laboratory experiments?
Where it takes place in a controlled artificial setting: always a control group and experimental group so comparisons can be made.
What are field experiments?
Where it takes place in the real world such as a workplace or school and the participants do not know they are being studied, and so act naturally to increase validity of findings. no control group.
What are some practical factors?
Time, money, danger, access, researchers personal characteristics, age of participants, etc.
What are some theoretical factors?
Validity, reliability, representative, generalisation, theoretical perspective.
What are structured interviews?
A list of standardised closed questions read out in the same way who then records the answers.
quantitative, objective, reliable, positivist.
What are unstructured interviews?
More like a conversation, no set list of questions but a solid idea of aimed topics to ask. based on rapport, flexible, open-ended, free flowing, qualitative, subjective, interpretivist.
What are some advantages of structured interviews?
The interviewer can explain the questions, scientific objective data, reliable, comparisons and correlations can be made between results, easy to quantify, less time consuming.
What are some advantages of unstructured interviews?
Allows access to sensitive subjects (rapport builds trusting relationship - verstehen) - e.g dobash and dobash
creates data that is rich in depth and valid, particularly suited to discovering beliefs, attitudes, opinions etc.
What are some disadvantages of structured interviews?
They result in lack description or meaning, expensive, interviewer bias, interviewer influence, impossible to achieve verstehen, unable to operationalise concepts validly.
What are some disadvantages of unstructured interviews?
Interviewer bias, interviewer influence, interviewees may lie or exaggerate answers so can lack validity, the interview can develop in many directions due to no set questions so lacks reliability, hard to compare or generalise, social characteristics can affect results such as social class, no objectivity (loss of detachment: unscientific).
What is primary data?
Original research collected by the sociologist himself, first hand. eg. questionnaires, interviews, observation, case studies, experiments.
