Topic 1- Choosing a research method Flashcards
(86 cards)
1
Q
what are the 4 types of data?
A
- primary
- secondary
- qualitative
- quantitative
2
Q
what is primary data?
A
information collected by sociologists themselves
3
Q
1 advantage of using primary data
A
precisely gather iformation to test their hypothesis
4
Q
2 disadvantages of collecting primary data
A
- costly
- time consuming
5
Q
3 methods of gathering primary data
A
- social surveys
- participant observation
- experiments
6
Q
what are social surveys?
A
involves asking people questions in an interview or questionnaire
7
Q
what is participant observation?
A
the sociologist joins in with the activities they are studying
8
Q
what are experiments?
A
rarely lab experiments in sociology but field experiments and comparative method is used
9
Q
what is secondary data?
A
information that has been collected by someone else for purposes but freely available to use
10
Q
1 advantage of secondary data
A
- quick
- cheap
11
Q
1 disadvantage of secondary research
A
one might not be interested in the same question so the results are not fully what you’re looking for
12
Q
2 sources of secondary data
A
- official statistics
- documents
13
Q
what are official statistcs?
A
produced by the government on multiple issues
14
Q
give examples of documents
A
letters, diaries, photos, newspapers and internet
15
Q
what is quantitative data?
A
numerical form of data
16
Q
3 examples of quantitative data
A
- scales
- percentages
- proportions
17
Q
what is qualitative data?
A
gives a feel for what something is like
18
Q
examples of qualitative data
A
- how a situation affects someone
- what something is like
- personal opinions
19
Q
name the 5 practical issues influencing choice of method
A
- requirements of funding bodies
- time and money
- research opportunities
- subject matter
- personal skills
20
Q
explain time and money
2 points
A
- it costs money to hire interviewers and data handlers on large scale research
- is time consuming to do smaller scale research own your own with participant observation
21
Q
explain requirements of funding bodies
2 points
A
- companies providing you money might want to research a specific thing
- if you were researching % of people passing school you would have to choose an appropriate research method
22
Q
explain subject matter
2 points
A
- some research methods are impossible to use for researching specific subjects
- it would be useless to give illiterate people a questionnaire
23
Q
explain personal skills
3 points
A
- every sociologist has a different set of skills and weaknesses so will benefit from different research strategies
- an interview would require forming a rapport
- participant observation would require understanding social cues and observation skills
24
Q
explain research opportunity
2 points
A
- you might not be given much notice for your research so cannot do what you intended
- James Patrick got an opportunity to research a gang in Glasgow but had short notice so could not prepare a questionnaire so had to do participant observation
25
what issue is time and money
practical issue
26
what type of issue is subject matter
practical issue
27
what issue is requirement of funding bodies
practical issue
28
what type of issue is personal skill and characteristics
practical issue
29
what type of issue is research opportunity
practical issue
30
give the 5 ethical issues influencing choice of method
* informed consent
* vulnerable groups
* covert research
* harm to research participants
* confidentiality and privacy
31
explain vulnerable groups
| 2 points
* care must be taken when researching elderly/children, mentally/physically unwell people and disabled
* when researching children, data must be protected and parents and child must consent
31
explain informed consent
participants should be offered the right to refuse being researched and should be allowed to drop out any time in the process
32
explain covert research
| 2 points
* covert research requires the researcher's identity to be hidden. this leads to lies as you cannot gain informed consent.
* however you can gain an accurate understanding of something
33
explain confidentiality and privacy
all information collected should remain private throughout research
34
explain harm to research participant
| 2 points
* sociologists have to be aware about the effects their research can have on someone
* police might get involved or mental illnesses might come back after sharing
35
what issue is covert research
ethical issue
36
what type of issue is privacy and confidentiality
ethical issue
37
what type of issue is informed consent
ethical issue
38
what issue is vulnerable groups
ethical issue
39
what type of issue is harm to research participants
ethical issue
40
name the 4 theoretical issues
* validity
* representativeness
* methodological perspective
* reliability
41
explain validity
| 2 points
* research that shows a real and truthful picture of what the research is about
* qualitative methods are better to do this as it holds opinions
42
explain reliability
| 2 points
* if another researcher was to repeat this research would they get the same results?
* quantitative data is more likely to have the same data when repeating the research
43
explain representiveness
| 2 points
* it is impossible to research everyone so having a cross section of people to research is important
* this makes the data representative of the group and helps people make generalised statements about them
44
explain methodological perspective
* there are two types of this that will influence their choice of interview strategy
* positivists
* interpretivists
45
explain positivists
| 3 points
* prefer quantitative data
* see sociology as a natural science
* see society as a factual reality
46
explain interpretivists
| 3 points
* prefer qualitative data
* reject the idea sociology can model itself on the natural sciences
* sees society as something formed based on interactions with people
47
what methods would positivists use
| 3 points
* questionnaires
* structured interviews
* official stats
48
what methods would interpretivists use
| 3 points
* participant observation
* unstructured interviews
* personal documents
49
explain why society's values influence choice of topic
| 3 points
* as society's values change, the focus to research changes
* in 1960s feminism rose so research on gender inequality did too
* today, environment is a big thing so those research 'green crimes'
50
how do practical factors influence choice of topic
| 2 points
* alot of things are inaccessible so make it impossible to research.
* some might want to study the way global corporations make their decisions but can't due to it being secret
51
explain how funding bodies affect the choice of topic
as they are paying for the research, they can say what they want to be researched
52
what is triangulation
using two or more sources or methods of research to get a more rounded picture of what you're studying
53
what is the first step you need to do after choosing a topic to research?
choosing an aim or hypothesis
54
define hypothesis
a possible explanation that can be tested by collecting information to prove it true or false
55
what do you do if a hypothesis is false?
discard it
56
why is discarding a hypothesis NOT a bad thing?
it means you've made progress and you can turn your attention on another cause instead so is a development in your study.
57
what is an advantage of a hypothesis?
gives direction to research
58
what type of people prefer a hypothesis?
positivists
59
why do positivists prefer a hypothesis?
they seek to discover cause and effect relationships
60
what is an advantage of using an aim
it is more open ended so you arent trying to prove something particular but gather data then display whatever you researched. useful when you know a little on the topic
61
what type of people prefer aims?
interpretivists
62
why do interpretivists prefer aims?
they are more interested in understanding meanings so ask people what they think is important rather than try to prove their own explanation right/wrong
63
give the process of research
| (4 points)
* formulating an aim/hypothesis
* operationalising concepts
* the pilot study
* samples and sampling
64
define operationalisation
process of turning a concept or theory to something measurable
65
why is operationalising important?
to ensure that the words in the hypothesis/aim has the same meaning to everyone
66
what is a challenge in operationalising?
sociologists might have different meanings for the same words so find it hard to compare their research
67
what type of person finds operationalising more important?
positivists
68
why do positivists find it important to operationalise?
they find the creating and testing of a hypothesis very important
69
what type of person puts less importance on operationalising?
interpretivists
70
why do interpretivists not find operationalizing as important?
they are more interested in others' definitions and understanding
71
what is a pilot study
carrying out a 'trial/draft' version of the questionnaire/interview on a small sample
72
what is the basic aim of a pilot study?
| (2 points)
* iron out problems
* clarify questions
73
what is the purpose of sampling?
to ensure that the people chosen to be in the study are representative of the whole population you are studying
74
what is a sampling frame?
list of all the members of the population you are interested in studying
75
what are the 4 levels of sampling?
* research population
* sampling frame
* sample
* respondent
76
what are the 4 types of sampling techniques?
* random
* quasi-random/systematic
* stratified random
* quota
77
explain random sampling
sample is selected purely by chance
78
explain quasi-random/systematic sampling
* where every nth person is used
* eg. every 30th person selected from a list
79
explain stratified sampling
| 3 points
* the researcher breaks down the population into something eg. age/gender/class
* then uses the same proportions in the sample
* eg. if 20% of the population is 18 then 20% of the sample will be 18
80
explain quota sampling
population is stratified then you get a 'quota' eg 20 males and 20 females and select them based on whether they fit the characteristics until the 'quota' is filled
81
for what reasons may sampling be non-representative?
theoretical and practical reasons
82
what are 3 practical reasons why it may be impossible to create a representative sample?
* social characteristics (age, gender, class) may not be known
* impossible to create a sampling frame
* potential respondents may refuse to participate
83
what 2 things might sociologists do when it isn't possible to get a representative sample/
* snowball sampling
* opportunity sampling
84
what is snowball sampling?
collecting a number of individuals who will then put you in contact with others etc. until enough people have been researched
85
what is opportunity sampling?
choosing individuals who are easy to access eg. passer bys on the street
