Cards (50)

    • Primary sources

      collect their own research for their own purposes they try to obtain their own first hand picture
    • Secondary sources

      uses data that already exists and has been collected in which they can use for their own purposes
    • quantitative data 

      information in numeric form
    • qualitative data 

      information in a variety of forms that is descriptive and rich
    • interpretivists
      they prefer qualitative data and seek to understand peoples meanings and they reject the view that sociology can model itself on the natural sciences
    • positivists
      they prefer quantitative data and seek to discover the patterns of behaviour and see the sociology as a science
    • consent
      an agreement for example a consent form to get permission
    • deception
      the nature of the study is not fully explained
    • debriefing
      research gives an overall summary of the findings
    • protection from harm
      duty not to cause anyone distress for example psychological
    • reliable
      could the study be repeated and have the same outcome
    • representative
      on a large scale and can generalise to the population
    • validity
      a truthful and in depth insight of the study
    • what are the two types of questionnaires
      closed
      open
    • what are open questionnaires
      respondents are free to give whatever answer they wish in their own words without any pre selected answers being offered by the researcher
    • what are closed questionnaires
      respondents must choose from a limited range of possible answers that the researcher has decided in advance
    • strengths of questionnaires
      open questionnaires give qualitative data which is easier to compare data
      closed questionnaires give quantitative data so can identify patterns and trends.
      it can be done over again as the same questions used which makes them reliable
      distributed on a large scale can generalise about school
      cheap quick and easy to make send out and sometimes analyse
      limited ethical issues
      positivists prefer this
    • weaknesses of questionnaires
      people may lie and miss questions
      closed questions give limited answers
      postal may be costly - practical issue
      can cause harm and distress to a person e.g. a sensitive topic - ethical issue
      interpretivists don't like them due to a lack of opinion and no validity for example people could lie - theoretical
    • what are structured interviews
      they have tight control over the questions it is similar to a questionnaire but face to face instead
    • what are unstructured interviews
      it sets a general theme/topic and is very flexible
      it is designed to provoke in depth answers
    • what is the interviewer effect
      people can change their answers which affects validity
    • strengths of structured interviews
      practical - it is easy to compare complete and answer
      its not time consuming and easy to analyse
      ethical - the interviewee has consented to be there and has a choice of words
      theoretical - positivists like it because its numeric reliable and representative
      can also compare the data
    • strengths of unstructured interviewers
      practical - can ask follow up questions and give more detail
      ethical - consented and easy to withdraw
      theoretical - interpretivists would prefer as its more truthful and can ask follow up questions
    • weaknesses of structured interviews
      practical - people can misunderstand the questions
      can have a lack of detail
      ethical - confidentiality. where does the information go? may have sensitive topics that could be triggering
      theoretical - can ask follow up questions it may not be a truthful answer
      interpretivists don't like
    • weaknesses of unstructured interviews
      practical - hard to complete and time consuming and can be harder to analyse
      ethical - sensitive topics
      theoretical - positivists don't like can be seen as unreliable and have interviewer bias and effect
    • interviewer bias
      presence of the researcher
      social characteristics e.g. age gender could be unrelatable
      personal characteristics e.g. body language tone of voice or an eye roll could change the answer
      leading questions
      how a question is asked e.g. "don't you agree that" may be biased
    • what are observations
      someone is analysing and watching someone's behaviour In a group setting
    • what is a non participant observation
      the observer simply observes the group or event without taking part in it
      make written notes
    • what is participant observation
      the researcher actually takes part in an event of the group whilst observing it
      questioning whist observing
    • what is overt observation
      the researcher makes their true identity and purpose known to the group
      the group are aware they are being observed
      consent has been given
    • what is covert observation
      the study carried out is undercover and the researchers identity id changed and they become fully emerged in the group they are studying
    • non participant observation strengths
      practical - time effective and no reseracher skills are needed
      ethical - limted deception consent
      theoretical - researcher not involved postivists would use
      quantitative data and reliabilty
    • participation observation strengths
      practical - limited skills needed from reseracher
      ethical - no deception consent needed
      theoretical - interpretivists would prefer as it gives more detail
    • overt participation strengths

      practical - no researcher skills needed time effective
      ethical - consent needed limited deception
      theoretical - positivists would use
    • covert observation strengths 

      practical - more information could be obtained
      theoretical - interpretivists would use because of the validity
    • non participation weaknesses 

      practical - biased from the researcher subjective eg behaviour
      ethical - consent needed
      theoretical - interpretivists less likely to use this type due to not being able to pick reason
    • participant obseravtion weakness
      practical - time consuming
      ethical - consent needed
      theoretical - postivists prefer as the method is not detached
    • overt observation weakness

      practical - biased researcher
      ethical - need consent
      theoretical - interpretivists would not like due to lack of validity and the observer effect which means a behavior change
    • covert observation weaknesses 

      practical - time consuming as skills are needed from the researcher and accessing the group could be challenging
      ethical - confidentiality need consent maybe distressing for the reseracher as they need to get in say in and get out of the group
    • lab experiment's
      the scientist manipulates the variables in which they are interested in order to discover what effect they have
      independant variable - looks at the possible causes
      dependant variable - is the effect
    See similar decks