methods

• 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