research methods 3

• What type of setting do field experiments take place in?

  Natural setting
• Who tends to use field experiments and what methods do they prefer?

  Interpretivists who prefer valid, subjective, unstructured qualitative methods and data
• What was the main aim of Milgram's study on obedience?

  To investigate if people would obey orders from authority figures even when the orders were morally wrong
• In Milgram's experiment, what did participants believe they were administering?

  Fatal electric shocks to another person
• What is a key characteristic of the Rosenthal and Jacobson study on self-fulfilling prophecy?

  It takes place in participants' natural surroundings and they are generally unaware they are subjects of an experiment
• What is the comparative method in sociology?

  A thought experiment carried out only in the mind of the sociologist
• What is the first step in the comparative method?

  Identify two groups of people that are alike in all major respects except for the one variable of interest
• What did Durkheim investigate regarding suicide rates?

  The factors linked with high suicide rates and the role of social bonds
• What hypothesis did Durkheim propose about religious affiliation and suicide rates?

  Protestants would have a higher suicide rate than Catholics due to lower social bonds
• What type of data do official statistics represent?

  Quantitative data
• What are some examples of official statistics?

  Birth rates, marriage rates, crime statistics, unemployment figures, and school exclusions
• What are 'hard' statistics in official statistics?

  Quantitative data such as birth, death, and marriage rates
• What are 'soft' statistics in official statistics?

  Statistics like crime rates, school exclusions, and unemployment figures
• What is a practical advantage of using official statistics?

  They provide a free source of huge amounts of data
• How do official statistics allow for comparisons?

  They enable comparisons between groups and trends over time
• Why are official statistics considered reliable?

  They are compiled in a standardized way by trained staff
• Why do positivists use official statistics?

  Because they are quantifiable and objective
• What is a disadvantage of official statistics regarding practical issues?

  They may not cover the topic of interest
• What does it mean that official statistics can be unrepresentative?

  Not everything gets recorded in statistics
• Why can official definitions be problematic in statistics?

  Definitions may change over time, making comparisons difficult
• What is a criticism of the validity of official statistics?

  They may not measure what they claim to measure
• Why do interpretivists reject official statistics?

  They see them as social constructs rather than social facts
• What do interpretivists believe about the social construction of official statistics?

  They believe statistics are products of the bias of the person collecting them
• What is a document in sociological research?

  Information that exists in written or audio-visual format
• What are the different types of documents used in sociology?

  Personal documents, public documents, and historical documents
• What are personal documents?

  Diaries, letters, and autobiographies
• What are public documents?

  Agency published documents such as OFSTED reports
• What are historical documents?

  Historical accounts, such as the diary of Anne Frank
• What are the four essential criteria for assessing documents according to Scott (1990)?

  Authenticity, credibility, representativeness, and meaning
• What does authenticity refer to in document assessment?

  Whether the document is genuine and what it claims to be
• What does credibility refer to in document assessment?

  Whether the document is accurate and the author was honest