METHODS

Subdecks (9)

Cards (140)

  • Access to a sample
    many situations where a researcher may be unable to observe
    need to locate the appropriate participants
    issues of access
  • where does funding come from for research?
    research institutes, businesses or government
  • what is quantitative data?
    information in numerical form
  • what is qualitative data?

    non-numerical information, based on words pictures or observation/understanding
  • who prefers positivist methods?
    functionalists, feminists and marxists
    (structural theories)
  • who prefers interpretivist methodology?
    interactionists and postmodernists
    social action theories
  • What methods do positivists prefer?
    quantitative methods
  • what methods do interpretivists prefer?
    qualitative methods
  • What practical factors influence the choice of method?
    Time and Money
    requirements of the funders
    researcher skills
    subject choice
    research opportunity
  • what ethical factors influence choice of method?
    informed consent
    confidentiality/anonymity
    protection from harm
    effects on wider society
    covert research
    legality
  • What theoretical factors influence choice of method?
    validity
    reliability
    representativeness
  • What is primary data?
    data collected first hand for purpose of the research
  • what is secondary data?
    data that someone else has collected for their own purposes
  • What factors influence the choice of topic?
    societies values
    practical factors
    funding bodies
    sociologists perspective
  • What is reliability?
    retesting to verify what you found is accurate and would produce the same results again
    preferred by Positivist
  • what factors compromise reliability?
    availability
    researcher behaviour
  • What is representativeness?
    asking a sample that is broad enough to represent the group you are trying to study
  • What is validity?
    discovering honest and authentically true meanings behind human actions
    preferred by interpretivists
  • How can validity be compromised during analysis?
    interpreting something wrong
    overt bias - selecting sections that support their view
    subconsciously selecting the wrong things