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Sociology
Research methods
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Subdecks (7)
Participant observation
Sociology > Research methods
5 cards
Interviews
Sociology > Research methods
4 cards
Questionnaires
Sociology > Research methods
10 cards
Education context
Sociology > Research methods
19 cards
Choosing a method
Sociology > Research methods
12 cards
Cards (59)
Case studies
Detailed
study of a specific
person
/
subject
Advantages - detailed
insight
and
quicker
Disadvantages - not
representative
or
generalisable
Positivism
Believe that sociology is a
science
Sociology can
uncover
real facts about the nature of society by
observing
and
testing
Believe human behaviour is
shaped
by society
Prefer to use
quantitative
data because it can be tested
Interpretivism
Believe that sociology is not a
science
because it studies beings with
consciousness
Takes a
bottom-up
approach, studying people not
institutions
Prefer
qualitative
data due to
high validity
Independent
variable
The variable which
changes
the result
Dependent
variable
The
'effect'
of the cause, it relies on the
'cause'
to change it
Lab experiments
A - Highly
reliable
and
objective
, researcher can
manipulate
variable to uncover
cause-and-effect
relationships
D - May not be
practical
or
ethical
, needs
free will
Documents
Personal -
diaries
or
letters
Public -
school website
,
business files
Historical -
cave drawings
,
Anne Frank's diary
Benefits of documents
Can produce
quantitative
data from
qualitative
data
You can tally up the
instances
of your
hypothesis
Typically
cheap
and
easy
, allows for
positivists
to gather quantitative data from
secondary
sources
Assessing documents
Authenticity
- how
accurate
is it
Credibility
- is there further
evidence
to support it
Representative
- does it show a
personal idea
or can it be
applied
to a
whole society
Meaning
- how has
language
and
time
effected it
See all 59 cards