key terms

• Bias


  Prejudice that distorts the truth When research is influenced by the values of the researcher or by decisions taken about the research, such as the Sampling methods used
• Case study


  A detailed in-depth study of one group or event
• Causation


  Where a strict link can be proved between variables in a time sequence; such as, heating water to 100˚C causes it to boil. Causation is hard to find in sociology
• Comparative study


  In research, looking at two or more different groups or event in terms of their similarities and differences
• Conflict


  Disagreement between groups with different interests
• Consensus


  Basic agreement on a set of shared values
• Content analysis


  A method of studying communication and the media, which involves classifying the content and counting frequencies
• Correlation


  When two variables are related to each other but Causation cannot be proved; for example, ill health is related to poverty. This is not a casual relationship because some sick people are not poor and some poor people are not sick
• Covert participant observation

  Covert means 'hidden'; in such research the group being studied is unaware of the research and is deceived into thinking the researcher is a real member of the group
• Ethical issues


  Issues that have a moral dimension, such as when harm or distress may be caused to participants (e.g., harm, invasion of privacy, inform consent, deception)
• Field experiments

  Experiments that take place in the natural setting of the real world rather than in a laboratory
• Focus group


  A group brought together to be interviewed on a particular topic (the focus); a special type of group interview
• Generalisability


  When the findings about a sample can be said to apply to a larger group of people sharing their characteristics
• Group interview


  An interview involving a group interviewed together
• Hawthorne effect / observer effect


  The unintended effects of the researcher's presence on the behaviour or responses of participants
• Historical documents


  A wide range of documents from the past used as sources of information by sociologists
• Hypothesis


  A theory or explanation at the start of research that the researcher is designed to test
• Identity


  How a people see themselves, and how others see them, for example as a girl and a student
• Interpretivism


  Approaches that start at the level of the individual, focusing on small-scale phenomena and usually favouring qualitative methods
• Interviewer bias


  Intentional or unintentional effect of the way that the interviewer asks questions or interprets answers
• Interviewer effect


  Ways in which an interviewer may influence participants' responses, by their characteristics or appearance or by verbal cues such as facial expressions and tone of voice
• Laboratory experiments


  Experiments taking place in a laboratory, that is, an artificial setting created for the research where external variables are excluded as far as possible
• Longitudinal survey


  A survey taking place at intervals over a long period
• Macro/ micro approaches

  Macro approaches focus on the large scale of whole societies, micro approaches focus on small-scale social interaction
• Non-participant observation


  When the researcher observes a group but does not participate in what it is doing
• Objectivity

  Absence of bias; the researchers do not allow their values or feelings to influence the research
• Official / non-official statistics


  Official statistics are produced by government and Official agencies, non-official statistics are produced by other organisations, such as charities and think tanks
• Open / closed / pre-coded questions

  Closed or pre-coded questions are those where the researcher has set out which responses can be recorded. In open questions the respondent can reply freely in their own words to give their responses
• Overt participant observation


  When the group being studied is aware that research is taking place and of who the researcher is
• Perspectiveness


  Ways of viewing social life from different points of view
• Pilot study


  A small-scale test of a piece of a research project before the main research
• Positivism


  An approach to sociology based on studying society in a scientific manner
• Postal questionnaires


  Self-completion questionnaires that are sent out and returned by post
• Primary data


  Information collected by the sociologists at first hand
• Qualitative data research


  Information and facts (such as attitudes or kinds of actions) that are not able to be presented in numerical form
• Quantitative data research


  Information and facts that take a numerical form
• Questionnaires

  A standardised list of questions used in social surveys
• Reliability


  When the research can be repeated and similar responses will be obtained
• Representativeness


  The degree to which research findings about one group can be applied to a larger group or similar groups
• Respondent


  Someone who provides information to researchers, usually used for surveys and interviews rather than other methods