Theoretical Issues

• Validity

  • concerned with data produced.
  • valid method is one that produces true and genuine picture of what something is really like . Allows researcher to get closer to the truth.
  • Many sociologists argue that qualitative method such as participan observation gives us a more valid or truthful account
• Reliability

  • concerned with the way data is collected .
  • another word would be replicability.
  • for example in physics or chemistry researcher can repeat the same experiment and obtain the same results every time
  • quantitative methods such as written questionnaires tend to produce more reliable results
• Representativeness

  • concerned with sample or group of people being studied
  • data is representative when it reflects wider society in terms of age gender class ethnicity
  • necessary so that generalisations can be made to wider population