Research methods

• What are the benefits of a closed question?

  Positive : Easy to process and present

  Negative: Dosent allow for the respondent to expand on their answer
• What are the positives and negatives of an open question?


  P- Able to give more detailed answer

  N- Difficult to convert into statistics

  • more time consuming to process
• Questionaires?

  • Quick
  • Easy to send to large groups of people
  • Low response rate
  • Less valid as may not understand questions
• Structured interviews?

  • All participants asked the same questions (reliable)
  • Can explain what questions mean(valid)
  • interviewer bias
• Unstructured interview

  • Participants can talk about what is important to them (valid)
  • The researcher can ask what the interviewee's answers mean (valid)
  • Every interview is different (less reliable)
• Official statistics

  • Data used is based on whole population (representative)
  • May be the only source of data
  • Can investigate trends over time
  • Cannot check validity
  • Could be politically biased
• Group interviews

  • Access wide range of views
  • Participants may feel more at ease in group setting
  • Saves time and money
  • Some participants may dominate the conversation and not everyone may be heard
  • Cannot assure confidentiality
• Participant Observation

  • Watch how participants behave
  • Can see world from participants POV
  • If participant knows they are being observed they will not act naturally
  • Researcher could have to get involved in criminal behaviour (unethical)
  • Participants cannot give consent if they do not know they are being observed (unethical)
• What is Simple random sampling?

  When the compute generates a random sample and everyone has as much a chance as the other
• Snowball sampling?

  • The researcher selects one person and then asks them to put them in touch with other people
• Systematic random sampling?


  . The researcher uses a system to pick the participants ((eg: every 10th name on the register)
• Quota sampling?


  Each interviewer has an exact number of people from categories that they need
• Stratified random sampling?


  Involves picking people from different groups within the population
• Purposive sampling?


  Sample is collected according to a known characteristic (eg: teachers)
• What is validity?


  The data is valid if it gives a true picture of social reality
• Reliability

  Data is seen as reliable if other researchers using the same methods will get the same results
• Representativeness

  Data is seen as representative if the sample represents a large group of different people
• Ethics

  Research must be carried out in a morally acceptable way
• Generalisation

  Assuming the results are valid, reliable and representative you should be able to generalise findings
• What is primary research?


  data collected directly from the source.
• What is secondary research?

  Using existing data and information collected by others for your own research purposes.
• Positives and negatives of primary research?

  • Reliable
  • Relevant
  • Costly
  • Time consuming
• Positives and negatives of Secondary research

  • Cheap
  • Only way to study historical events
  • Not as reliable
  • Interpretation issues
• What is discreet data?

  Data that can only take certain values and can be counted or a limited number of values
• What is continuous data?


   data that can be measured. This data has values that are not fixed and have an infinite number of possible values.
• Overt observation?


  When participants are aware they are being observed
• Covert observation?


  When participants do not know they are being observed
• The Hawthorne effect occurs when people behave differently because they know they are being watched.