Definitions

• Pilot Study - a trial run and testing of research before the full research is carried out to find any flaws in the research method
• Ethical issues - Moral principles that researchers should try to follow when conducting research
• Hypothesis - an initial idea or informed guess usually written as a statement, that can be tested and then supported by evidence or proved wrong
• Gatekeeper - a person that allows a researcher to access people that they wish to research
• Anonymity - the ethical principle that participants names and details should be hidden when research is published so that the subjects cannot be identified
• Interviewer bias - the way in which the behaviour, appearance or presence of an interviewer can influence the responses they receive from the interviewee. AKA the interviewer effect
• Unstructured interviews - a research method used to collect data where an interviewer asks questions and the interviewee responds. It is more like a guided conversation based around certain themes, rather than being asked the same questions.
• Qualitative data - information presented as words or quotations rather then as numbers
• Non-participant observation - research method in which a sociologist observes the activities of a group without taking part in them. It can be covert (they will not be informed of the research) or overt (researcher informs the group of their research)
• Questionnaires - used to collect primary data, an idential set of questions sent by post or email. Can include closed questions (like multiple choice) or open questions (provide your own answers)
• Primary data - information that is generated and collected first had by a sociologist during the research using techniques such as observations, interviews and questionnaires
• Observer effect - when participants change their behaviour in response to being observed. AKA the Hawthorne Effect
• Participant observation - research method in which a sociologist joins a group and takes part in activities in order to study it.
• Quantitative data - information presented as numbers like graphs, bar charts, pie charts, tables, statistics
• Mixed methods approach - involves the use of more than one research method within a particular study. Often used to generate both quantitative and qualitative data to improve the validity and reliability of the study
• Structured interviews - research method where an interviewer reads out set questions to an interviewee and records their answers. Each interviewee will be asked identical questions in the same order
• Secondary data - information that already exists and has previously been collected by others. Includes government statistics, newspapers, articles or other sociologist studies
• Volunteer sampling - sampling method where members of the sample are self-selected
• Random sampling - sampling method in which each member of the population (group under study) has an equal chance of being selected for inclusion in the sample
• Validity - refers to whether the research data measures what the researcher intended to measure
• Quota sampling - sampling method where the researcher targets an exact quota (number) of people from particular groups in proportion to the number of the wider population
• Non-representative sampling techniques - research where no attempt is made to match the social characteristics of the sample to its population
• Reliability - refers to the extent to which the research produces the same or similar results if repeated
• Snowball sampling - sampling method in which the researcher contacts one member of the population (group being studied) and through them is introduced to other contacts to get involved in the research
• Systematic sampling - sampling method that involves selecting 'nth' every person at set intervals from the sampling frame (list of people taking part) and including them in the sample. E.g taking every 10th name from a school register to generate the required sample size
• Sample - a subgroup of the population (group being studied) that is selected to take part in the study
• Practical issues - issues the sociologist has to consider to do with time, money and the logistics of their research
• Stratified random sampling - sampling method which splits up the target population into groups of interests such as gender or social class and them taking a random sample within these groups in proportion to their number in the target population
• Representative sampling - research where the sample is proportional to and reflects the social characteristics of its population e.g gender, age
• Informed consent - ethical principles that, before undertaking the research, sociologists must fully explain the research and obtain permission from potential participants
• Confidentiality - ethical principle that all information from research participants will only be accessed by those who have the authority to access it