Research Methods

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  • Created by: Rebecca
  • Created on: 18-05-13 21:54
Factors effecting choice of topic
Theoretical Perspective, society views, funding body, practical factors
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What is a lab experiment
What you are testing is split into two groups; experimental group and control group
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Advantages of Lab experiments
Theoretical; Reliable, Positivists will like this method, versthen is achieved
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disdvantages of Lab experiments
Practical; Can't study the past, time consuming , Ethical;Consent is needed, Theoretical; Hawthorne effect, not representative
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What is a field experiment
Where they try to control variables and establish cause and effect, but it takes place in a natural environement
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What are close-ended questionnaires
High structured, involve individuals being asked a number of pre-set questions with the choice of a limited number of multiple choice answers
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Advantages of close-ended questionnaires
Practical; quick to complete, cheap, produces standardised data, Theoretical; Produces reliable data, collects large amounts of information, positivists like this method
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disadvantages of close-ended questionnaires
Practical; some questions may not be clear, imposition problem, Ethical; need to gain informed consent, Theoretical; Limited choice, no garuntee people are telling the truth
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What are open-ended questionnaires
Number of pre-set questions, but no pre-set choice of answers
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Advantages of open-ended questionnaires
Practical; cheap, Theoretical; collect large amounts of information
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disdvantages of open-ended questionnaires
Practical; time consuming, range of possible answers, Ethical; not appropriate for sensitive topics, Theoretical; No garuntee they are telling the truth, leading questions = desirable response
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What are postal/email questionnairres
Questionnaires sent via post or internet
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Advantages of postal/email questionnaires
Practical;cheap, no need to train an interviewer, no interviewer bias, Ethical; More confidential, Theoretical; collected large amounts of information
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Disdvantages of postal/email questionnaires
Practical; low response rate, no interviewer present, Ethical; Need to gain informed consent, need to guarantee anonymity, Theoretical; Process of interpretation, don't know they are telling the truth
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What is a structured interview
Where the interviewer asks questions in the same order each time
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Advantages of a structured interview
Practical; good response rate, unclear questions can be clarified, results are easily quantified, Theoretical; reliable- easy to standardise and control them
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disadvantages of a structured interview
Practical; more time consuming, interviewer bias, Ethical; not good for sensitive topics, need to ensure privacy and confidiently, Theoretical; limited response, use of close-ended questions limits participants response
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What are semi-structured interview
questions are in order and interviewer can ask participants to elaborate
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Advantages of semi-structured interview
Practical; Interviewer can probe for more information, good response rate, interviewer can clarify unclear questions, Theoretical; interviewer can probe questions
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disadvantages of semi-structured interview
Practical; more time consuming, possibility of interviewer bias, Ethical; need to ensure privacy and confidentiality, get informed consent, Theoretical; People may lie reducing validity
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What are unstructured interviews
Like guided converstations, interviewer has complete freedom to vary the questions, their wording and order from one interview to another
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Advantages of unstructured interviews
Practical; highly flexible, gains rich detailed responses, good response rate, interviewer can clarify unclear questions, Ethical; interviewer can develop a rapport, Theoretical; no set questions, participants respond in their own words
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disadvantages of unstructured interviews
Practical; time consuming, need a trained interviewer, Ethical; privacy and confidentiality need to be ensured, Theoretical; not reliable, involve greater interaction between researcher and respondent
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What are group interviews
Interview in which the researcher interviews several people at the same time
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Advantages of group interviews
Practical;More flexible, good response rate, more relaxed = participants will open up, Ethical; more sensitive, Theoretical; No set questions
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disadvantages of group interviews
Practical; Time consuming, need a trained interviewer, social desirability effect, Ethical; Privacy and confidentiality, Theoretical; Peer pressure, not reliable, danger of leading questions
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Positivists
Prefer questionnaires, structured interviews, experiments and official statistics, as they produce data that is both reliable and representative
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Interpretivists
Prefer participants observations, unstructured interviews and personal documents which produce data that is valid
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Practical Problems
Time, cost, access, interviewer bias
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Ethical Problems
Informed consent, deception, protection from harm, confidentiality, anonymity
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Theoretical Problems
Validity, verstehen, reliability
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is a lab experiment

Back

What you are testing is split into two groups; experimental group and control group

Card 3

Front

Advantages of Lab experiments

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

disdvantages of Lab experiments

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is a field experiment

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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