Research Methods Chapter 3 - Topic 1

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  • Created by: EllC004
  • Created on: 29-09-21 11:58
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  • TOPIC 1
    • Types of data
      • Primary- info collected by sociologists themselves
        • social surveys
        • participant observation
        • experiments
      • Secondary- info collected/ created by someone else
        • official statistics
        • documents
      • Quantitative- numerical form
        • positivist
      • Qualitative- gives a 'feel'
        • interpretivist
    • Factors influencing choice of methods
      • Practical Issues
        • time & money
        • requirements of funding bodies
        • personal skills & characteristics
        • subject matter
        • research opportunity
      • Ethical Issues
        • informed consent
        • confidentiality & privacy
        • harm to research participants
        • vulnerable groups
        • covert research
      • Theoretical Issues
        • validity
        • reliability
        • representativeness
        • methodological perspective
    • Factors influencing choice of topic
      • the sociologist's perspective
      • society's values
      • practical factors
      • funding bodies
    • The process of research
      • formulating aim /hypothesis
        • Durkhiem said aim of sociology = study of social facts (should be considered as things)
        • aim= identifies what we intend to study and hope to achieve through research
        • hypothesis gives direction to research
          • positivist favour
        • aim is more open-ended
      • operationalising concepts
        • process of turning a sociological concept or theory into something measurable
      • the pilot study
        • involves trying out a draft version
          • basic aim of pilot study is to iron out any problems, refine or clarify questions
      • samples & sampling
        • non-representative sampling
          • theoretical reasons
            • interpretivists believe more important to obtain valid data & an authentic understanding of social actors' meanings
          • practical reasons
            • social characteristics of research population ma not be known (impossible to create cross-section)
            • may be impossible to find/create sampling frame for particular research population
            • potential respondents may refuse to participate
          • not all studies use representative sampling techniques

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