Sociology: Methods (Unit 1)

High in validity.

Able to make it a more comfortable enviroment for the respondent.

Interviews are felxible and interviewers can go deeper.

You are able to see the reactions of the respondent.

Time consuming

Difficult to analyse and make generalisations

Not relaible

Interviewer must be trained and skilled

Interviewer bias - leading questions etc.

Interviewer effect

Interviewers can explain questions

Can ask additional questions

Higher response rate 

Can get good relationship

Interviewers effect

Expensive and time consuming

Interviewer bias

Hawthorne effect

Interviewers approach questions in diffrent ways

Not time consuming

Limited categories make it easy and quick

High in reliability

Easily Quantified

Easy to analyse and make generalisations

Cheap

Easy to reach people who are far away

Researcher cannot influence answers

Low response rate

Questions are easily misunderstood

Anonymus

Unanswered questions

Low in validity

Ambiguous language

Limited answer and categories

Leading questions

Conformation bias

No fixed response categories

Unlimited range of responses - opinions and beliefs 

High in validity

DIfficult to analyse and make generalisations 

Not reliable 

Hard to find relationships

Time consuming - both to anlayse and conduct

Low response rate

Statistical form

Can be used to test sociological theories and change content of mass media

Reliable

Does not involve people and therefore avoids ethical issues

Produces quantitative data abd does not answer the question of why or how?

Difficult to decide what categories to use

Hard to allocate material to diffrent categories

Quick, chepa and easy to find.

Very reliable, valid and representative.

Show changes over time, and it is easy to identify trends.

Allow comparisons to be made.

Widely used. 

Socially constructed. Not objective facts.

May not be accurate due to implication sin research.

Can be easily manipulated to favour goverment.

Unlikely to contain exact information needed by researcher.

Comparisons can only be made if same investigation had been conducted many times. 

Marxists say that they reflect the intrest of ruling class.

Show how peoples lives change over time.

Easy to see what factors brought about change.

Respondents have to be commited and therefore give valid data.

Time consuming, requires a lot of commitment.

Sample attrition.

Hawthorne effect.

High in validity.

Obtains very deep understanding. 

Hawthorne effect - the researcher not knowing

Low reliability  - difficult to repeat

Hard to make generalistaions and analyse

Getting the group to trust you.

Researcher must have characteristics that allows them to easily fall into the group.

TIme and commitment.

Easy to lose objectivity. 

Avoids ethical issues.

High in validity.

Can use for statistics as well.

Hawthorne effect

Low reliability

Time consuming

Cross refrence, Quantitative and qaulitative

Can be used to check both reliablity and valididty.

Balance between research

Time consuming and expensive

Skilled in several methods

Positivist and interpretivist are very diffrent, hard to combine.

High in validity 

First hand accounts of people involved

Descriptive detail and insight. 

Unrepresentative. 

Must be checked agianst other sources.

Bias.

1. Voluntary participation - The person must want to particpate.

2. Informed consent- THe respondent must agree to take part, and fully understand what they are being asked to do.

3. Harm - The participants must not be harmed

4. Confidentiality - Not possible to trace a participants answers from published findings.

5. Anonymity - The participants personal information shoul dnot be asked for. Unless needed for seurvey, the must give consent.

Time an money.

Funding bodies.

Personal skills.

Subject matter.

Research oppurtunities.