intro into research methods - topic 1
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- Created by: hoperobinsonxo
- Created on: 01-03-20 12:34
primary data
information collected by sociologists for their own purpose e.g. social surveys (questionaire or interview), participant observation and experiments (field and the comparative method)
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advantage of primary data
precise information specific to hypothesis, dont need to worry about credibility or whether its outdated
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disadvantages of primary data
time consuming, costly, may require training and special skills
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secondary data
data that has been collected by somebody else for their own purposes e.g. official stats and documents
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advantage of secondary data
quick, cheap, doesnt require training or specific skills
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disadvantages of secondary data
not specific to study, may not match hypothesis, may be outdated or false information
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quantitative data
information in the numerical form preferred by positivists
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qualitative data
information in word form that focuses more on feelings preferred by interpretivists
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factors influencing choice of method - practical PART ONE
time and money: large scale costly but quick. Access: if involved in what you want to study you have more access. requirement of funding bodies: research institutes may want research in certain form.
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factors influencing choice of method - practical PART TWO
personal skills/characteristics: participant observation - mix easily/ good recall, interviews -rapport. subject matter: hard for male hard for male to study an all female school, questionnaires for people who cant read/ write.
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factors influencing choice of method - practical PART THREE
research opportunity: opportunity occurs unexpectedly and mauy not have time to prepare structured methods. e.g. gang offered Patrick (1973) a chance to spend time with them
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factors influencing choice of method - ethical
informed consent: right to refuse. confidentiality and privacy: anonymity. harm to participants: physical/psychological damage. vulnerable groups: child protection/ parent consent/language. covert research: deception, justified if secretive/dangerous
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factors influencing choice of method - theoretical
validity: true or genuine picture (qualitative). reliability: if it is replicable, repeat and get same result (quantitative). representativeness: can we generalise (large scale). methodological perspective: positivist or interpretivist
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positivists
quantitative data, systematic, patterns of behaviour, cause and effect relationships, sociology as a science, functionalist/ marxists, macro scale
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interpretivists
qualitative data, social actors meanings, reject view that sociology is science, interactionists, micro scale
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factors influences choice of topic
sociologists perspective e.g. new right study welfare. society's values: rise of feminist/ environmentalist concerns. practical factors: accessibility. funding bodies: they may determine what topic you study
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triangulation
using two or more sources or methods to obtain a more rounded picture from more than one viewpoint
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process of research steps
formulate an aim or hypothesis, operationalise concepts, pilot study, samples and sampling, sampling frame, sampling techniques, non representative sampling
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process of research: formulating an aim
general aim indentifies what we intend to study and hope to achieve. more open ended, not restricted, doesn't impose researchers own explanations - INTERPRETIVISTS
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process of research: formulating a hypothesis
specific hypothesis is an explanation that gets proven true or false. gives direction to our research, focuses our questions - POSITIVISTS
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process of research: operationalising concepts
converting a sociologist concept into something we can measure - positivists
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process of research: pilot study
draft version of research on small sample to iron out any problems. Willmott and young (1962) - 100 pilot interviews to decide on design of study
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process of research: sample and sampling
choose a sample`; sub group drawn from wider group we are interested in. make sure the research is representative
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process of research: sampling frame
helps us choose a sample: list of all members we are interested in. select people from each group
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process of research: sampling techniques PART ONE
random: selected by chance. Quasi- random/systematic: every nth person in sampling frame is selected. Stratified: breaks down population in sampling frame then making sample in same proportions.
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process of research: sampling techniques PART TWO
quota: stratify sample then interviewer is given a quota of say. they ask questions to participants who fit the characteristics
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process of research: non representative sampling practical reasons
social characteristics may not be known so cant do an exact cross section. may be hard to find a sampling frame for some research e.g. not all criminals are convicted, people may refuse to participate
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samples used when we cant obtain a representative sample
snowball sampling: get individuals to suggest who should be interviewed- can contact people who are hard to find e.g. criminals. opportunity sample:
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process of research: non representative sampling theoretical reasons
people may not choose to do a representative sample as interpretivists don't care about generalisations
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
precise information specific to hypothesis, dont need to worry about credibility or whether its outdated
Back
advantage of primary data
Card 3
Front
time consuming, costly, may require training and special skills
Back
Card 4
Front
data that has been collected by somebody else for their own purposes e.g. official stats and documents
Back
Card 5
Front
quick, cheap, doesnt require training or specific skills
Back
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