Research methods

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Bias
Someone's personal feelings affect someones judgement
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Case study
Research using multiple methods
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Closed questions
Questions with limited answers (yes/no)
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Confidentiality
Information given to researcher is kept private
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Covert observation
Researcher is undercover; participants do not know they are being researched
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Content analysis
Analysis of documents quantifying material
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Dependent variables
Object under study (kept the same)
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Independent variables
Researcher changes to look for effect
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Ethics
Considering how the research impacts participants, includes informed consent, confidentiality, legal and not subjective to harm
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Experiments
Measure the impact of independent variables on dependent variables
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Field experiments
Experiments done in the real world
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Focus groups
Group interview where they're asked about different topics
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Going native
Researcher becomes too involved, loses their objectivity
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Hawthorne effect
Change their behaviour because they know they are being studied
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Hypothesis
Theory/ statement of what they believe they'll find
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Interpretivism
People's behaviour influenced by meanings given.
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Informed consent
Participant gives permission to be researched
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Interviews
Gather information asking questions verbally
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Structured interviews
Interviewer has pre-planned questions
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Unstructured interviews
No planned questions, ask as they go along
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Semi-structured interviews
Set questions but leave room to ask others/ expand
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Interviewer bias
Interviewer influences the answer given by respondent
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Laboratory experiments
Experiments in controlled environment
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Life documents
Sources created by individuals which record details of experiences
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Longitudinal studies
Study of sample of people where information collected over long period of time
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Non-participant observation
Researcher observes a group without getting involved
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Official statistics
Quantitative data collected by government
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Overt observation
Participants know they are being observed
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Participant observation
Researcher gets involved with activities of who they're researching
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Personal documents
First-hand written accounts of personal experiences (letters, diaries, etc)
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Pilot study
Study carried out before main study: uncover any problems
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Positivism
Approach to research to be as close to natural as possible: focus on qualitative data
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Primary data
Data collected first-hand by researcher
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Public documents
Reports by government officials for public record
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Qualitative data
Information collected through words
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Quantitative data
Numerical data
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Operationalise
Breaking down concepts into something measurable
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Sampling
Selecting a part of population to take part in research
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Sampling frame
List sample is drawn from
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Random sampling
Everyone has a chance of being selected
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Snowball sampling
Researchers contact participant and ask them to give more contact to other participants
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Stratified sampling
Break sampling frame into categorised groups eg age (more representative)
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Systematic sampling
Choosing every nth person
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Secondary data
Data already collected by other sources
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Social surveys
Questionnaires designed to collect information from large group of people
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Rapport
Harmonious relationship between researcher and participant
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Reliability
Can be repeated
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Representativeness
Reflects the whole research population
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Triangulation
Using more than one method of research
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Validity
Truthful
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Value freedom
Researchers values are kept out of the research
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Research using multiple methods

Back

Case study

Card 3

Front

Questions with limited answers (yes/no)

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Information given to researcher is kept private

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Researcher is undercover; participants do not know they are being researched

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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