Research Methods 2

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  • Created by: Rebecca
  • Created on: 19-05-13 09:32
What are covert participant observations
Where the research actually takes part in the event or the everyday lif of the group being studied
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Advantages of covert participant observations
Practical;More likely to gain access to groups difficult to study, reduced risk of altering peoples behaviour, reduced risk of Hawthorne effect, Theoretical; gain rich qualitative data by actually observing object of study, Verstehen is achieved
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Disadvantages of covert participant observations
Practical; access to group is needed, need to gain acceptance to win their trust, leaving the group may be hard,danger of going native, Ethical; deception, no informed consent, Theoretical; difficult to replicate, not representative, lacks objective
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What are non-participant observations
The researcher simply observe the group of event without taking part in it, researchers true identity is kept hidden from the group being studied
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Advantages of non-participant observations
Practical; Reduced risk of altering peoples behaviour, easier to study groups that may have otherwise been difficult, flexible method,Ethical; safer, Theoretical; Gain rich qualitative data by actually observing object of the study,verstehen achieve
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Disdvantages of non-participant observations
Practical; Cannot build a rapport, time-consuming, Ethical; deception, no informed consent, Theoretical difficult to replicate, lacks objectivity
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What are Overt-participate observations
The researcher actually takes part in the event or the everyday life of the group being studied. The researchers makes their true identity and purpose of the researcher known to those being studied
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Advantages of Overt-participate observations
Practical; Allows rapport to be built, flexible method , Ethical; more ethical than covert, there is informed consent, does not breech privacy, Theoretical;Gain in-depth detail, verstehen can be achieved.
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Disadvantages of Overt-participate observations
Practical; Danger of going native, gaining acceptance in the groups trust, risk of the Hawthorne effect, interviewer bias, Theoretical; Cannot be easily replicated, small samples so cannot generalise findings
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What are Overt-non participant observations
The researcher simply observes the group of event without taking part in it, researcher makes identity and purpose known to the group
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Advantages of Overt-non participant observations
Practical; Flexible method, easier access to research groups, Ethical; informed consent, doesn't breech privacy, Theoretical; Produces valid qualitative data, can achieve verstehen
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Disadvantages of Overt-non participate observations
Practical; Hawthorne effect, risk of interviewer bias, cannot build a rapport, time-consuming, expensive, Theoretical;Cannot be easily replicated, small samples so cannot generalise findings
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What are official statistics
Well known sources of secondary data. Provide researchers with quantative data. Refers to data already in existence having been collected by governments e.g census
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What are hard statistics
More objective statistics because they are not open to manipulation
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What are soft statistics
More subjective. They are a produce of definitions, social interaction and may be politically bias
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What is survey data
Data collected at a particular point in time, e.g. the british crime survey
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Advantages of Official statistics
Readily avaliable, large sample size= better representative, saves time, money and effort
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Disadvantages of official statistics
May have political bias, social creations, don't always give the whole picture
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What is random sampling
Pick out a sample from a list
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What is systematic sampling
Names are selected from a sample frame at regular intervals
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What is quota sampling
People who fit certain categories are selected according to their proportion in the survey population
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What is stratified random sampling
Population is subdivided into smaller sampling frames based on particular characteristics. Then participants are drawn at random from each of these sampling frames
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What is snowball sampling
When a sample is built through personal contact
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What is multi-stage of cluster sampling
Selecting a sample at various stages, each time selecting a sample from the previuos until the final sample of people is selected
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What are the two types of documents
Public and Personal
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What are public documents
Produced by organisatinos such as government departments, schools, welfare agencies, businesses or charities
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What are personal documents
Include items such as letter, diaries, photo albums and autobiographies
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Advantages of documents
Public: Representative, easily accessible, cheap Personal: Detailed qualitative data, gain an insight, cheap
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Disadvantages of documents
Public: Can't find meanings from it, Personal: Difficult to evaluate, not representative, may not be accurate
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What are historical documents
A personal or public document created in the past
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Advantages of historical documents
Rich depth of what life was like, shows changes over time
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Disadvantages of historical documents
Very subjective, bias and prejudice, very static view of social life ,interpretations can differ
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What is primary data
Researchers collect the data themselves for themselves
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Advantages of primary data
First hand, up to date, collects only relevant data
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Disadvantages of primary data
Costly, timely, researcher bias, requires cooperation
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What is secondary data
Consists of data that have already been produced by other people
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Advantages of secondary data
Provides access to information, saves time and money, more accurate, easier to obtain
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Disadvantages of secondary data
Unlikely to be representative, may not be relevant, each source has its own specific strengths and weaknesses
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Advantages of covert participant observations

Back

Practical;More likely to gain access to groups difficult to study, reduced risk of altering peoples behaviour, reduced risk of Hawthorne effect, Theoretical; gain rich qualitative data by actually observing object of study, Verstehen is achieved

Card 3

Front

Disadvantages of covert participant observations

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What are non-participant observations

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Advantages of non-participant observations

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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