SCLY2 Research methods 4 mark questions

two advantages of a pilot study

to test how useful and unambigous interview questions are, develop ways to gain the cooperation of respondents

1 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of using official statistics

official statistics on some sensitive issues may not be collected or may not be published, official ststistics may be out of date as it could have been published a long time ago making it less reliable

2 of 54

suggest two problems of covert participant observation

against ethical guidelines as subject p's did not give their informed consent it is also deceving p's, makes the resercher less objective making results more bias and less reliable

3 of 54

identify two sampling techniques used by sociologists in their research

random sampling, snowball sampling

4 of 54

suggest two advantages of unstructured interviews

it gives the interviewer deeper insight allow new theories and hypotheses to be developed, favoured by positivists as it allows rich qualitative data to be obtained

5 of 54

suggest two social factors that could be used in the creation of stratified sample

social class, ethnicity, age, gender

6 of 54

explain the differnce between sampling frame and a sample

a sampling frame is a list of research population, whereas a sample is individuals selected form a wider population to take part in research

7 of 54

suggest two problems of using documents in sociological research

lack of authenticity, lack of representiveness

8 of 54

suggest two reasons why results obtained from a postal questionaire may not be representative of the population

only thoese who have spare time or have strong views on the questionaires subject are more likely to complete it and thoese who dont have spare time or are not intrested may not complete it,lack adequate literacy skills/missinterpret question

9 of 54

suggest two factors that may influence a sociologists choice of research

practical factors such as time , money and acessability and ethical factors such as welfare, consent and withdrawl

10 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of structured interviews

it is harder to discover what is important to the respondents, less chance of discovering new hypothesis

11 of 54

suggest two advantages of laboratory experiments

easier to test hypotheses as it allows precise control of factors, allowing a cause and effect relationship to be established making it more reliable

12 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of using laboratory expreiments

conducted in a artificial setting making it less generalisable to real life situation, hawthrone effect may be brought in making data less reliable

13 of 54

suggest two advantages of conducting social research

it can be used to test existing theories and hypothesis, it can be used to develop new theories, by observing social life the researcher can produce new ideas

14 of 54

suggest two advantages of random sampling

it is unbiased as everyone has an equal chance of being chosen making research more generalisable to the wider population, more representative of the target population

15 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of random sampling

a large sample needed to ensure that statistically it is likely to be be representative,It can be very time consuming and is often impossible to carry out, particularly when you have a large target population

16 of 54

suggest two advantages of stratified random sampling

relatively small sample can be used with confidence that it is still representative,greater precision than a simple random sample

17 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of stratified random sampling

it is more complex to organize and analyze the results compared to simple random sampling,It can be difficult to identify appropriate strata for a study

18 of 54

suggest two advantages of quota sampling

much quicker and easier to carry out because it does not require a sampling frame,it improves the representation of a particular strata within the population

19 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of quota sampling

the sample is not random making it more bias and less representative,statistical analysis of the sample can't be made making it less generalisable to a wider population

20 of 54

suggest two advantages of snowball sampling

useful for studying groups who cannot be easily located, can be used when studying sensetive topics in groups that are hard to identify or gain enrty

21 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of snowball sampling

not truely representative of the population as it is based on people who have contact with one another, the sample is not random making it more bias and less representative

22 of 54

suggest two advantages of oppurtunity sampling

quickest, easiest and cheapest way of collecting a sample, it is done in a natural way so it has high ecological validity

23 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of oppurtunity sampling

it is not random this leads to the sample being less representative, the sample obtained is usually small so it is not generalisable to a wider population

24 of 54

suggest two advantages of case studies (same for life history)

it is indepth and gives the researcher a deeper insight so a more comprehensive understanding of the topic is developed, rich qualitataive data can be gathered allowing the researcher to develop new hypothesis

25 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of case studies (same for life history)

Researchers own subjective feeling may influence the case study making the data gathered less reliable,it is also time consuming and not easy to replicate, it is usually carried out on an individual making it less generalisable to a wider population

26 of 54

suggest two advantages of offical statistics

it is easily acessible, quick and cheap to obtain, they are published by goverment agencies or public bodies making it reliable and more representative

27 of 54

suggest two advantages of questionnaires/survey

large amount of data can be collected quickly as acess to subject is easy, a large geographically dispersed sample can be obtained making it more representative and generalisable

28 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of questionnaires/survey

the subject may misinterpret the question leading to unreliable data,answers may not reflect the subjects true opinion as a result of social desirablity

29 of 54

suggest two advantages of face to face questionnaires

relatively high response rate, and if questions are misinterpreted the researcher can clarify questions

30 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of face to face questionnaires

the hawthrone effect may be brought in due to maybe the interviewers apperance or voice making data obtained less reliable, if the researcher is unable to build a good rapport with the subject they may be less willing to take part

31 of 54

suggest two advantages of telephone questionnaires

relatively cheap and easy to access a geographically dispersed sample, allows the researcher to clarify any misinterpretation of question

32 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of telephone questionnaires

response rate may be low as subjects may be less willing to take part, if they havent got the time to spare or are not interested,not all subjects have acess to telephone, subjects may also be influenced by researchers voice

33 of 54

suggest two advantages of postal questionnaires

relatively cheap and easy to access a geographically dispersed sample making it more representative, no interviewer bias can be brought in making data in one sense more reliable

34 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of postal questionnaires

response rate may be low as subjects may be less willing to take part if they havent got the time to spare or are not interested, respondents may not be typical of the population as a whole,subjects could misinterpret questions

35 of 54

suggest two advantages of internet questionnaires

cheap and easy to access a geographically dispersed sample making it more representative, no interviewer bias/hawthrone effect can be brought in making data in one sense more reliable

36 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of internet questionnaires

response rate may be low as subjects may be less willing to take part if they havent got the time to spare or are not interested, limitied to thoese with internet acess and not incline to delete as spam

37 of 54

suggest two advantages of open-ended questions

can produce more indepth qualitative data, interpretivists prefer it as it allows a better understanding of complex feelings, meaning or motives, allowing new hypothesis/theories to be developed

38 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of open-ended questions

answers can be interpreted to produce quantative data but interpretation can be subjective, not favoured by positivists as it is difficult and more time consuming to produce statistical data

39 of 54

suggest two advantages of closed questions /fixed questions

easier to analyse and interpret answers so quantative data can be produced, positivists see them as social facts as they are standardised so subjects answer the question in the same way making it more valid

40 of 54

suggest two advantages of structured interviews

easier to replicate and compare results as questions are asked in the same order without variation and therefore standardised, questions have been operationalised making it less time consuming,prefered by positivist as it is easier to analyse

41 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of unstructured interviews

questions have not been operationalised so it is more time consuming,it may go of track as questions are not pre-planned making it less valid

42 of 54

suggest two advantages of semi-structured interviews

favoured by interpretivists as it allows more oppurtunity for developing new hypotheses and positivists as fixed-questions can be analysed,

43 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of semi-structured interviews

honesty of participant cant be guranteed due to the hawthrone affect, Open-ended questions are more difficult to analyse and comparision to other answers is harder to make

44 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of interviews

validity of the data collected may be affected by the respondents being less truthful as a result of the hawthrone affect, they can also be very time consuming and costly

45 of 54

suggest two advantages of interviews

useful to obtain detailed information about personal feelings, perceptions and opinions, ambiguities can be clarified and incomplete answers followed up therfore there is a higher response rate

46 of 54

suggest two advantages of overt observations

does not go against ethical guidelines as participants are aware that they are being observed and can therefore give their consent, gives the observer a deeper insight and understanding of situation as questions can be asked if unsure

47 of 54

suggest two disadvantage advantages of overt observations

the hawthrone affect might be brought in making data collected less reliable,more expensive and time consuming to carry out

48 of 54

suggest two advantages of covert observations

the researcher may gain access to social groups who would otherwise not consent to being studied, the hawthrone affect is not brought in making data collected more reliable

49 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of covert observations

goes against ethical guidelines as it is decieving participants and informed consent is not obtained,the researcher can become less objective if they go native

50 of 54

suggest two advantages of secondary data

it is easily accesable and quick to obtain,it is cheaper and is less time consuming than primary data,

51 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of secondary data

the research may not be specific to what the researcher requires and information could be incomplete, if the research is old it may lack reliablity, validity and representiveness as society has changed and attitudes are now different

52 of 54

suggest two advantages of primary data

more reliable, valid and representative than secondary data as researcher carried it out first hand, specific and relevant information for that researcher can be obtained

53 of 54

suggest two disadvantages of primary data

more time consuming and expesive to gather data, researcher may be denied acess especially to sensitive issues

54 of 54

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SCLY2 Research methods 4 mark questions

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