Choosing a research method

Choosing a research method

1. Primary methods

   • collecting data firsthand
   • own purposes
   • Examples
     • Interviews
     • Questionnaires
     • Experiments
   • Advantages
     • precise info
     • specific to hypothesis
   • Disadvantages
     • costly
     • time consuming

2. Secondary methods

   • use of others data
   • Examples
     • official statistics
     • documents
   • Advantages
     • quick
     • easy
     • cheap
   • Disadvantages
     • not specific to hypothesis
     • not all info can be found

3. Collected data can be qualitative and quantitative

   • Qualitative
     • cannot be measured
     • non-numerical data
     • i.e. how someone feels
   • Quantitative
     • can be measured numerically
     • i.e. official stats for pass rates

4. Factors affecting choice of methods

   • Practical
     • Money and Time
       • dependent on scale of research
         • small scale
           • cheaper
           • more consuming (few to no employees)
         • large scale
           • expensive
           • quicker (employees)
     • Funding bodies
       • require data in a specific format
         • i.e. quantitative data =questionnaire or interview
     • Practical skills
       • everyone possess' diferent skills
       • i.e. participant observation requires a certain type of person
         • builds rapport
         • easily mixes
         • recall skills
     • Research opportunities
       • some opportunities arise, so cannot be planned
       • i.e. James Patrick - Glasgow gang
     • Subject matter
       • methods aren't always suitable for certain groups
       • i.e. questionnaires not used for those who can't write/read
   • Ethical
     • Consent
       • participants should know what research is about
       • right to refuse
     • Confidentiality
       • participant identities =private
       • personal info = private
     • Harm
       • researcher must protect paticipant from
         • police intervention
         • psychological damage
         • employment prospects
     • Vulnerable groups
       • research info needs to be given in a way that is understood
       • special care req. for children, people w/ disbilities, mental health
     • Covert
       • research = deceiving
   • Theoretical
     • Validity
     • Reliabilty
     • Representativeness
     • Methodological perspective