Unit 2 Key Terms

Question	Answer
Quantitative Data	Numerical data Favoured by the positivists
Qualitative Data	Written data Favoured by the interpretivist
Positivism	Quantitative data Scientifically Believe people are passive and influenced by their social environment
Interpretivism	Qualitative data Non scientific Believe people are active and unpredictable
Primary Data	Collected first hand eg. Structured questionnaires and interviews, P.O
Secondary Data	Collected by someone else eg. Official statistics, Diaries and letters
Sample	Group you are going to study
Objectivity	No bias
Subjectivity	With a bias
Reliable	If a method can be repeated and the same or similar results are obtained
Verifiable	If a method can be checked
Verstehen	If a method can see behaviour from the persons empathetic point of view
Participant Observation	A method where the researcher joins the group they are studying
Validity	Research which is a true picture of what they are studying
Unstructured	A method whereby the researcher asks the question of a person in a discursive way to gain in depth information
Representative	A typical cross section of a study
Methodology	An approach to research

Resource summary

	Created by Isobel Wagner about 9 years ago