Research methods

Research methods

1. Primary sources

   • Social surveys
     • Asking people questions in a written questionnaire
   • Experiments
     • Usually field or comparative, rarely laboratory experiments
   • Participant observation
     • When the researcher joins in with the participants and Is a part of the group

2. Qualitative data

   • This is more descriptive and data is written
     • Observations aim to make sense of what it feels like to be in a group
     • In-depth interviews get detailed information and it describes peoples feelings

3. Quantitative data

   • The data is in numerical form
     • Official statistics: how many girls passed their GCSE's
     • Opinion polls are also an example of quantitative data

4. Practical issues

   • Time and money
     • Large-scale surveys require large amounts of interviewers as a result it costs a lot of money
     • Small-scale surveys require 1-2 interviewers but it takes longer
   • Funding