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KEY CONCEPTS & CHOICE OF METHOD SCLY2

ashiana121 AS AQA SOCIOLOGY A-Level English 4.0Average rating 4.0 out of 5 (3 ratings) 47 cards

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  1. 1What do positivists argue research should be?Scientific, objective and quantitative
  2. 2Why do they argue this?They argue there is a measurable objective to social reality
  3. 3Give some examples of standardised methods of research preferred by positivistsOfficial statistics, structured interviewsm, questionnaires, structured observation
  4. 4What do positivists use the data they obtain to make?Generalisations and cause-and-effect relationships
  5. 5How do interpretivists disagree?There is no objective social reality
  6. 6What do interpretivists want to find out with the research they conduct?Meanings
  7. 7What open-ended research methods do interpretivists prefer?Unstructured interviews, participant observation, personal documents
  8. 8What do such methods of research allow the researcher to gain and how?Understanding by experiencing the groups life style for themselves
  9. 9What are the 3 key concepts sociologists use to judge the usefulness of a research method?Reliability, representativeness and validity
  10. 10For a method to be reliable, it must be _________Replicable
  11. 11What does reliability mean using?Standardised forms of research
  12. 12What can a reliable piece of data be used for?Systematically re-testing hypothesis about social behaviour
  13. 13What can't sociologists study every member of the group they are interested in studying?There are usually too many of them
  14. 14What do the characteristics of the sampled group need to be in order to the data to be representative?The same as those of the wider group
  15. 15What does this mean the sociologist will be able to make on the basis of evidence from the sample?Generalisations about the wider group
  16. 16Why do positivists emphasise the need for representativeness?So they are able to discover general patterns and make general cause and effect statements about social behaviour
  17. 17What does 'validity' refer to?How authentic and true data is
  18. 18What is the difference between primary and secondary data?Primary - collected by the sociologist themselves
    Secondary - already been collected by someone else
  19. 19Give some examples of secondary sources of data?Official statistics, historical documents, business records, media reports, personal documents
  20. 20What are the three main factors that influence a researchers choice of method?- The methodological preference of the researcher
    - Practical aspects
    - Ethical concerns
  21. 21What are the two methodological types?Positivists and interpretivisits
  22. 22Which one prefers data to be scientific, objective and quantitative?Positivists
  23. 23What do intepretivists prefer data to be?Qualitative, unstructured, valid
  24. 24Give 2 examples of research methods preferred by each typePositivists - questionnaires and official statistics
    Interpretivists - unstructured interviews and participant observation
  25. 25How many factors are there surrounding the practical issues of a research method?7
  26. 26What are these factors?Time - money - source of funding - personal factors - research subjects - research opportunity - personal danger
  27. 27TIMESome methods take more time than others - e.g participant observation takes more time than social surveys
  28. 28MONEYMoney can affect the number of researchers (training), the number of respondents (incentives) and the amount of research time. Some methods such as postal questionnaires are cheaper than others.
  29. 29SOURCE OF FINANCEResearch sponsored by government, business etc reflects the concerns of these funding bodies
  30. 30PERSONAL FACTORSResearchers may have careers, families etc so may not be able to do lengthy research
  31. 31RESEARCH SUBJECTSSome groups such as criminals are less open, so structured research methods are not appropriate
  32. 32RESEARCH OPPORTUNITYIf a research opportunity suddenly appears, the research may have little/no time to prepare lengthy questionnaires or interview schedules
  33. 33PERSONAL DANGERMethods involving direct contact with a research group such as participant observation increase the possibility of danger to researchers
  34. 34What are the three ethical factors?Consent, confidentiality and effects on research subjects
  35. 35Why must researchers gather informed consent from their research subjects?The effects the research might have on them - it is wrong to manipulate of mislead people
  36. 36Research subjects have the right to _________Anonymity
  37. 37What does this mean about the research subjects when the research is published?They should not be identifiable
  38. 38Give one reason why this may be hard to achieveIf the group studied is small
  39. 39How may the research subjects be affected by sociological research?Research findings can be used by political groups in the media in ways that may damage the research subjects through embarrassment, harassment etc
  40. 40How can practical, ethical and theoretical factors be interrelated?Collecting qualitative data produces practical problems such as gaining trust and access
    Collecting quantitative data creates practical problems such as sampling frames, distribution of a sample etc
  41. 41What is triangulation?Combining qualitative and quantitative methods of research so that the strengths of one balances the weaknesses of the other
  42. 42What 5 factors affect a sociologists choice of topic?Practical factors
    Funding bodies
    Society's values
    Theoretical perspective
    Chance
  43. 43PRACTICAL FACTORSSome topics may not be easily studied, e.g high level political decision making
  44. 44FUNDING BODIESFunding bodies will only fund for topics they consider to be important
    Governments are much more likely to fund research that links to their policies
  45. 45SOCIETY'S VALUESSociety's values change and the interest in particular topics and issues moves with them
  46. 46THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVEA sociologists theoretical perspective is likely to influence their choice of topic e.g feminists are likely to study gender issues
  47. 47CHANCESometimes sociologists find themselves in a potential research situation by pure chance
    e.g hospitalisation as a result of illness gave one researcher the opportunity to do a study of hospital ward

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Questions and answers on the key concepts and choice of methods topic of AQA AS Sociolog
Created by
ashiana121
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Average rating 4.0 out of 5 (3 ratings)

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