Theory

Theory

1. Primary data Collection

   • Questionnaires
     • open / closed
   • Interviews
     • Questions
     • during an interview
       • Transcribe
       • record/write everything that has been said
       • time consuming
     • structured
       • un-structured
       • semi-structured
     • open ended
       • closed ended
     • problems with interivews
       • interview bias - presence or behaviour of interview may influence/distort answer
       • leading questions - phrase of the question may suggest a particular answer
   • Observations
     • Overt / Covert
   • Focus Groups
   • Experiments
   • Surveys
   • Primary data
     • Produced by yourself
       • time consuming
       • expensive

2. Secondary Data Collection

   • Quantitative secondary source (official statistics)
   • Qualitative Secondary Source (documents/media)
   • Researching Education (methods in context)
   • Secondary Data
     • Pre-existing data
     • could have been produced for non-sociological reasons
       • could have been produced by the state, police or private companies
       • cheap and easy to access
         • census

3. Covert

   • Under cover Observation

4. Overt

   • Public Observation

5. Triangulation

   • Using multiple sources of information

6. How do sociologists create theories?

   • Usually based on findings from their research
   • Research methods underpin sociology

7. Quantitative

   • (closed)
   • Factual information / numerical context

8. Qualitative

   • (Open)
   • Express meaning / opinion of respondents

9. Common Sense

   • assume things are true
   • if common sense isnt true, we need to test out hypothesis (prediction)

10. 2 aims of primary sociological research

    • finding patterns
      • Quantitative data
        • often contains numbers and measurements e.g. height, weight, shoe size
        • good for questionnaires
        • reliable / replacable
        • large scale / macro analysis - looks at whole of society
        • generalises trends - uses it to form laws
    • explaining patterns
      • Qualitative data
        • based on opinions and feelings
        • good for questionnaires and interviews as people can say how they really feel

11. Validity

    • the degree of which a measurement is accurate. for example, people may tick "no" because they know it is not socially acceptable to say "yes" even if they wanted to
    • problems with validity
      • respondents may not tell the truth (give an answer they think is most acceptable)
      • may be reluctant to giving honest answers to personal / sensitive questions

12. Reliability

    • can you trust the data?
    • this is the consistency of a measurement. if you were to repeat the exercise would they results come back the same?

13. Macro Study

    • Large study

14. Micro Study

    • Small Study

15. Ethical Issues

    • Ethics
      • moral principles
      • beliefs about what is right and wrong
    • there are important guidelines for research, starting with what you can and cant do
    • deception
    • informed consent
    • protection from harm
    • confidentiality / anonomise the source

16. field experiment

    • strengths
      • behaviour in real life setting - natural
      • able to control some variables and observe the effects - reliable
      • insight into meanings and perceptions held by subjects giving validity to the experiment
    • weaknesses
      • impossible to control all variables
      • ethical issues of deceit
      • depends on the skill of the observer / selectivity
    • what is an experiment?
      • an attempt within artificial conditions to test one or more variables upon others to establish the cause and the effects

17. Control varialbe

    • everything (varialbles) kept the same

18. experimental varialbe

    • variables are manipulated to see the cause and effect

19. dependent variable

    • the thing or behaviour that changes as a result of something else. this is the thing we want to explain (the effect)

20. independent variable

    • the part of the experiment that is changed to see the effects on the dependent variable. this will identify the cause.

21. types of experiments

    • laboratory experiment
      • hypothesis tested in controlled conditions, usually in a laboratory
    • field experiment
      • in the subjects natural surroundings such as the classroom, factory etc.
    • comparative method
      • researchers compare the two social groups that are alike except one factor