Research Methods 5

Questionnaires
1. a good way to collect large amounts of data, quickly and cheaply
2. OPEN QUESTIONS: allow participants to answer freely. They are likely to generate qualitative data which is rich in detail, descriptive in nature and is non-numerical.
  1. + gathers a large amount of detail which improves its validity
  2. + allows opinions to be gathered
  3. - unreliable; there will be huge difference in participant response
  4. - people might avoid answering open questions because they are lengthy
  5. - hard to analyse
3. CLOSED QUESTIONS: are questions that have pre-set, fixed responses. They generate quantitative data that is represented in a numerical for.
  1. + gathers quantitative data that can be easier to analyse than qualitative data.
  2. + standardised methods = relible
  3. - Lacks detail, therefore ma not be valid
  4. - No understanding of new opinions
Random sampling
1. + No bias on types of people, research isn't biased, equal chance of selection.
2. + simple and easy to form sample groups
3. + findings can be applied to the entire population
4. - you may have all women and no men = not reliable = gender bias
5. - no additional knowledge is taken into consideration.
6. - you have to have a large sample size but if it is too large then it becomes problematic
Stratified sampling
1. + can have equal men and women - free from research bias
2. + produces a representative sample
3. - cannot reflect all differences
4. - complete representations is not possible
Volunteer sample
1. + a willing group
2. + not time consuming
3. + minimal effort is required
4. - may have certain characteristics - cannot be generalised
5. - Volunteer bias
Opportunity sample
1. + easy to find
2. + free from researcher bias
3. - may have similar personality characteristics
4. - time consuming
5. - some may refuse to take part
6. - may end up with an unrepresentative sample

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Research Methods 5

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	Created by Rebekah Evans about 6 years ago