Flashcards
Studying Society
Flashcards do conjunto (20)
- 1Contrasting sociology and psychology- Psychologists focus on individual behaviour. They study topics like mental illness
- Sociologists study the social influences on human life. They focus on group behaviour - 2Contrasting sociology and biology- Biologists look for biological causes or characteristics when studying human behaviour
- Sociologists view behaviour as social or cultural rather than biological - 3Contrasting sociology and journalism- Sociologists and news journalists sometimes research into similar social issues
- However, journalists’ research is less thorough and reporting may be biased
- Sociologists must select and use evidence in a balanced way to avoid criticism - 4Developing research aims and hypotheses- Research aims set out what the researcher intends to investigate and provides the study’s focus
- A hypothesis is a hunch or informed guess and is written as a statement that can be tested
- It will either be supported by the evidence or proved wrong - 5Carrying out a pilot study- A pilot study is a small-scale trial run carried out before the main research
- 6Selecting a sample- A researcher often selects a sample rather than study the whole population
- This is done by using a sampling technique i.e. stratified random sampling or snowball sampling - 7Collecting the data- Sociologists collect data using primary research methods such as questionnaires or observation
- They may also use use secondary sources such as official statistics or mass media reports
- Data may be either quantitative or qualitative - 8Analysing the data- Data analysis involves interpreting the main findings or results
- 9Evaluating the study’s aims, methods, finding and conclusions- Sociologists write articles about their research in journals and present papers at conferences
- These articles and papers are reviewed and evaluated by other Sociologists
- This is known as peer review - 10Probability (random) sampling- Each member of the sampling frame has a known chance of being selected
- If the sample is selected randomly, it is likely to be representative of the population
- Examples: simple random, systematic and stratified random - 11Non-probability sampling- Used when a sampling frame is not available
- The sample is not random so it is unlikely to be representative of the population
- Examples: snowball, quota, purposive - 12Self-completion postal questionnaires- Sent to respondents by post or email
- Each respondent completes a copy and returns it to the researcher - 13Hand-delivered questionnaires- The researcher hands the self-completion questionnaire to the respondent and returns to collect the completed questionnaire
- 14Structured (formal) interviews- A trained interviewer asks the set questions and records the respondent’s answers
- Structured interviews are conducted either face-face or by telephone - 15Advantages of structured interviews- The interviewer can explain what the questions mean
- All respondents answer the same questions so differences are clearer
- Sociologists can identify connections between answers and factors
- Can be repeated easily
- Can generalise from reliable results taken from a representative sample - 16Disadvantages of structured interviews- The use of preset questions assumes that the sociologist has the skills to decide what questions to ask and in what order
- interviewees have few opportunities to raise new issues
- Interview bias
- Interviewer bias - 17Unstructured (informal) interview- Like a guided conversation
- Rather than asking preset questions, the interviewer is guided by a short list of prompts that they have prepared in advance - 18Advantages of unstructured interviews- Can rephrase questions and clear up any misunderstandings
- Interviewers can ask follow-up questions to gather more detail
- Interviewees can develop their answers and express their views in detail
- Unstructured interviews give an in-depth and rich account of the topic
- They provide a more authentic picture of the topic - 19Disadvantages of unstructured interviews- Time consuming and expensive
- Interviewer must be able to keep the conversation going
- Interview bias
- Interviewer bias
- Difficult to replicate to check reliability
- Fewer can be carried out so the sample size is smaller
- Difficult to generalise from the sample to the wider population - 20Participant observation- The researcher joins a group and takes part in its daily activities in order to study it
- The researcher watches and listens to the group and records what is observed over a period of time
- PO may be carried out either overtly or covertly
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- FlashCards sobre Studying Society, criado por Scarlett Scaife em 04-04-2018.
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- Scarlett Scaife
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