Flashcards
sociological research methods
Flashcards do conjunto (30)
- 1PRIMARY postal/ email questionnaires advantages?quick to distribute
possible to send to lots of people
REPRESENTATIVE/ RELIABLE - 2PRIMARY postal/ email questionnaires disadvantages?might not send back
LESS REPRESENTATIVE/ RELIABLE
might not understand questions
LESS VALID - 3PRIMARY direct questionnaires advantages?everyone who receives it fills it out
REPRESENTATIVE/ RELIABLE
researcher can explain questions
VALID - 4PRIMARY direct questionnaires disadvantages?responder might be influenced by researcher and not answer honestly
RESEARCHER EFFECT - 5PRIMARY formal (structured/ semi-structured) interviews advantages?all participants asked the same questions
RELIABLE
questions can be explained
(semi-structured) answers can be explained
VALID - 6PRIMARY formal (structured/ semi-structured) interviews disadvantages?might be influenced by researcher and not answer honestly
RESEARCHER EFFECT - 7PRIMARY informal (unstructured) interview advantages?participants can talk about what is important to them
answers can be explained
VALID - 8PRIMARY informal (unstructured) interview disadvantages?every interview is different so it is difficult to compare results
LESS RELIABLE
might be influenced by researcher and not answer honestly
RESEARCHER EFFECT - 9PRIMARY participant observations advantages?can directly watch how participants behave
see the world from the perspective of the participants
VALID - 10PRIMARY participant observations disadvantages?if they know they are being observed, may not act naturally
HAWTHORNE EFFECT= LESS VALID
if they don't know they are being observed- cannot give consent
UNETHICAL
researcher may have to participate in criminal activity
UNETHICAL - 11PRIMARY non-participant observations advantages?researcher can directly watch how participants behave
VALID
researcher does not have to be involved in any criminal activity
ETHICAL - 12PRIMARY non-participant observations disadvantages?if they know they are being observed, may not act naturally
HAWTHORNE EFFECT= LESS VALID
if they do not know they are being observed, cannot give consent
UNETHICAL
can't see they world from participants point of view
LESS VALID - 13SECONDARY official statistics advantages?usually based on whole population
REPRESENTATIVE - 14SECONDARY official statistics disadvantages?may not be up to date (e.g. definition of crime may have changed)
LESS RELIABLE
may be politically biased
LESS VALID - 15SECONDARY research studies advantages?studies conducted properly using carefully planned research methods
VALID/ RELIABLE
less biased than newspapers/ government statistics
VALID - 16SECONDARY research studies disadvantages?original aim of study may have been different= not all information relevant
LESS VALID - 17SECONDARY media reports advantages?easy to access
old articles can tell us about important historical events - 18SECONDARY media reports disadvantages?information is BIASED
newspapers/ magazines have opinions and also want sensational stories to sell papers - 19SECONDARY letters advantages?help up understand the experiences of people in rare situations
HIGHLY VALID
provide information which cannot be found any other way - 20SECONDARY letters disadvantages?BIASED
based entirely on personal opinions/ experiences - 21PRIMARY RESEARCH advantages?MORE VALID
firsthand= more likely to be ACCURATE
more likely to be RELEVANT - 22PRIMARY RESEARCH disadvantages?LESS RELIABLE
time consuming/ expensive to conduct research
difficult to collect a large amount of information - 23SECONDARY RESEARCH advantages?MORE RELIABLE
easy to collect a lot of data quickly/ cheaply
lots of sources of information - 24SECONDARY RESEARCH disadvantages?LESS VALID
more likely to be BIASED
researchers might have own agenda
LESS VALID - 25TRIANGULATIONwhen a researcher uses multiple research methods to check accuracy
- 26RELIABLEresults are consistant
- 27ETHICALtreatment of participants is morally acceptable:
informed CONSENT from participant
promise of anonymity and confidentiality
not harming/distressing/offending participants - 28HAWTHORNE EFFECT/ RESEARCHER EFFECTparticipants act differently because they are being studied
- 29REPRESENTATIVEan accurate sample of the whole population
- 30VALIDmeasures the correct information