Created by becky sharrock
over 7 years ago
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Question | Answer |
Advantages of Official Statistics | Reliable, easy and cheap to access, large sample, historical trends, up to date |
Disadvantages of Official Statistics | Doesn't show understanding (whys), open to public abuse, decision to publish may be bias |
advantages of closed question surveys | reliable/standardised, large samples, less time consuming, cheaper, postal reaches many regions, less research imposition |
disadvantages of closed question surveys | not valid, low response rate, poor design (may be bias/leading) |
advantages of closed question interviews | provide quantitative data, can be analysed, comparable, conduct quickly increasing sample size |
disadvantages of closed question interviews | social desirability (acting how you want them to act), important questions can't be asked |
advantages of observed behaviour | see natural behaviour, valid |
disadvantages of observed behaviour | misinterpret behaviour, Hawthorne effect, people become too attached/going native |
what are the types of random sampling? | systematic, random and stratified |
what are the non random sampling techniques? | snowball, volunteer, quota, purposive, opportunity |
what is simple random sampling? | selecting a number of units (individuals/houses) from the sampling frame. usually computer generated |
what is systematic sampling? | picking out every nth person |
what are the advantages of systematic sampling? | equal chance of being chosen so no bias larger samples can be reasonably representative |
disadvantages of systematic sampling | might get a disproportionate number of people from the wrong category not always representative |
what is stratified sampling? | divide research population into different sampling frames then use systematic sampling to select the group for research |
advantages of stratified sampling | no bias representative |
disadvantages of stratified sampling | limited sample size if people refuse to take part |
what is quota sampling? | decides how many of each category of person should be used. then goes and looks for right people until quota is filled |
advantages of quota sampling | people fit specific characteristics for research, people likely to be interested in the research |
disadvantages of quota sampling | danger of bias, can't be generalised, not necessarily representative, may only stop 'co-operative people' |
what is purposive sampling? | researcher chooses individuals that fit the nature of the research. occurs when a researcher chooses a particular group or place to study as it is known to be the type wanted e.g. goths or headteachers |
advantages of purposive sampling | representative people fit specific characteristics people likely to be interested |
disadvantages of purposive sampling | danger of bias might not be generalisable |
what is opportunity sampling? | making the most of an opportunity to find the target population. for example going to an African church to interview African people |
Advantages of opportunity sampling | people want to take part |
disadvantages of opportunity sampling | not generalisable not representative as only certain types of people will take part |
what is snowball sampling | used when difficult to gain access. find and interview one person who fits the characteristics and asks them to bring/suggest other candidates |
advantages of snowball sampling | sample can grow as large as you want specific expertise in study |
disadvantages of snowball sampling | not generalisable not representative as only certain types take part |
what is triangulation | a technique that facilitates validation of data through cross verification from two or more sources, increasing validity |
advantages of triangulation | qualitative and quantitative, valid, check reliability of sources, check your own interpretation/conclusion |
disadvantages of triangulation | time consuming expensive some sociologists argue that some methods are unacceptable from their theoretical perspective |
what are four problems with sampling? | access (e.g. drug rings), sampling bias (when some members of the target population are excluded), Time, Informed consent (don't want to take part) |
advantages of quantitative methods | reliable, comparable, measurable, representative, generalisable, large scale, patterns and trends |
disadvantages of quantitative methods | lack validity can be misinterpreted research is only as good as the questions asked |
advantages of qualitative data | valid (closer to reality) verstehen/more personal detailed/in depth understand the 'whys' individual responses are reflected in the data |
disadvantages of qualitative data | subjective, not reliable, not measurable, not generalisable (small sample size), misinterpretations, not scientific |
four features of qualitative data identified by Bryman | 1. seeing through the eyes of the people being studied (verstehen) 2. description and emphasis on context (understand actions) 3. emphasis on process (over time) 4. flexibility (respondent answers how they want and focus on what they want to talk about) |
practical issues of qualitative research | recording data (passwords), financial costs, access (gate keeper?), safety, time, building rapport, Hawthorne effect |
ethical issues when conducting research | access, safety/harm (emotional, physical, mental), participants (shouldn't alter their lives), permission/informed consent, right to withdraw, building rapport, confidentiality (can't talk about it), anonymity (can't be traced back), debrief, right to privacy |
advantages of interviews | understand from participant's perspective; discover meanings, values, opinions and beliefs; build rapport; approach sensitive topics |
disadvantages of interviews | potential bias (hawthorne, rely on memories), researcher imposition, Interviewer Effect, Qualitative (subjective, relies on interpretations of researcher), can be hard to compare |
types of interviews | structured unstructured semi-structured |
types of observation | non participant (doesn't make contact with the group) participant (makes contact) overt covert |
advantages of covert observation | reduces the Hawthorne Effect Increases validity |
Disadvantages of covert observation | ethical issues has to keep up an act cannot openly take notes so relies on memory cannot ask naive but important questions |
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