Methods of research

Question	Answer
Quantitative Data	Refers to information in a numerical form. For example, official statistics on how many girls passed 5 or more of their GCSEs, or the percentage of marriages ending in divorce or number of people who are unemployed. (Usually in numbers)
Qualitative Data	Refers to the 'feel' of what something is like. For example, what it feels like to get good GCSE results or for ones marriage to end in divorce. (Usually in letters and sentences)
Primary sources of Data	This is the information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes. Examples are: Social surveys, Participant observation and Experiments.
Secondary sources of Data	This is information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes. Examples are: Official statistics and Documents.
Practical issues	Time and money, Personal skills and characteristics, Subject matter, requirements of funding bodies and research opportunity
Ethical issues	Ethics refers to moral issues of right and wrong. Informed consent, confidentiality and privacy, harm to participants, vulnerable groups, covert research
Theoretical issues	Theoretical refers to the questions about what we think society is like and whether we can obtain an accurate, truthful picture of it. Validity, reliability and representativeness.
Research characteristics	Participants, settings and sensitivity

Resource summary

	Created by Sophia Hussain over 7 years ago