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Social surveys / Questionnaires (Key information (Aim and Hypothosis (Aim…
Social surveys / Questionnaires
Key information
Written questionnaires - Which respondents(people answering) are asked to complete and return by post or email
Interviews - either face-to-face of over the phone
Close ended questions - the respondent must choose their answer from a limited range of possible answers - such as - ‘yes’ ‘no’ .
Open ended questions - the person answering is free to give whatever response they with in their own words.
Aim and Hypothosis
Aim = what we want to find
Hypothesis = prediction of what you will find
Operationalizing concepts - making things measurable
Practical
Positive -
Time - quick to conduct, very quick way to test a hypothesis
Money - save money, if emailed little cost, wouldn’t need government funding
Negative -
Access - consider all groups, internet vs printing. Printing has costs. ‘Eco-nasty’
Money - may have to offer an incentive.
Topic - Some topics are not appropriate for questionnaires. - Institutional racism / sex education / material deprivation.
Ethical
Positive -
Confidentiality - Anonymous/ identity is hidden - Students that are facing issues, Teachers who are labeling, Parents in poverty, Students that feel they are victims of institutional racism.
informed consent - if they reply they have consented if they dont reply they don’t. It’s simple
Negative - psychological harm - Sensitive subject - institutional racism, Material deprivation.
school have to give out questionnaires or students have to give them to parents.
Theoretical -
Positive -
Representativeness - large sample = high representativeness because you give it too a lot of people
high in Reliability - it can be printed by any sociologist and given to anyone. It can repeated time after time.
Negative -
unrepresentative - if you only emailed it wouldn't meet all needs/ elderly wouldn't be internet savvy
Low in validity - ‘snapshot of time’ change mind on things. People lie - ‘Right answerism’. People exaggerate or just click any box.
Representativeness - you can send out a lot but not many people will reply - very low response rate. Privileged school choosers are more likely to fill it out and they will have a elaborate speech code. The kids that fill it out may have a pro-school subculture.
Group interviews
Positive -
Participants may feel more comfortable being with others
In a discussion ideas can be thrown around to stimulate others thinking - produces reflective and rich data
A useful way of generating initial ideas to follow up with research
The researcher can combine questioning with observation of group dynamics
Negative -
Much depends on the researchers ability to focus the group
Peer group may lead participants to conform to group norms and not say what they really think - validity?
Complex and difficult to analyse
Some individuals may dominate