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DATA COLLECTION - Coggle Diagram
DATA COLLECTION
case study
a detailed examination of a single example of something.lacks external validity. Ken Pryce’s study of West Indian community in Bristol.
uses
a) Falsify a theory -> KG’s study Nair community/family based on marital bond was not universal.that
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types
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. Extreme or unique case study->Where there is only one known example of something. For ex. Margaret Mead’s study in Samoa.
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life histories
ABOUT
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Ex. Study of Jane Fry, a transsexual – by Robert Bogdan.
USES
A number of life histories can be used to develop a theory + Test a theory + Or refine one. Ken Plummer refers to this as ‘analytical induction’.
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o Some feminist say life history help women to understand their situation then change it. women experienced violence realise not bad luck but a socially biased stigma.
PILOT STUDIES
o small-scale preliminary study In order to check the feasibility or improve the design of the research.
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- Help develop a rapport with the respondents.
- Help develop research skills of those participating in the research.
- Determine whether to go ahead or drop
SOCIAL SURVEY
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o through questionnaires, interviews or observations.
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QUESTIONNAIRE
Pre-set questions.
same questions given in the same order so that same information can be collected from every member.
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· Postal questionnaire :->Disadv: Low return :-> This may bias the result in favour of those who return.
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· Over telephone :-> Hard to establish rapport + Disadvgrps are represented less + Difficult to ask sensitive questions.
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- Large sample can be studied.
- Easily quantifiable results
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- Different people interpret question differently.
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- Researcher imposition ->As he sets the narrative by deciding the questions.
- No method to check whether the respondent is lying.
- Meaning and motives are not understood.
INTERWIEW
TYPES
Structured interview: f fixed questions. : does not deviate from the questions. :->Allows for clarification to the answers
:UNSTRUCTURED :The interviewer has no fixed questions. It takes the form of a conversation. :->There are no predetermined questions.
STYLES
non-directive: To refrain from offering opinions, to avoid expressions of approval and disapproval. interviewee feels assured that he is not being judged.
:->Howard Becker ; certain cases a more active and aggressive approach
Ann Oakley reject non-directive approach advocate that the interviewers should be empathetic
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- IN between questionnaires ( more structured) and participant observation ( more in-depth)..
- As compared to P.O, utilise large samples – from which statistical data can be produced, generalisation is possible.
- As compared to questionnaires, allow for clarification. greater depth andnot limit the response to fixed choices.
- More practical and flexible method .
- Allows research to carried out into groups that might not otherwise consent to being the subject of research. :-> For ex, Laurie Taylor used it to study professional crime in Britain.
- Can produce out suppressed views and sensitive issues,
- Allows for critical reflection, so that interviewees/interviewers can examine and sometimes change their perspective.
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- The information may neither be valid nor reliable. :-> lying, pretending or does not have the information.
- Reflecting on past experiences, might alter their answer in light of subsequent events.
- Interviews can be influenced with the researcher’s presence. (Black kids vs. white man).
4the interviewer may direct the interviewee towards the answers . unconsciously answer what interviewer wants to hear. known as Interviewer bias. :never be eliminated from interview research, because interviews are interaction situations.
Ethnography
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o Adv of overt:->(1) If covert and discovered, then research is ruined.
(2) Can refuse to take part in an act (esp. when study criminal delinquents).
(3) Can ask questions without raising suspicion.
Disadv :-> May affect the behaviour of those being studied.
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- valid picture of social reality :-> sociologist is unlikely to impose their reality on the social world.
- difficult to lie or mislead the researcher.
- Increased validity of the data+ Ecological validity.
- Can provide new hypothesis as it gives newer insights
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- lacks objectivity and depend too much on the interpretation
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- small group and physically present. : generalisation is difficult.
- Limits on who can be studied: High-class + rich might refuse.
- covert :-> Raises ethical questions.
- Studies cannot be replicated, cannot be checked.
- Validity affected by the presence . . suggestion Grounded Theory & Triangulation (involves the use of different methods to check the validity of data. :-> For instance, PO can use used to check data from interviews).
Critical ethnography
It uses research to strive for positive social change by exposing the hidden and oppressive structuresof unequal societies. :->
Ex.: Paul Willis’ study of the transition from school to work of working-class ‘lads’.
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o introduced by anthropologists who studied small-scale, pre-industrial societies.
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o measure things such as changing public attitude. gauge the trend than going out and searching for a new sample each time.
o Ex.” The Child Health and Education Survey tries to follow the development of every child born in Britain between 3rd and 9th March, 1958. Notes: Education, employment, etc.
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o Disadvantage:-> Need to find people who are accessible and willing to cooperate over an extended period. :-> Size of the sample may reduce. Subjects of the research are conscious.
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Secondary sources
Official stats
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o crime, unemployment, suicide, etc.
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Phenomenologists [ CICOUREL AND ATKINSON]do not accept-> say socially constructed rather than a description of an external reality. :-> though useful to analyse how these are produced. -> For instance, Cicourel says that stereotypes held by police and juvenile lead to youths from lower social classes being more likely to be seen as delinquent. -> Cicourel’s view becomes less convincing when applied to such data as age and sex distribution of population.
o Conflict view -> Statistics are not complete distortions but are produced to favour the interests of the powerful. : The controversy around GDP data in India.
o Conclusion:official statistics provide useful data on the phenomena sociologists measure. As suggested, some statistics, such as those on births, deaths, marriages, can be considered as both valid and quite reliable. + Alan Bryman says OS are unobtrusive measure of social life. -> Avoids REACTIVITY.
Ex. Peter Laslett’s family in pre-industrial Europe, Weber’s study of religion.
o Can be unreliable (as history tends to be subjective sometimes) and can reflect the ideologies of those who produced open to multiple interpretations
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Both visual media and textual material -> -> provide sociologists with useful data their main importance used to analyse the ideologies of those who produce them.
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A. Formal Content Analysis: A sample of text is collected for study :-> A classification device is devised to identify different features of these texts. For ex: Analysing the words. Advantages: Objective and reliable.; Disadvantage: little attempt to examine how the audience actually interprets the text.
B. Thematic analysis:-> Aimed at discovering the ideological bias of the author. :-> why r wrote what he wrote Ex: Sylvia Walby’s study of reporting of sex crimes by newspapers. newspapers gave wider coverage to rape in public places.
Disadvantage :-> Less emphasis is placed on how the reader interprets + examples are picked to prove the story. Hence, less scientific.
C. Textual analysis:-> How usage of particular words in the text can influence the interpretation of the text. :-> reporting of strikes. :-> strikers words such as ‘claim’ or ‘demand’; management with words such as ‘offered’ and ‘proposed’. striker as unreasonable while the management reasonable.
D. Audience Analysis:-> Overcomes earlier disadvantages by focussing on the responses of the audience as well as the content of the mass media.
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o Biographies, suicide notes, diaries, letters, etc.
o Thomas and Znaniecki’s study: The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. – Through letters written by polish farmers, letters to the editors, etc
o Less used now. – Too subjective + Can be written with the reader in mind + Difficult to obtain + Can be unrepresentative.
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o data that have already been produced,
by the government, TUs, Cos, etc Also includes: Diaries, autobiographies and letters.
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o saves time and money. And provides access to historical data which cannot be produced using primary research,.
o But, the validity and reliability of secondary sources is open to question