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Research Methods - Coggle Diagram
Research Methods
Sampling methods
Random and Systematic
- Representative samples
- Avoids bias
- Takes a lot of time to create
Snowball
- Only sampling available when no list of respondents exists
- Highly unlikely to be representative as it is only conducted in a limited number of locations and you have no control over the social characteristics
Volunteer
- High level of bias because only a certain type of person may apply often who unemployed or retried- unlikely to be representative
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Quota
- People in the sample fit the research ideas/ aims
- Can be generalised
- Un representative sample
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25 marker
Respondent Validiation
- Allows increased reliability of data because has been checked by the respondent to see if conclusions drawn are accurate so it is a true reflection of what the researcher sad about a particular topic
- Interpretivists favour this method as they can validate what respondents are saying by building a rapport with them
- Bryman argues that respondent validation can be problematic because the research sample might not be able to validate the research findings because they misunderstand it or they might be unwilling to validate it because they misinterpret it as critical of their actions
- Positivists do not like
Longitudional studies
- Individuals are studied over extended periods of time of months or even years- draw in-depth data about people's behaviours or feelings and how they change over time- comparisons and patterns and trends can be drawn- Realists would favour this approach
- Due to gaining in depth information about a particular topic, allows social policy to be influenced
- Participants are aware that they are being studied so have given consent so ethical study
- Researcher team may get too friendly with members of group- objectivity undermined, researcher imposition
- Practical issues- Respondents may drop out or researchers may lose track of them so high attrition rates, undermines representativeness of original sample- unable to be generalisable to the population- - Practical issues of cost as extremely costly to take conduct
- Low in relibaility because they cannot be checked by another reasercher
interpretation of data
- Researcher bias because the researcher must decide what to publish and focus on and therefore what to ignore as insignificant- challenge the validity of the reaserch
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Interviews
Structed
- One advantage of Structured interviews is that positivists believe that structured interview are very scientific
- One advantage of Structured interviews is that the use of closed questions and fixed-choice-tick boxes can generate a large amount of quantitative factual data that can be easily converted into tables, charts and graphs for comparison and correlation
- One disadvantage of Structured interviews is that they are artificial due to not being a part of everyday reality, therefore some people may then respond to them with suspicion and only partially share info or give false info, leading to an ‘interview bias’s due there being undermined validity due to Hawthorne effect and some respondents may react negatively in an interview because of social characteristics
- One disadvantage of Structured interviews is that they are inflexible as the questions are drawn up in advance and researchers must stick to these questions. Therefore, Interpretivists argue that this makes it impossible for researchers to pursue any interesting leads that may emerge
Unstructured
- One advantage of Unstructured interviews are that the interviewee thinks that they are the central issue and that the respondent is placed at the centre of research so are more likely open up about personal situations which could lead to more validity which could mean more valid data
- One advantage of Unstructured interviews are that it allows the researcher to establish a qualitative interaction or relationship with the respondent- more likely to open up to they really feel and what they want to say meaning they are flexible
- One disadvantage of Unstructured interviews are there are no pre coded answers in the unstructured interviews, therefore the qualitative data is difficult to analyse and categorize because of the sheer volume of the material. It is harder to put into tables and graphs and see it physically on the page
- One disadvantage of Unstructured interviews are that they gather a fantastic amount of data and consequently the researcher has to be selective in what they publish in support of their hypothesis. Therefore the researcher may end up consciously or unconsciously selecting material that supports their views so it might be biased
Mixed methods
Triangulation- Involves combining different research methods in a single piece of research primarily in order to check the validity of the data collected. E.g Sociologists might give people questionnaires to check the validity of what they observed, as questionnaires would allows people to fully understand what they are observing
- Can check the validity of the data
- One method can be used to overcome the limitation of another method- enhances validity of the study
- A broader range of research questions can be explored as the researcher is not limited to asking only ‘what’, ‘how many’, but can also explore ‘why’ and ‘how’ issues
- Tends to be costly in time, resources and money
- The researcher must ensure that the methods will complement each other, which often makes the research design process very demanding
- Careful and skilful data analysis is needed, particularly if the methods produce conflicting results
Methodological Pluralism- Involves combining different research methods in a single piece of research primarily in order to build up a fuller picture of whatever is being studied.
Observatuions
Participant
- One advantage of Participant observations that the observer sees things through the eyes and actions of the people in the group. The researcher is placed in exactly the same situation as the group under study and experiences what the group experiences- life is seen from the same perspective as the group. The sociologist experiences ‘verstehen’ means the sociologist can empathise with the group. Results give high valid research data.
- One advantage of Participant observations that Observation produces qualitative rather than quantitative data about how people interpret the world around them; the data gathered often speaks for itself and gives a real insight to people's actions.
- One disadvantage of Participant observations that Positivists question the reliability over overt and covert participant observations because there is no way of knowing whether the findings of the researcher are true or not since it is impossible to repeat research and verify the data. Often the success of research is due to the personality of the researcher and the unique relationships they have formed with the members of the group.
- One disadvantage of Participant observations that recording observations can be an issue in overt and covert forms of observation. The researcher needs to write up conversations whilst it's fresh in their minds but constantly taking notes can be off putting for the people being observed and can become dangerous if you are
statisitcial data
Official
- One advantage of statistics is that they are extremely easy and cheap to access due to being widely available via the internet and involve little effort on behalf of the sociologist
- One advantage of statistics is that Statistical relationships can be identified by comparing official statistics from regularly conducted surveys such as the Census. For example, by examining groups of statistics, sociologists might see a relationship between poverty and mortality
- One disadvantage of official statistics is that they are open to political abuse, as stats can be manipulated by the government for political advantage.
- One disadvantage of statistics is that they are socially constructed, they do not just appear or happen. They are the end result of someone making a decision or judgment that a particular set of activities needs recording and the stats need collecting, as they are decisions are sometimes selective and bias
Ethnographic
- One advantage of Ethnographic studies is that interpretivists can achieve verstehen
- One advantage of Ethnographic studies is that participants are in their natural environment, meaning that participants should act as natural as possible, reducing the Hawthorne effect
- One disadvantage of Ethnographic studies is that the sample are unrepresentative
- One disadvantage of Ethnographic studies is that they are bias and loose objectivity due to the participants being so closely involved
Questionnaires
- One advantage of Questionnaires is that it can be used for reaching larger samples, meaning it is consequently more representative since the questionnaire can be simply handed or posted to hundreds of people
- One advantage of Questionnaires is that they ensure that the sociologists has minimum contact the respondent. Therefore, the researcher will not be directly there to influence the results being presented when the respondent fills them in
- One disadvantage of Questionnaires is that many people cannot be bothered to reply, meaning it suffers from low response rates or even non-responses. Meaning if the response rates are less than 50 per cent, it can undermine the validity of the research because the results are un-likely to represent the population, therefore the results can not be generalisable, reducing the validity
- One disadvantage of Questionnaires is that Questionnaire’s produce data that is low in validity because they argue that real life is too complex to categorise in closed questions and response. Therefore questionnaire’s may not be suitable for findings of why people behave the way they do
Content analysis
- One advantage of Content analysis is that it is very cheap, all they need to do is buy magazines or newspapers or watch television programmes
- One advantage of Content analysis is that it is a comparative method in that it allows the sociologist to compare media reports and content over a period of time.
- One disadvantage of it can be very time consuming because media products might need to be checked over a long period of time
- One disadvantage of it can be subjective, the categories largely depend on what the researcher interprets as important
Case studies
- One advantage of Case Studies are that they are high in validity due to having triangulation
- One advantage of Case Studies are that they give qualitative data through a primary or secondary source of research. Interpretivists can build up a rich picture of the dynamics that underpin the actions of a particular person
- One disadvantage of Case Studies are that Interpretivists cannot make generalisations as the data is unrepresentative
- One disadvantage of Case Studies are that the is a lack of value freedom, they are not objective, therefore, difficult to gain access as interpretivist cannot identify trends and patterns
Focus groups
- One advantage of Focus Groups are that they are popular, leading to media organisations, political parties and other sociologists using these interviews
- One advantage of Focus Groups are that group discussions can be recorded so can be listened back to
- One disadvantage of Focus Groups are that one or two strong personalities can dominate and influence other participants’ opinions therefore reducing the validity of the information
- One disadvantage of Focus Groups are that people may be afraid to share their opinion, may feel judged