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Research methods: - Coggle Diagram
Research methods:
Secondary data methods
Official Statistics
practical strengths:
easily accessible
cheap
Practical Limitations:
may not ask questions specific to research
Theoretical strengths:
large sample/representative
valid
reliable
Theoretical limitations:
manipulated by govt
not very in depth- lacks the WHY, so has no validity
no verstehen
Content analysis:
practical factors:
cheap
easy to access
Practical limitation:
time
theoretical Strengths:
can be quantified
in depth and detailed
reliable
Theoretical limitations:
Open to interpretation
vulnerable to bias
Unofficial statistics
practical factors:
cheap
easily accessible
Practical limitations:
may not ask questions specific to research
Theoretical strengths
large sample/representative
valid
reliable
Theoretical Limitations:
could be biased towards the view of the organisation/charity
Prior Research:
practical strengths:
cheap
easy to access
time
Practical limitations:
may not be exactly the same in terms of research aims
Documents (historical, practical, personal)
Practical strengths:
Cheap
easy to access (Public and historical)
Practical limitations:
can be hard to access (Personal)
can take time to access under Freedom of information act 2000 (Public)
may not be specific to the research
Ethical limitations:
breaching privacy
confidentiality
informed consent (personal)
Theoretical strengths:
in depth and detailed
Theoretical limitations:
open to interpretation
biased (public)
personal view
unreliable (public, personal)
Primary data
Questionnaire
Practical strengths:
Cheap
Easy
Less time consuming
Practical limitations:
low response rate
misunderstanding questions
answers may not fit what they are provided with (closed questionnaire)
Ethical strengths:
informed consent is given by completing the questionnaire
Anonymous
Ethical limitations:
Questions may be sensitive
Some questions may break privacy- asking questions not relevant to research
Theoretical Strengths:
large sample size so can be generalised
Reliable
Easy to quantify and analyse (closed)
Detailed data (Open)
detachment and objectivity
Theoretical Limitations:
low in validity (closed)
participants may not be truthful, impacts validity (closed)
someone other than the intended participant may answer the question- could impact representativeness if that is what they were aiming for
lack of rapport
right answerism: participants providing answers based on what they think is right, not the truth
Observations:
Practical Strengths:
Flexible
researcher can ask questions (O)
Only option with some groups
reliable (S)
Practical limitations:
Time
Access
cost
researcher skill
Ethical Strengths:
can gain informed consent (O)
Ethical limitations:
lack of informed consent (C)
Privacy can be breached
going native (P): researcher abandons role as a researcher and simply becomes a member of the group
Theoretical Strengths:
In depth detailed data
allows for verstehen
can be reliable (Structured)
Theoretical Limitations:
Hawthorne effect (O)
hard to quantify
small sample
unreliable (O and C)
Interviews:
Practical strengths:
allows the researcher to build a rapport with participants
flexibility (US)
allows for clarification of questions
Practical limitations
time consuming
researcher skill
can be difficult to access some groups
Ethical Strengths:
Good for sensitive topics (US)
Ethical limitations:
Questions can cause harm if of a sensitive nature
privacy can be breached by asking questions irrelevant to research
Theoretical Strengths:
Reliable (S)
high in validity (US)
can achieve verstehen
Theoretical Limitations:
small sample makes generalising difficult
hard to quantify
lack of reliability (US)
peer group influence (G)
researcher effects: demand characteristics and social desirability
Experiments:
Practical Strengths:
variables are controlled
Practical limitations:
lack of flexibility
time
cost
researcher skill
Ethical Strengths:
findings benefit society: zimbardo and milligram would state that despite deception, the successes outweigh the ethical issues
most lab experiments will seek informed consent, as a requirement to gain funding
legality- most lab experiments will not ask them to do anything illegal
Ethical limitations:
can be highly deceptive: milligram and zimbardo
can cause harm to participants- through stress
lack of informed consent in most studies so participants act naturally
theoretical strengths:
highly detailed data
reliable (L)
Theoretical Limitations:
lack of validity (L): obscure setting
Researcher effects
Small sample, affects generalisability