choosing a research method
primary and secondary sources of data -
primary - information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes
first hand picture
e.g. social surveys
secondary data - information collected or created by someone else for their own
purposes e.g. official statistics
quantiative and qualitative data
quantiative - refers to information in a numerical form
qualitative - gives a feel for what something is like e.g. participant observation, in
depth interviews
Pratical issues
time and money
requirements of funding bodies
personal skills and characteristics
subject matter
research opportunity
Ethical issues
informed consent
confidentiality and privacy
harm to research participants
vulnerable groups
covert research
Theoretical issues
validity
reliability
representativeness
methodological perspective
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF TOPIC
the sociologists perspective
societys values
practical factors
funding bodies
the process of research
1. formulating an aim or hypothesis
, 2. operationalising concepts - define the key ideas - converting a sociological concept
into something we can measure
3. pilot study
samples and sampling - sampling frame - a list of all the members of the population we are
interested in studying
sampling techniques
random sampling
systematic - nth person
stratified - proportions
quota sampling
snowball sampling - suggesting others
opportunity sampling - those who are easiest to accesss
experiments
labatory experiments
the experimental group - varies
the control group - constant
scientist manipulates the variables in which they are interested in order to discover
what effect they have
reliability
other scientists can replicate it - highly reliable
produces the same results each time
practcal problems
society is too complex to reduce down to variables
cannot be used to study the past
usually only study small samples
ethical problems
lack of informed consent
deception
harm
the hawthorne effect
if people know they are being studied they may behave differently
free will
our behaviour cannot be explained in terms of cause and effect
, field experiments
takes place in the subjects natural surroundings
those involved are generally not aware that they are subjects of an experiment
the researcher manipulates one or more of the variables in the situation to see what
effect it has
rosenhan
The comparative method
thought experiment
1. identify two groups of people that are alike in all major respects except for the one
variable we are interested in
2. then compare the groups to see if this one difference between them has any effect
questionnaires
ADVANTAGES
practical -
quick and cheap - gather large amounts of data from large numbers of people
no need for interviewers or obserbers
data easy to quantify
reliability -
reliable - same respondants and questions can replicate the results
no researcher present to influence the respondants answers
hypothesis testing -
useful for testing hypotheses about cause and effect
detatchment and objectivity -
ubiased
sociologists personal involvement with their respondents is kept to a minimum
representativeness
can collect info from a large number of people
ethical issues
pose fewer ethical problems than most research methods
sensitive questions - respondants under no obligation to answer
primary and secondary sources of data -
primary - information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes
first hand picture
e.g. social surveys
secondary data - information collected or created by someone else for their own
purposes e.g. official statistics
quantiative and qualitative data
quantiative - refers to information in a numerical form
qualitative - gives a feel for what something is like e.g. participant observation, in
depth interviews
Pratical issues
time and money
requirements of funding bodies
personal skills and characteristics
subject matter
research opportunity
Ethical issues
informed consent
confidentiality and privacy
harm to research participants
vulnerable groups
covert research
Theoretical issues
validity
reliability
representativeness
methodological perspective
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF TOPIC
the sociologists perspective
societys values
practical factors
funding bodies
the process of research
1. formulating an aim or hypothesis
, 2. operationalising concepts - define the key ideas - converting a sociological concept
into something we can measure
3. pilot study
samples and sampling - sampling frame - a list of all the members of the population we are
interested in studying
sampling techniques
random sampling
systematic - nth person
stratified - proportions
quota sampling
snowball sampling - suggesting others
opportunity sampling - those who are easiest to accesss
experiments
labatory experiments
the experimental group - varies
the control group - constant
scientist manipulates the variables in which they are interested in order to discover
what effect they have
reliability
other scientists can replicate it - highly reliable
produces the same results each time
practcal problems
society is too complex to reduce down to variables
cannot be used to study the past
usually only study small samples
ethical problems
lack of informed consent
deception
harm
the hawthorne effect
if people know they are being studied they may behave differently
free will
our behaviour cannot be explained in terms of cause and effect
, field experiments
takes place in the subjects natural surroundings
those involved are generally not aware that they are subjects of an experiment
the researcher manipulates one or more of the variables in the situation to see what
effect it has
rosenhan
The comparative method
thought experiment
1. identify two groups of people that are alike in all major respects except for the one
variable we are interested in
2. then compare the groups to see if this one difference between them has any effect
questionnaires
ADVANTAGES
practical -
quick and cheap - gather large amounts of data from large numbers of people
no need for interviewers or obserbers
data easy to quantify
reliability -
reliable - same respondants and questions can replicate the results
no researcher present to influence the respondants answers
hypothesis testing -
useful for testing hypotheses about cause and effect
detatchment and objectivity -
ubiased
sociologists personal involvement with their respondents is kept to a minimum
representativeness
can collect info from a large number of people
ethical issues
pose fewer ethical problems than most research methods
sensitive questions - respondants under no obligation to answer
