Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
What is primary data?
data you have collected yourself through questionnaires,experiments ect.
What is the advantage of primary data?
always relevant and up to date to what you are studying
What is a disadvantage of primary data?
time consuming and expensive to carry out
What is secondary data?
data that was collected by someone else such as government , university ect.
What is the advantage of secondary data?
quick and easy to find
What is a disadvantage of secondary data?
may to be relevant to what you are studying ,no control over method, may not be up to date
How does time and money affect the type of research carried out?
bigger research projects are more expensive but can be quicker as multiple people can be hired to process the information but small scale cheap ones may take a long time
How can the requirements of funding bodies affect the type of research carried out?
they may require certain information certain formats so the research must fit those requirements
How can personal skills and characteristics affect the type of research ?
they will have to choose a method which fits with their skills best
How does subject matter affect the type of research ?
methods should be appropriate for the subjects and topic that is being studied
How does research opportunity affect the type of research ?
opportunities may arise quickly and so the normal preparation may not happen so the method may have to fit with that
What is informed consent and how does it affect research?
consent with full knowledge of the process which must be obtained before carrying out the study, participants must also know they have the right to withdraw
How does confidentiality and privacy affect research?
identity and sensitive information must be protected and kept confidential
How does the potential harm caused by research affect how it is carried out?
harm caused must be anticipated and prevented
How does doing research on vulnerable groups affect the research?
these groups will need to be protected
What are the problems with conducting covert research?
unethical to deceive or lie to gain trust or information but may be justified in certain circumstances
What is validity?
whether the method shows a true picture of the situation
What is reliability?
whether the method can be repeated to get the same results
What is representativeness?
whether the sample of participants are representative to the target population
What are the two research methodologies?
positivists and interpretivists
What is the positivists research methodology?
believe that structures of society shape up and that using quantitative data we can identify the patterns of society
What research methods would positivists use?
questionnaires,structured interviews, experiments and stats
Which perspectives subscribe to the positivist view?
marxists and functionalists
What is the interpretivists view on research?
believe that we give meanings to things through interactions and that qualitative data will allow us to understand meanings
What kinds of research do interpretivists prefer?
participants observation,unstructured interviews and personal documents
Who would subscribe to the interpretivists view?
interactionists
How does perspective of the sociologist influence the topic of research?
they will research what will go with their perspective e.g. feminists may research about domestic violence
How does societies values influence research topics?
the biggest sociological issues will be what is researched most
How may practical factors influence research topics?
some things may not be possible to research as that information is kept secret
How do funding bodies influence research topics?
they choose what to put money into and so can decide on what topics are researched
What is triangulation?
studying a topics using multiple methods from multiple viewpoints
What is a hypothesis?
possible explanation that can be tested by collected evidence
What do you do if you find that your hypothesis is false?
discard it and move on and use what you have learned to try to do more research
What is the advantage of a hypothesis?
it gives a focus and direction for your research
What are the disadvantage of hypothesis?
it may limit your research to one topic
Which group prefers hypothesis’ ? Why?
positivists as they want to find cause and effect relationships
What is an aim?
A general statement of what is being research and what they hope to achieve
What is the advantage of an aim?
is more general you are more free to research whatever seems interesting or noteworthy
Which group prefers having an aim? Why?
interpretivists they focus on the individual experience
What is operationalisation?
converting a concept into something we can measure
Why do we need operationalisation?
allows us to correlate information and test our hypothesis
Why may operationalisation cause problems?
sociologists may operationalise variables differently making it difficult to compare research
Why do interpretivists avoid operationalisation?
they want to see what meanings their actors give to words not provide their own meanings
What are pilot studies?
smaller versions of studies to iron out any problems
What is a sample?
smaller sub-group drawn from a wider population that you want to study
What is the purpose of sampling?
as we cannot study the entire population we must take a smaller representative group
Why do positivists like samples?
it allows them to make general and law like statements about the group
What is a sampling frame?
set of people to choose participants from
What is random sampling?
random selection from sampling frame
What is systematic sampling?
every nth person from the sampling frame
What is stratisfied sampling?
matching the same proportions from the population to the sample
What is quota sampling?
giving each interviewer a quota of people with certain characteristics to meet
Why may it not be possible to use representative sampling?
social characteristics of the research population are unknown,difficult or impossible to find/create sampling frame,potential respondents may not want to participate
What is snowball sampling?
starting with a few people who can then contact others who they know to take part in the study?
In which situations may people use snowball sampling?
when the research population is very secretive or difficult to contact
What is opportunity sampling?
using people who are easily available such as passers-by on the street
What is the problem with opportunity sampling and snowball sampling?
they don’t produce representative samples
Why do interpretivists not care about having a representative sample?
they want valid data which will help them understand those people they are studying and don’t want to make generalisations
What is a case study?
a detailed examination of a single case or individual
What is the key limitation of case studies?
they are not representative and cannot be generalised
What are the 4 main uses of case studies?
suggests a hypothesis,provides a detailed insight,study exceptional cases, illustrate general points in quantative studies
What is essential for generalisable findings?
representative samples
What are the 5 main groups to study in education?
pupils,teachers,parents,classrooms and schools
What did Hill (2005) identify as difficulties with researching pupils?
power and status, ability and understanding, vulnerability
Why does power and status make it difficult to study pupils?
may be difficult to get children to openly state attitudes and views,
How may the power imbalance between teachers and students affect research?
the teachers could select students who reflect well on the school
Which methods of research may be better for studying students?
informal methods such as group interviews
Why do formal methods of research reinforce power imbalances when studying students?
they allow researcher to control questions asked and how the students answer
What may influence how teachers respond to the researchers?
their relationships with the teachers and authority
What is more likely to be limited in children making it more difficult to carry out research ?
vocab, self-expression ,confidence and thinking skills
What needs to be done to make sure that children can understand the questions?
words used in the question
Why may it be difficult to gain informed consent from children?
not mature enough to understand to consent
What consideration are needed to be made to research children?
they may need more time to understand the question and answer, may struggle to recall relevant detail
What may affect the answers children give?
class, age and ethnicity
What needs to be considered when considering researching children?
whether they it is absolutely necessary
What are children more vulnerable to ?
physical and psychological damage
What information cannot be kept unless absolutely necessary?
personal data
What are ‘gatekeepers’?
people who control access to children
What makes it more difficult to get access to children?
having more gatekeepers
What act was responsible for creating DBS checks?
safeguarding vulnerable groups act of 2006
Who has special codes of practice for researching children?
UNICEF, Barnardo’s and national children’s bureau
Why can organising children be easier than adults?
they have to be in school in certain times
What do Barnardo’s stress is the most important things when researching children?
informed consent
When does special care have to be taken when researching certain groups?
special needs children
What may limit the amount of research that can be done on teachers?
they are often overworked limiting the amount of time that can be taken on research
Why may teachers need to find a cover to research teachers?
they may not welcome research into their classroom
Why may having a cover not provide an accurate representation of teachers?
the covers often have lower status than the teachers so they may treat them differently
What did Goffman (1969) find about teachers?
they can manage the impressions of students, researchers ect.
What will teachers have to do to accurately research teachers?
they will have to find a way to find the ‘back stage’ person
Where may a researcher go to find ‘back stage’ environment?
staffroom
What is the problem with ‘backstage’ environments?
a new person may be treated with suspicion
Why may teachers not answer questions truthfully?
any negative comments may not damage their career
Which methods are best to study teachers?
observational methods
How may headteachers influence research?
they may choose teachers that will reflect well on them
Why are classrooms a unique social setting?
they are a closed social setting with physical and social boundaries
Why may the classroom not reflect how those peple actually feel?
it is highly controlled and surveyed and teachers and pupils are experienced in hiding their feeling and thoughts
Why are classrooms easy to observe?
they have around 30 people and two social roles
Why are classrooms difficult to access?
they have lots of gatekeepers
What may affect how students respond to being studied?
their peer groups, insecurities and peer pressure
Why do students need to be supervised when answering questionnaires?
peers may influence their answers
