Sociological research methods

What are ethics?

Principles around whether an activity is morally right or wrong

What is an interview?

Asking someone questions to gain knowledge around a certain topic

What is reliability?

How repeatable research is

What is validity?

How true research is

What is representativeness?

How a sample reflects wider society

What are practical issues?

Issues in research related to cost, time, access or skill - faff

What is qualitative data?

Data in words that have lots of detail 

What is quantitative data?

Numerical data

What is observation?

Looking at a group and recording results

What is a pilot study?

A trial run before full research is carried out

What are questionnaires?

Questions/surveys to use as research

What is a sample?

A selection of results or participants out of many in a study/target population

What are the two types of observation?

Covert and overt

What different types of questionnaires are there?

Postal, online or interview

What is primary research?

Information gathered directly by the sociologist

What is secondary research?

Information that already exists from official and non-official statistics

What is a participant?

Someone who is taking part in a research project

What is the Hawthorne effect?

The idea that people behave differently when they are being watched by others

What is a hypothesis?

A prediction of results from research

Why do sociologists carry out research?

To explore trends and patterns within society

What is a response rate?

How many people fill out a questionnaire

What are self-completion questionnaires?

Questions participants fill out themsekves

What are benefits of self-completion reports?

High representativeness and few practical issues

What are the two types of self-completion questionnaires?

Postal or self-report

What are interview questionnaires?

When questionnaires are asked face to face by the researcher

What are the pros and cons of interview questionnaires?

They take more time, but produce higher validity

What are closed questions?

When a response is yes/no, or a short one word answer

What are open questions?

Long answer responses with room to elaborate and explain

What are issues with closed questions?

Lower validity

What are closed questions good for?

Reliability

What is good about open questions?

A rapport can be built up, so higher validity

What are the issues with open questions?

Low reliability and practical issues

What is right answerism?

Participants selecting an answer they think is right, and not necessarily what they think

What is an interview?

A conservation between two or more people, where the interviewer asks questions 

What type of data do interviews generally produce?

Qualitative

What are problems and benefits with interviews?

They take up time, and there are issues with ethics and skill, but they have higher validity

What are unstructured interviews?

When the interviewer has no planned questions, only a list of topics for discussion

What are benefits to unstructured interviews?

A rapport can be built up, so higher validity

What are the main problems with unstructured interviews?

Practical issues and ethics

What did Dobash and Dobash research and how?

They investigated violence against wives through interviews with the women, but also the services that helped them

What is a rapport?

A positive relationship between an interviewer and participant

What are structured interviews?

An interview with prepared questions where there are no follow up questions

What are the main benefits and issues with structured interviews?

High reliability, but low validity and no room for extended explanation

What are semi-structured interviews?

Interviews with some planned questions, but there is room for follow up questions and other topics for discussion

What is a focus group?

A group interview

What are the benefits and issues with focus groups?

They take less time, but can be affected by the Hawthorne effect - high reliability and low validity

What is Verstehen?

A deep empathetic understanding between researcher and participant

What is observation?

When a researcher watches a group to gain information

What is overt observation? Issues and benefits?

When participants are aware they are being watched - lower validity (Hawthorne effect) but good for ethics

What is covert observation? Issues and benefits?

When participants don’t know they are being watched - high validity, but issues with ethics

What is participant observation? Issues and benefits?

When the researcher joins the group - good verstehen, but actions can effect the groups behaviour and risks of going native

What is going native?

When a researcher joins a group, but starts to believe their cause and ends up joining them instead of finishing the research

What is non-participant observation? Benefits?

When the researcher watches the group from a distance - higher validity

Why is observation good?

It is the only way to access some groups and there is no interviewer bias

Why is observation bad?

It isn’t representative or reliable, and there are practical issues

What did James Patrick research and how?

He studied a Glasgow gang in the 1960s through participant covert observation, and gained access via a gatekeeper (his 15 year old student 😕)

Why wouldn’t James Patrick’s research be allowed now?

There would be too many ethical issues

Who was Pc Mark Kennedy and what did he do?

He went undercover as Mark Stone for 7 years in an environmental group, but he ended up ‘going native’ 

What happened when the group Pc Mark Kennedy was investigating was prosecuted?

He ended up defending them, and as they were unaware he was undercover, he was trusted - ‘forgot’ his reason for being there

What are official statistics?

Statistics produced by the government and other official bodies - usually used to measure frequency

What does the national office of ____ produce?

Official statistics

What are non-official statistics?

Statistics from non-official sources - students, universities, sociologists

What are ethics?

 Principles around whether something is morally right or wrong, and whether it does the right thing, isn’t offending, upsetting or dangerous

What does sociological research have to be approved by before it is carried out?

The British sociological association (BSA)

Why is covert observation unlikely to be approved?

There are lots of issues with ethics

What is anonymity?

Making sure no-ones name is mentioned in your research or data collection

What is a gatekeeper?

Someone who gives permission for someone (children, etc.) to be involved in your research

What is informed consent?

Making sure that your respondents know what you are doing and agree to participate

What is confidentiality?

Keeping personal details between you and the respondent

What are the main issues and benefits with primary data?

It has lots of practical issues, but has higher validity and is more related to research

What are the benefits and issues with secondary data?

It has issues with validity, but has higher reliability and representativeness

What are the issues and benefits with qualitative data?

It has higher validity, but takes time, skill and resources

What are the issues and benefits with quantitative data?

It has higher representativeness and reliability, but lower validity, no verstehen and is less specific 

What is access?

How easy it is to get data, and whether gatekeepers are required - for children, etc.

What is the target population?

The group that sociologists wish to study

What are samples?

A way of reducing the target population to study a smaller, manageable group

What are generalisations?

General statements and conclusions that apply to the whole population

What is a sampling frame?

Where a sample is selected from

What is random sampling?

When a sociologist’s research picks random participants out of a hat - probability 

What is systematic sampling?

When a sociologist selects participants by taking every third name, for example

What is snowball sampling?

When sociologists use one contact to introduce another contact to join the study, which repeats

What is quota sampling?

When the researcher makes sure the study is representative by picking who is part of the study - non-probability 

What is opportunity sampling?

When the research involves anyone who is available and willing to take part

What are research aims?

They set out what the researcher is planning to investigate and give a clear focus to the study

What is an hypothesis?

An informed guess about what the researcher will find from a study

How is research completed?

By choosing a topic area, writing a hypothesis, carrying out the research, answering the aims and publishing a report

What is a pilot study?

A trial run before full research is carried out

Why are pilot studies used?

So improvements can be made and that practical issues can be avoided

What are mixed methods?

A combination of different research methods to try and improve validity and reliabilty

What are mixed methods also known as?

Triangulation

What did Eileen Barker study?

A Korean religious cult called the ‘Moonies’ by using unstructured interviews and then questionnaires shaped by her results