research methods- key words lists

bias

when someone's personal, subjective feelings or thoughts affect judgement

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Closed questions

Questions that can usually be answered with yes or no.

Confidentiality

the act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals

Covert research

where the researcher is undercover and respondents do not know they are part of a research study.

dependent variable

the object under study in an experiment

indepndent variable

what the researcher varies to show how they affect the dependent variable

ethics/ethical factors

ethics means taking into consideration how the research impacts on those involved with the research process. Ethical research should gain informed consent, ensure confidentiality, be legal and ensure that respondents and those related to them are not subjected to harm. Ultimately research should aim to do more good than harm to society.

experiment

aim to measure the effect which one or more independent variables has on a dependent variable.

extraneous variables

undesirable variables which are not of interest to the researcher but may interfere with the results of the experiment

Field diary

A notebook in which a researcher records observation during the research process. One of the key tools of Participant Observation.

field experiment

experiments which take place in a real life setting such as a classroom, the work place or even the high street

focus groups

a type of group interview in which respondents are asked to discuss certain topics

content analysis

a quantitative appraoch to analysing mass media content

group interviews

when an interviewer interviews multiple people at a time

Hawthorne effect

where people change their behavior because they know they are being watched as part of a study

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

informed consent

where the respondent agrees to take part in a research study with full awareness of what they are committing to

interviews

A method of gathering information by asking questions orally, either face to face or by telephone.

interviewer bias

where the values and beliefs of the researcher influence the response of the interviewee

Labatory experiment

An experiment that takes place in a controlled environment. Researcher has full control of IV an DV, and can control EVs.

leading questions

questions that subtly prompt a respondent to provide a particular answer

Life documents

written or audio-visual sources created by individuals which record details of that person's experiences and social actions. They are predominantly qualitative and may offer insights into people's subjective states. They can be historical or contemporary and can take a wide variety of forms.

longitudinal studies

A research method that studies the same participants multiple times over a period of time

Non-participant observation

when the researcher observes behavior without participating in that behavior

objective knowledge

knowledge that is free of biases, opinions and values of the researcher

Official statistics

numerical information collected and used by the government and its agencies to make decisions about society and the economy

open-ended questions

questions that have no set answers

Operationalising concepts

the process of defining a concept precisely so that it can be easily understood

participant observation

involves the researcher joining the participants in the observations

Personal documents

first hand accounts of social events and personal experience which usually include the writers feelings and attitudes

pilot study

a test study carried out before the main research on a smaller scale to uncover any potential problems

Closed questions

questions from which the respondent has a fixed amount of responses

primary data

data collected first hand by the researcher herself

public documents

produced by organisations such as government departments and their agencies

qualitative data

refers to information that appears in written, visual or audio form such as transcripts of interviews, newspapers and websites

quantitative data

refers to information that appears in numerical form or in the form of statisitcs

quota sampling

researchers will be told to ensure the sample fits with certain quotas, for example they might be told to find 90 participants, with 30 of them being unemployed. The researcher might then find these 30 by going to a job centre. The problem of representativeness is again a problem with the quota sampling method.

random sampling

in random sampling everyone in the population has the same chance of getting chosen

rapport

a close and harmonious relationship between research and respondent

Repliability

if research is reliable, it means that if someone else repeats the same research with the same population they should achieve the same results

Representativeness

research is representative if the research sample reflects the characteristic of the wider target population

research sample

the actual population selected for the research

sampling

the process of selecting a selection of the population to take part in social research

sampling frame

a list from which a sample will be drawn

secondary data

data that has already been collected by previous researchers or organisations such as the governments

self-selecting sample bias

where individuals choose whether they take part in the research and the results end up being unrepresentative because certain types of people are more willing or able do participate in the research.

Semi-structured interview

those in which researchers have a predetermined list of questions to ask respondents but are free to ask further questions based on these answers

snowball sampling

researchers might find a few particpants and then ask them to find participants themselves and so on

stratified sampling

attempts to make sample as representative as possible, avoiding problems that could be caused by using a completely random sample without the correct percentages of ethnicity, gender, age, social class e.t.c

social surveys

typically questionnaires designed to collect information from large numbers of people in standardised form.

Structured or formal interviews

those in which the interviewer asks the interviewee the same questions in the same way to different respondents. This will typically involve reading out questions from a pre-written and pre-coded structured questionnaire.

systematic sampling

Every nth item in the target population is selected

target population

all people who could be potentially be studied as part of the research

Transcription

the process of writing down what resondents say in an interview

Triangulation

the use of multiple methods to study one research question

unstructured interview

no fixed set of questions and no systematic scoring procedure
involves asking probing questions to find out what the applicant is like

Validity

research is valid if it provides a true picture of what is really 'out there' in the world