1
Q
what are questionnaires
A
- list of questions that are written or self completion questionnaires
- used in large social social surveys
2
Q
closed ended questions
A
- respondents choose from a limited range of possible answers like ‘yes’ ‘no’ ‘don’t know’ rather than multiple choice questions
3
Q
open ended questions
A
- respondents are free to give whatever answer they wish in their own words without any pre- selected choices
4
Q
practical advantages
A
- quick and cheap which means gathering large amounts of data from large number of people (widely geographically spread) is easy
- don’t need to recruit or train researchers
- data is easy to quantify due to pre- coded, closed ended questions
5
Q
reliability adavantages
A
- they allow comparisons by asking same questions we can compare differences
- can be repeated and obtain similar data
6
Q
hypothesis testing advantages
A
- questionnaires useful for testing hypothesis about cause and effect relationships between variables
- E.G: educational achievement analysis of different achievement levels
7
Q
detachment and objectivity advantage
A
POSITIVISTS: favour questionnaires because they are detached and objective
- E.G: postal questionnaires are posted and completed without the presence of the researcher
8
Q
representativeness advantage
A
- can collect information from a large number of people which makes the data representative
- allows us to make accurate generalisations about the wider population from which the sample was drawn
9
Q
practical disadvantages
A
- limited and superficial since they are brief and most respondents are most likely to not complete and return the questionnaire which limits the data
- researchers don’t know if people have actually received it or whether a returned questionnaire was completed
10
Q
low response rate disadvantages
A
- depends if respondents are bothered to complete the questionnaires
- some questionnaires use complex language which only the well educated complete
- respondents may lie, forget or exaggerate their answers
11
Q
inflexibility disadvantages
A
- once the questionnaire has been finalised the researcher is stuck with the questions they have deiced to ask and cant explore new areas of interest
12
Q
detachment disadvantages
A
- INTERPRETIVISTS: lacks validity and does not give a true picture of what has been studied
- we can only gain validity by using methods that get close to the subjects and share their meanings
- lack of contact means there is no way to clarify any misunderstandings
13
Q
why do Positivists favour questionnaires
A
- standardised questions and answers produce reliable data due to being able to replicate
- pre- coded responses produce quantitative data to measure behaviour patterns
- large scale; representative
14
Q
why do Interpretivists reject questionnaires
A
- lacks validity which tells us little about the meanings held by social actors
Sociology Methods
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