Research Methods

Question 1

What does PET stand for?

Answer 1

PRACTICAL

• Time
• Access
• Cost
• Researcher Characteristics e.g age, ethnicity, class etc.

ETHICAL

• Moral Principles
• Participants cannot be harmed
• Must give consent (and Anonymity)
• Honest reporting and Findings

Theoretical
- Positivism with scientific approach, ‘social facts’ etc.
(QUANTITATIVE DATE).

• Interpretivism with focus on interactions which help us ‘understand the world around’
  (QUALITATIVE DATE).

Question 2

What area the advantages of self-completed questionnaires?

Answer 2

ADV
(P) Relatively Cheap
(P) Gather data quickly
(P) Easy to access population being studied

(E) Few ethical issues

(T) Reliable, higher chance of being respresentative.
(T) If closed questions area asked data could be easily quantified.

Question 3

What area the disadvantages of self-completed questionnaires?

Answer 3

DIS
(P) No certainty if the correct person has completed the questionnaire
(P) Cost as you may need to provide an incentive

(E) Few ethical issues - ensure consent and anonymity

(T) Low response rate which might distort the data.
(T) If closed questions are asked data may lack depth and risk of the imposition.

Question 4

What was a study that used self-completed questionnaires?

Answer 4

Callender and Jackson 2005:
Researched attitudes towards debt and thier decision whether or not they would go uni.

+ Data = measurable
+ Created statistical data
+ Able to study a large area/group.
- Low response rate -55%

Question 5

What are the different types of interviews?

Answer 5

1. Formal, structured
2. Informal, unstructured
3. Semi-structured - open and closed
4. Group Interviews.

Question 6

What key issues with interview effects?

Answer 6

The influence of the interviewer on the interviewee.

• Age, Class, Power Dynamic.

To avoid this use skilled interviewers and match social characteristics.

Question 7

What are advantages and disadvantages of Unstructured Interviews?

Answer 7

ADV
(P) Gather in-depth data
(P) Study large amounts of people/areas etc.
(E) Few ethical issues.
*Can also ask follow up question and more flexible.

DIS
(P) Cost - employing the interviewers.
(P) Unable to collect statistical data and time consuming
(E) Ensure consent and anonymity
(T) Not reliable and may lack representatives.

Question 8

What is an example of an unstructured interview study?

Answer 8

Ruth Lupton (2004) - investigating the relationship between poor neighborhoods and underachieving schools.
\+ Build rapport = opened up
- Hard to compare responses

Question 9

What are advantages and disadvantages of Structured Interviews?

Answer 9

ADV

• Easily quantifiable
• ability for statistical data
• Higher response rate as the interviewer is present.

DIS
(P) May be costly to train interviewers
(P) Time consuming
(T) Reduced validity due to restricted answers.

Question 10

What is an example of a structured interview study?

Answer 10

Farkas & Beron (2001) - study verbal skills of parents and children
+ Produced quantitative data
- May be biased as the researcher could impose their ideas

Question 11

What are advantages and disadvantages of group interviews?

Answer 11

ADV

• More open discussion
• Able to observe interactions and body language
• Participants can throw ideas around which helps thinking.

DIS

• People may dominate the group.
• Possible disruption
• Peer pressure - reduces validity
• Loss of focus
• Interviewer effects.

Question 12

What is an example of a structured group interview?

Answer 12

Paul Willis (1997) - why w/c children get w/c jobs
+ Observe body language and interactions
+ Acted naturally
- Time consuming

Question 13

What are the two different forms of participant observation?

Answer 13

Overt - Reveal Identity

Covert - Hide Identity

Question 14

What are advantages and disadvantages of participant observation?

Answer 14

ADV
(P) Build rapport and gain trust
(P) No training needed
(T) Retain objectivity
(T) Flexibility - no fixed hypothesis
(T) Watch body language - high validity

DIS
(P) Time consuming
(P) Requires interpersonal skills
(E) Deceives the people involved.
(T) Lack of representatives - group studied are generally smaller.
(T) Low reliability
(T) Interviewer effect - behavior may change & may become too involved.

Question 15

What is an example of a participant observation study?

Answer 15

Natalie Joly - Amish Community
- Gained access through a ‘gatekeeper’

Simon Winlow (2001)
- How societal changes have affected masculinity and the role of violence/crime in w/c culture

Question 16

What are advantages of non-participant observation?

Answer 16

(P/O) - Researcher doesnt need to put on an act.
(P/O) Can’t take notes openly
(P/O) Won’t be involved in illegal activites
(P/C) No risk of Hawthorne Effect
(T) Valuable to study micro level interactions.
(T) Remained unbiased
(T) Can analyse social interactions in many contexts.

Question 17

What are disadvantages of non-participant observation?

Answer 17

(P/O) Cost as you may need to pay those participating/ travel long distances.

(P/O) Risk of Hawthorne effect as those that know they are being observed may behave differently

(P/C) Cost of travel

(P) Time consuming

(E) May have moral duties e,g report crime

(T) Lack of reliability and representatives.

Question 18

What are advantages and disadvantages of Lab experiments?

Answer 18

ADV

• Control the variables
• No personal feelings involved (detached method)
• Reliability - repeated with the same variables.

DIS
(P) - Can't be used to study the past
(E) - Hard to gain consent
(E) - Deception
(E) - Psychological/psychical harm 
(T) - Small samples

Question 19

What are advantages and disadvantages of Field experiments?

Answer 19

ADV
(P) - Easy to analyse and to present finding
(P) - Context based in social settings
(E) - Able to debrief participants and they have the right to withdraw.

DIS
(P) - Time consuming and expensive 
(E) - Could cause harm and hard to debrief if they are passers by
(T) - Low representatives
(T) - Hard to replicate

Question 20

What is an explanation of lab experiment case study?

Answer 20

Milgram (1974) - obedience study

• Links to ethical issues
• Deception - lied about the purpose of the experiment.
• Physical and psychological harm

Question 21

What is an example of a field experiment case study?

Answer 21

Emile Durkheim (1897) - compare rates of suicide between Catholics and Protestants and found Catholics had a lower suicide rate.

Question 22

What type of data is Documents and Official statistics?

Answer 22

Secondary data

Question 23

What are examples of documents?

Answer 23

Government reports and public websites (Public)

Diary, Letters (Private)

Question 24

What are examples of official statistics?

Answer 24

Quantitative data produced by the government or an official body.

(P) - ‘social facts’ with true and objective measures and you can spot patterns.

(I) - the ‘constricts’ don’t represent ‘social facts’ they are social constructed

Question 25

What are the advantages and disadvantages documents?

Answer 25

``` ADV (P) - Easy access - widely available (P) - Authentic documents - in-depth (E) No harm and consent already given (T) - Quantitative data - generalizations and trends. ``` DIS (P) - Time consuming - read through the documents. (E) - May be risk of emotional harm (T) - Reduced validity - not everything is reported - not widely representative in some respect.

Question 26

What are the advantages and disadvantages official statistics?

Answer 26

ADV (P) - Saves time and money (P) - Easily accessed (T) - Highly representative as they will cover a very large sample. (T) - Highly reliable - follow set procedures. DIS (P) - Not always on every topic you want to look at (T) - Difficult comparisons if definitions change. (T) - Not everything is reported such as crimes