Sampling Strengths & Weaknesses

Question 1

Longitudinal study definition

Answer 1

Gathers data from a single group over a long period of time

Question 2

Longitudinal study strengths

Answer 2

• Produce qualitative and valid data focused on people’s interpretation of reality (verstehen)
• Allows sociologists to document how the influence of social factors influence people
• Allow hypotheses to be modified

Question 3

Longitudinal study weaknesses

Answer 3

• Original sample may become too research friendly and end up working out what the researcher wants and giving it to them, creating bias
• The original sample may drop out, move away or die and the remaining members may not be representative of the group originally studied
• The original research team may lose sight of the original goals
• Such research is expensive

Question 4

Ethnography study definition

Answer 4

The study of people in their own environment through the use of methods such as participant observation and face-to-face interviewing

Question 5

Ethnography study strengths

Answer 5

• More realistic picture

* Uncovers extremely valuable insight

Question 6

Ethnography study weaknesses

Answer 6

• Requires time.
• Creating a normal environment is not always easy.
• It’s more difficult to recruit

Question 7

Quantitative data definition

Answer 7

Statistical or numerical data that can be presented in graphs, tale, percentages etc

Question 8

Quantitative data strengths

Answer 8

• Has comparative value
• Can be observed for patterns, trends, correlations and so on
• Used to establish cause and effect relationships in order to deduce ‘facts’ about human behaviour

Question 9

Quantitative data weaknesses

Answer 9

• Not much detail provided in the studies
• Using secondary data is often not accurate
• E.g., official statistics are often unaware of the crime rate amongst middle class (white-collar crime)

Question 10

Qualitative data definition

Answer 10

Information that is usually expressed in the words of the research subjects. Focused on insight into people’s feelings and attitudes.

Question 11

Qualitative data strengths

Answer 11

• Richer in detail and validity
• Lets research subjects speak for themselves
• Gives insight to people’s behaviour
• Sometimes people conduct social experiments themselves
• Secondary sources are also used
• This is good, as there is a variety of ways to obtain data, resulting in a more valid outcome

Question 12

Qualitative data weaknesses

Answer 12

• Difficult to sort through the data and pick out the important parts
• Time consuming, particularly in instances such as unstructured interviews
• The participant may ramble on and not provide much useful information
• Research subjects could lie about some things
• Secondary sources are not always reliable