sociology
- Created by: molliemurray
- Created on: 08-01-20 09:18
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- choosing a research method
- primary and secondary sources of data
- primary data
- information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes
- e.g. social surveys, participant observations, experiments
- secondary data
- information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes
- e.g. official statistics, documents
- primary data
- quantitative and qualitative data
- quantitative data
- refers to information in a numerical form
- e.g. official statistics, opinion polls, market research surveys
- qualitative data
- gives a 'feel' for what something is like
- e.g. what it feels like to get good GCSE results or for one's marriage to end in divorce
- e.g. in-depth interviews, participant observations
- rich descriptions of people's feelings and experiences
- quantitative data
- factors influencing choice of methods
- practical issues
- time and money
- e.g. large scale surveys may employ dozens of interviewers and data-imputing staff cost a lot of money
- requirements of funding bodies
- research institutes, businesses and other organisations that provide the funding may require the results to be in a particular form
- personal skills + characteristics
- e.g. participant observations usually requires the ability to mix easily with others as well as good powers of observation and recall
- not all sociologists will have these specific skills needed for the research
- e.g. participant observations usually requires the ability to mix easily with others as well as good powers of observation and recall
- subject matter
- e.g. it may be difficult for a male sociologist to study an all female group by means of participant observation
- e.g. written questionnaires may be useless for studying those who are illiterate
- research opportunity
- e.g. a Glasgow gang leader offered the sociologist James Patrick (1973) the chance 'out of the blue' to spend time with his gang
- Patrick had to use a participant observation
- e.g. a Glasgow gang leader offered the sociologist James Patrick (1973) the chance 'out of the blue' to spend time with his gang
- time and money
- ethical issues
- informed consent
- the researcher should also tell them about all relevant aspects of the research so they can make a fully informed decision
- research participants should be offered the right to refuse to be involved
- consent should be obtained before research begins
- the researcher should also tell them about all relevant aspects of the research so they can make a fully informed decision
- confidentiality and privacy
- researchers should keep the identity of research participants secret in order to help prevent possible negative effects on them
- researchers should also respect their privacy, keeping their info confidential
- harm to research participants
- researchers need to be aware of the possible effects of their work on those they study
- these could include, police intervention, harm to employment prospects, social exclusion and psychological damage
- vulnerable groups
- special care should be taken where participants are particularly vulnerable because of their age, disability, physical or mental health
- e.g. when studying children in school, researchers should be aware of issues surrounding child protection
- covert research
- when a researchers identity and purpose are being hidden from those being studied
- unethical and creates issues such as deceiving or lying to people in order to win their trust and obtain information
- informed consent
- theoretical issues
- factors influencing choice of topic
- the sociologist's perspective
- New Right researcher = more likely to conduct study surrounding welfare benefits
- Feminist researcher = more likely to conduct study around domestic violence
- society's values
- as values of society change, so does the focus of the research
- e.g. rise in feminism in the 1960s led to a focus on gender inequality
- e.g. today's environmentalist concerns have generated interest in 'green crimes' such as toxic waste dumping
- as values of society change, so does the focus of the research
- practical factors
- such as inaccessibility of certain situations to the researcher may restrict their choice of topic
- e.g. sociologists may wish to study the ways in which global corporations make their decisions, this may not be possible as these are made in secret
- the sociologist's perspective
- practical issues
- the process of research
- formulating an aim or hypothesis
- operationalising concepts
- the pilot study
- samples and sampling
- the sampling frame
- sampling techniques
- non-representative sampling
- practical reasons
- theoretical reasons
- primary and secondary sources of data
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