Download Component 2 research methods booklet

Component 2 Research Methods.
What you need to know
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Definitions of all the following terms and methods.
You should know which methods are qualitative and which are quantitative.
You should also be able to give examples of research you know about. (There are
lots of examples in this booklet plus others you will learn about over the course)
You also need to know the different sampling methods and why they are selected
for certain types of research.
How to evaluate each method in terms of GROVER (generalisability,
representativeness, objectivity/operationalisation, validity, ethics and reliability).
In Year 2 you will need to be able to design a piece of research of your own
considering all the above.
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Definitions
Types of data and approaches to research
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Primary data: first hand original research (e.g. participant observation, focus group,
social surveys)
Secondary data : data already collected; used for different reasons such as reanalysis
(e.g. official statistics)
Quantitative: data that is largely numerical in form(e.g. large
scale social survey)
Qualitative: data consisting of words/meaning/interpretations
(e.g. participant observation)
Positivist: objectivity, causes, reliability, sociology should be
scientific
Interpretivist : sociology and research should report on how people understand the
world (meanings)
Realist: Value both quantitative and qualitative methods as it depends on what is
being studied
Feminist: usually Feminist researchers prefer qualitative methods. Their research
usually involves understanding women’s lives and focuses on how to improve gender
equality.
Mixed methods:Triangulation - several different methods are used to conduct the
same kind of research so that the reliability and validity can be checked.
Methodological Plurism - the use of mixed methods to conduct one single study.
Evaluating research studies and methods
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Generalisability: can the findings from one setting be applied
to similar settings? Are the findings from a study of student drug users in
London similar to findings if we studied drug users in Manchester?
Reliability: the extent to which repeated measurements, under
the same conditions, produce the same results. If other
researchers using the same methods, under the same
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conditions, produced the same results then the data is reliable.
How constant are the findings? Quantitative methods often lack validity but are
often reliable. Qualitative methods are criticised for being unreliable.
Objective: to what extent is the research value free and a reflection of reality?
Operationalisation : Expressing a concept in a way that can be measured. For
example; it is pointless to talk about social class if no indicator of what social class
means is provided. The basic point is sound; if you cannot define something then
you cannot measure it.
Validity: does the data provide a true picture of what is being
studied or measured? Are the findings an accurate account of
social reality?
Ethical issues: involve informed consent, deception,confidentiality, protection from
harm, right to withdraw.
Representativeness: Is the group of people being studied
typical of others? Sampling techniques are important in gaining a representative
group of participants. Random techniques are used for quantitative research and
non-random for qualitative.
Researcher Bias: This is when the researcher may inadvertently affect the results by
leading participants or interpreting data incorrectly – seeing what they want to see!
Social Desirability Bias: Participants sometimes give answer which make them look
good or prevent them from looking bad e.g I never drink alcohol ! such answers will
affect the validity of the research as they are not truthful.
Hawthorne effect: When participants behave differently because they know they
are being observed.
Practical issues: Time, cost, practicality of method, availability of sample, funding.
Going Native: When a researchers becomes overly involved in their research group
that they lose objectivity.
Sampling - Selecting Participants for research
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Access: this refers to how researchers gain their participants, they may need access
to confidential information such as the electoral roll, school registers, doctors
registers etc. The target population may be sensitive e.g drug abusers so access can
be a problem.
Target population: The social groups the researcher is interested in e.g offenders
Sampling frame: A representative list of people from the target population from
which the sample will be drawn e.g young offenders institutions
Random sampling: participants are selected randomly by computer or by hand e.g
from a hat, this ensures every person in the frame has an equal chance of being
selected
Stratified random sampling: the sample frame is separated into strata e.g gender,
age, ethnicity and then random samples are drawn separately from the stata to
ensure a representative sample
Systematic sampling: the first participant is drawn at random and then every nth (5th
or 10th etc) is drawn after that.
Quota sampling: Non-random as it involves the researcher selecting a quota of
particpants from particular groups e.g male/ Asian.
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Snowball sampling: used when participants are difficult to access e.g gang members.
One contact asks friends if they will take part and the friends ask more friends and so
on. This is non-random.
Purposive sampling: non-random, selecting a group of people for a specific purpose
e.g Car workers in Luton.
Opportunity Sampling: Non-rando, the researchers selects participants based on
who is convenient and available at the time.
Gatekeepers : These are the people who work in institutions like education or a care
home that can facilitate access to a group of participants e.g school children or
disabled people.
Methods – ways of collecting data
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Social Survey: a quantitative study on a large scale to find information regarding issues
like crime, attitudes, habits etc- uses questionnaires or face to face structured
interviews.
Questionnaire: requires respondents to answer in writing – can be large scale or small,
open or closed questions but are usually quantitative.
Interviews: Face to face interaction between researcher and interviewee. Can be
structured and quantitative or semi-structured or unstructured which are qualitative.
Observations: observing groups or individuals either from afar (covert) or with their
consent (overt). Can be structured and quantitative or qualitative as in participant
observation where the researcher becomes part of the group.
Experiments: Not usually done in Sociology although there are some examples. Can be
laboratory (in a closed environment) or field (in a natural setting) Involves manipulating
and controlling variables such as gender to see the effect on behaviour. I.e do people
behave differently towards baby boys or girls.
Statistical data: form of secondary, quantitative data used to gather numerical data on
phenomena e.g GCSE results.
Content Analysis: usually quantitative data collecting by analysing the content of media
publications, tv shows etc e.g How many minutes do women appear in Eastenders
compared to men.
Focus Groups: uses qualitative methods to explore issues relating to a group e.g
community wellbeing.
Personal Documents: Include letters, diaries, photographs and are useful for qualitative
research particularly for Historical comparisons.
Longitudinal studies: conducted over a long period of time comparing data from
participants to see changes. Can be quantitative or qualitative.
Pilot Studies: Only carried out on quantitative studies to test quality of questions for
questionnaires or interviews- checks validity and reliability before a large scale study is
done.
Case Studies: carried out on individuals or small groups – in depth account of their
stories so is qualitative.
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Famous studies in Sociology
Official Statistics
 The Census – every household every 10 years. Full picture of population of UK
 Crime statistics from police/courts, and British Crime survey
 ‘Suicide’ Emile Durkheim
Questionnaires
 The Census – closed questions
 ‘Hite Report’ – Shere Hite – open questions, feminist
 ‘The Making of a Moonie’ – Eileen Barker
 British Crime Survey
Interviews
 ‘From here to Maternity’- Anne Oakley – in depth interviews
 ‘Sociology of Housework’/’Housewife’ – Anne Oakley – structured and in depth
interviews
 ‘Interviewing women – a contradiction in terms’ - Anne Oakley (journal article on
feminist views on interviews as a research method)
 ‘The Making of a Moonie’ Eileen Barker – in depth, interpretivist
Experiments
 Counselling experiment – Harold Garfinkel – field experiment – ethnoethodological
 ‘Pygmalion in the Classroom’ – Rosenthal and Jacobsen – field experiment interpretivist
 ‘On being sane in insane places’ – Rosenhan – field experiment – interpretivist
 Bobo doll experiments – Bandura etc – lab experiments – social psychology
 Zimbardo Stanford Prison Study
Observation
 ‘Analysing Teaching Behaviour’ – N Flanders – overt, structured, non participant
 ‘A Glasgow Gang Observed’ – James Patrick – largely covert, participant
 ‘The Tearoom Trade’ – Laud Humphreys – covert and overt, semi participant
 ‘Learning to Labour’ – Paul Willis – largely overt, mostly participant
 ‘The Making of a Moonie’ – Eileen Barker – overt, participant
Postal Questionnaires
Shere Hite. The Hite Report: Women and Love
This feminist study was carried out in the 1970s and early 1980 and made use of a postal
questionnaire. There are number of ways in which these may be administered. They may be
sent to a pre selected sample or issued as an insert in a magazine or as in the case of the
Hite Report questionnaires might be left in offices in places of work etc.
Background Hite began her work in the 1970s and her aim was to cast light on what at that
time was a secret and forbidden area of social life. Earlier in the twentieth century it was
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supposed by some experts that women had not independent sex drive and that men were
the sexual sex. If women did display an interest in sex this was often regarded as deviant
and shameful. Although this attitude had changed by the early 1970s it was still an area that
was regarded as taboo and not generally spoken about openly.
The Questionnaire For this reason she decided that the subject was best approached
anonymously and respondents were asked not to sign their names. Hite quotes one of her
respondents:
I would find it very hard to say all these things to another person, and I am sure that many
women would feel the same as I. I am sick of reading various “advice” columns about what I
should be feeling, but I have not found another forum for saying what I think myself, taking
my own time, rethinking, not feeling any pressure to be perfect or “in” or anything.
Hite was also concerned not to impose her own frame of reference onto what she was
trying to discover, she therefore rejected closed pre-coded questions in favour of openended which would “permit women’s own voices to emerge”. The questionnaire contained
over a hundred questions – see page two for some examples.
The sample
As well as being concerned about anonymity, Hite wanted a widespread a sample as
possible. For these reasons she distributed her questionnaire through clubs, church groups,
work places, senior citizens homes and women’s organizations throughout the United
States. By selecting a range of organizations she was able to she believed to get a
reasonable representation of different social groups. In all she distributed 100,000
questionnaires of which 4,500 were returned. (i.e. 4.5%)
Analysis of the data
Because the questions were nearly all open ended the task of analyzing the data was very
complex and time-consuming. However after studying the data, she was able to code some
of the replies once patterns had begun to emerge, because certain types of answers
occurred more or less frequently to some of the questions.
Questions for discussion
 Explain why the anonymity of respondents helps to encourage greater validity?
 What else did Hite do to encourage validity?
 How did she try to ensure representativeness?
 Does a response rate of 4.5% undermine any aspect of the study? If so which?
 Might there be any problems in coding/sorting responses?
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YEAR 2 Questions for consolidation/discussion
Sampling
1. What is meant by “a sample” of a population (1)
2. Why does a sample have to be representative of a population (2)
3. Identify and explain one feature of random sampling (2)
4. Identify suitable sampling frames for the following research (2 marks)
i. Students at this college
ii. The voting intentions of people in England
5. 11. Identify and briefly explain three types of random sampling (3)
6. What two strata would you use to stratify a sample based on the need to get the
views of men and women of different ages (2)
7. Quota sampling is a type of stratified sampling that does not select people
randomly for inclusion in the sample. Why might a researcher use quota sampling
instead of stratified random sampling (3)
8. Explain, using an appropriate example, why sociologists sometimes use nonrandom sampling (4)
9. Briefly explain, using an appropriate example, snowball sampling (3)
Quantitative research Methods
10. Identify one feature of quantitative research (1 mark)
11. Identify one feature of social surveys (1 mark)
12. What are the aims of surveys (1)
13. Why do sociologists use pilot studies / surveys (1)
14. How do longitudinal surveys overcome the problem of only receiving a “snapshot”
of people’s behaviour (1)
15. Why are longitudinal surveys unreliable at times (1)
16. You have been asked to research juvenile crime rates among males and
females in Britain:
a. Identify and explain 3 possible advantages of using questionnaires
for this research (5 marks)
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b. Identify and explain 3 possible disadvantages of using
questionnaires for this research (5)
17. Write 2 closed questions (2 marks) and 2 open questions (2 marks) you
might want to ask your respondents.
18. Identify and explain 1 advantage (2) and 1 disadvantage (2) of closed
questions.
19. Identify and explain 1 advantage (2) and 1 disadvantage (2) of open
questions.
20. A close questionnaire was used explore the extent of minor crimes
committed by university students in the UK. It contained a list of minor
offenses such as underage drinking, littering, speeding, shoplifting etc
Participants were asked to tick a box to indicate if they had ever committed
these offenses.
a. Why did the questionnaire use closed, rather than open, questions
(1)
b. Why is this type of questionnaire an appropriate method to use when
trying to discover the amount of criminal behaviour in society (2)
Qualitative Research Methods
21. Identify and briefly explain the difference between structured and
unstructured interviews (2)
22. Identify some possible advantages (2) and disadvantages (2) of
unstructured, as opposed to structured, interviews.
23. Identify and briefly explain the difference between individual and group
interviews (1)
24. Identify some possible advantages (2) and disadvantages (2) of group, as
opposed to individual, interviews.
25. As a follow-up piece of research you have decided to interview a volunteer
selection of people who answered your self-report crime questionnaire:
26. Identify and explain some possible advantages of using interviews for this
research (4 marks)
27. Identify and explain some possible disadvantages of using interviews for
this research (4)
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28. Briefly explain how the use of an unstructured interview for this research
might give you a greater depth of information about why people commit
crimes (2)
29. How might your presence, as a researcher, at the interview affect the data
you collect (4)
30. Briefly explain the term “qualitative data” (1 mark)
31. Why do some sociologists use observational research (1)
32. Using an example to illustrate your answer, what would ethnographic
research in modern Britain involve (2)
33. Using an example to illustrate your answer, define the following:
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Non participant observation (2)
Participant observation (2)
Overt participant observation (2)
Covert participant observation (2
34. You have been asked to do participant observation based research at
a Further Education College, investigating college life from the staff and
student’s points of view. Look at each of the following advantages of
participant observation; for each, briefly explain, using examples drawn
from your research, how they would be advantages in your research (3):
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High in validity
Reduces Hawthorne effect
Richness of data
35. Look at each of the following disadvantages of participant observation; for
each, briefly explain, using examples drawn from your research, how they
might be disadvantages in your research (4):
 Ethics
 Going native
 Low reliability
 Unable to generalise findings
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Research Designs in Year 2
You will be asked to outline a research design on a topic which will be given to
you. It will also state whether the study should be qualitative or quantitative. You
will then have to discuss any problems which may occur with your design. You
should design a study which is fitting for the topic given to you. So don’t try to
write one you have pre-prepared, just practice doing them. You need to cover
the sub-headings below in your design.
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Aim, a statement about what your overall aim is
Hyposthesis (If quantitative) a prediction about what you think will be
found
Operationalisation (how are you measuring/defining the concept e.g
class inequalities)
Sampling method (how will you get access to your participants and select
them?)
Method used (primary or secondary data collection and actual method)
Procedure used, how you would actually carry it out
Analysis of the data, how would you analyse it and what you might
expect to find.
Evaluation. A couple of paragraphs at most explaining any problems you
might anticipate with data collection e.g time, cost, access to sample, and
problems with the design itself in terms of GROVER, see above.
A way to remember the order (since we have studied Hippies) is…
A Hippy only smokes marijuana properly after eating.
Example Question and design. As an A level Sociologist, you have been asked to
discover whether old people feel that they are the subjects of age discrimination in
the UK. Suggest a simple research design and justify your choices. Explain the
difficulties that you might experience in carrying out your design and suggest how
you would avoid them. (30 Marks)
Aim This quantitative study would aim to collect primary data to discover the extent
of age discrimination in the UK by asking a sample of older people about their
experiences and perceptions. I have chosen to use a quantitative study as I will be
able to discover statistically whether a high proportion of the sample feel they have
been discriminated against.
Hypothesis The percentage of older people who feel they have experienced age
discrimination in the uk will be lower than those who feel they have not.
Operationalisation For the purpose of this study ‘old people’ will people who are
over 75yrs of age in Torbay. Whether or not those people have been ‘subjects of
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discrimination’ will be defined as whether or not they feel they have been refused
health services, jobs or benefits on the basis of their age.
Sample The sampling frame would be anyone over age 75. The study will use
random sampling as this is appropriate for a quantitative study. A random sample of
100 participants who are over 75 could be selected by entering names into a
computer and using a random generator of names. This could be done via the
electoral roll for Torbay.
Method The method will be a written questionnaire in survey format using closed
yes or no questions. Using this method will make it easier to analyse the results and
discover the numbers of people who feel they have been discriminated against on
the various issues. Using this method as opposed to interviews would also cut down
the cost and time consumed.
Procedure First I would need to design my questionnaire considering validity,
reliability and ethics, making sure not to ask offensive or ambiguous questions. The
questionnaire would ask simple questions such as ‘Have you been refused any health
services in the past 5 years ? yes/no’ followed by ‘if yes, do you feel this was due to
your age? Yes/no. Next I would contact local government to find out if it was
possible to gain a list of all those over 75 on the electoral roll for Torbay or if they
could generate a random sample of 100 names for me. Once I had received the list I
would conduct a pilot study by randomly selecting out of a bag 5 names of people to
post questionnaires to with stamped addressed envelopes. The questionnaire itself
would be returned anonymous to protect confidentiality. Once the pilot
questionnaires have been received back I would check responses for obvious
misunderstandings which may affect validity and make alterations to my
questionnaire. I would then post questionnaires to the remaining 95 people and
await their responses.
Analysis I would analyse the raw data from my study by placing all responses in
categories first. Those with all no answers, and those with all or some yes answers. I
would work out the percentage of pps who felt they had been discriminated against
on any issue. I would then work out which issue was of most concern by finding out
the percentage of pps who answered yes for health, jobs and benefits separately. I
could then represent this data using a bar chart . I would return to my aim and
hypothesis and come to a conclusion about whether age discrimination was a
significant issue for the sample of pps involved in the survey.
Evaluation Using a positivist approach means that the study would lack qualitative
data and therefore I would not gain rich data about the pp’s experiences of
discrimination. This means that the study may lack validity. This could be rectified
by changing the study to a mixed method approach using some open questions.
Another issues related to validity is the questionnaire itself. There may be wording
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in the questions which leads to misunderstandings and/or encourages pps to give
socially acceptable answers which may affect the accuracy and truthfulness of the
data. For example they not wish to disclose that they have been refused treatment
because they are overweight. This could be dealt with by using the pilot study as
suggested or by checking the questionnaire with an experienced Sociologist. The
random sample will also be selected only from one small area of the UK and
therefore this sample may be too small and specific to generalise to the whole
population of over 75s. This could be dealt with by selecting pps from several
different parts of the UK. Furthermore the random sample may turn out to be
uneven in terms of males and females and the study may therefore lack
representativeness of both genders equally. This could be rectified by using a
stratified sampling method. Due to the method used it is possible that some pps will
not respond to the questionnaire and therefore the actual sample could be even
smaller. This could be improved by using interview method but this could be timeconsuming. There is also the time and cost involved in sending out questionnaires
with no guarantee of a response and in collating and analysing the data. This could
be dealt with by using existing secondary sources in relation to age discrimination
but then the data would not be so current. This study uses a positivist approach to
research using quantitative methods and primary data. This makes my study more
scientific and value-free. It uses random sampling therefore producing a higher
probability that the results can be generalised to the wider population of those over
75. The study should have high reliability as the questionnaire uses closed questions
making it easily replicable therefore producing consistent data. The study does not
involve much inconvenience or offense to the participants and would be anonymous
and voluntary and therefore meets ethical guidelines.
More examples of research on Social Inequality
TASK Try evaluating their methods in term of advantages and disadvantages and
GROVER
Royal Commission of Distribution of Income
Collected official government statistics on income distribution and found that
conservative policies have consistently benefitted the wealthy whilst labour
government policies have closed equality gap a little these policies were unable to
keep up with rise in wealth at the very top e.g footballers and celebrities.
Oxford Mobility Study (Goldthorpe and Payne (1986) looks at official employment
statistics from census information. No change in social mobility and a continuing
practice of elite self-recruitment in upper classes HOWEVER – when women’s
income is taken into account instead of just the man in the household the mobility
picture is different.
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Devine (2005) used 50 unstructured interviews with doctors and teachers and found
that they were generally not at ease with a middle-class identity and often referred to
themselves as working class.
The Future Foundation (2006) used statistical data from British Household survey
which showed 43% of people in Uk define themselves as middle-class compared to
53% defining themselves as working class and only 1% as upper class.
Thiel (2007) used participant observation of builders at a construction site in London.
Found that masculine practises of larking about, piss-taking, defying authority was
still very strong part of working-class working culture similar to Paul Willis’ findings in
Learning to Labour. Shows we cannot separate social class and gender.
Jones (1997) used mixed methods of questionnaires and interviews to study causes
of the underclass. Focused on young homeless people. Found that circumstances
were a mixture of individual choice and structural contraints.
Seager (1997) used time diaries to explore time spent on tasks by men and women.
Found that women spend more time on domestic chores whilst men more on paid
work. Men also had more rest and leisure time.
Heth and Yi Cheung (2006) used statistical analysis of existing data and found that
there is a greater ethnic penalty (disadvantage) for Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and
Caribbean people.
Skeggs (1997) used a longitudinal design using qualitative interviews to explore
attitudes towards class in females. She found women were consistently concerned
with escaping what they saw as people who were not respectable. They sought
respectability through going to night classes, wearing particular types of clothing etc.
Palmer et al (2006) Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion. Used 50 indicators to
measure poverty in the UK, used secondary sources see textbook pg 234.
Midgley and Bradshaw , Should I stay or should I go. Focus groups and interviews
exploring rural youth transitions. Found that many young people have to move away
from home town to get a job. This was backed up by 24 semi-structured interviews.
September 2005 – release of tv programme series 49UP (from original
7UPLongitudinal study) based on class differences in the UK. Can be watched on
the net.
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Year 2 Tasks
Lesson 1 & 2
Present research projects in class receive marked work and feedback.
Lesson 4
Read ppt to slide 24 and use AS/A Level textbook, write definitions of Positivism,
Interpretivism, Realism and Feminist approaches and note down advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Lesson 6
Slide 46 on powerpoint, download Research design template from the blog.
Devising your own research study and write up an aim, hypothesis and how you will
operationalise the concepts.
Lesson 7
Answer questions on sampling in this booklet (No. 1-9) and complete for home
learning. Using your design template again write up how you will gain a sample for
your own study from last week.
Lessons 9, 11 & 13
Answer questions in this booklet No 10-35 on quantitative and qualitative methods
and complete for home learning. Write up in your design template which method you
would choose for your own study and the procedure in terms of practical
considerations.
Lesson 14
Use ppt slides 44-45, and example exam papers to analyse quantitative research
and review some qualitative research (Claire Alexander’s study on Asian gangs).
Write up in your template how you would analyse the data for your own study.
Lesson 15
Recap over GROVER concepts and complete an evaluation of your own study on
your template. Include practical considerations in your evaluation.
Lesson 16&18
Practice research designs using practice questions, this booklet and textbook.
Complete designs using template on the blog for home learning.
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