Types of Data
Information collected personally by the researcher is what kind of data?
Primary
Which method(s) have this strength: cost effective
You only need to name one method.
Questionnaires, content analysis, analysis of official statistics (additional responses will be reviewed and considered)
Identify the research method that has the listed weaknesses. Group can refuse to give permission, time and money are required, observer effect can influence data, superficial understanding, potential exposure illegal activities and/or dangerous situations, low reliability
Overt Participant Observation
Define ‘value free’.
Ability of researchers to prevent their own values from influencing research
Identify the term: Relatively small group of people representative of the target population
Sample
Information that already exists not collected by the researcher is what kind of data?
Secondary
Extent to which the characteristics of a sample population accurately reflect those of the target population
Representativeness
Which method of INTERVIEW has this limitation: "A skilled interviewer is required to keep the participant on topic without influencing their answers"
Unstructured Interview
Describe how ‘Institutional Values’ can influence the selection of a research topic.
Values of governments, and universities may dictate what a researcher can or cannot study.
Survey that is explicitly designed to produce a snapshot of behavior at any given time.
Cross-sectional study
What is qualitative data?
Non-numeric data that expresses the quality of a relationship / data that answers a why question
Identify the research method that has the listed strengths; ability to observe groups that normally wouldn't allow observation such as criminal, religious or political groups, avoids observer effect, gain insight into the groups norms values and roles, deeper understanding
Covert Participant Observation
'Going native' is a limitation of what TWO research methods?
Covert and overt participant observation
Define ‘verstehen’ according to Weber/Mead
To understand by experiencing, take the part of another.
Identify the term: Converting a concept into something that can be researched and measured
Operationalization
Define quantitative data and the three ways it can be expressed. (not the type of questions it answers)
Definition: Numerically expressed data
Raw number
Percentage
Rate
Identify a strength of methodological pluralism.
Ability to collect qualitative and quantitative data, internal validity, increases reliability and validity, increases the quantity of data collected
Identify a limitation of case studies.
Large scale studies take up time and money, high demands need a skilled researcher, time intensive, can be demanding of participants, difficult to make generalizations to whole populations
(Positivist or Interpretivist) Believe that human behavior is unpredictable and cannot be studied the same way natural sciences can. The best a researcher can do is describe reality from the viewpoint of those who define it.
Interpretivists
Identify the term: Sampling used in research when the behavior of a group is being studied rather than what that behavior represents.
Non-representative Sampling
Give an example of a method that collects qualitative data AND an example of a method that collects quantitative data
Qualitative:Participant observation, case studies, unstructured interviews, non-participant observation, longitudinal studies, personal documents, government reports
Quantitative:surveys,questionnaires, structured interviews, experiments, non-participant observation, longitudinal studies, official statistics
Identify a strength of non-participant observation.
may not need informed consents as participants are not identified specifically, ease of access, objective observation, no observer effect, no risk of going native
Sample attrition: people drop out of the study over time, making it less representative is a limitation of what research method?
Longitudinal Research
(Positivist or Interpretivist) Believes that social action is decided by structural forces, makes sense to study the causes of behavior. Looking at the choices people make rather than the effect of those choices.
Positivist
Define reliability AND validity
Reliability: ability to get the same result with similar trials/ ability to repeat a study
Validity: the study is measuring what it set out to/ the data collected reflects what was being measured