Choosing a Research Method
Define Quantitative Data
Data that is numerical and can be systematically collected.
Researching teachers: Define the term 'Impression Management'
Teachers change their behavior in order to be perceived in the best light - OFSTED.
Define 'Hawthorne Effect'
Subjects change behavior depending as they know they are being observed.
Open - follow up questions can be asked
Closed - Sticking to questions and nothing else
Difference between 'structured' and 'unstructured' interviews
Structured - follow a script, face to face delivery of questionnaire
Unstructured - may ask open-ended questions
Difference between Positivists and Interpretivists methodologies
Interpretivists = emotional sociologists, prefer qualitative data
Researching pupils: What category do children fall under and why is this important to consider?
Vulnerable Group - more susceptible to hard, may not understand the questions posed at them.
What type of data to experiments tend to produce?
Quantitative
Validity - Unstructured interviews are more flexible with conversation which generates more meaning.
Rapport - informativity can generate more valid information.
Why do Interpretivists prefer validity over the other two theoretical considerations?
Allows them to draw rich in detail information and understanding meaning from their perspective - Verstehen
Researching in the classroom: What type of research method are you most likely to employ in the classroom?
Non-participant observation
What type of relationship can you discover using experiments?
Cause and effect
Questionnaires tend to lack a particular theoretical consideration, which one and why?
What is called when the interview may ask 'leading questions' which 'tells' the interviewer how to answer
Interviewer biasness
Name 2 factors for each of the P.E.T considerations with explanations
P - T, F, FB's, ROs, RS's
E - IC, C, EORS, CR
T - V, R, R, P, I
Researching schools: In order to access schools - what clearance may you need to go through?
DBS - can be expensive
What classical laboratory experiment was conducted that can be used as key study for experiments
Zimbardo - Standford Prison Experiment
Hypotheses
What did Hilray Graham argue that structured research methods tend to be?
Graham states they tend to be patriarchal which gives a distorted picture about women's experience.
State all 4 sampling techniques and which is the most representative
Systematic, Stratified, Random and Quota
Stratified - mirrors the characteristics of the wider pop.
Researching parents: Why might social class be an issue when it comes to researching parents?
Define comparative method and provide an example
Comparison 2 sets of statistical data and drawing comparisons between them - Durkheim suicide study.
Postal questionnaires are useful because they tend to be what? (D_ _ _ _ _ _ & O _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ )
Detached and Objective
Provide an example of a sociologist who used interviews in their work in Education
Becker - Interviewed teacher perceptions of ideal pupil
Mirza - Interview black girls
Sharpe - Interview girls in 1976 && 1990
Gerwritz - Parental interviews
Lacey - informal conversations with pupils