Research Methods

What is validity?

• A true and accurate description or measurement

• Different researchers using the same methods obtain the same results

What is qualitative data?

• Data in the form of numbers and statistics

• Data that is valid

• Data in the form of words and detail

What is positivist sociology?

• Understanding human behaviour through the eyes of those being studied.

• Less concerned with meaning and more concerned with measuring behaviour and analysing numbers.

• Concerned with the ethics of a method

This word means - information being withheld from participants and/or they are provided with false information.

• Informed consent

• Deception

• Privacy

What do Lab experiments allow researchers to do?

• Study people in their natural setting

• Understand the real world

• Control variables

What is an advantage of field experiments?

• Controlling variables

• Quantifying results

• Ecological validity

What is a survey?

• Systematic collection of the same type of data from a large number of people

• A small scale study

• An interview

Which sampling type is used for market research e.g. questioning people who fit their criteria?

• Random sampling

• Systematic sampling

• Quota sampling

What does it mean to operationalise a concept?

• Break it down into a measurable format

• Turn it into numbers

Which interview type has pre-set questions which allow for elaboration and probing

• Structured

• Unstructured

• Semi-structured