methods of research

Primary, Secondary, Quantititive, Qualitative
Primary, Qualitative: Goffman (1961) examined the experiences of patients in a mental institution.
USA Venkatesh (2009) studied a young gang from the viewpoint of its members

Official Statistics (Durkheim for suicie patterms)
Personal documents, digital content and media resources (Pearson for media accounts showing violent behaviour is not recent)

comparative analysi, bra overview of behaviour, can see how something has changed/comparisons
+ only source available for the topic (suicide) + costly and timely to collect data as such, readily available on the internt + representative, carefully chosen sample + hard stats = high accuracy, cannot be doubted
- not in depth, low valididity, dont know wat gov includes or excludes from data, e.g. some not recorded, no reasons for behaviour - concept defined differently - definition of key concepts varies from gov to gov, low reliability

+ saves money, time and effort + useful when not possible to collect primar data + qualitative in depth data/valuable e..g. anne drna, samuel pepys + use fr historical comparative purposes
- unavailablitity of docs - can be faked, no way to check originality, first hand exp? - reliability probs e.g. incomplete, inaccurate unrepresentative - digital sources can change e.g. inaccessability, content lost tech harder to access floppy disks

Questionnaires: postal (done in priv no researcher), research administered qstnaires (completed in presence - structured ints)
Experiments : lab and field (rosenthal and jacobson on low education achievement)
Content Analysis: (Meehan for television roles of female and Page for global warming potryal)

Unstructured ints: + limited researcher input, respondent speaks high data, + strong understanding leads to allowing sensitive discussions - skils needed - time consuming - biased by interviewer effect
semi structured ints + freedom for respondent - same disads as unstructred ints
Group ints: + researcher can help discussion + better social life involves everyones ideas rather than the indiividual only - researcher must control behaviour but talk openly too - representativeness probs, some might not show us - risk f group think (changing beliefs based on the grp)
Observations: participant obs, covert and non participant

PO: based on verstehan (empahy) + easy to record data + find sponsorhip to access grps with difficult accessability, reduces chances of being involved + high valditiy, closely observe + observers role defined, less risk of involvement
- permission denied then no access - takes time, money and effrt (ventakesh eight yrs) - hawthorne effect (ventkaesh saw fake beating- difficult to replicate - ethical concerns in illegal behaviour
CO: + study grps who wont allow themselves to be studied (riminals, closed grps, defensive grps) + no observer effect - difficult to enter grp - staying in/ getting out- difficult to not be sus - not replicable so trust - difficult to record data
NPO: objectively studied in a natural setting no involvement +allow research on those who dont want to be studied - distance s not get the indepth ddetails, - ethical issues, no consent taken - not replicable, grp cchanges overtime

testing relatinships between variables, changing iv measuring dv, can be causation or correlation to distinguish between the two 1. test and retest a relationship 2. use diff groups with the same characteristics (experimental grp ad control grp. Lab and Field - (rosenthal and Jocobson + lab easier to replicate, relability standardised procedures + high validity for cause and effect + field high generalizability to real world - difficult to control all influences -Hawthorne effec

postal: + useful when large sample, time and cost effective + reliable everyone asnwers the sam qs, repilcable, + no researcher, high validity, less bias and social desirability answers +close and open qs quantitative and qualitative
- low response rate, unrepresentative sample, some ignore qs - format makes it difficult to examine complex issues and opinions - no way of knowing if understood qs - biased qs: difff meaning for some ppl, leading qs

structured ints
+ reliability, not understanding or answering qs fixed by researcher +100% response rate
- assumptions judgements made about the person (biased qs) - anonyity leads to interviewer effect/ researcher efect

research method for systematic analysis of meida tests and comminications, quantitative analyses of qualitative data + identify underlying themes and patterns of behaviour which weren't apparent before + for ceoncept mapping (quantifying ehaviour alllowing to draw complex conclusions( + standardiesed framework so data can be checked and replicated - low reliability, subjective judgements on what bis being counted and behaviour being put it categories

1. Planning
2. Info gathering
3. Info processing
4. Evaluation

list of everyone in the tp used for 1. researcher to contact people in the sample to interview 2. everyone in the tp not identified so sample cant be representatative use sample frame to collect.
even with sample frame access denied to people because of confidentiality, privacy, legality

Random: random selection of names from a sampling frame to produce representative s, everyone in tp has equal chance of being selected
Systematic: used when tp large, taking s from sf, 25% of sample has to be collected from 100 names, every 4th person chosen
Stratified: when tp in small grps, sample taken in same proportion as it makes of the tp

Stratified quota: selection done on opportunity basis, need 20 males, ask men to take part once reached 20 quota complete.
Opportunity: using available ppl - snowball:rolling up people over time, find one ps, he suggsts more until usable sample

- mini version of the full sale study is designed to test for feasibility
- identify problems like access to respondent to save ime, money effort for larger study
- pretest research method, difff qs, exmning and analysing data to ensure qs obtaians correct data
- identifying and removing sources of bias and unreliability

Case studies: + great depth, detail, igh validity + small sample lots of data collected cost effectively - large scale timely, costly, lots of effort - detailed case stuides skills needed, spend months with ps - difficult to generalize
social surveys: , ethnography, logitudinal study

methodological pluralism: Combining research method to complement the other to improve research reliability and validity, combine quantitiativeand qualitative methods, use because diff r, have diff s/w e.g. qs - reliable data but low validity,covert obs - valid but unreliable

Triangulation: use two or more research methods where the weakness of one method can be balanced by a strength of another to improve r and v, or can compare results of two diff rm of the same ps to confirm r and v
combinations: tw or more researchers using the same technique, one researcher using two or more techniques, two or more researchers using two or more techniques.

More time, effort, expense needed, more researchers needed, collecting and comparing data can be complicated, data can be contradicting, don't know which one is true and should be trusted

Promotes scientific methods to discover facts about the social world
socio a sicence, study social world like study natural world
social structures - force shaping our behavioural choices, objective forces cant control
look at structural forces making people choose actions rather than their effects, quantitative method, vale free approach, quantify behaviours, Auguste Comte: socio a science, discover laws of human behaviour like scientists

enable the sociologist to understand the meanings that people attach to their actions.
social relaility frmed through consiousness and relationships, exercise their free will over choices, rather than just react to structural stimulation
behaviour cannot be studied the same way as non human world, society is a social contrsuction doesnt exist in bjective form, has to be experienced and understood understand meaning of action from actors pov - verstehen, goal validity and subecitivity. Max Weber.

Universal: knwoldge evaluated using objective, universally agreed criteria, no values,
Communal: shared freely in the community, can replicate work
Disinterested: goal to seek knoweldge no personal interest
Sceptical: must constantly evaluate

Topic choice: access to subjects/cooperation in the research
choice of methd: some topics easier to study from one method than the other, time and costeffective method, qs cheaper than ints

unethical to study without consent and decieve about the purpose
physically and psychologically protected, legal and safety cosiderations
legal: observing or participaing in illegal behaviour, avoid immersive methods like ps observ
codes of ethicial practice: is the data rersult tre/fair/wise.