My Research Methods

Front 1

Verstehen

Back 1

understanding human behaviour by trying to see things from the point of view of those being studied

Front 2

Reliability

Back 2

Whether another researcher, if repeating the same research using the same method on the same or similar group, would achieve the same results e.g questionnaires.

Front 3

Hawthorne effect

Back 3

Where an awareness that they are being researched changes the behaviour of individuals or groups to avoid.. covert

Front 4

Quantitative

Back 4

data in a statistical form .. creates a picture of society

Front 5

Pilot study

Back 5

A small practice run before conducting a full survey .. a sense of meeting objectives , reliable, valid, representative, cost efficient.

Front 6

Secondary data

Back 6

Data that sociologists haven't collected themselves e.g letters, stats, diaries, photos.

Front 7

Survey

Back 7

a means of collecting primary data from large numbers of people, usuailly in statistical form

Front 8

Validity

Back 8

The extent to which the findings of research provide a true or genuine picture of what is being studied

Front 9

Imposition problem

Back 9

When asking questions, the risk that researchers might be imposing their own views rather than getting at what respondents really think e.g unstructured interviews

Front 10

Qualitative

Back 10

Data concerned with meanings and understandings

Front 11

Hypothesis

Back 11

An idea the researcher guesses might be true/ testing a statement

Front 12

Ethics

Back 12

This is concerned with the morals and principles that govern the way research should be carried out

Front 13

Representative sample

Back 13

A small group drawn from a survey population, of which it contains a good cross-section (positivists)

Front 14

Sampling

Back 14

A means of selecting a smaller group of individuals from a suvey population for investigation

Front 15

Sampling Frame

Back 15

A list of names of all those in the survey population - patient lists, postal addresses

Front 16

Interpretivism

Back 16

A perspective that concentrates on understanding the meanings that people give to their behaviour

Front 17

Methodlogical pluralism

Back 17

The use of a variety of methods in a single piece of research

Front 18

Triangulation

Back 18

The use of several methods in a single piece of research to check the reliability and validity of the information collected

Front 19

Overt role

Back 19

When a participant obserrver reveals to those being observed his or her real identity and purpose

Front 20

Covert role

Back 20

This is when the participant observer conceals his or her real intentions (do not use undercover in ur exam)