Research Methods + Theories

What is Triangulation/Methodological Pluralism?

A combination of several different research methods to gain validity and reliability.

What are examples of studies that use Triangulation?

Humphrey - homosexual relations, used questionnaires, unstructured interviews, participant observation.

Hobson - research on teacher training, used questionnaires, participant observations, informal interviews.

What is positivism?

Believes that society is measurable and objective, social factors dictate how we behave, looks for patterns and trends in quantitative data - reliable.

What are examples of theories that are positivist?

Marxist

Feminist

Functionalist

What is interpretivism?

Believe society is subjective, filled with meaning, analyse qualitative data - valid.

What are examples of theories that are interpretivist?

Interactionalism

Post

What studies are examples of primary data experiments?

Harvey and Slatin (1976)

Charkin et al (1975) - lab

Rosenthal and Jacobsen (1963) - field

Durkheim (1897)

What are strengths of using laboratory experiments?

Quantitative data - positivist

Reliable

Can find trends in statistical data

What are limitations of laboratory experiments?

Participants not acting naturally - demand characteristics

Hard to control all variables

Unethical - hard to get access, consent, etc in educational research

What are strengths of field experiments?

Natural setting rather than artificial lab

High validity

What are limitations of field experiments?

Low reliability - difficult to replicate the same conditions

More difficult to control all variables

What are strengths of natural experiments?

No risk of Hawthorne effect - demand characteristics

What are limitations of natural experiments?

Have to get consent after the event

Hard to identify which variable is impacting the dependent variable

Low reliability

What studies are examples of primary data interviews?

Sharpe (1976)

Hart and Risley

Willis (1977)

Oakley (1981)

What are strengths of structured interviews?

Interviewers can clarify what questions mean

Better for people with low literacy skills

Reliable

What are limitations of structured interviews?

Not practical - expensive, time consuming, requires training

Building rapport is hard

Cannot ask follow up questions for context to answers

What are strengths of unstructured interviews?

Can build rapport / verstehen

Valid

Qualitative - interpretivist

What are limitations of unstructured interviews?

More time consuming

Less reliable

Harder to quantify data and find trends

What studies are examples of primary data questionnaires?

Bowles and Gintis

Ireson and Hallam

Wilkinson

What are strengths of close-ended questionnaires?

Practical

Reliable - positivist

Quantitative data - find trends

What are limitations of close-ended questionnaires?

Language barriers / low literacy skills

Limited choice of answer - low validity

What are strengths of open-ended questionnaires?

Can gain verstehen / deeper understanding

Qualitative - valid

What are limitations of close-ended questionnaires?

Time-consuming - some people may not want to fill it in

Hard to analyse and find trends / to quantify data

What are strengths of self-completion questionnaires?

Ethical / confidential

Can have open / closed questions

Anonymity may make people more truthful

What are limitations of self-completion questionnaires?

Person may lie - not representative

Time consuming to fill out so people get bored and don’t answer properly / at all

What are examples of secondary data official statistics?

Exam results

School exclusions rates

Crime rates

Unemployment rates

Birth / death rates

What are strengths of official statistics?

Reliable

Representative / generalisable

Can be used to make comparisons over time

Researcher can identify trends

Saves time and money - as it is secondary data

Positivist

Participants have to reply to things like the census

What are limitations of official statistics?

Could be biased

Don’t provide context to individual experiences

Interpretivist wouldn’t like

Time consuming to analyse all the data e.g. the census takes 8 years

What are studies that are examples of primary data observations?

Wright

Patrick (1973)

Lacey

Griffin (1961)

Maurice Punch (1971)

Humphrey’s (1970)

What are strengths of covert / participant observations?

No risk of Hawthorne effect

Valid - qualitative data

May discover unexpected behaviours

What are limitations of covert / participant observations?

Difficult to keep up an act for long periods of time

Cannot take notes - must rely on memory

Might be reluctant to reveal everything if they form relationships

Unethical - dangerous, deception, lack of consent, etc

Lacks reliability

Usually on a smaller scale - cannot generalise from a specific group

What are strengths of overt / non-participant observations?

Can take notes openly

Avoids ethical problems - can get consent, etc

Can find trends

What are limitations of overt / non-participant observations?

Hawthorne effect - demand characteristics

What studies are examples of secondary data documents?

Oakley (1974)

Gewirtz

What are strengths of documents as secondary data?

High validity

Cheap resource

What are limitations of documents as secondary data?

Difficult to get consent to use sources such as letters or diaries

Questionable creditability

Content may lack validity

What study is an example of a primary data ethnography?

Malihowski (1927)

What are strengths of ethnographies?

High validity

Can gain verstehen / deeper understanding

Build rapport

What are limitations of ethnographies?

Hawthorne effects

Impractical - time consuming, costly, etc

What study is an example of a longitudinal study?

Millenium Cohort Survey

What are strengths of longitudinal studies?

Allow researchers to see trends over time

Strong rapport

Valdi

What are limitations of longitudinal studies?

People may drop out of the study then their data cannot be used

Impractical - time consuming, costly, etc