Explain what is meant by the term ‘objectivity’ (2 marks)
Objectivity means that the researcher has to remain natural while conducting research and to not be bias.
Suggest two disadvantages of longitudinal studies in sociological research (4 marks)
A main disadvantage of longitudinal studies is panel attrition. If you are going to study a group of 1,500 participants once a year then obviously some of these participants will no longer be able to be part of the study. This could be due to illness or death, refusal, or changes in personal information such as contact information and address. Because of this, the same size will get smaller and there wont be as much data to draw conclusions from.
Another disadvantage to longitudinal studies is that because the researcher and participants see each other one a year and over time the participant could subconsciously change their input or information in order to better suit what they believe to be the researchers hypothesis or goal. The study itself can affect how the respondent views and answers the questions.
Suggest two advantages of using structured interviews in sociological research (4 marks)
A main advantage of using a structured interview instead of an unstructured interview is that because the interviewer can standardise and controlled they are seen as reliable. Because of this, other sociologists can repeat the research and get the same results because they can ensure that the interview is conducted in the same
Research on interviews has generally shown that standardized procedures are higher in their reliability and validity than unstructured interviews. Learning how structured
Based on Surveygizmo.com the only advantage of longitudinal design is the way we can observe the changes in patters over the course of time. This is a great way for researchers to be able to determine how behaviors can changer throughout the course of years. A disadvantage of longitudinal design is panel attrition. Panel attrition refers to the group of individuals we select for the research that will not be available for the end of the study. Some of these individuals will die, change location, refusal to participate and change their contact information. A second disadvantage is since data is collected at different times; the collected data might be compromised and might not be useful for the final results. Another disadvantage is the idea of panel conditioning, which refers to the over the course of time individuals might change their responses and way of behaving/thinking just to please the researchers, provide him/her with the response they are looking for and get them out of their way. The final disadvantage is the cost of the study. It is very expensive to carry such a long research since researches have to continuously track their subjects and ensure their data is accurate. Another reason why it is so expensive is because researchers have to travel to the locations where the subjects are located and it could be miles
allows for participants that are more willing to adhere to the study, and therefore may impact the
Another disadvantage would be the Interviewer Effect. This is when the interviewer may ask leading questions that provokes an answer. The age, ethnicity, nationality, tone of voice, facial expression or gender of the interviewer may also influence answers given. Because the investigation is based on educational achievement, it is likely the interviewer is going to interview pupils. Therefore, the interviewee will be young in age and most likely to be impressionable; therefore, they are most likely to be influenced on their answers.
Although there are many disadvantages of cohort studies, the advantages seem to outweigh them. The advantages of doing a cohort study is that it does not require completely random assignment of the persons participating in the study. Another advantage of using this type of study id that it provides insight on the effects of the things around us. IN addition, it can be cheaper than doing multiple experiments or surveys to receive the same information. The disadvantages of using the cohort studies are many. One disadvantage is that with the cohort studies you have to watch the outcome of the group over time, so it takes a long time to get the results. Another disadvantage is that the subjects are human so the outcomes of each group
| -The observer may be biased-There is no control over variables, so it makes it difficult to draw conclusions (Brain, C, 2000).-Requires high level of participation which can cost a lot and take up a lot of time-People might change their behaviour if they know that they are being observed-Researcher might miss something while they are watching and taking notes (University of Surrey, 2014).
* The limited sample size is a possible problem. Also, the use of longitudinal study tends to follow a subject for a very long period of time. Possibly decades. This type of study is generally used in psychology and sociology studies. Perhaps, a cross sectional study would be more appropriate as it makes
Second, the research design can be changed to address the limitations. Instead of a Retrospective, cross-sectional case study, a longitudinal study can be used. If the longitudinal study was used, then direct-measurements could be used to collect data rather than self-report surveys.
It is very time consuming and the person doing the research needs to know what they are doing in order to not make any mistakes. Because it takes time to build a relationship and trust with the people associated with the test. Sometimes it can lead to too little of information and a few false findings. Just as any research could go, sometimes there’s informational bias and misinterpretation (Savage, 2000). One good thing about this type of research though is that it works well with complex and confusing groups. They can most the time determine things that other research cannot, and help with following up on certain occasions. It isn’t really concerned with one exact individual, it really just focuses on a large group and what sorts of patterns are predominant and widespread. Ethnographic research is very much concerned with culture and diversity (Savage,
There are several limitations to a prospective study design. A prospective study can be very expensive and time-consuming.10 This study is not ideal for rare diseases or conditions with a long latency.10 Another major limitation is the loss of participants for follow-up which can lead to bias.10 There is a higher risk of recall bias and information bias in the subjects during the initial recruitment period.
Another corrective necessary to limit bias in this work concerns personal conviction. I identify as an evangelical Christian and hold specific beliefs about inerrancy of the Protestant Christian canon; thus, delimiting apocalyptic canonical texts allows assessing other apocalyptic material without concern for faith-bias. Using these correctives and controls enabled me to find and limit bias-influence that would otherwise undermine arguments by remaining within the modernist model of false objectivity. After adding these correctives and controls, I moved to the
It allows a larger sample of the population to be included in the study than what could be collected independently over a short time period.
Whereas a structured interview follows a standardised format, in an unstructured interview the interviewer has complete freedom to vary the interview. Supporters argue that this brings a number of important advantages. Such as, rapport and sensitivity, the interviewee's views are clearer, the ability to check understanding, flexibility and the ability for the interviewer to explore unfamiliar topics. However, there are multiple disadvantages to using unstructured interviews in sociological research. Such as, practical problems, which include, time and sample size, training, and interpersonal skills, there are also issues with representativeness, reliability, quantification and validity.
One disadvantage of using interpretivist methods of research is that they are unreliable. Usually interpretivist research methods depend on personal relationships established between the respondent and the researcher are therefore difficult for other researchers to repeat the research and get similar results showing no consistency between results.
The major advantage of observation studies over surveys, which obtain self-reported data from respondents, is that the data are free from distortions, inaccuracies, or other response biases due to memory error, social desirability bias, and so on. The data are recorded when the actual behavior takes place.