Unit 2 AS Sociology Research Methods

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Unit 2 AS Sociology Research Methods

• Examination Technique

2
Stimulus material

• The examination will always include an example of
  recent Sociological research
• The research will be fairly lengthy but will
  provide plenty of material even clues in order
  to answer the questions following
• You must answer all the questions
• You have 1 hour and 15 minutes this will allow
  for 10-15 mins reading time and then you should
  aim to spend a minute per mark on each question
• You MUST use Sociological language in your answer

3
(a) Explain what is meant by the term (5 marks)

• This will be a key term from the specification we
  have studied e.g reliability, validity,
  objectivity, official statistics, social survey,
  structured interviewing etc
• Here you should explain in detail what the term
  means AND you should give some examples
• 5 mins for this one but dont lost valuable marks
  by writing too little!!

4
(a) Explain what is meant by the term structured
interviewing (5 marks)

• Structured interviewing is when
• an interviewer asks specifically designed
  questions for the research being conducted
• this is usually in the format of a questionnaire
  being read out by the interviewer
• The same questions are read out in the same order
  to all respondents
• Why might structured interviews be chosen?
• Structured interviews are particularly suitable
  for simple, factual information and are likely to
  be able to produce data which is easily comparable

5
(b) Identify and explain the weaknesses of the
research described in the above passage (10
marks)

• As you read through the passage you should train
  yourself to highlight or underline things which
  might be clues for you later
• Give some examples from the text offered to you
  here use ROVER!!!!
• Use the language of methodology to explain the
  weaknesses you have described

6
(c) Using both the passage, and your own
knowledge, describe and explain the advantages of
using trained interviewers for sociological
research (15)

• Advantages?
• Comparable data
• Lack of interviewer bias
• Open ended questions allowing respondents to go
  into depth on their answers
• Trained interviewers used to write down all words
  of respondents making answers more valid
• Always use Sociological Language to explain
• Refer to other studies using similar research
  methods!!

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(d)     Discuss the importance of sampling to
sociological research (30)

• You should view this question as an essay and
  should plan it first
• Its worth 30 marks!!
• Think of key terms that you need to use in this
  answer
• You will need to evaluate in this answer so
  should be using positive and negative points
• ALWAYS use sociological language
• ALWAYS try and refer to other relevant research

8
Essay plan

• Carry out the essay plan exercise to practise
  this skill with your teacher
• Learn this style of writing for future
  examination practise