research methods – sociologytwynham.com: Recent Episodes
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A Level Sociology revision: education, media, beliefs in society, crime & deviance, families & households etc
Methodological issues when researching media violence: Livingstone and Ferguson (2014) each point out that media effects models (hypodermic syringe etc) have tried to overcome the methodological issues when studying media effects by using the laboratory method Bandura’s ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment was typical of this approach The trouble with this method is it has numerous ethical […]
Nevertheless there still remains uncertainty about the effects of media violence on real-life violence. The contradictory research which has been carried out can be summarised into six headings: 1.Copycat or imitation – as shown in Badura’s ‘Bobo doll’ experiment – a hypodermic syringe effect occurs when exposed to media violence 2.Catharsis – media violence reduces […]
Media violence is now part of our popular culture, with new media being particularly prone having violent images in their content. Digital technology, through gaming for example, means users can now interact with or take part in violent acts. So does the media cause violent behaviour and can it be researched? Media has often been […]
To understand this unit you need to refer back to the four explanatory models discussed at the start of this unit along with the different forms of media ownership. The fundamental problem with researching media effects is trying to isolate the effect(s) of the media (in order to measure it) from all the other worldly […]
by Sam Cook Some sociologists conduct observational research without participating in the activity being studied in order to reduce the risk of those being observed will be affected by the presence of the researcher. An example of covert non-participant observation is – ‘The survival time of chocolates on hospital wards: covert observational study.’ This process also […]
by Sam Cook Advantages There is less of a problem with interviewer bias than unstructured (open interviews) as there’s less involvement of the interviewer As they usually have pre-planned (pre-coded) questions it’s relatively easy to put the data gathered into statistical forms such as graphs (positivist in nature) As the questions are pre-coded the data […]
by Sam Cook Advantages Often a good deal of rapport develops between interviewer and interviewee allowing a detailed and honest information to be obtained. This is very useful where the subject being researched might be particularly sensitive It allows the respondent (interviewee) to speak for themselves so the researcher can gain a better understanding […]
Research Methods – revision images Quick view to understanding positivism – quantitative research methods Quick view to understand interpretivism – qualitative research methods Each of the headings below have a podcast explaining the content. All credit for these clips must go to Sam Cook who went to all the time and trouble to make them in year […]
While the above image focuses on secondary sources of data, the image below focuses on primary sources of data. The image below examines the advantages of official statistics. While the image below examines the problems with official statistics.
There are three different methods for recording crime. These are Home Office Figures (otherwise known as Police Records or Official Figures); British Crime Survey and Self-Report Studies. Home Office Figures show the number of crimes recorded by the police. These figures are seen to be objective as the criminal data is recorded by the police themselves. […]