Sociology Vocabulary
Research Methods
The ability of a study to be repeated, and find the same results.
trustworthyness
unreliability,
dodginess,
accuracy
Reliability
repeatability
The design of the study was reliable because the results were the same each time.
The ability of a study to report findings which accurately reflect reality;
the ability of a study to measure the thing it is supposed to measure
effectiveness
invalidity,
illusion,
weakness
legitimacy
Validity
reality
I questioned the validity of the study because the results did not seem legitimate.
Able to be repeated; the ability of a study to be replicated.
reliability
Repeatability
duplicatability
uniqueness
replacability
If the experiment is repeatable, it can be done again in the same way.
Influenced by opinion
prejudiced
Biased
-ism
unbiased,
fair
influenced
The experiment was biased because the questions contained racist wording.
A type of bias in which the opinions of the person doing the experiment cause a flaw in the experimental
design.
personal opinon
Researcher Bias
influence
objectivity,
fair design
personal bias
Example: In the bad survey, the fact that questions on religion omitted Buddhism.
An effect in which the presence of an interviewer in some way influences the results of a study.
researcher bias
Interviewer
Effect
interviewer influence
fair/ unbiased
interview techniques
prejudice
An interview with the Pope might create an interviewer effect in which participants seemed to be very
Catholic.
Sociology Vocabulary
Research Methods
Having an individual point of view
biased
Subjective
non-objective
objective
individual
Some sociologists believe that subjectivity is OK because all people are biased.
The same for everyone, or structured to be fair
unbiased
Objective
neutral
Subjective
fair, equal
example: the study of gravity is objective because gravity effects all people equally or fairly
an answer format that allows a wide range of answers, respondent must write down an answer
open ended questions
open responses
fill in the blank
closed responses
interview questions
This question can be answered with an open response, so the interviewer left a blank for people to fill in
an answer which provides fixed choices
tick the box
Closed responses
multiple choice
open responses
Likert scale
There were only five answer choices, so the question was closed response
An answer that is given in choices, a researcher's anticipated responses, organised for data entry
closed responses
pre-coded responses
given answers
open responses
given choice
The subject's answer was close to the researcher's pre-coded response, so it was recorded as a letter.
An interview with specific, pre-planned questions
standardised interview
Structured Interview
questionnaire
unstructured interview
social survey
The interviewer called the respondent to administer a structured interview
Sociology Vocabulary
Research Methods
An interview that does not have specific, pre-planned questions
unplanned interview
unstructured interview
unorganised interview
structured interview
flexible interview
The researcher got side tracked during the unstructured interview and talked about the weather
honesty about the nature of an experiment, transparency in observation
clear
obvious
Overt
Covert
uncovered
The researcher's overt observation of sleep included a 3 hour explanation of the experiment
the identity of the researcher, experiment, or observation is hidden from participants
hidden
private/ undercover
Covert
Overt
blind
The subject had no idea they were in a covert observation
a form of study that takes place over a long period of time
case study
longitudinal study
repeat survey of same people
cross-sectional study
long/ repeated observation
Longitudinal studies take a long time to complete
a short study that is fast/ not time consuming
short survey
Cross-sectional study
single observation
longitudinal study
short study, quick survey
cross sectional studies take a short time to complete, but include many more subjects
Sociology Vocabulary
Research Methods
the person/ people being described through research / a study (passive - observation)
participant
Subject
people being studied
non-participant
interviewee
The group of subjects for our observation must range from year 3 to year 5
someone who is an active part of a study, especially an experiment
partaker
participant
player
non-participant
subject
The participant in the experiment followed the researcher's directions
Someone who replies to or answers a question in research
subject
respondent
participant
non-respondent
person who answers questions
The respondent took the survey
A set of questions used to get information from respondents
questionnaire
Survey
structured interview
case study
Mr Alex surveyed the upcoming IGCSE students to determine the subjects they wanted to choose
a long term, in depth, research study of a individual or very small group
research
Case study
longitudinal study
survey
case report
The researcher did a case study of one family to understand Amish culture
research in the form of a conversation
research
Interview
conversation
survey
unstructured interview
We interviewed people on the street about the recent Ebola outbreak
Sociology Vocabulary
Research Methods
first-hand data, data collected directly from the source
taped interview
Primary data
survey responses
secondary data
observation notes
we interviewed subjects and recorded their responses as primary data
data collected by others, that you borrow and analyse (compare/ review)
second hand data
Secondary data
social media
primary data
other people's research data
I looked on twitter, collected secondary data from feeds, and analysed it