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EnglandSociologyQuick questions
Researching and understanding social inequalities (Component 2)
Quick questions on Observation and experiments - OCR A-Level Sociology Component 2
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is observation?Show answer
Participant observation is favoured by interpretivists because it produces high validity: living among a group gives a rich, first-hand understanding of their meanings in a natural setting, uncovering things a survey would miss. Its weaknesses are that it is hard to repeat (low reliability), small-scale (low representativeness), and threatened by the Hawthorne effect (people change behaviour when they know they are watched) and going native (the researcher over-identifies with the group and loses objectivity). Covert observation adds ethical problems: deception and the absence of informed consent.
What are experiments?Show answer
Experiments seek cause and effect by controlling variables:
What is q1?Show answer
Outline two types of observation. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Outline and explain two reasons why interpretivists favour participant observation. [10 marks]
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