SQA Higher Sociology Research Methods overview quiz quiz

Data the researcher collects first-hand for their own study

Data that already exists, gathered by someone else

Data that is always numerical and shown in tables

Data that can never be used in sociological research

A questionnaire the researcher hands out to pupils

An interview the researcher conducts with residents

Official crime statistics published by the government

An observation the researcher carries out in a school

Descriptive data that captures meanings and feelings

Numerical data that can be counted and shown in tables and graphs

Data collected only through unstructured interviews

Data that cannot be compared between groups

The smaller group that is actually studied

The list used to select participants

Only the people who refuse to take part

The whole group that a study is about

They have an equal chance of being selected

They are placed into groups and sampled in proportion

They are chosen only if they are easy to reach

They recommend other people to take part

Stratified sampling

Snowball sampling

Random sampling

Quota sampling

It is made up only of the researcher's friends

It is always very small in size

It reflects the make-up of the target population

It contains people who all share the same opinion

They always give deep, detailed insight into meanings

They can reach large numbers cheaply and are easy to repeat

They remove the need for any sampling at all

They guarantee a very high response rate every time

A guided conversation with no fixed questions

An interview where the researcher secretly records answers

An interview using the same fixed questions in the same order for everyone

An interview that produces only qualitative data

The researcher joins in with the group being studied

The researcher only reads official statistics

The researcher sends out a written questionnaire

The researcher watches from outside without joining in

They are too cheap and quick to be useful

They can never be repeated by other researchers

The artificial setting reduces validity and may not reflect real life

They do not allow any variables to be controlled

The research really measures what it claims to measure

Repeating the research would produce the same results

The sample reflects the make-up of the population

The research follows all ethical rules

The research could be repeated to give the same results

The research uses the largest possible sample

The research really measures what it claims and gives a true picture

The research only ever uses secondary data

Informed consent from participants

Always using a covert approach

Deceiving participants to get better data

Publishing participants' names and addresses