Pre-Release In Sociology
Sociology Pre-release 2012
Using the pre-release material and your wider sociological knowledge, explain and evaluate the use of qualitative methods (ethnography/ semi-structured interviews/ observation) to research the values of young working class males.
Within Nayak’s study he used ethnographic methods such as observation and semi-structured interviews. The aim of ethnographic research is to get close to the people being studied so that the researcher can experience the social world in the same ways. If this is successful then verstehen can be achieved. One method used is observation. There is non-participant observation and participant observation. Non- participant observation is where the sociologist simply observes the group but does …show more content…
Validity is the extent to which the research provides a true picture of the social reality of those being studied. So in Nayak’s study the validity is based on whether he provided a full picture of the lives of the ‘Charvers’ and ‘Real Geordies’. Naka’s study is high in validity as the students who were interviewed would be comfortable in opening up as they are in an environment that they are used to. Also the observation that took place provides strong validity as the working class males would act natural. Although there is the downfall that some of the participants may try to show off which will weaken the validity of the …show more content…
Research maybe said to be high in reliability if the method used to collect the data is a standardised one. Questionnaires and structured interviews are both standardised measuring methods which make the research easier to repeat and able to get the similar results as the original study. As there were no standardised procedures in Nayak’s study, it is weak with reliability. Although there is some reliability with his study as he did tape record his interviews that he held with the small groups. Positivists would use standardised procedure as they believe that they are consistent and that if the results vary it will not be because the research is unscientific. Within the semi-structured interviews that Nayak led he allowed the participants’ own interests to guide the interview. This may increase the validity, but it also decreases the reliability. Although semi-structured interviews are unreliable, they are higher in reliability than unstructured interviews, as there are some open questions asked to everyone which could be
Using the pre-release material and your wider sociological knowledge, explain and evaluate the use of qualitative methods (ethnography/ semi-structured interviews/ observation) to research the values of young working class males.
Within Nayak’s study he used ethnographic methods such as observation and semi-structured interviews. The aim of ethnographic research is to get close to the people being studied so that the researcher can experience the social world in the same ways. If this is successful then verstehen can be achieved. One method used is observation. There is non-participant observation and participant observation. Non- participant observation is where the sociologist simply observes the group but does …show more content…
Validity is the extent to which the research provides a true picture of the social reality of those being studied. So in Nayak’s study the validity is based on whether he provided a full picture of the lives of the ‘Charvers’ and ‘Real Geordies’. Naka’s study is high in validity as the students who were interviewed would be comfortable in opening up as they are in an environment that they are used to. Also the observation that took place provides strong validity as the working class males would act natural. Although there is the downfall that some of the participants may try to show off which will weaken the validity of the …show more content…
Research maybe said to be high in reliability if the method used to collect the data is a standardised one. Questionnaires and structured interviews are both standardised measuring methods which make the research easier to repeat and able to get the similar results as the original study. As there were no standardised procedures in Nayak’s study, it is weak with reliability. Although there is some reliability with his study as he did tape record his interviews that he held with the small groups. Positivists would use standardised procedure as they believe that they are consistent and that if the results vary it will not be because the research is unscientific. Within the semi-structured interviews that Nayak led he allowed the participants’ own interests to guide the interview. This may increase the validity, but it also decreases the reliability. Although semi-structured interviews are unreliable, they are higher in reliability than unstructured interviews, as there are some open questions asked to everyone which could be