Tag Archives: research methods

Methods in Context Questions: A Full Mark Answer from the AQA

Posted on May 11, 2018 by

An example of a full mark answer to a methods in context question from the AQA. Continue reading →

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Posted in A level sociology exam practice, A-levels, Exams and revision advice, methods in context | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Answer Methods in Context Questions: A Model Answer from the AQA

Posted on May 9, 2018 by

‘Methods in Context’ questions appear on A Level Sociology Paper 1 (Education with Theory and Methods) and AS Sociology Paper 1 (Education with Methods in Context). Methods in Context questions will ask students to evaluate the strengths and limitations of … Continue reading →

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Research Methods Practice Questions for A-level sociology

Posted on April 27, 2018 by

AQA A-level sociology Papers 1 and 3 will both contain an ‘outline and explain’ 10 mark (no item) question on sociological theories, and/ or methods. One possible format for this question is what I like to think of as the ‘pure … Continue reading →

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Outline and explain two practical problems of using documents in social research (10)

Posted on April 26, 2018 by

There are a lot of documents available and it can be time consuming to analyse them qualitatively Taking news for example, there are thousands of news items published every day. You also need to distinguish between ‘real and ‘fake news’. … Continue reading →

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Outline and explain two practical advantages of using official statistics

Posted on April 25, 2018 by

Official Statistics are a quick and cheap means of accessing data relevant to an entire population in a country. They are cheap for researchers to use because they are collected by governments, who often make them available online for free—for … Continue reading →

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Outline and explain two practical problems which may affect social research (10)

Posted on April 23, 2018 by

  One practical problem may be gaining access Analysis/ development – Deviant and criminal groups may be unwilling to allow researchers to gain access because they may fear prosecution if the authorities find out about them. Analysis/ development – some … Continue reading →

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Outline and Explain Two Reasons Why Interpretivists Prefer to Use Qualitative Research Methods (10)

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

A model answer to a possible 10 mark question which could appear on the AQA’s A-level papers 1 or 3. If you’re a bit ‘all at sea’ with Intrepretivism, you might like to review your understanding of it first of … Continue reading →

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A few thoughts on revising research methods in context/ applied research methods

Posted on January 22, 2018 by

The ‘applied methods*’ question appears in paper 1 of the AQA’s Education with Theory and Methods exam (paper 7192/1). This is out of 20 marks, and students are expected to apply their understanding of any of the six main research … Continue reading →

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Validity in Social Research

Posted on January 4, 2018 by

Validity refers to the extent to which an indicator (or set of indicators) really measure the concept under investigation. This post outlines five ways in which sociologists and psychologists might determine how valid their indicators are: face validity, concurrent validity, convergent validity, construct validity, and predictive validity.  Continue reading →

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Are female surgeons better?

Posted on November 14, 2017 by

New research suggests that women make better surgeons than men. For the study, a team at the University of Toronto compared like for like procedures performed by 3,314 surgeons at a single Canadian based hospital over an eight-year period. This … Continue reading →

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