Explain what is meant by ‘the Hawthorne effect’
The Hawthorne effect is when people are aware that they are being researched and studied so they change their behaviour because they are aware that they are being studied.
Identify two sampling techniques used by sociologists in their research
Snowballing sampling is where you use one of your own contacts who themselves has a contact to gain access to a particular group and this type of sampling can interlink between several people until you gain access to your desired group. Random sampling is fairly simple; it’s where the sample is picked completely at random for example picking names out of a hat.
Examine the advantages for sociologists in using unstructured interviews in their research
Unstructured interviews is an interview where the questions are not determined beforehand and the questions that are asked are spontaneous and the interviewee can elaborate on their answers; its less of an interview but more of a conversation. It’s a contrasting opposite to structured interviews which are standardised and have an interview schedule. Unstructured interviews are a qualitative form of research method.
The most significant advantage of sociologists using unstructured interviews in their research is that they are highly valid in a number of ways. Unstructured interviews allow rapport to between the person being interviewed and the research so that the interviewee feels that they can trust the researcher because this research method is often used to discuss sensitive subject matters which people are unlikely to want to give confidential information of this type to a researcher reading from a clipboard. This establishment of trust will enable the research to be valid because you will get the meaning behind the persons feelings and reasoning behind their experiences fro example William Labov found in his study of