| A | B |
|---|
| case study | a highly detailed study of one or two social situations or groups |
| comparative research | a comparison across countries or cultures; sociology's version of an experiment |
| experiment | a highly controolled situation where the researchers try to isolote the influence fo each variable. Rarely used in sociology |
| longitudinal study | a survey that is carried out over a considerable number of years on the same group of people |
| pilot survey | a small scale survey carried out before the main one, to iron out any problems |
| quota sampling | where a representative sample of the population is chosen using known characteristics of the popualtion |
| random sampling | where a representative sample of the population is chosen by entirely random methods |
| sampling frame | a list used as the source for a random sampple |
| snowballing sampling | where a sample of people is obtained using a series fo personal contacts. Usually used for the study of deviant behaviour |
| survey | a large scale piece of quantitative reserach aiming to make general statements about a particular population |
| Theoretical sampling | where an untypical sample of the popualtion is chosen to illustrate a particular theory |
