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Study Guide for Bryn Hafren students

Key Stage 5

A2 Level

Applied Sociological Research Methods

The examination lasts for one hour and thirty minutes. It is worth 60 marks. You do not have any choice because there is only one question. Answer all of the subsections of the question. Spend half an hour on the first three parts of the question and an hour on the last two parts of the question.

There will be two pieces of stimulus material. Item A will usually be a graph or a table drawn from research alongside a description of the research design. Item B will offer a simple outline of a research project. Look at the stimulus material carefully because it is crucial to the question.

Read the questions carefully. The command words which tell you what to do will be the same for each question and each examination.

(a) Using only Item A identify two reasons why ... (some element of the research design required caution before use by a sociologist) (6 marks)

(b) Identify and explain (two strengths or two weaknesses or a strength and a weakness of a particular method or research style related to the data in the question) (8 marks)

(c) In your own words, summarise (some element of the findings) in Item A ... (10 marks)

Item B - a summary for a research briefing for a sociologist

(d) Explain and justify the method you would adopt in collecting data on .... (14 marks)

(e) Assess the potential weaknesses of your research proposal, briefly explaining how you intend to overcome them. ... (22 marks)