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Transcript Section 3

John, a sociology student, is discussing his research project on public services with his tutor, focusing on usage patterns in local parks and swimming pools. He plans to use official records and a questionnaire to gather data, hypothesizing changes in library usage and increased sports center attendance among older adults. The tutor advises on sample size, questionnaire design, and methods to encourage responses, emphasizing the importance of a manageable approach given John's solo work on the project.

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2 views

Transcript Section 3

John, a sociology student, is discussing his research project on public services with his tutor, focusing on usage patterns in local parks and swimming pools. He plans to use official records and a questionnaire to gather data, hypothesizing changes in library usage and increased sports center attendance among older adults. The tutor advises on sample size, questionnaire design, and methods to encourage responses, emphasizing the importance of a manageable approach given John's solo work on the project.

Uploaded by

Shorux Bozorov
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Section 3.

You will hear a sociology student called John discussing his research
project about the use of public services with his tutor. First, you have some time
to look at questions 21 to 26 on page 5.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Hello John. Come in and sit
down. You're here to discuss your research project, are you? Yes, I've more or less
decided what to do, but I'd like your opinion.

Fine. You've chosen a topic? Yes. I want to look at how people use public services
in their local area. Things like parks and swimming pools. Right. Well, the kind of
information you'll get is very useful for town planning, of course. Do you have a
special interest in public services?

Not really. It's just that I found a report in the college library about an
investigation that was done ten years ago and I thought it would be interesting to
do a parallel one. Ten years is a relatively short space of time. What do you
expect to find? Do you think things will be more or less the same as before?

I think there'll be some differences. For example, I think the number of people
going to the library will have decreased. And I'd guess that older people are using
the sports centre more often than they used to. Fine. So those are your hypotheses.
Now, what sort of data are you going to use?

I was thinking of using official records from the management or the local council
and analysing them. They should be easy to obtain. I don't think that sort of
information would be confidential. Yes, you're probably right. There might not be
as much information as you'd like, but it'd certainly be the easiest kind of data
to work with. But have you considered using a questionnaire as well?

It's OK to get data from more than one source? Absolutely. It's a bonus. You've
already done the module on questionnaire design, haven't you? And it'll be good to
get experience, because next year you'll have to do something similar for your
final dissertation, on a bigger scale. OK. And what are the variables you'll be
looking at? Are you going to look at people's level of education? Whether they have
a degree, for example?

I hadn't planned to. Do you think I should? Well, you might see some interesting
patterns. OK. And that'll tie in nicely with my plans to analyse the kind of work
people do. What about the size of your sample? Have you got any thoughts on the
number of questionnaires you might send out?

The previous study surveyed 120 people. I don't think I can really analyse more
than 50 working by myself, so I should probably distribute about 80 questionnaires
altogether to allow for wastage. Do you think that's enough? Definitely. I know
that your project guidelines recommend a minimum of 100, but that's an ideal number
and you're working by yourself. And anyway, this assignment is mainly about giving
you practice in research methods.

Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions
27 to 30 on page 6.

Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. And think of ways you can encourage
people to actually complete the questionnaire. For example, to make sure that your
questions make sense, you should try them out beforehand.

OK, that's no problem. My friends will help. Good. Sometimes you get unpredicted
responses and you have to rephrase a question. And I know that you usually get a
better return if you deliver questionnaires in person, but there'll be too many.
But I could enclose a stamped envelope for the return post. It's a bit expensive,
but I think it'd be worth it.

Yes, good. Some people say that another way of increasing returns is to make the
questionnaires anonymous, but usually people put their names on anyway, so I don't
think that would make much difference. OK. And can you give me a bit more advice
about the questionnaire? Would it be a good idea to have a short paragraph at the
top explaining what I'm doing and why?

Definitely. And don't forget you'll need to get a bit of information about your
subjects, what age group they're in and perhaps how long they've lived in the area.
So you'll need questions for that. Yes. I suppose that'll mean it takes a bit
longer to complete. But should I give them my phone number in case there's anything
they're not sure about? I wouldn't if I were you, no.

OK. And do I have to use open-ended questions as well as closed questions? I know
the books say it's better to have a mixture. Well, it depends. In this case, I'd
stick to closed questions. The results will be much more manageable like that. If I
draft some questions tomorrow, would it be OK to bring them...

That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Now turn to section 4 on page 7.

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