Theory and methods

Macro level

• Looks at society as a whole ‘through binoculars’, concentrating on overall patterns, systems and organisations and how they link together.

• Sees human beings as largely controlled by society (determinism), a bit like puppets. They are passive and shaped.

• “Society makes people”

Micro level

•Focuses on small scale interaction and the actions and meanings (perceptions / interpretations) of individuals

•Sees human beings as autonomous; actively creating and recreating society and reflecting upon their experience.

•“People make society”

Positivism methodological perspective

• Assumes society has an objective reality

• Should use scientific methods to research society

• Prefer methods that will give them quantitative data

• Reliable data

• Generating social facts

Interpretivism methodological perspective

• Believes that individual construct reality through interactions

• Want to gain verstehen (deeper empathetic understanding) through experience

• Goal is to achieve valid data that gives a true insight into individuals' lives

• Qualitative data

Primary data

Data that the researcher themselves has generated

Advantages of primary data

• Meets the specific needs of the researchers

• Researchers have a good level of control in primary research

• They may decide who the research respondents are, how they are hired, the size of the sample, sampling strategies etc

• Researchers can be very specific about their aims, objectives, and rationale

• It is up to date and provides more detailed insights as well.

Disadvantages of primary data

• Time consuming and difficult

• If the researcher respondents are not supportive, it may become further complicated

• Expensive

Questionnaires

Research method that consists of a list of questions

Sampling frame

List of everyone in the target population from which a sample is drawn

Random sampling

Researcher randomly selects participants, each member of the target population has an equal chance of being in the sample

Stratified sampling

Sampling frame is divided up into various social groups and then random sampling is used for each group to ensure the final sample reflects the population in terms of the representation of said groups

Systematic sampling

Researcher selects every nth person on the sampling frame to be part of the sample

Advantages of random sampling

• Cheap

• Quick

• Easy

• Everyone has an equal chance of being chosen

Disadvantages of random sampling

• Not representative

• Can’t ensure there is an equal amount of people chosen

Advantages of systematic sampling

• Easily sort people

• Quick

• Cheap

Disadvantages of systematic sampling

• Not everyone has a chance of being chosen

Advantages of stratified sampling

• All groups are represented in the sample

• Each person has an equal chance of being chosen

Disadvantages of stratified sampling

• Takes more researcher skills - dividing based on a set criteria

• May not know the characteristics of the population

• Time consuming

Snowball sampling

Getting your own contacts to pass the questionnaire to other people

Quota sampling

The researcher puts the population into different categories based on their characteristics. The researcher is then given a quota for each group – they’re told they need a certain number of men/women/a particular ethnicity/a social class. They use the first people they find and stop recruiting when their quotas are full.

Opportunity sampling

Asking people who are available at the time and fit the criteria of the study

Advantages of quota sampling

• Quicker than stratified

• Don’t need as many researcher skills

Disadvantages of quota sampling

• Unrepresentative - you select the first people you find who fit characteristics

• Researcher bias

Advantages of snowball sampling

• Creates its own sampling frame

• Good to use with hard to reach groups

Disadvantages of snowball sampling

• Time consuming waiting for respondents

• Leads to unrepresentative sample - participant chooses their friends

Advantages of opportunity sampling

• Quick

• Cheap

• Easy - less research skills required

Disadvantages of opportunity sampling

• Unrepresentative sample - can’t find a mix of characteristics

• Sample frame may not be available so you have no opportunity

Practical advantages of questionnaires

• Cheap and quick to distribute

• Familiarity with this style of research

Ethical advantages of questionnaires

• Less intrusive

• Consent can be given in full

• Right to withdraw

Theoretical advantages of questionnaires

• Broad range of respondents/ representative

• High in reliability

• Establish patterns and trends collecting quantitative data

• Easy to replicate

Practical disadvantages of questionnaires

• Low response rate = not representative

• Leading or ambiguous questions

• Open questions can be too time consuming to analyse

Ethical disadvantages of questionnaires

• Potentially sensitive topics can cause distress

• Recording of information must be kept in accordance with GDPR guidelines

• Respondents may only give info if anonymity is maintained

• May disclose responses that are immoral or require reporting to other bodies - safeguarding

Theoretical disadvantages of questionnaires

• Closed questions lack validity

• Open questions lack reliability

• Questions may not measure genuine, accurate, authentic opinions and behaviours

Questionnaire example

Bowles and gintis

• Found through questionnaires that the grades awarded related to personality traits rather than academic ability

• Low grades were related to creativity, aggressiveness and independence

• Higher grades were related to perseverance, consistency and punctuality

• Reasonably large sample size which increased generalisability

Structured interviews

Interviewer follows a set list of predetermined questions, often with fixed response options

Semi structured interviews

List of questions but interviewer is free to add supplementary questions, leave questions out or follow interesting lines of inquiry

Unstructured interview

No pre-set questions, free flowing conversation. The researcher would have some themes or headings to work with, but otherwise the discussion could go anywhere

Practical advantages of structured interviews

• Quick and Efficient Data Collection

• Easily Replicable, can increase reliability and comparison

• Simpler to Analyse

• Training is minimal

 

Ethical advantages of structured interviews

• Clear informed consent

• Any sensitive questions can be removed during the research design

Theoretical advantages of structured interviews

• High reliability

• Objectivity

• Positivists prefer structured interviews

Practical disadvantages of structured interviews

• Time consuming in preparation

Ethical disadvantages of structured interviews

• Potential for stress

• Lack of anonymity

Theoretical disadvantages of structured interviews

• Low validity

• Closed questions can force respondents into predefined categories

• Lack of verstehen

• Lack of flexibility

Ethical advantages of unstructured interviews

Rapport building: the informal nature of unstructured interviews can help build trust with participants, making it easier for them to share personal or sensitive information

Theoretical advantages of unstructured interviews

• Flexibility

• Rich qualitative data

• Validity

• Interpretivist approach

Practical disadvantages of unstructured interviews

• Time consuming

• Training required

Ethical disadvantages of unstructured interviews

• The open-ended nature of the questions can make it difficult for participants to know exactly what will be asked, complicating fully informed consent

• Emotional impact

Theoretical disadvantages of unstructured interviews

• Small sample size

• Lack of reliability

• Difficult to quantify

Unstructured interview example

Barker: the monies

• Barker was interested in how people came to join this cult and what their lives were like

• She interviewed 30 British members with the interviews lasting between 6-8 hours

Practical advantages of group interviews

• Time efficient

• Cost effective

Ethical advantages of group interviews

Shared experiences: Participants might feel more comfortable discussing sensitive issues when others with similar experiences are present

Theoretical advantages of group interviews

• Interaction effects: The group dynamic can stimulate discussion, leading to the emergence of new ideas and topics that might not arise in individual interviews.

• Validity through interaction: The interaction between participants can generate richer data by allowing individuals to build on or challenge each other’s views, providing a deeper understanding of collective perspectives.

• Interpretivist approach

Practical disadvantages of group interviews

• Group management

• Logistical difficulties

Ethical disadvantages of group interviews

• Confidentiality risks

• Peer pressure

• Informed consent

Theoretical disadvantages of group interviews

• Less depth

• Reliability issues

• Research bias

• Positivist criticism

Field experiment

Aim to establish cause and effect relationships between two or more variables in a natural social setting

Lab experiment

Tests carried out in controlled conditions in an artificial setting (a laboratory) to establish cause and effect relationships between two or more variables

Advantages of field experiment

• Better external validity

• Larger scale setting

Disadvantages of field experiment

• Harder to control variables

• Hawthorne effect

• Practical problems

• Ethical problems

Field experiment example

Rosenthal & Jacobson:

• The aim of this research was to measure the effect of high teacher expectation on the educational performance of pupils

• Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that higher teacher expectations were responsible for the difference in achievement

Advantages of lab experiment

• Can control variables

• Can establish cause and effect relationships

• High in reliability

Disadvantages of lab experiments

• Reductionist

• Lack external validity

• Hawthorne effect

• Small scale - unrepresentative

Lab experiment example

Milgram: shock experiment

• Interested in researching how far people would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person

• Took place in a lab at Yale university

Participant observation

The researcher plays an active part in what is being observed

Non participant observation

The observer simply watches without taking part

Overt observation

Everybody is aware that the observation is taking place

Covert observation

Researched is undercover, the people being observed are not aware that the observation is taking place

Ethnographic research

Conducting fieldwork and observing social phenomena in their natural settings, usually for an extended period of time, in order to gain a deep understanding of the group's beliefs, values, behaviours, and experiences

Practical advantages of participant observation

• Sometimes observations are the only viable option for researching certain group

• Builds rapport

• The researcher can observe social behaviour in its natural setting

Ethical advantages of participant observations

• Researcher is in a strong position to ensure that they do them no harm and can even offer advice or help them

Theoretical advantages of participant observation

• Flexibility - allows researcher to be open minded and adapt to the research

• If covert there is no Hawthorne effect which increases validity

• Rich qualitative data

• Insight

• Interpretive like as it gives verstehen

Practical disadvantages of participant observation

• Time consuming

• Difficult to analyse data

• Getting in, staying in, getting out may be difficult

• Difficult to record observations

Ethical disadvantages of participant observation

• If covert there are problems with deceit and lack of informed consent and unable to withdraw

• If covert harm may come to the researcher if their cover is blown

Theoretical disadvantages of participant observations

• As observations rest on interpretation of behaviour it is unlikely that the study could be replicated

• Bias and lack of objectivity

• Positivists argue that it lacks validity as they are merely subjective

• Small sample - unrepresentative and unable to make generalisations

• Positivists don’t like PO - unscientific, difficult to gather quantitative data

Overt participant observation example

Vankatesh: gang leader for a day

• Spent around 7 years in his study to understand how it really felt to be black and poor

• There were times when vankatesh became so involved with the people he was studying that he acted “like one of them”

Overt non participant observation

Ofsted

• Observe the teaching and learning made by students in schools

Covert participant observation

Patrick: observing gang life

• Patrick was a teacher and took up an invitation to come and observe gang life

• Patrick’s reluctance to carry weapons became noticeable and aroused hostility from other members

Covert non participant observation

Anne other

• Observed hospital infection-control procedures

• Only by studying hygiene behaviour covertly could the causes of hospital-transmitted infections be discovered

Hypothesis

This is a specific statement explaining what we expect to find from our research. It can be tested by collecting evidence that either proves it true or false.

Who uses hypothesis and why

Positivists prefer to use hypotheses as the starting point of their research because they want to find out ‘cause-and-effect’ relationships.

The advantage of using a hypothesis is that it gives a clear direction to the research, with a specific focus on testing information that either confirms or disproves our beliefs.

Aims

This is a general statement identifying what we intend to study, and what we ‘aim’ to achieve. This could be as simple as collecting data about a specific topic.

Who uses aims and why

Interpretivists prefer to use aims because they want to find out about people’s meanings behind their own behaviours, rather than imposing a hypothesis.

The advantage of using an aim is that it is open-ended. It is only about gathering data, not imposing our own original beliefs, or restricting possible directions.

The process of research design

1. Selecting a topic

2. Defining the problem

3. Reviewing the literature

4. Operationalise

5. Formulating a hypothesis

6. Choosing a research method

7. Pilot study

8. Collecting the data

9. Analysing the results

10. Sharing the results

Advantages of historical documents

• Practical: one of the only ways of studying the past

• Ethical: generally no need for consent, no harm to participants, access to sensitive topics

• Theoretical: insight into social changes over time, longitudinal analysis, understanding of social normals and cultural context

Disadvantages of historical documents

• Ethical: dominant groups in society more likely to have the power to make documents, conclusions drawn from these documents lead to a distorted understanding of past societies - misrepresentation

• Theoretical: no control over the information gained, small if not unique sample, unrepresentative

Practical advantages of personal documents

• Cheap and save researchers time

• Illuminates many areas of social life

• Use them to confirm or question other interpretations and accounts

Ethical advantages of personal documents

Some diaries are written with the intent of being published at a later stage as an autobiography/ political memoirs

Theoretical advantages of personal documents

Written for personal purposes so will have a high degree of validity and provide an in-depth and genuine insight into people’s attitudes

Practical disadvantage of personal documents

Can be historical documents - words change over time, some documents could be lost or damaged - invalid

Ethical disadvantages of personal documents

• Letters were intended to be read by a particular individual

• Diaries might not have been intended to be read at all

Theoretical disadvantage of personal documents

Some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as letters and diaries and so their views aren't represented while those with time and literacy skills may be over represented

Examples of public data

• Census data - completed every 10 years

• Crime statistics - published every 6 months

• Education league tables and exam resits - published on an annual basis

• Unemployment figures - show increases/ decreases

• Hospital league tables - access performance

Practical advantages of public documents

• Easily accessible and often available for a small fee or free

• Allow comparisons over time for example birth; death and marriage rates

• Useful when assessing the outcomes of various social policies such as raising the school leaving age

Ethical advantage of public documents

No consent is needed

Theoretical advantages of public documents

Positivists like because they are reliable and many of these documents are written in a relatively structured way

Practical disadvantages of public documents

May be a long wait to access the records

Ethical disadvantages of public documents

May contain confidential information about particular individuals, revealing this information may do harm to them

Theoretical disadvantages of public documents

• Authenticity is open to question as it might not have been written by the person it is attributed to

• Documents content is open to misinterpretation

• Validity is open to question as they may have been written selectively

Content analysis

The researcher will look for a certain word/types of words in the content and record every time it is used

Strengths of content analysis

• Favoured by positivists - quantitative data

• Representative - can have a large sample

• Reliable - easy for others to repeat to see trends over time

• Access - relatively easy and inexpensive

• Access - relatively easy and inexpensive