Research methods

Primary data

Data collected first hand by the researcher.

e.g - interviews, questionnaires, observations and experiments

↳ Sociologists can have more power over the research

Secondary data

Data that has already been collected by previous researchers or organisations

e.g - official statistics, documents and media sources

↳ This is useful for campaigns

Qualitative data

Data and research that gives an insight into the meaning of what something is like.

e.g - interviews, observations, open-ended questionnaires, personal documents

↳ this is favoured by interpretivists

Quantitative data

Data that is in numerical or statistical form

e.g - official statistics, close-ended questionnaires / surveys and experiments

↳ this is favoured by positivists as researchers can easily analyse information in number form or in quantifiable word responses.

The research process

1) Sociologists decide on a research question, aim and hypothesis.

2) The concepts being studied are made operationalised and measurable in case the terms are too broad, so they need to be clearly defined.

3) A pilot study is carried out - a small scale practice run

• This highlights the accuracy of the questions and any issues.

Practicality

How easy the experiment is to carry out.

Ethicality

If the experiment has any parts that are right to do.

Theoreticality

How useful is the data in:

• Validity - how true or accurate the data is

e.g - qualitative methods tend to have a higher validity

• Reliability - the extent to which the data can be repeated and have the same results obtained

e.g - quantitative data tends to have a higher reliability

• Representativeness - the extent to which the data can be applied and generalised to the population you are interested in

Positivism

Positivists believe that society shapes individuals, which uncovers patterns and trends known as ‘social facts’.

↳ they prefer quantitative data as it provides reliability and representativeness

Interpretivism

Interpretivists believe that individuals shape society, which has to be studied with empathetic understanding to uncover the true meaning of society to individuals - known as ‘Verhesten’.

↳ they prefer qualitative data as it provides validity

Hawthorne effect

Participants in an experiment change their behaviour as they are aware they are being studied for a particular reason.

Lab experiments

• Experiments that take place in artificial and controlled environments.

• The lab experiment is used to test the sociologists hypothesis.

• The experiments involve isolating the effects of independent variables (possible causes) on a dependent variable (a person or issue)

Bandura’s lab experiment

The Bobo doll experiment - researchers physically and verbally abused a doll in front of preschool-age children. Later, the children would be let into the room with the doll to see if they mimic the same behaviour.

Lab experiments - practicality

Strengths:

• Easy to get funding as it is a scientific research method.

• Takes place in one setting, so no need to find participants.

• Good for closed environments.

Limitations:

• Lack of space - not a lot of participants can be in a laboratory, so there is a small sample.

• Lack of time - if you want a large-scale research, the experiment will need to be repeated.

• Expensive - it can cost a lot of money.

• Unsuitable for open systems, which makes it difficult as most of society is in an open system, making it difficult for a researcher to control and identify variables.

Lab experiments - ethicality

Strengths:

• Consent can be gained.

Limitations:

• Sometimes a lack of consent / deception is needed for an experiment, otherwise there is a risk of the Hawthorne effect.

• Some experiments have caused harm to participants (e.g - Bandura)

Lab experiments - theoreticality

Strengths:

• Positivists believe it establishes cause-and-effect relationships and can collect objective, social facts.

• Reliability - easy to replicate the laboratory’s and experiment’s controlled conditions.

Limitations:

• Unrepresentative - if it is small-scale research

• Little validity - the Hawthorne effect + an artificial environment is too simple to explain human behaviour through cause-and-effect relationships.

Field experiments

Experiments that take place in real world contexts (e.g - schools, the workplace, hospitals etc.)

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s field experiment

Selected a random sample of 20% of the student population and told the teachers they can achieve ‘rapid intellectual development’.

They tested all of the students at the beginning and the end of the experiment.

They found out that the randomly selected 20% had a higher IQ than the rest of the 80% of the student population.

Field experiments - practicality

Strengths:

• Larger scale settings - field experiments can be carried out in schools or workplaces to observe large scale social processes, which is not possible for lap experiments.

• Time - a field experiment can run on for a year, so you can see how it progresses.

Limitations:

• Lack of access - schools and workplaces may be reluctant to allow researchers in for field experiments.

Field experiments - ethicality

Questionnaires

A set of fixed questions that are emailed, sent in the post or completed in person.

Close-ended questionnaires

There is a limited range of answers that are selected by the researcher.

This allows the researcher to easily quantify the answers of the respondents.

Strengths and limitations of close-ended questionnaires

Strengths:

• The answers are easily quantifiable - favoured by positivists

• Quick to carry out

Limitations:

• They do not allow much insight or depth into the respondent’s answer - not favoured by interpretivists.

• An answer that the respondent may think of might not be in the list of answers that the researcher has chosen.

Open-ended questionnaires

Respondents are free to give whatever answer they wish in their own words.

Questionnaires - practicality

Strengths:

• Quick and cheap - especially if it’s online.

• No need to recruit and train interviewers.

• Data can be easily quantified - favoured by positivists.

• No issue of access.

Limitations:

• Data can be limited.

• There can be low response rates - more common if it’s online.

• Can be difficult to write.

• The researcher must already have some knowledge of the subject.

• Questionnaires are only snapshots of somebody’s life - the answers could change.

Questionnaires - ethicality

Strengths:

• Easy to get informed consent.

• Confidentiality - questionnaires online can be anonymous.

Limitations:

• A few questions, especially if they’re sensitive, can be left out.

Questionnaires - theoretically

Limitations:

• No hypothesis testing - not favoured by positivists.

• Social desirability

• Objectivity and detachment - not favoured by interpretivists.

• Large samples can be hard to obtain as not everybody may answer the questionnaire.

Structured interviews

Interviews that are constructed in a standardised way with a fixed set of closed- ended questions

Structured interviews - practicality

Strengths:

• No need to train interviewers - less time.

• Easily quantifiable results - favoured by positivists.

• Response rates are higher than for questionnaires.

Limitations:

• The answers are only a snapshot - the interviewees answers could change later on.

• Inflexible - fixed questions are asked.

Structured interviews - ethicality