1.2.3 - RESEARCH DESIGN

Factors that Affect the Choice of Topic in a sociological study

The sociologist’s perspective

•  The theoretical viewpoint the sociologist has will affect what they want to study.

• E.g. Marxists would be interested in class inequalities in society.  

Factors that Affect the Choice of Topic 

Society’s values

• When values in society change so does the focus of the research sociologists undertake.

• For example the increase of feminism in 1960’s led to further research on gender equality.   

Factors that Affect the Choice of Topic 

Practical factors

• Accessibility can be a barrier to studying a topic.

• For example studying global corporations may prove difficult to gain a sample and an insight.  

Factors that Affect the Choice of Topic 

Funding bodies/ availability

• To undertake research sociologists need funding to cover the costs of their study.

• There are funding bodies who can provide economic support such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

• As the funding body is paying for the research they may state what they want to be studied. 

Factors that affect the choice of topic in a sociological study:

1. The sociologist’s perspective

2. Society's values

3. Practical factors

4. Funding bodies/availability

The Research Process 

• When a sociologist conducts their research there are stages that take place before the research is published:

Formulation of a hypothesis

• ★ A hypothesis is a general explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence that can be proved or disproved.

• This is presented as a statement:

  • Middle class students outperform working class students.

• The sociologist will then confirm or disprove this.

• Positivists favour this approach as it is scientific.

Formulation of an aim

• An aim is more appropriate than a hypothesis in some research studies.

• An aim is broader and outlines what the researcher intends to study. 

• Interpretivists favour this approach as it allows the research to be guided by the participants. 

Choice of method

• Next a sociologist must choose their method.

Operationalising concepts

• This is where the concepts within the sociologists aim/hypothesis are broken down to identify how they will be measured (operationalised).

• E.g. identify how to measure the concept of social class. 

Pilot study

★ Is a draft version of the research which is carried out on a small sample.  

Data collection

• The research is carried out in full. 

Publish findings

• The sociologist interprets the data and analyses their data to identify their conclusions.

• A report will be written that details the sociologist's research process and their findings which will then be published.  

Hypotheses vs aims

1. Hypothesis - positivists favour this approach as it is scientific

2. Aim - intepretivists favour this approach as it allows the research to be guided by the participants