AQA A Level Sociology - Research methods

Primary data

Information Collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes - may be to obtain a first-hand picture of a group or society, or to test a hypothesis

Social surveys (PD)

These involve asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview.

Participant observation (PD)

The sociologist joins in with the activities of the group they are studying

Experiments (PD)

Sociologists rarely use laboratory experiments, but they sometimes use field experiments and the comparative method

Secondary data

Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but which the sociologist can then use

Official statistics (SD)

Produced by the government one a wide range of issues, as well as other statistics produced by charities, businesses, churches and other organisations

Documents (SD)

Letters, emails, diaries, photographs, official reports, novels, newspapers, the internet and television broadcasts

Quantitative data

information that can be measured and written down with numbers

Qualitative data

descriptive data drawn from non statistical sources, including participant observation, personal stories, interviews, and life histories and gives a 'feel' for what something is like

Validity - theoretical issue

A method that produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like

Reliability - theoretical issue

A method that, when repeated by another researcher, gives the same results

Representativeness - theoretical issue

Whether or not the people we study are a typical cross-section of the group we are interested in

Positivists

They prefer quantitative data and seek to discover patterns of behaviour and see sociology as a science

Interpretivists

They prefer qualitative data and seek to understand social actors' meanings and reject the view that sociology can model itself on the natural sciences

Hypothesis

A possible explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence to prove it true or false

Aim

It identifies what we intend to study and hope to achieve through the research, often it will simply be to collect data on a particular topic

Operationalising concepts indicators

The process of Turing a sociological concept or theory into something measureable

Samples and sampling

Produces generalisations that apply to all cases of the topic they're interested in through a smaller sub-group drawn from the wider group that we're interested in

Sampling frame

A list of all the members if the population we are interested in studying - it's important that the list we use as a sampling frame is as complete and accurate as possible

Random sampling (representative)

Every sampling unit has an equal chance of being chosen (e.g. names drawn from a hat), it's the most representative type of sampling, relying on statistical odds to ensure representation but needs a large sample

Quasi-random/systemic sampling (representative)

Where every nth person in the sampling frame is selected - young and willmott used ever 36th name on the electoral register

stratified random sampling (representative)

The population is divided into groups according to important variables such as class/gender/ethnicity, and the sample is then chosen in the same proportions as their prevalence in the population - only possible if you have a sampling frame

Quota sampling (representative)

Quotas are established which determine how many people with particular characteristics are studied, once a quota is filled, no more people in that category are included

Snowball sampling (non-representative)

A member of a sample puts the researcher in touch with other potential members of the sample, it's mainly used with groups who are hard to identify or access and is very unlikely to be representative as its based on people who have contact with one another

Practical reasons why non-representative sampling methods may be used

1- the social characteristics of the research population may not be known, it would be impossible to create an exact cross-section if the population 2- it may be impossible to find or create a sampling frame for that particular research population 3- potential respondents may refuse to participate

Theoretical reasons why non-representative sampling methods may be used

Interpretivists believe that it's more important to obtain valid data and an authentic understanding of social actors' meanings than to discover general laws of behaviour - they have less need for representative samples

Questionnaire closed ended questions

Respondents must choose from a limited range of possible answers that the researcher has decided in advance

Questionnaire open ended questions

Respondents are free to give whatever answer they wish, in their own words, and without any pre-selected choices being offered by the researcher

Questionnaires practical advantages

1- they are a quick and cheap means of gathering large amounts of data, widely spread geographically 2- there is no need to recruit and train interviewers or observers to collect the data 3- the data is usually easy to quantify and can be processed quickly by computers

Questionnaires reliability

1- the questionnaire can be used as a yardstick to be be used by any researcher to obtain the same results 2- they allow comparisons over time and between different societies 3- (postal/online) there is no researcher present to influence the respondents answers

Questionnaires theoretical advantage - hypothesis testing

Useful for testing hypothesises about cause-and-effect relationships between different variables

Questionnaires theoretical advantage - detachment and objectivity

The sociologist's personal involvement with their respondent is kept to a minimum

Questionnaires theoretical advantage - representativeness

The results stand a better chance of being truly representative of the wider population than with other methods that only have small samples + researchers who use questionnaires tend to pay more attention to the need to obtain a representative sample

Questionnaires ethical advantages

1- questionnaires pose fewer ethical problems than most other research methods 2- respondents are generally under no obligation to answer intrusive or sensitive questions

Questionnaires practical disadvantages

1- data tends to be limited and superficial 2- researchers sometimes have to offer an incentive to complete the questionnaire 3- (postal/online) the don't know whether the respondent has actually received the questionnaire or whether it was completed by the person who was meant to

Questionnaires theoretical disadvantages - low response rate

A lot of the people that receive it don't bother to complete and/or return it

Questionnaires theoretical disadvantages - inflexibility

The researcher is stuck with the questions that have decided to ask and can't explore any new areas of interest

Questionnaires theoretical disadvantage - questionnaires as snapshots

They give a picture of social reality at only one moment in time and so don't produce a fully valid picture

Questionnaires theoretical disadvantage - detachment

1- lacks validity 2- doesn't give a true picture of what has been studied 3- there is no way of knowing if the respondent and researcher both interpret the q/a in the same way

Questionnaires theoretical disadvantage - lying, forgetting and right answerism

Respondents may lie, forget, not know, not understand, try to please or second-guess the researcher

Questionnaires theoretical disadvantage - imposing researchers meanings

1- by choosing what to ask, the researcher has already decided what's important 2- if we use close ended questions, respondents then have to try to fit their views into the ones on offer 3- if we use open ended questions, respondents are free to answer as they please, but may be hard to code

Social facts - Emile Durkheim

values, cultural norms, and social structures that transcend the individual and can exercise social control

Verstehen

Understanding that comes from putting yourself in another's place - participant observation

Time and money - practical issues

Different methods require different amounts of time and money and this may influence the sociologist's choice, the researcher's access time resources may determine what methods they employ - a well known professor will probably have access to more research funds than a young student

Requirements of funding bodies - practical issues

Research institutes, businesses and other organisations that provide funding for research may require the results to be in a particular form (e.g. to produce quantitative data)

Personal skills and characteristics - practical issues

Each sociologist possesses different personal skills and this may affect their ability to use different methods (e.g. depth interviews require rapport between the interviewer and interviewee)

Subject matter - practical issues

It may be harder to study a particular group or subject by one method than another (e.g. may be difficult for a male sociologist to study an all-female group through participant observation)

Research opportunity - practical issues

Sometimes the opportunity to carry out research occurs unexpectedly and this means that it may not be possible to use structured methods (e.g. questionnaires)

Informed consent - ethical issues

Research participants should be offered the right to refuse to be involved, the researcher should also tell them about all relevant aspects of the research so they can make an informed decision - consent should be given before research begins and again at intervals through the process

Confidentiality and privacy - ethical issues

Researchers should keep the identity of research participants secret in order to prevent possible negative effects on them

Harm to research participants - ethical issues

Researchers need to be aware of the possible effects of their work in those they study, wherever possible, researchers should anticipate and prevent harm (e.g. police intervention/social exclusion/psychological damage)

Vulnerable groups - ethical issues

Special care should be taken where research participants are particularly vulnerable because of their age, disability, physical or mental health

Covert research - ethical issues

Where the researcher's identity and research purpose are hidden from the people being studied - this may involve deceiving or lying to people in order to win their trust or obtain information, it is also impossible to gain informed consent

The sociologist's perspective - factors influencing choice of topic

The sociologist's theoretical perspective is a major influence on their choice of research topic - a feminist researcher may choose to study domestic violence, as opposition to gender oppression lies at the heart of the feminist perspective

Society's values - factors influencing choice of topic

Sociologists themselves are part of the society they study and thus are influenced by its values and as these values change, so does the focus of research

Practical factors - factors influencing choice of topic

Practical factors, such as the inaccessibility of certain situations to the researcher, may also restrict what topic they're able to study

Funding bodies - factors influencing choice of topic

Most research requires funding from an external body, as the funding body is paying for the research, it will determine the topic to be investigated

Triangulation

the use of two or more methods to study one research question to obtain a more rounded picture by studying the same thing from more than one viewpoint

Interviews

They involve a social interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee, they can be different depending on how free the interviewer is to vary the questions and they way they're asked

Structured interviews - practical advantages

1- training interviewers is relatively straightforward and inexpensive 2- they are useful for covering straightforward information 3- the information is easily quantified 4- they can cover quite large numbers of people with relatively limited resources

Structured interviews - response rate

The large numbers that can be surveyed using structured interviews increase the chances of obtaining a representative sample of the population, response rates can be increased if the interviewer can make several callbacks to pursue those who fail to respond initially

Structured interviews - reliability

They can ensure that each interview is conducted in precisely the same way meaning that we can compare their answers easily to identify similarities and differences

Structured interviews - validity

They often produce a false picture of the subjects they are trying to study: 1- closed ended questions restrict interviewees to choosing from a limited number of pre-set answers 2- they give interviewers very little freedom to explain questions or clarify misunderstandings 3- people may lie or exaggerate

Structured interviews - inflexibility

1- they suffer from the inflexibility that comes from having to draw up the questions in advance 2- they are merely snapshots taken at one moment in time so they fail to capture the flowing, dynamic nature of social life

Structured interviews - feminist criticisms

Hilary graham argues that survey methods are patriarchal: 1- the researcher is control of the interview which mirrors women's subordination in wider society 2- survey methods treat women as isolated individuals rather than seeing them in the context of the power relationships that oppress them 3- surveys impose the researcher's categories on women, making it difficult for them to express their experiences of oppression thus concealing the unequal power relationship between the sexes

Unstructured interviews

the interviewer has complete freedom to vary the questions, their wording, order, etc from one interview to the next, pursuing whatever line of questioning seems appropriate at the time, asking follow up questions or probing more deeply

Semi-structured interviews

Each interview has the same set of question, but the interviewer can also probe for more information

Group interviews advantages

1- participants may feel more comfortable being with others and so are more likely to open up 2- participants often throw around ideas, stimulating each other's thinking which produces richer and more reflective data 3- they can be a useful way of generating initial ideas that can be followed up in later research 4- the researcher can combine questioning with the opportunity to observe group dynamics and norms

Group interviews disadvantages

1- one or two individuals may dominate the discussion, inhibiting others from contributing 2- much depends on the researcher's ability to keep the group focused on the discussion topic 3- peer pressure to conform to group norms may lead to participants not saying what they really think 4- data generated from group interactions is more complex and difficult to analyse

Unstructured interviews - rapport and sensitivity

The informality of unstructured interviews allows the interviewers to develop a rapport with the interviewer which fosters ease and encourages them to open up - William labov found that when using formal interviews to study the language of black Americans children they became tongue tied but when adopting an informal style, the children opened up and spoke freely

Unstructured interviews - interviewees view

As there aren't any set questions, unstructured interviews allow the interviewee more opportunity to speak about the things they think are important

Unstructured interviews - checking understanding

If the interviewee doesn't understand a question, it can be explained and if the interviewer is unsure what the interviewees answer means, follow up questions can be asked to clarify matters

Unstructured interviews - flexibility

The interviewer can explore whatever seems interesting or relevant, the researcher can formulate new ideas and hypotheses and then put them to the test as they arise during the course of the interview

Unstructured interviews - exploring unfamiliar topics

Where the subject is one that we don't yet know much about, unstructured interviews may be more useful because they are open ended and exploratory, the interviewer can learn as they go

Unstructured interviews - practical problems

1- time and sample size: being in-depth explorations, they take a long time to conduct which means that there will only be a relatively small sample size 2- training: needs to be thorough as the interviewer needs sociological background so they can recognise when the interviewee has made a relevant point and probe further (adds to cost) 3- interpersonal skills: interviewers need to be able to establish the rapport that is necessary

Unstructured interviews - representativeness

The smaller numbers involved mean its more likely that the sample won't be representative

Unstructured interviews - reliability

They aren't standardised; each interview is unique which makes it virtually impossible for another sociologist to replicate the interviews and check the findings of compare them with their own

Unstructured interviews - quantification

The answers can't be pre-codes which makes it very difficult to count up and quantify the numbers of interviewees giving this or that data

Unstructured interviews - validity

As they involve an interaction between the interviewer and interviewee, this inevitably colours and distorts the information obtained

Interviews as a social interaction - interviewer bias

1- the interviewer may ask leading questions 2- interviewers may consciously or unconsciously influence the answer by facial expression, body language or tone of voice 3- interviewer may identify too closely with the interviewee (e.g. Ann Oakley admits that as a mother she found it difficult to remain detached when interviewing women on maternity and childbirth)

Interviews as a social interaction - artificiality

Both parties know it's an interview and not a normal conversation and so under these artificial conditions, it may be doubtful whether answers can be truthful

Interviews as a social interaction - status and power inequalities

1- inequalities between the interviewer and interviewee may affect the interviewee's honesty or willingness to answer 2- the bigger the status difference the less valid the data 3- gender differences in power can shape the interview 4- ethnic inequalities may make interviewing very difficult

Interviews as a social interaction - cultural differences

The cultural gap may mean that interviewers can't tell when they're being lied to and there may be misunderstandings as a result of different meanings being given to the same word

Interviews as a social interaction - social desirability effect

In social interactions, people often seek to win approval, interviewees may also not want to seem ignorant or uninteresting

Improving the validity of interviews

1- to reduce the chance of false answers, Alfred kinsey's interviews on sexual behaviour asked questions rapidly and there were follow up interviews 18 months later 2- Howard Becker used aggression, disbelief and playing dumb as ways of extracting information that they might not otherwise have revealed 3- in James nazroo's survey of the health of Britain's ethnic minorities were carried out in the language of the interviewees choice

Experiments - reliability

1- the original experiment can specify precisely what steps were followed in the original experiment so researchers can repeat these in the future 2- its a very detached method: the research manipulated variables and records the results, the scientist's personal opinions have no effect

Experiments - practical problems

1- society is a very complex phenomenon and it would be impossible to identify, let Aldine control, all the possible outcomes that might create an influence 2- laboratory experiments can't be used to study the past as its impossible to control variables acting in the past rather than the present 3- laboratory experiments usually only study small samples which makes it less representative

Experiments - ethical problems

1- the researcher needs the informed consent of the research participants 2- its generally considered wrong to mislead people as to the nature of the experiment (e.g. milgram's study of obedience to authority) 3- harm: in milgram's experiment, many research participants were observed to sweat, stutter, tremble, groan, bite their lips, dig their nails into their flesh and three had full-blown uncontrollable seizures

The Hawthorne effect

A laboratory isn't a natural environment and so it's likely that any behavior in these conditions is artificial which means the study won't have valid results (e.g. when Elton mayo researched into factors affecting workers productivity, the participants were aware that they were being studied and wished to please the experimenter)

Experiments - free will

Interpretivist sociologists argue that humans are fundamentally different from plants, rocks and other phenomena studied by natural scientists as we have free will, consciousness and choice

Field experiment

1- it takes place in the subject's natural surroundings rather than in an artificial laboratory environment 2- those involved are generally unaware that they are the subjects of an experiment (no Hawthorne effect) 3- the researcher manipulates one or more variable in the situation to see what effect it has on the unwitting subjects of the experiment

The comparative method

This is only carried out in the mind of the sociologist, it's a thought experiment and doesn't involve the researcher actually experimenting on real people: step 1- identify two groups of people that are alike in all major respects except for the one variable we are interested in step 2- then compare the two groups to see if this one difference between them has any effect

Non-participant observation

The researcher simply observes the group or event without taking part in it (e.g. they may use a two-way mirror to observe children playing)

Participant observation

The researcher actually takes part in an event or the everyday life of the group while observing it

Overt observation

The researcher makes their true identity and purpose known to those being studied, the sociologist is open about what they're doing

Covert observation

1- The study is carried out 'under cover' 2- the researcher's identity and purpose are kept concealed from the group being studied 3- the researcher takes on a false identity and role, usually posing as a genuine member of the group.

Overt observation - advantages

1- avoids the ethical problems of covert observation 2- allows observer to ask the kind of naïve but important questions that only an outsider could ask 3- observer can take notes openly 4- allows the researcher to use interview methods to check insights derived from observations

Overt observation - disadvantages

1- a group may refuse the researcher permission to observe them / prevent them from seeing everything 2- it risks creating the Hawthorne Effect

Ethnography

Aims to provide rich descriptions of lifestyle, cultures, values and social divisions to explain ways of living - often refers to participant observation

Getting in (participant observation) - making contact

making the initial contact with the group may depend on personal skills, having the right connections or even pure chance (e.g. James Patrick was able to join a Glasgow gang because he looked quite young and knew one of its members from having taught him in a PRU)