Research methods

AQA Sociology A Level Research methods

Practical issues

- Large-scale research might require a great deal of time and money. The opportunity to carry out research may occur unexpectedly, so it might not be possible to prepare structured methods e.g a questionnaire in time
- The personal skill of an interviewer e.g their ability to mix easily with others or build a rapport will affect the depth of research they receive

Ethical issues

- Gaining consent from the interviewee is essential and they should be offered the right to refuse
- Personal information concerning research participants must be kept confidential. Special care should be taken where research participants are particularly vulnerable e.g rape victims, children
- Deceiving or lying to people to gain information during covert research can create problems as it is impossible to gain informed consent while keeping to research secret

Theorectical issues

Validity, reliability and representativeness

Positivists vs. interactionists

- Functionalists and Marxists often take a positivist approach; they see society as a macro-level structure that shapes our behaviour
- Interactionists favour an interpretivist approach; they take a micro-level view of society, focusing on small-scale, face-to-face interactions

Factors influencing choice of topic

- Sociologist's perspective, society's values (as values change, so does the focus of research e.g rise of concern for environment)
- Practical factors e.g inaccessibility of certain situations to researcher
- Funding bodies e.g government, charities will determine topic to be chosen

Triangulation

Using two or more sources/methods to gain a more rounded picture by studying the same thing from more than one viewpoint. Different methods can complement each other, combining reliability and representativeness in quantitative data, as well as validity in qualitative data

Operationalisation of Concepts

The need to establish a universal definition of key ideas e.g social class is measured using parental occupation as an indicator for a pupil position in society

Research population

A well-defined collection of individuals known to have similar characteristics

Sample

a smaller subgroup drawn from the wider group that we are interested in

Sampling frame

A list of all the items in your population. It's a complete list of everyone or everything you want to study

Validity

Qualitative methods e.g participant observation give us a more valid account of what it is like to be a member of a group than quantitative methods e.g questionnaires, as it can give us a deeper insight from first hand experience

Reliability

When repeated by the researcher, the research should produce the same results. Quantitative methods e.g questionnaires tend to produce more reliable results than qualitative methods

Representativeness

Whether the group being studied is a typical representation of wider society. If so, we can use our findings to make generalisations about the population without having to study every individual. Large-scale quantitative surveys that use sophisticated sampling techniques are best for this

Hill - Differences between studying adults and children

Power and status
Ability and understanding
Vulnerability

Goffman - Impression Management

Manipulating the impression that other people have of us. Teachers are particularly good at this as they are used to being observed and scrutinised (e.g by OFSTED)

Classroom as an ideal setting for research

High levels of surveillance - the teacher can control classroom layout, pupils' time, activities, noise levels, dress and language

Classroom interactions

Fairly straightforward - small settings, there are 2 social roles in the classroom - teacher and pupil

Research methods to use when studying education

Large-scale surveys and official statistics. These overcome the problem of not having enough time or risking their research being unrepresentative

How the law may affect research in schools

Schools operate within a legal framework meaning the pupil's attendance, achievement etc may be restricted to the researcher's access

Gatekeepers in schools

Have the power to refuse researcher access to the school if they believe the research will interfere with the work of the school or undermine teachers' authority. Headteachers often steer researchers away from sensitive situations e.g classrooms where teachers have poor control

Parents - impression management

Presenting themselves to researchers in a positive light by exaggerating their involvement in their child's education e.g exaggerate number of parents' evenings they have attended. This can result in invalid data being collected

Disadvantage of sociologists' personal experience of school

Can dull their awareness of how different educational environments are from other social settings. Sociologists have been to university/school settings so need to be aware of their taken-for-granted assumptions about schools and classrooms, teachers and pupils

Reliability and experiments

Original experimenter can specify precisely what steps were followed in the original experiment so other researchers can repeat these. Detached method; scientists opinions have no effect on the conduct

Experiments - Practical problems

Society is complex, it would be impossible to control all possible variables that may exert an influence, only study small samples, makes it difficult to investigate large-scale social phenomena, also reduces representativeness

Experiments - Ethical problems

Hawthorne effect - a laboratory is not a natural environment so it is likely that behaviour will change by acting accordingly. This will ruin the experiment

Experiments - free will

Interpretivists sociologists argue our behaviour cannot be explained in terms of cause and effect. Instead, it can only be understood in terms of the choices we freely make. In this view, experiments are therefore not an appropriate method for studying human beings

Field experiment

Takes place in subject's natural surroundings rather than artificial laboratory environment, those involved generally not aware they are subjects of experiment (no Hawthorne Effect)

Comparative method

Carried out only in the mind of the sociologist. ('Thought experiment'). Doesn't involve experimenting on real people at all. Compares two groups to see if the one difference has any effect

Advantages of questionnaires

Lower costs
Possibility of anonymity
Greater privacy
Lack of interviewer bias

Disadvantages of questionnaires

Subjects may misinterpret/misunderstand questions
Researcher doesn't know the accuracy or motivation of the subject
Not good for measuring behaviors that are objective or need to be observed
May have low response rates

Why positivists favour questionnaires

They are detached and objective and the sociologist's personal involvement with respondents is kept to a minimum

Cicorel (interpretivist) on questionnaires

Argues data from questionnaires lack validity and do not give true picture of what is being studied. Must look at meanings - too detached

Types of interview

structured, unstructured, semi-structured, group

Advantages of structured interviews

Interviewer has control
All interviewers ask the same questions in the same order
Data collected is likely to be reliable
Easy to analyse on a computer

Disadvantages of structured interviews

Not flexible, can't ask random questions like in an unstructured interview
Answers lack detail which only generates quantitative data - can't tell the reasons why a person behaves a certain way

Graham (feminist) on structured interviews

Patriarchal. Researcher is in control of interview. Survey methods treat women as isolated individuals rather than in context of power relationships that oppress them

Advantages of unstructured interviews

Can build good rapport with interviewees
No set questions to allow interviewee more opportunity to talk
Easier to check misunderstandings
Highly flexible

Disadvantages of unstructured interviews

Sample size too small, less representative
Interviewer must have interpersonal skills
Unreliable (can't be recreated)
Difficult to quantify the research
Hawthorne Effect

Participant observation

Making initial contact with the group may depend on personal skills, having the right connections or pure chance. To gain entry, the researcher will have to win their trust and acceptance. Once accepted, the research needs to be able to stay in the group and complete the study

Going native

One danger of participant observation is the researcher might become over-involved, where the research is at risk of becoming biased

Advantages of overt observation

Avoids ethical problem of obtaining information by deceit
Allows the observer to ask important questions only an outside could ask
Observer can take notes openly

Disadvantages of overt observation

Group may refuse research permission, risks creating the Hawthorne Effect (undermines validity)

Advantages of covert observation

reduces the risk of altering people's behaviour (more valid)

Disadvantages of covert observation

requires researcher to keep up an act, always a risk of one's cover being blown accidentally, raises serious ethical issues (may participate in illegal activities or deceive those in the group)

Weber - Verstenen

understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others

Disadvantages of official statistics

Definitions change over time, may make comparisons difficult, members of public may fill in form incorrectly, 'the dark figure'

Advantages of official statistics

Free source of large amounts of data so representative, statistics allow comparisons between groups, complied by trained staff so more reliable

Disadvantages of documents

credibility, authenticity (if it is a copy is it free from errors?), not all documents survive, certain groups more be unrepresented (illiterate, those with limited leisure time)

Advantages of documents

personal documents allow researcher to get to social actor's reality, cheap source of information (secondary data), offer extra information on results already obtained by primary methods

Methodological pluralism

the use of multiple methods or strategies to answer a research question (triangulate results)