Research Methods - OCR Sociology A Level

Positivism

See sociology as the science of society

Humans can be objectively and scientifically measured

Structuralists

Individuals are 'puppets of society'

Trends in human behaviour can be clearly seen and catalogued - human behaviour is predictable

MACRO approach

Functionalist, feminist, marxist

Big approach with big trends

Aim to stay objective

Quantitative data

Positivists

Numerical facts and statistics

Questionnaires, structured interviews

Content analysis

Reliability

Repeatable

Positivists - if the research is reliable, other sociologists should be able to repeat the research and consistently obtain the same or similar results

Repeating verifies the accuracy

Objectivity or value-free

Sociologist should be neutral and not allow their personal or political views to bias any aspect of the research

Representativeness

Sociologists select a representative sample or group to take past.

Representative means the sample is typical of the larger population being studied

Generalisable

Sociologists can safely conclude that was was studied is probably true of the wider population to which the sample belongs

Validity

Whether the research findings give a true picture of what's being studied and the research should have achieved what it set out to do

Benefits of positivism

Scientific approach - easy to spot patterns and trends

Predictions can be made about the social world

Objectivity is important

Government support

Interpretivism

Weber

'Humans cannot be treated like objects, they are active, conscious beings with free will and are capable of making choices about how to behave'

Meanings and experiences

Mead (interpretivist)

People's sense of self can only develop in a social context - to get inside other peoples head'

Verstehen

Seeing the world from someone else's point of view; 'getting under the skin'

Empathy

Understanding peoples social actions

Researcher bias

Research focusing only on what the researcher thinks is important

Can be the result of an emphasis on reliability

Rapport

Building up a relationship with those being studied

Ethnography

Researcher entering into the setting

E.g Venkatesh "Gang leader for a day"

Qualitative

Words, looking at the feelings and experiences of people

What would positivists say about interpretivists?

Their research is unsystematic and unstructured

Researcher influence

Lacks representativeness

Lacks reliability

Biased

Triangulation / mixed methods

Using a variety of means of undergoing the research

Factors effecting research

Practical

Ethical

Theoretical

Practical factors effecting research

Cost

Time

Subject matter

Social characteristics

Ethical factors effecting research

Informed consent

Rights to privacy

Avoidance of emotional/physical harm

Legality

Morals - morally acceptable for the researcher?

Harm towards the research or risk

Random sampling

Systematic random sampling - randomly choosing a number between 1 and 10 and then picking out every 10th number from that number (not always representative)

Stratified random sampling - Dividing the research population into a number of different sampling frames and then using systematic random sampling to select the group that will make up the sample

Non-random sampling, what are the 5 types?

Quota sampling

Purposive sampling

Opportunity sampling

Snowball sampling

Volunteer sampling

Quota sampling

Researcher has a certain number they need to fill and he/she looks for the right number of people until the quota is filled

Purposive sampling

Researcher chooses individuals or cases that fit the nature of the research

Opportunity sampling

Making most of situations or opportunities in which the research population is likely to be found

Snowball sampling

Used when researchers have difficulty in gaining access to particular groups. Involves interviewing and asking them for advice on who to ask next

Volunteer sampling

Sociologists advertise for volunteers

e.g shop windows, magazines, cards, etc....

Pilot study

Trial/practice study which allows the sociologist to check if the questions are relevant, understandable and appropriate, interviewers can be trained and can also spot bias

Factors affecting choice of research topic?

Social problems

Sociological problems

Social problems

Aspects of social life which cause misery and anxiety to individuals and society in general

Sociological problems

Any aspect of social life (normal or deviant) is a sociological problem

What are the choices of topic dependant on?

Interests and values of researcher

Current debates in academic world

Funding

Access to research subjects

Hypothesis

An informed guess which will then be tested

Grounded theory

Some sociologists begin with a general aim and allow hypothesis to take shape and develop as the research data is collected

Operationalisation

Hypothesis or research aim is broken down into concrete things that can be observed or measured

Longitudinal survey positives

Study the same group of people over a long period of time

Clear image of changes and attitudes and behaviour over a number of years

Longitudinal survey negatives

Respondents may drop out or researchers may lose track of them (undermines representativeness of original sample)

Views of those who remain in the sample may be significantly different to those who drop out (undermines validity)

Researcher team may get too friendly with members of group (objectivity undermined, researcher imposition)

Researcher imposition

Respondent changes what they say as the researcher is there

Questionnaires

Main method for gathering data in social surveys

A list of questions that are written down in advance and are handed or posted to the chosen respondents for self completion

Some are included in mass media publications

Some become interview schedules (read out and filled in on behalf of the respondent by trained interviewers)

Open and closed questions

Open = open-ended, thoughts/feelings, experiences, qualitative data

Closed = multiple choice, quantitative data

Semi-structured interviews

Questionnaires that employ a combination of mainly closed questions with occasional open questions

Self-report = asks respondents to tick what they have experienced

Attitudinal questionnaire = asking respondents on a scale of 1-5

Ideally, questions should be neutral and objective

Strengths of questionnaires

- Can be used for reaching larger and consequently more representative samples of people

- Postal questionnaires can be used if the research population is geographically dispersed across the country or if info is required from different regions for comparative reasons

- Less time consuming and are cheaper

- Usefull if they guarantee anonymity

- They ensure that the sociologist has minimal contact with the respondent

- Positivists argue they are reliable, scientific and standardised and produces statistical data

Weaknesses of questionnaires

- Low response rates - especially is posted. Therefore, the validity is undermined

- Interpretivists argue they produce data which is low in validity - interpretation could be wrong or even lying

- Interpretivists argue that closed questions suffer from the imposition problem

Interviews

Can be carried out in a public space, telephone or online forums.

The most successful interviews are carried out in private, neutral and unthreatening venues

Particularly useful when studying areas which are not accessible

However:

Can be expensive

Success depends on how well the interviewer has been trained e.g listening skills and body language

Structured interviews

Researcher reads out a list of closed questions from an interview schedule and ticking boxes or writing down answers

Interviewer plays a passive and robotic role

Responses normally converted to quantitative

Strengths of structured interviews

- Positivists are keen, they regard the method as scientific

- Use of close questions and fixed-choice tick boxes generate large amounts of quantitative data

- Can be conducted quite quickly - increasing possibility of a representative sample from which generalisations can be made

- Interviewers can explain aims and objectives and clarify instructions

- Better response rate than questionnaires

Weaknesses of structured interviews

- Artificial devices that are not a normal part of everyday reality - people could respond with suspicion, in an evasive way or could lie (Interviewer bias - undermining validity)

- Inflexible - interviewer cannot pursue any interesting leads

- Only snapshots taken at one moment in time

- Imposition problem

- Success depending on peoples memory, honesty and consciousness

Official and unofficial statistics (secondary data)

Official - numerical data collected by government

Unofficial - quantitative data collected by non-government sources

Strengths of official and unofficial stats

- Easy and cheap to access - online

- Normally up-to-date and can clearly see patterns and trends

- Positivists see them as reliable - collected in a systematic way

- Findings can be generalised as normally collected from representative samples

Weaknesses of official and unofficial stats

- May not represent a true picture

- Open to political abuse - stats can be manipulated for political advantage

- Statistics are socially constructed

- Tell us little about meanings/experiences/interpretations

Media products (secondary data)

Content analysis

Strengths:

- Cheap

- Comparative and can be longitudinal

- Reliable

Weaknesses:

- Can be time consuming

- Can be subjective

- Products may only tell us about the personal and political beliefs of the broadcasters/journalists etc...

Unstructured interview

A guided conversation

Normally carried out in natural setting of respondent

Strengths of unstructured interview

- Allow researcher to establish a qualitative interaction or relationship with respondent generating trust and rapport

- They are flexible

- Data is highly valid

Weaknesses of unstructured interviews

- Could be bias if interviewer picks and chooses material to match his/her opinion

- There are no pre-coded answers so the data is hard to analyse and quantify and turn into graphs or tables

Group interviews

Interviewer talks to a group or panel of respondents. Often used to interview children or to investigate the dynamics of a particular group

High in validity if truer image emerges when the group is interviewed together but it could be argued that there is a more dominant member of the group

Focus group interviews

Participants are encouraged to talk to each other and discuss an issue. There is minimal interference from the sociologist. The danger is that strong personalities can dominate

Non-participant or direct observation

Involves the researcher sitting and observing an activity e.g patient/doctor interaction or a classroom. The observer is a detached and unobtrusive onlooker who plays no active role in the activity being observed

Less likely to be biased but could be argued that the behaviour is artificial (researcher imposition)

Participant observation

Researcher immerses into the lifestyle of the group.

Overt

Covert (Moore)

- Researcher can see things through the eyes and actions of those in the group - verstehen

- High in validity - trustworthy

- Allows an understanding of changing attitudes and behaviour

- Can be supported by informal questions

BUT

- Observer or researcher effect

- Some observers can get too close to those being studied

- Covert can be dangerous for sociologist

- Dedication and acting ability is required

Methodological pluralism

Combining of different research methods to build up a fuller picture of what is being studied