sociology - research methods (paper 1 and paper 3)

What are the two main theoretical approaches to the study of society

Positivism and interpretivism

What do positivists believe

Society can be studied using similar techniques to the natural sciences

What do interpretivists think?

People have personal beliefs values and interpret the world in different ways. They do not simply respond to forces outside them.

Example of a positivist

Durkheim

What do positivists believe shape society

Social facts

What is a social fact

The institutions which shape society and cause us to behave in a certain way or limit our behaviour through social control

What are examples of social facts

Socialisation, the education system, the family, mass media, the legal system

These social facts can be …

Studied like objects in the natural world

Therefore, what do positivists believe

In the natural world, there are causes for events and it is the same in society

What methods do positivists use?

quantitative methods → allow them to check for reliability and make generalisations

What is reliability?

The concept that if you repeat something you get the same results

What are generalisations?

When your research allows you to apply your findings to a wider population → positivists want to find reasons for events, allowing them to make generalisations

What do positivists not study

Feelings, emotions and motives → cannot be quantified

What type of theorists do positivists tend to be?

Macro (big scale) theorists → functionalists, Marxists

What do interpretivists believe behaviour is influenced by?

The meaning that people give to social situations

What process do interpretivists believe in

Verstehen

What is verstehen

Understanding human behaviour by putting yourself in the position of the people you’re studying

What methods do interpretivists use

Qualitative data → can gain a detailed, in depth knowledge of the situation they are studying

What scale of research do interpretivists tend to carry out

Micro (small) scale

What type of theorists/sociologists tend to be interpretivists

Interactionists (e.g. labelling) and feminists (understanding female experiences and thoughts/feelings)

What do positivists believe about society

Society acts as a constraint on individuals → requires a macro or large scale approach to investigate

What do interpretivists believe about society

Individuals and groups play an active role in creating society → requires understanding individual meanings, through micro or small scale approaches

What is quantitative data

Info in numerical forms e.g percentages, graphs, statistics

What is qualitative data

Info, usually expressed in words, about people’s thoughts, feelings, motivations, values etc.

What is primary data

Info collected first hand by sociologists themselves for research purposes

What is secondary data

Info collected by other people or organisations for non-sociological purposes → sociologists then access this because it’s often free or cheap, and covers large numbers

What is validity

The capacity of a research method to measure what it sets out to research → a valid method is one that creates a truthful image

What is reliability

Research which produces exactly the same results when repeated using identical methods and procedures

What is representative data

Typical data/sample (a cross section) → may be used to generalise about a larger group

What is operationalisation

The process of turning a sociological theory into something measurable → e.g. to study effect of social class on educational achievement, might use parental occupation to measure social class

What does objective mean

The absence of bias or pre conceived ideas

What does subjective mean

Bias → the individuals own viewpoint influences their perception or judgement

What do interpretivists and positivists believe about objectivity/subjectivity

Positivists → sociology is objective, use methods which keep the sociologist detached

Interpretivists → sociology is inevitably subjective, involves the sociologist understanding other humans from their perspective

What 4 factors influence choice of topic

1. The Sociologist’s perspective

2. Society’s values

3. Practical factors

4. Funding bodies

What impact does the sociologists perspective have on the choice of topic? (2)

• major influence

• E.g. new right researcher may research influence of welfare benefits on the growth of lone parent families, as the idea of welfare dependency is central to their standpoint

What impact does society’s values have on the choice of topic? (2)

• sociologists themselves are part of the society they study, and will therefore be influenced by its values

• As values change, so does the focus on research

What impact does practical factors have on the choice of topic? (2)

• may restrict the topic sociologists are able to study

• e.g. money, time, access to groups + how likely they are to speak

What impact does funding bodies have on the choice of topic? (2)

• Most research requires funding from an external body (e.g. government agencies, charities, businesses, ESRC)

• As the funding body is paying for the research, it will determine the topic to be investigated

What is the ESRC

Economic and Social Research Council

**** What is triangulation (good for essay conclusions!!!)

When sociologists use 2 or more sources or methods to obtain a more rounded picture, by studying the same thing from more than one viewpoint

Why is this useful

Different methods can complement each other → the strengths of one counter the weaknesses of another, or can provide both qualitative and quantitative data

What are the 4 steps in the process of sociological research

1. Formulating an aim/hypothesis

2. Operationalising concepts

3. The pilot study

4. Samples + sampling

FORMULATING AN AIM/HYPOTHESIS

What is a hypothesis

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

Why is it useful in research

Gives direction to a project

Why can discarding a hypothesis show progress

It shows some info is wrong, allowing redirection

Why do positivists favour a hypothesis as the starting point of an investigation

They believe research should follow a structured, scientific approach

What is an aim

Something which identifies what you intend to study, and what you hope to achieve through the project

What is the advantage of an aim

It’s more open ended, can gather data on anything related

Why do interpretivists favour using an aim

They are interested in understanding actor’s meanings, so the task is to find out what actors themselves think is important

OPERATIONALISING CONCEPTS

What is operationalisation

The process of converting a sociological concept into something measurable

Why do we need to operationalise concepts

In order to allow us to measure things → e.g. what social class each student belongs to - then you can start asking questions

Why can operationalising concepts be problematic

Different sociologists operationalise the same concept differently

What do positivists think about operationalising concepts

Think it’s important because of the importance they place on the use of hypotheses

What do interpretivists believe about operationalising concepts

Not as important/as concerned → more important to understand individual’s opinions than imposing their own definitions

THE PILOT STUDY

what is a pilot study

a draft version of a questionnaire and interview schedule on a small scale

What is the aim of a pilot study

To iron out/refine/clarify any problems and give interviewers practice → important to make sure the actual survey goes as smoothly as possible

What might a pilot study reveal

Badly worded/hard to understand questions, or that answers are difficult to analyse

SAMPLES AND SAMPLING

What is a sample

A smaller sub group drawn from the wider group that we are interested in

What is a sampling frame

A list of names of all those included in the survey population from which the sample is selected

Who are the respondents

The people who actually take part in the research

What is the research population

The whole group being studied

What does the research population depend on

The hypothesis the researcher wishes to investigate

What is sampling

The process of creating or selecting a group

What is the basic purpose of sampling

To ensure the people chosen to include in the survey are representative/typical of the research population (including all the people we have not been able to include in the study)

Which theorist is sampling most attractive to and why

Positivists → wish to make general, law-like statements about the wider social structure

What are the 7 types of sampling

1. Random

2. Systematic

3. Stratified random

4. Quota

5. Multi stage/cluster

6. Snowball

7. Opportunity

random sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (3)

• each sample has an equal chance of being chosen (e.g. drawn out of a hat)

• + technically the most representative, relies on statistical odds

• - large sample needed to ensure that statistically, it is likely to be representative

systematic sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (3)

• used to enable systematic selection from a list (e.g. every. 10th person is selected)

• + avoids having to pick the sample from a hat/computer list of random numbers

• - not truly random

stratified random sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (4)

• population divided into groups according to important variables (e.g. class, gender, ethnicity)

• sample is then chosen in the same proportions as found in population

• + relatively small sample can be used with confidence that it is still representative

• - requires sampling frame which includes details of significant characteristics of population to be studied

Quota sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (3)

• establishes predetermined no. of people with each particular characteristic - once quota is filled, no more people in that category are included

• + relatively small sample, can be used with confidence that it is still representative BUT ALSO can be conducted without variables being available from sampling frame

• - accessibility of potential respondents affects their chances of being included, may be less representative

multi-stage/cluster sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (3)

• involves taking a sample of a sample

• + allows a broad based sample whilst saving time and money (as you don’t include all potential sources)

• - less truly representative then some methods as many members of the population have no chance of being selected

Snowball sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (3)

• members of a sample put researcher in touch with other potential members

• + used mainly with groups who are hard to identify/access (e.g. criminals)

• - very likely to be unrepresentative, since based on people who have contact with one another

Opportunity sampling (how is it conducted, + and -) (3)

• people chosen on basis of being easily accessible and willing to participate in research

• + tends to be easiest, cheapest and quickest way of collecting sample, may lead to a good response rate

• - makes no attempt to be truly representative, so cannot generalise from findings

What are the issues to consider during the research process (using an acronym)

PERVERT (Practical, Ethical, Reliability, Validity, Examples, Representativeness, Theoretical Issues)

Practical issues to consider (5)

• time and money

• requirements of funding body (may require results to be in a certain form)

• personal skills and characteristics (may affect their ability to use certain methods)

• subject matter (some groups may be harder to study by one method than another)

• research opportunity (opportunity to carry out research may be unexpected, not possible to use structured methods like questionnaires, which take longer to prepare)

What does ethics refer to

Moral issues of right and wrong

QUESTIONAIRES

what is a questionnaire

A list of pre set questions to which the respondents are asked to supply answers - either by filling in responses themselves or by giving information to an interviewer (face-to-face - interviews- or over the telephone)

What are they useful for?

Obtaining large amounts of quantitative data on relatively large samples of people (in a cheap, fast and efficient way)

What are questionnaires for positivists?

One of the main tools of measurement in positive sociology → data is easily quantified and can be analysed more ‘scientifically’ and objectively

What iş important about questionnaires

Questions must be kept simple and as clear as possible → cannot be changed once a survey has begun

What is particularly important for questionnaire designs then?

Pilot studies

Some issues that may result from questionnaire design (3)

• offensive questions should be avoided

• No. Of questions should be kept to a minimum

• start the survey with simplest questions, leaving more complicated questions to the end

PERVERT - Practical advantages for questionnaires (3)

• Quick and cheap means of gathering data from large groups of people, across a wide demographic scale

• No need to recruit and train interviewers to collect data

• Data is easy to quantify particularly where close-ended questions are used → can quickly be processed by computers

PERVERT - Ethical advantages for questionnaires (3)

• Pose fewer ethical issues their most research methods

• Whilst they may ask sensitive questions, respondents are generally under no obligation to answer them

• Researchers should gain respondents informed consent, guarantee anonymity and make it clear they are under no obligation to answer all questions

PERVERT - Reliability advantages for questionnaires (4)

• identical questionnaire are sent out, should give similar results every time

• No researcher present to influence respondent answers

• If differences are found, these are the result of real differences between respondents

• Allows comparison overtime and between different societies → standardised testing = repeatable

PERVERT - Validity advantages for questionnaires (1)

• good for identifying cause and effect relationships between different variables

PERVERT - examples for questionnaires (2)

• Helen Connor + Sarah Dewson (2001) posted nearly 4000 questionnaire to students at 14 higher education institutions around the country to see factors which influence whether a working class pupils go to uni

• Census survey every 10 years

PERVERT - Representative advantages for questionnaires (2)

• due to taking data from a large number of people, results are more truly representative of the wider population

• Researchers who use questionnaire tend to pay more attention to the need to obtain a representative sample → more accurate generalisations

PERVERT - Theoretical issues advantages for questionnaires (4)

• POSITIVISTS

• useful for testing hypothesis about cause-and-effect relationships between different variables → correlation between factors

• Can allow us to make statements about possible causes e.g lower achievement, predictions of which children are likely to under achieve

• Detached and objective method, no bias in response

PERVERT - Practical disadvantages for questionnaires (3)

• Data tends to be limited and superficial (especially if questions are long/complicated/hard to understand)

• May be necessary to offer an incentive to persuade respondent to complete (eg entry to a prize draw)

• Researcher can’t be sure whether respondents have received the questionnaire or whether it was answered by the intended person

PERVERT - Ethical and Reliability disadvantages for questionnaires

NONE

PERVERT - Validity disadvantages for questionnaires (4)

• questionnaires are snapshots → give a picture of reality at ONE time, fail to produce a fully valid picture as thru don’t capture how peoples attitude and behaviour change

• Interpretivists (e.g. Cicourel, 1968) argue data lacks validity → need a method that enables ourselves to put ourselves in the subject position and see the word through their eyes. Questionnaires are the most detached method.

• Lack of contact between researcher and respondent leads to lack of clarification and misunderstanding

• Method relies on willingness and ability to provide full and accurate answers → may want to give ‘respectable’ answers

PERVERT - Example disadvantages for questionnaires (1)

low response rate → Shere Hits (1991) study of ‘love, passion and emotional violence’, sent out 100,000 questionnaires, only 4.5% responded

PERVERT - Representative disadvantages for questionnaires (3)

• very few people who receive a questionnaire can be bothered to complete and return it

• More responses can be obtained if follow-up questionnaires are sent and questionnaires are collected by hand → requires time and money

• those who have strong opinions are more likely to reply, creates distorted data