unit 1: theory and methods

• structuralism: an approach focusing on the large-scale social structures in which people play defined roles.
• CS: Durkheim's Suicide Study:

  • Published over 100 years ago.
  • He wanted to show it is linked to the way societies are organised.
  • He found correlations and causations between suicide rates and socialisation.
• correlation: when two variables are related to each other but causation cannot be proved.
• causation: where a strict link can be proved between variables in a time sequence.
• interpretivism: approaches that start at the level of the individual, focusing on small-scale phenomena and usually favouring qualitative methods.
• consensus: basic agreement on a shared set of values.
• functionalism: society is perceived as being like the human body. This is called organic analogy.
• positivism: an approach to sociology based on studying society in a scientific manner.
• quantitative data: information and facts that take a numerical form.
• bias: prejudice that distorts the truth when research is influenced by the values of the researcher or by decisions taken about the research.
• objectivity: absence of bias; the researchers do not allow their values or feelings to influence the research.
• pilot study: a small-scale test of a piece of a research project before the main research.
• survey population: all those to whom the findings of the study will apply and from which a sample is chosen.
• sampling frame: a list of members of the population from which the sample is chosen.
• generalisability: the extent to which the findings of a study can be applied to other situations.
• random sampling: when each person has an equal chance of being selected.
• stratified sample: when the sampling frame is divided, for example, by gender or age.
• quota sampling: deciding in advance how many people with what characteristics to involve in the research and then identifying them.
• snowball sampling: when one respondent puts the researcher in contact with others.
• systematic sampling: when their is a regular pattern to the choice, for example, every tenth name in the sampling frame is chosen.
• cluster sampling: random samples are taken from certain areas which are chosen for the sampling frame.
• opportunity sampling: people who are available at the time to take part in the research.
• ethical issues: issues that have a moral dimension, such as when harm and stress may be caused to participants.
• questionnaires: a standardized list of questions used in social surveys.
• social surveys: the systematic of information from a sample, usually involving a questionnaire or structured interviews.
• open, closed and pre-coded questions: closed or pre-coded questions are those where the researcher has set out which responses can be recorded. In open questions the respondent can reply freely in their own words to give their responses.
• qualitative data: information and facts that are not able to be presented in numerical form.
• self-completion questionnaires: questionnaires that are sent out and returned by post.
• response rate: the proportion of responses obtained out of a sample.
• structured interview: an interview in which the questions are standardised and the replies codified to produce quantitative data.
• telephone questionnaires: when the researcher reads the questions to a respondent over the telephone and records their answers.
• reliability: when the research can be repeated and similar responses will be obtained.
• validity: when the findings accurately reflect the reality that it is intended to capture.
• CS: The UK Census:

  • The UK census is carried out every 10 years, most recently in 2021.
  • Gathers statistical information about everyone living there.
• unstructured interview: an interview without set questions that usually involves probing into emotions and attitudes, leading to qualitative data,
• semi-structured interview: an interview with some standardized questions but allowing the researcher some flexibility on what is asked in what order.
• focus group: a group brought together to be interviewed on a particular topic; a special type of group interview.
• group interview: any interview involving a group interviewed together.
• interviewer bias: intentional or unintentional effect of the way that the interviewer asks questions or interprets answers.
• interviewer effect: ways in which an interviewer may influence participants' responses, by their characteristics or appearance or by verbal cues such as facial expressions and tone of voice.