research methods

• Positivist


  Society should be understood using scientific methods of research in order to gain numerical data
• Realist

  Sociologists use multiple methods that are both positivist (numbers) and interpretivist (meaning). This is known as using multiple methodologies
• Validity:

  • Genuine data -accurate reflection of what is being studied.
  • Demographic data usually seen as valid( num of births and deaths officially counted each year) few births or deaths go unreported or unrecorded.
  • Crime statistics collected by police represent only some of crimes committed, many go unreported for a num of reasons- these figures are not regarded as valid.
• Reliability:

  • research /study repeated and similar findings recorded, then

  data and method are seen as reliable.

  • Some methods easier to use in a standardised way than others, with person collecting data having less impact on process.
  • Collecting info using a questionnaire -more consistent than interview
• Ethics:

  • issues of right and wrong.
  • in research it is wrong to harm anyone, so steps should be taken to protect people.
  • Sometimes ethical issues are complex and can affect what research is possible or how research is carried out.
  • There are professional guidelines to help sociologists,
• Approaches to research

  • Positivits -scientific approach, collecting quantitative data
  • Interpretivists, - qualitative data, are looking for meanings and emotions in human behaviour.
  • realist approach - there are strengths and weaknesses to both, sociologists have to be flexible and adopt approach that works best in circumstances of a combination of methods,
• Positivism

  • involves collecting info about social facts, that are aspects of behaviour - can be counted and measured.
  • EG - age people get married or how many have enrolled at uni
  • As data is collected, trends and patterns can be identified in these statistics, -may be possible to detect correlations between 2 sets of info -as more go to uni , what happens to age of marriage? ls relationship consistent? is there a causal relationship between the social facts or do they just coincide? This mimics scientific approach and desire to find laws which explain behaviour in the natural
• Interpretivism

  • collect detailed accounts in word
  • enables researcher find out what people's feelings, attitudes and experiences are rather than counting how many go to uni, they want to know why go to uni.
  • They do not look for causal relationships as they see human behaviour as different from behaviour of things in natural decide to act.
• Realism

  • Positivists criticised as social research cant mimic approach of natural sciences, eg social experiments cant be set up in controlled way lab experiments can be, it is clear humans are reflexive, things have meaning for us and we respond to our emotions. 
  • However, there are also trends and patterns in social behaviour, these can be observed and measured.
  •  Realists - best way to proceed is to recosnise both interpretivism and positivism are useful. They select methods that are the most suitable for the issue that is being studied
• Factors affecting how select research methods

  ® What wish to find out.

  ® topic or issue being studied.

  ® What information is already available.

  ® preference for quantitative or qualitative data

  • How much time and money have

  Some of these might be connected; EG-study of crime rates

  require Quantitative data - gov collects this already, so a starting point will be a secondary source. A study of effects of crime on victims is more likely require qualitative data; this may be available from earlier studies but it is Ikely that! researcher would collect their own primary data
• • Primary data/ sources- been collected by those who are using it eg Pali used interviews to investigate how families made decisions.
  • Secondary data / sources- info collected by others- statisties collected by the gov such as the Census . Other sources-media content and contemporary letters and diaries
• Quantitative data

  • Positivists
  • counting and measuring aspects of social behaviour.
  • Such data is needed if researcher testing a hypothesis that suggests is a causal or non-causal relationship between two social variables.

  Qualitative data

  • Interpretivists
  • key feature - absence of numbers, attempts to capture how people experience social events and what mean to them,
  • Answers from interviews or summaries of what has taken place and been said in a group
• Surveys

  • isn't a method of collecting data but a study as a whole.
  • Usually a large-scale quantitative study rather than smaller-scale qualitative research
  • Data is usually collected using questionnaires of structured interviews. eg British Social Attitudes Survey and Crime Survey for England and Wales Each year 3000 people are asked questions about their attitudes to a wide range of social issues
• Questionnaires

  • a list of questions, either on paper or online.
  • Paper ones can be distributed in person or through post.
  • respondent - reads and answers questions on their own- no need for a researcher to be present. - a large number of peoplecan be involved relatively quickly and cheaply.
  • Because all respondents answer exactly same questions, this method is seen as producing reliable data: if study was

  repeated by another researcher then similar results could be expected.
• Interviews

  • can be structured, semi-structured or unstructured /in-depth
  • structured - a questionnaire with questions read out and answers recorded by interviewer
  • Unstructured - are more like a conversation, with questions and answers not following any fixed, pre-determined path, 
  • Semi-structured -somewhere between questionnaire and conversation extremes,

  One advantage of interviews is flexibility, not only are there different types of interview, it is easier to include a mixture of closed and open-ended questions allowing both quantitative and qualitative data to be collected.
• Structured interviews- involves interviewer asking all of respondents exactly the same questions same way. This type of interview is used to collect quantitative data

  Advantages:

  • One advantage of structured interviews over questionnaires is if

  respondent is unsure about something, the interviewer can explain things

  • standardised approach heips make data reliable.
  • Data can be collected quickly than other interview methods
  • presence of researcher can improve response rates.
• structured interviews disadvantages

  • more time consuming than a questionnaire.
  • presence of interviewer might result in interviewer bias, and respondents may give socially accepted answers rather telling truth,
  • rigid interview schedule can limit opportunity for respondent to explain their answers,
• Unstructured interviews-Also known as in depth' interviews, has very little structure at all. Is more like a conversation, concentrating on a limited number of topics or questions.

  As interview proceeds, questions can be asked to follow up earlier responses.

  Unstructured interviews are used when researcher requires qualitative data,
• Advantages of unstructured interviews :

  • absence of a strict schedule allows discussion to develop - can allow explore issues in great detail.
  • 'natural setting can encourage more openness and honesty, resulting in more valid data.
  • respondent is able to answer in their own words.
  • because of face-to-face nature interviewer might be able to notice if respondent is telling truth or not- body language can be

  observed.

  • answvers are not restricted to a sheet of paper, interviews are more likely to use open-ended questions and allow respondents to elaborate views and feelings.
• Disadvantages of unstructured interviews :

  • very time consuming to conduct so smaller samples studied
  • interviewer has to be highly skilled.
  • Analysing info collected is more complicated and subjective.
  • each interview will be different- data can be less reliable.
  • Intervicwer bias- answers can be influenced by the interviewer, - may want to please interviewer so give what think is'correct;, socially acceptable answer, rather than what really think
  • ethnicity, age, or sex of respondent and interviewer can affect relationship and so answers are given,
• Semi-structured interviews-have less flexibility than unstructured and less rigidity than structured

  Semi-structured interviews usually consist of a series of open-ended

  questions linked to issues researcher wants to cover and are sometimes also called focussed interviews.
• semi structured interviews advantages

  • Falling between structured and unstructured , they avoid some of disadvantages associated with them,
  • use of open-ended questions gives opportunities for interviewer and respondent to discuss topics in detail, qualitative data can be obtained.
  • researcher is able to prompt or encourage respondent to give fuller answers
  • interviewer can follow up issues mentioned by respondent, so

  research is not confined to what researcher thought in advance would be important.
• Disadvantages of semi structured interviews :

  • Falling between the structured and unstructured , they don't have all advantages associated with them.
  • interviews are not standardised so data may be less reliable.
  • Interviewer bias
  • be expensive and time-consuming,
• Focus groups- a development of interview approach which has been

  adopted by sociologists from field of consumer research.

  A group will be encouraged to discuss an issue, with a researcher acting as a moderator or facilitator helping keep discussion on topic and encourage all members to participate.

  Usually recorded so distraction of note-taking is avoided.

  conversational setting is seen as more naturalistic than a one-to-one

  interview and responses can be more wide-fanging. This approach collects qualitative data
• Advantages of focus groups:

  • views and opinions of members can be explored in some detail
  • group discussion can be more informative and revealing.
  • useful when it is a group and their views that are being studied.
  • collects info from several respondents more quickly and cheaper than using interviews.
  • members can influence discussion- introducing ideas

  researcher had not considered.
• Disadvantages of focus groups :

  • moderator needs to be highly skilled to keep discussion focussed to prevent it being dominated by forceful participants
  • Some may not feel able to share their views in a group setting.
  • small numbers are studied- results unlikely to be representative.
  • each group is unique- results are unlikely to be reliable.
  • dominant member might influence contributions of others, reducing the validity of data.
  • As with other qualitative methods, it can be difficult to analyse data that is Collected.
• Observation 

  • To know how actually behave may be more useful to watch them as methods with que have risk of lying
  • involves researcher watching a group's behaviour in usual setting
  • two types-participant and non- participant
  • each can be used openly (overtly) or secretly (covertly
  • involve researcher immersing into group and its culture ,are sometimes termed ethnography.
  • Ethnographic studies often rich in descriptive detail whilst lacking quantitative data.
  • typically used by interpretivists, -want understand how people experience and make sense of world
• Non-participant observation-involves researcher being with a group, but not being part of it.

  • If quantitative data is required then non-participant observation will be preferred over participant observation
  • enables researcher to observe instances of behaviour are interested in
• • Participant observation- become, as far as possible, a member of

  the group being studied. This method is an example of ethnography, the collection of detailed accounts of a group's usual behaviour.

  • researcher joins in activities and, by sharing experiences, is able to understand social world from their pov
  • eg , a number of studies of schools have been based on

  sociologist joining the school as a teacher. The researcher has to decide whether of not to reveal their presence to the group. By remaining a covert observer then the Hawthorne Effect can be avoided isee p73).
• Secondary sources -any research used by a study that was not

  created for study and came from the work of another researcher. so , the original author creates primary data, but other people who use the same information are using secondary sources and should credit the original writer in their work
• reasons why use secondary sources.

  • Before collecting, new data, makes sense be aware of what info already exists. A literature review - indicate what sorts of ques have already been asked about a topic and any aspects that have been controversial on subject
  • Time and money saved if info needed already exists. In case of official statistics- may be more info available than a sociologist could collect.
  • If study concerned with social change, and comparing contemporary society with past, then is inevitable existing sources have be explored
• Problems with secondary sources

  • There can be issues of reliability and representatiVeness
• Existing sociological research

  • important part of research-literature review- an appraisal of existing research into a topic inc a summary of what known, highlightingg areas of debate or gaps in knowledgee.
  • part of this review- relationship between diff sociological theories and evidence been collected can be examined. methods used in initial research can be assessed -quality of evidence in terms of reliability and validity.
  • important que is how up-to-date info is-older material may not be relevant- gives reason for new research, as new research will comment on what already known
• Official statistics - most widely used secondary source n sociological research, They are most likely to be used by positivists; the approach to research that prefers quantitative data
• . The advantages of using official statistics

  • Availability-Gov and other public bodies publish free statistics about population and events in society. - Census collects info about family and household structure, housing quality, education and health.
  • Also births and deaths, crime, work and unemployment,
  • identification of trends and patterns as have been collected for many years-is possible to identify change in society.
  • capacity to make international compariso-are changes in UK reflected elsewhere-Durkheim' study of suicide started with official statistics from across Europe.
• Personal documents- have been used by sociologists to gain insights into everyday life.

  • analyse documents such as diaries and letters to try and understand meanings and motives of people.
  • is qualitative and often richly detailed, showing how events and changes in society were perceived by those experiencing them,
• Mass media


  Secondary source but some studies using mass media produce primary data
• Primary data from mass media studies


  • Content analysis comparing coverage of men's and women's sport
• Not everyone writes to newspapers; letter writers may not be a representative sample of the public
• • Ethics - concerned with right and wrong way of behaving. - right way of behaving when conducting sociological research