Methods in Context

• Primary data: Data collected by the researcher.
• Secondary data: Data that already exists, such as reports/records, census data, books, statistics.
• Quantitative data: Statistical or numerical data expressed in numbers.
• Qualitative data: In-depth data focusing on feelings and interactions.
• PET acronym: Practical, Ethical, Theoretical considerations when conducting research.
• Practical considerations = include time, access, costs, and researcher characteristics.

  Ethical considerations = involve moral principles governing participants' well-being and informed consent.

  Theoretical considerations = encompass positivism and interpretivism in data collection and analysis.
• Secondary - Documents:

  Advantages: Easy access, availability, and often contain statistical data.

  Disadvantages: Time-consuming to review, risk of emotional harm, and reduced validity.
• Secondary - Official Statistics:

  Practical advantages: Easily accessible, highly representative, and highly reliable.

  Disadvantages: Limited topics, difficult comparisons, and reduced representativeness.
• Secondary - Government-Produced Quantitative Data:

  Favoured by positivists for its objectivity and ability to spot patterns.

  Interpretive researchers focus on social constructs and interpreting data from their perspective.
• Primary - Self-Completed Questionnaires:

  Practical advantages: Relatively cheap, quick to gather data, easy to access, and can study a large population.

  Ethical advantages: Ensure informed consent, anonymity, and no harm to participants.

  Theoretical advantages: Reliable, high chance of representation, and can easily obtain quantifiable data.

  Disadvantages: Uncertainty of the correct person completing the questionnaire, potential cost, and low response rate.
• Primary - Case Studies:

  Example: Collins and Jackson's research on working-class attitudes towards debt and university decisions.

  Positives: Measurable, statistical data, and study a large group of students.

  Negatives: Low response rate (55%).
• Primary - Interviews:

  Formal structured interviews: Use closed questions.

  Informal unstructured interviews: Use open questions.

  Advantages: Gather in-depth data, study large groups, and build rapport with interviewees.

  Disadvantages: Time-consuming, potential for bias, and difficulty in collecting statistical data.
• Primary - Participant Observation:

  Practical advantages: Build rapport, gain trust, and no training needed.

  Ethical advantages: Retain objectivity, flexibility, and no fixed hypothesis.

  Disadvantages: Time-consuming, specific interpersonal skills required, and lack of representativeness.
• Primary - Non-Participant Observation:

  Practical advantages: Researchers act naturally, no risk of the Hawthorne effect.

  Theoretical advantages: Focus on interactions, remain unbiased, and analyse social interactions.

  Disadvantages: Time-consuming, potential for harm, and lack of representativeness.
• Primary - Experiments

  Lab experiments: Control variables, detached methods, and reliable but may require deception and ethical considerations.

  Field experiments: Easy to analyze, contact-based, but time-consuming and may involve ethical concerns.
• Primary - Comparative Method:

  Also known as a thought experiment, compares groups with similar characteristics to study the impact of differences.

  Example: Émile Durkheim's suicide study comparing rates between Catholics and Protestants.
• Primary - Sampling:

  Key terms: Target population, sample, sampling frame, representative sample, and non-representative sample.

  Representative sampling methods: Random sample, stratified random sample, systematic sampling, and quota sampling.

  Non-representative sampling methods: Opportunity sampling and snowball sampling.
• The Hawthorne effect refers to people's tendency to behave differently when they become aware that they are being observed. As a result, what is observed may not represent 'normal' behaviour, threatening the validity of the research.
• Rapport


  The ease of a relationship between people and, in the case of sociological research, between a researcher and their subjects. This can be important when it comes to getting people to open up and have the confidence to speak at length or engage in research at all.
• Verstehen


  Verstehen = (German) meaning to 'understand in a deep way'.

  In this approach, when a researcher aims to understand another person's experience, he can try to put himself in the other person's shoes.
• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (1997) 


  Highlights the importance of poverty and low incomes in relation to the impact on children's educational attainment.
• What data did the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (1997) find in relation to educational achievement?


  1. A strong link between material deprivation and lower educational achievement.
  2. Children from poorer families were less likely to have access to computers & the internet.
  3. Children from poorer families were least likely to be able to afford private tuition.
• Halsey's (1980) findings and conclusions about educational achievement.

  • WC backgrounds = most likely to fail in the education system whereas MC = most likely to succeed.
  • Evidence = MC children = most likely to stay on in post-compulsory education at both age 16 and 18.
  • Lack of economic resources = most important factor in determining whether a child would stay on in post-compulsory education or not.
  • To reduce class inequalities in education, low income families should be given financial support, e.g. grants to encourage students to stay on at schools/college. = EMA/Pupil premium.