Factors affecting choice of Topic

• Factors affecting the choice of topic

  • Values
  • Theoretical perspective
  • Area of interest
• Marxist

  • Look at inequalities in society based upon persons social class
• Feminist

  • Look at inequality between the genders in society
• These factors may be further influenced by their area of specialism e.g. Education, media, beliefs, family life
• For research, Sociologists will often spend years looking at one particular aspect of society & specialise in that area
• In contemporary society, research in a topic could take years
• Parsons & Durkheim looked at broad aspects of sociology
• Influence of institution that researcher belongs to

  Research is often conducted by Sociologists employed by Universities
• Glasgow Uni media group

  • Focused on the impact of the media on society
• These institutions have areas of specialism they particularly focus on, and research conducted by those sociologists will focus on expanding knowledge in that area of society
• Influencing the choice of method

  • Large scale responses are more likely to use quantitative methods like closed questionnaires and structured interviews
  • Participants are vulnerable e.g. gangs, victims of domestic violence, so researcher is unlikely to use questionnaires and more likely to use unstructured interviews or observation for hard to reach groups
• Funding sources

  • Charities
  • Universities
  • Governments
• Research topics are often set by these funding bodies
• Career stage of researcher

  • Early career - less likely to have choices
  • Mid-career - more knowledge of funding
  • Established - will guide research based upon their expertise
• Inequalities such as class and gender differences run through numerous fields of sociological inquiry (Marxism, feminism)
• Many researchers draw upon a range of influences trying to understand the social world
• Not all sociologists are easy to identify as a functionalist, Marxist etc. Not all conflict theorists follow the teachings of Marx, some are influenced by Weber