Paper 3- Theories

• Quantitative data is any data that could be represented as numbers and statistics and easily generalized to form a law of behavior
• Quantitative data is collected through methods including structured interviews and questionnaires
• Qualitative data is any verbal data involving opinions and meanings that are collected through methods such as unstructured views, observations and documents
• Primary data


  Data collected firsthand by researcher to perfectly suit the hypothesis of their research
• Secondary data


  Data collected by other researchers and applied to your modern hypotheses
• Key things to be looked at when producing research


  • Reliability
  • Representativeness
  • Generalizability
  • Validity
  • Objectivity
• Hypothetical deductive model


  1. Producing an idea

  2. Turning idea into research

  3. Producing findings
• Research methods


  • Social service surveys
  • Structured interviews
  • Unstructured interviews
  • Semi-structured interviews
  • Participant observation
  • Non-participant observation
  • Experiments
  • Personal documents
  • Official statistics
• Positivists prefer social surveys, structured interviews, experiments and official statistics
• Interpretivists prefer social facts, unstructured interviews, ethnography and participant observation
• Social facts


  Aspects of social life that influence and shape an individual's behavior and attitudes
• Examples of social facts


  • Laws
  • Values
  • Ideologies
  • Social structures
• Positivism


  • Assumes society has objective social facts
  • Prefers quantitative data
  • Researchers remain detached and research value free
• Interpretivism


  • Sees reality as being constructed through the meanings created by individuals
  • Prefers qualitative data
  • Researchers develop rapport and empathy
• Theoretical issues to consider when completing research


  • Validity
  • Representativeness
  • Reliability
  • Objectivity
• Practical issues to consider when completing research


  • Time available
  • Funding and source
  • Requirements of funding bodies
  • Skills of the researcher
  • Subject matter and research opportunities
• Ethical issues to consider when completing research


  • Informed consent
  • Confidentiality
  • Privacy
  • Protection from harm
  • Deception
• Consensus theories


  Believe all structures within society act in agreement, without this society would collapse
• Conflict theories


  See institutions in society conflicting with each other, trying to gain power over the other
• Social action theories


  Believe in the actions of people in context of the meanings that they assign to them and that are shared between these actions and the actions of others
• Characteristics of modern society


  • Production central to society
  • Heavy capitalism
  • Nuclear family norm
  • Identities built on class and sex
  • Media reflects reality
  • Strong institutions bind people together
• Characteristics of postmodern society


  • Service sector and consumption central
  • Declining power of national state
  • Disorganized capitalism
  • Strong institutions have lost influence
  • Religion and culture diverse and fragmented
  • Identities shaped by freedom
• Perspectives on sociology of science


  • Positivist - observable external factors influence behavior, use objective empirical methods
  • Popper - focus on falsifiability
  • Kuhn - focus on single paradigm
  • Postmodernist - science not completely objective
  • Realist - study unobservable, use open system
• Reliability


  Ability to repeat the research and get similar results
• Validity


  Assesses whether research accurately reflects the reality of those being studied
• Objectivity


  Research is free from a researcher's personal values and beliefs
• Representativeness


  Sample used accurately represents the proportions of the target population
• Subjectivity


  Social interests, values and beliefs of the researcher impact the research and data interpretation
• Objectivity


  (in research) Personal beliefs are independent of subject matters and the research
• Positivists argue sociology should be value free as it uses objective methods
• Marxists and feminists argue sociology cannot be value free as research should help find solutions to societal issues
• New right argue sociology exaggerates the defects of capitalism and ignores the benefits, so it cannot be value free
• Postmodernists argue there is no such thing as value free observation, so sociology cannot be applied to society like science is applied to nature
• Ways sociology influences social policy


  • Provides awareness of cultural differences and social status
  • Changes assumptions
  • Provides theoretical framework for government
  • Identifies social problems
  • Provides practical professional knowledge
  • Identifies consequences of current policies
  • Assesses if policies are working
• Influences on social policy making


  • Money available to implement policy
  • Research that supports hostility towards certain groups
  • How media portrays the issue
  • Religious organizations with moral frameworks
  • Willingness and power to care for the less powerful
  • Whether the topic is considered a problem
• Perspectives on social policies

  • Functionalist - helps contribute to social order
  • Labelling theorist - critical of how criminal justice system labels criminals
  • Marxist - hides and justifies exploitation
  • Left realist - inner city crime can only be reduced by social policy
  • Radical feminist - enforces women's subordination
  • Liberal feminist - has brought about gender equality
  • New right - against state interference, encourages community responsibility
• Quantitative data is any data that could be represented as numbers and statistics and easily generalized to form a law of behavior
• Quantitative data is collected through methods including structured interviews and questionnaires
• Qualitative data is any verbal data involving opinions and meanings that are collected through methods such as unstructured views, observations and documents
• Primary data


  Data collected firsthand by researcher to perfectly suit the hypothesis of their research