RESEARCH METHODS

• questionnaire are a list of questions which are distributed to people taking part in the research , they look to measure individuals opinions beliefs , attitudes etc , and can be distributed face to face , mail or handed out to be returned ( self completion )
• questions asked can be either closed ended or open ended
• CLOSED QUESTIONS

  • have a fixed response , likert scale and may be multiple choice
  • they often tend to be pre coded which help provide the researched with quantative data
• OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

  • allow for respondents to interpret their own meaning of the question and responding with their unique beliefs and responses
  • produce qualitative data
  • tend to help explain meaning and motivation and also allowing researchers to identify why people behave and act the way they do
• questionnaire tend to be

  • relatively cheap and easy to distribute to participants
  • they tend to be less intrusive in comparison to other methods ( observations , interviews ) as do not take much of the respondents time
  • online , large scale distribution allowing for a range of respondents therefore increasing representativeness of the diverse society
  • respondents also tend to be familiar with questionnaire knowing how to respond and what to expect
• PRACTICLE ISSUES WITH QUESTIONNAIRE :

  • Tend to have low response rate = making them more expensive and time consuming if only a small sample is being returned each time
  • researcher has to make sure the questions are not leading to a direct answer and that they can be understood properly ( ambiguous questions )
  • open questions can be extremely time consuming to analyse and does not guarantee receiving useful data if the respondent has not correctly understood the question
• ETHICAL ISSUES WITH QUESTIONNAIRS :

  • potencial distress to respondents if being asked socially sensitive topics e.g domestic abuse etc ( no researcher present to be able to show empathy or build a rapport )
  • respondents may only choose to take apart in the completion of the questionnaire if anonymity is mantained if contains data = open with responses
  • respondents may also disclose information which breaches ethical guidelines and needs to be reported as unethical , illegal activity
• THEORETICAL ISSUES WITH QUESTIONNAIRES

  • closed questions = lacking in validity as fixed responses
  • opne questions = lack in reliability as not able to be replicable as respondents my gives specific aswers
  • demand characteristics ? responding in a way respondents believe researcher wants them to
• EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONNAIRS :

  • CENSUS - house hold information measure every 10 yrs
  • CRIME SURVEY OF ENGLAND AND WALES ( 20, 000 distributed to if have been victims of crime in the past 12 months )
• observations are research methods where the researchers observes the behaviour of individuals or groups , in order to be able to witness first hand social behaviours , in depth look on how people behave and their motives behind their actions ( which might not be able to be conducted through other reaserch methods
• observations can be overt and covert being preferred by interpretivist ( ethnographic approach if doing covert observation ). HWR some positivists do use observations being more structured and non -participant
• the two main types of observations are participant and non participant . in participant observations the researcher takes part in the actions of group , given ing them an insight into world view = higher in validity , whereas non participants observations , researchers are detached from those being observed , less open to researcher influence and more objective
• covert research methods are useful in accessing groups that are particularly hard to gain access off , however if this method is undertaken = very complex
• usefulness of observations :

  • witnessing behaviour first hand aswell as being able to communicate with those individuals and understanding the meaning and motivations for their actions
  • researched in natural environment = increase in validity
  • being able to access subcultures and criminal gangs which are often hard to get information out of
  • further research into social behaviour
• practice issues with observations :

  • being able to gain access of the groups required , may have to undergo covert observation = changing characteristics of researcher in order to be able to fit in, appearance and identity
  • recording of the information (taking notes )if questions = too intrusive may cause individual to become agitated
  • maintaining cover = endangering both parties
  • costly , skills required , changing of appearance
• ethical issues with observations :

  • deception , especially if a bond / rapport has developed
  • consent , know they are being observed ?
  • protection from harm , facing harm if researchers true identity uncovered .
  • ethical dilemmas , witnessing activities that may be immoral or illegal and if they should be reported ??
• Theoretical issues with observations :

  • difficult to replicate - reliability - as behaviours of humans different (complex)
  • loosing objectivity is become attached to the group , empathetic
  • how valid , hawthorn effect
  • small scale = less representative = generalisations not being able to be made
• examples of observations :

  • kiddie - non participant observation , schools assessed teachers attitude to student , attending staff meeting and other conversations
  • window - covert observation , undercover of bank , linking to organised and disorganised crime networks , night time economy
  • vantekesh- drug dealing in Chicago , overt participant observation
• official statistics are a form of quantitive data which has been compiled from other research methods such as questionnaire (consensus), polls and other government data .This therefore allows Govs to help plan their spending for future years . sociologists use this to either research further on or use to help back up their research
• Advantages of statistics include :

  • can be easily accessible and covers a range of topics ( regularly updated )
  • provide us with social trends and trends between social groups , class , gender , age , ethnicity , helping researchers to be able to identify differences in contemporary society
  • due to repetition of publishing = highly reliable
  • good starting point for start up
• Practical issues with official statistics :

  • even though accessing the data can be quite quick and easy it is harder to analyse and interpret the data efficiently , definitions may differ or inaccessible
  • operationalising variables may be difficult and may not fit with contemporary society as tend to be more standardised .
• ethical issues with official statistics :

  • individuals might be manipulated by governments for political or ideological use which may socially impact those who may be vulnerable or need help e.g the healthcare and the education system . --> POVERTY INDICATORS CHANGE
• Theoretical issues with official statistics :

  • validity , interpretivists state that official statistics are socially constructed especially by the state (decisions made by those in power ) political service
  • dark figure , behaviours not recorded such as domestic abuse , education therefore unrepresentative
  • functionalists approve of this
  • marxists and feminists do not agree with these
• examples of official statistics include :

  • consensus ( conducted every 10 yrs )ethnicity , household structure
  • crime statistics -- social groups may be over represented
  • ed league tables and exam results
• quantitive data is presented in a numerical form and is objective , can be analysed therefore enabling us to withdraw conclusions from the analyses which are more likely to be reliable in nature and can to repeated (allows us to see trends over time )
• qualitative data is not contextual based , expressed and presented in more written and verbal forms = open to interpretation . It allows for researchers to gain more of an insight (verstehen ) into other peoples lives , behaviours etc
• positivists prefer methods that generate quantitive data as it allows them to establish trends and patterns of behaviour which is displayed by people in society, ( replication , larger scale )
• interpretivitists are more likely to use methods that generate qualitative data that fits the purpose of their research . this is because it allows them to analyse and find meanings and motivations behind the behaviour of groups (smaller in scale as time consuming analyses and the responses given may be different , may not be able to be replicated in findings )
• methods that produce quantitive data tend to be more structured and researcher = detached from participants = objective , use of natural experiments
• uses of quantitive data include :

  • the reporting of social trends such as national statistics which allow governments to be informed about new social policies that should be inputed and budget spending
  • opinion polls , measuring social attitudes to issues such as Brexit crime
  • education , use of league tables and exam results
  • private sector and charities , marketing and providing funding for specific areas
• qualitative methods include :

  • participant observations
  • unstructured interview
  • questionnaires = open question
  • personal documents
  • historical documents
  • case studies
  • ethnographic approaches
• qualitative data allows us to gain insight into motivations e.g why people turn to crime , historical data allows us to access views that auantative would not allow us to do as well as comparing viewpoints across time allowing us to understand changes in social attitudes . Also allows to access groups that are under represented un society.
• structural theorists prefer quantitive data as it allows them to see the 'big picture ' of society . social action theories prefer qualitative data offering to research more into the experiences of those they are researching
• methodological pluralism is when researchers use a combination of methods in order to increase validity and reliability of their findings e.g use of open and closed questions
• interviews are used to help get a better understanding of the respondents behaviour and thoughts , researcher poses a series of questions , being opened or closed
• interviews are of much use as a research method as:

  • they tend to have higher response rates than questionnairs, less interviews conducted HWR more likely to get more valuable research this way
  • flexible , depending on the type of interview quantitive or qualitative data can be collected
  • researcher present therefore means they are able to clarify questions , build a rapport = more validity and also look at other bodily languages to see if telling truth or not
• practicle issues with interviews include

  • cost of training and recruiting the interviewer e.g unstructured , highly skilled required dpending on the structure of the interviews
  • time consuming , gaining a representative sample and analyse those findings
• ethical issues in interviews include :

  • social sensitivity issues = psychological harm and recall of upsetting memories and especially if in a group can be distressing
  • anonymity and confidentiality needs to be guaranteed
  • illegal or immoral acitvites may be disclosed which may present a researcher with an ethical dilemma
• theoretical issues with interviews include :

  • how valid the researcher is , social desirability if the researcher present , not answering correctly
  • interactions with the interviewer being influenced by their theoretical preferences e.g feminists , showing more empathy to female oppression , may lead to over exaggeration of their experiences to please the researcher
  • how generalisable and reliable the interviews are depends on their format e.g if more unique = less likely to be replicated
  • positivists prefer structured interpretivism = unstructured
• experiments , manipulate one factor ( variables ) in order to find the changes caused in another in order to also find quantifiable data use of a controlled environment makes sure there is no impact of other ,extraneous variables