Choosing a research method Flashcards
Explain positivism.
Positivism refers to the belief that there are ‘social facts’ that can be studied objectively using methods that are similar to the natural sciences (e.g. physics, chemistry and biology).
Positivist methods produce quantitative data on social patterns and trends which can be used to explain society.
Positivist research methods include:
Laboratory experiments. The comparative method. Social surveys. Structured questionnaires. Formal/structured interviews. Non-participant observation. Official statistics. Content analysis.
Explain interpretivisim.
Interpretivism implies that people are conscious of their personal beliefs, meanings, values, and interpretations, and that these influence the way they act.
From an interpretivist perspective, the researcher attempts to gain an in-depth understanding of how people see and understand the world around them by putting themselves in the position of those being studied; to understand things from their point of view.
Interpretivists use qualitative methods in order to study social phenomena, including:
Uncontrolled field experiments.
Open-ended questionnaires.
Unstructured interviews.
Overt and covert participant and non-participant observation.
Personal accounts, using personal documents such as diaries and letters.
Explain the sociologist’s perspective as a factor affecting the choice of topic.
The theoretical viewpoint the sociologist has will affect what they want to study. E.g. Marxists would be interested in class inequalities in society.
Explain society’s values as a factor affecting the choice of topic.
When values in society change so does the focus of the research sociologists undertake.
For example the increase of feminism in 1960’s led to further research on gender equality.
Explain practical factors as a factor affecting the choice of topic.
Accessibility can be a barrier to studying a topic.
For example studying global corporations may prove difficult to gain a sample and an insight.
Explain funding as a factor affecting the choice of topic.
To undertake research sociologists often need funding to cover the costs of their study.
There are funding bodies who can provide economic support such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
As the funding body is paying for the research they may state what they want to be studied.
Explain what a hypothesis is.
A hypothesis is a general explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence that can be proved or disproved.
This is presented as a statement e.g.:
Middle class students outperform working class students.
The sociologist will then either confirm or disprove this.
Positivists favour this approach as it is scientific.
Explain what an aim is.
An aim is more appropriate than a hypothesis in some research studies.
An aim is broader and outlines what the researcher intends to study.
Intepretivists favour this approach as it allows the research to be guided by the participants.
Explain operationalising concepts.
This is where the concepts within the sociologists aim/hypothesis are broken down to identify how they will be measured (operationalised).
E.g. identify how to measure the concept of social class.
Explain what a pilot study is
A pilot study is a draft version of the research which is carried out on a small sample.
Data collection is when the research is carried out in full.
Explain how a sociologist publishes findings.
The sociologist interprets the data and analyses their data to identify their conclusions.
A report will be written that details the sociologist’s research process and their findings which will then be published.
What are the main areas of concern when planning to conduct sociological research?
Practical
Ethical
Theoretical
As well as practical, ethical and theoretical concerns, researchers also need to be aware of issues of reliability, generalisability and validity.
What is reliability?
Reliability refers to whether the method can be replicated, or repeated, by others to check the results.
The same or similar results should be obtained if the study is carried out by a different researcher – the same or similar results would suggest that the method is reliable.
What is generalisability?
Generalisability refers to whether the method enables the findings to be generalised to similar groups.
What is validity?
Validity refers to whether the chosen method provides a true, genuine or authentic depiction of what is being studied.
Qualitative data generally has high validity but is less reliable.
