Sociological methods of Research Flashcards
Primary Data
Surveys, Participant Observation, Experiments
Secondary Data
Official statistics, Documents
Quantitative Data
Numerical form of data
Qualitative data
Gives a ‘feel’ for what something is like
Practical Issues
time, cost, requirements of funding bodies, personal skills and characteristics, subject matter, research opportunities
Ethical Issues
informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, harm to participants, vulnerable groups, covert research
Theorectical Issues
validity, reliability, representativeness
Positvists
They prefer quantitative data as they see sociology as a science. (Functionalists & Marxists)
Interpretivists
They qualitatitve data and they seek to understand meanings (Interactionists)
4 factors influencing choice of topic
- The sociologist’s perspective
- Society’s values
- Practical Factors
- Funding Bodies
The process of research: Positivists
Positivists favour a hypothesis as a starting point as they seek to discover cause-and-effect relationship. Using quantitative methods such as questionnaires.
The process of research: Interpretivists
They often favour a broad aim rather than a hypothesis, as they’re interested in the meanings.
Operationalising Concepts
Positivists are concerned to operationalise concepts as they tests hypotheses, however interprevtivists put less emphasis on operationalising concepts as they are concerned with the actors own definitions.
Pilot Study
Young & Willmott (1962) carried out just over 100 pilot interviews to help them decide on the design of their study.
sampling techniques
random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified random sampling
