Theory & research methods

Question 1

Who argues that society is based on three interlocking systems that drive capitalism forward; The economic system, the political system and the ideological system?

Answer 1

Athusser

Question 2

What is primary data?

Answer 2

primary data is information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes.

Question 3

What are the 3 methods for gathering primary data?

Answer 3

Social surveys: involve asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview.

Participant observation: the sociologist joins in with the activities of the group he or she is studying.

Experiments: sociologists rarely use lab experiments, but they sometimes use field experiments and the comparative method.

Question 4

What is secondary data?

Answer 4

Secondary data is information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but another sociologist can then use.

Question 5

What do sources of secondary data include?

Answer 5

• Official statistics: produced by GOV … education, crime, divorce, and unemployment or stats produced by charities, businesses, churches and other organisations.
• Documents: letters, emails, diaries, photographs, official reports, novels, newspapers, the internet and television broadcasts.

Question 6

Quantitative data VS Qualitative data

Answer 6

Quant: information in a numerical form.

Quali: data representing information and concepts that are not represented by numbers
Eg. how it feels to get good GCSE results

Question 7

What are the factors that influence choice of methods?

Answer 7

Practical issues
Ethical issues
Theoretical issues

Question 8

What are ‘practical’ issues?

Answer 8

time & money

requirements of funding bodies for the study.

personal skills and characteristics:

subject matter: it may be much harder to study a particular group or subject by one method than another.

research opportunity

Question 9

What are ‘ethical’ issues?

Answer 9

informed consent

confidentiality and privacy

harm to research participants

vulnerable groups

Question 10

what are ‘theoretical’ issues?

Answer 10

validity

reliability

representativeness

methodological perspective: positivists, prefer quantitative and interpretivists, prefer qualitative

Question 11

What is the process of research?

Answer 11

1. formulating an aim or hypothesis
2. operationalising concepts: allows to gather data and test the hypothesis
3. pilot study: This helps fix issues with wording and design, ensuring smoother data collection.
4. samples and sampling: This allows them to generalize findings, a key goal for positivists seeking broad conclusions about society.

Question 12

What are the 4 sampling techniques?

Answer 12

Random sampling
- Everyone has an equal chance of being chosen
- However, smaller random samples may not ensure accurate representation.

Quasi-random sampling:
-Every nth person from the sampling frame is chosen.
-Example: Young and Willmott selected every 36th name from the electoral register.

Stratified random sampling:
-Population is divided by key characteristics (e.g., age, class, gender).
-Sample is created in the same proportions as the population (e.g., if 20% are under 18, then 20% of the sample are under 18).

Quota sampling:
-Population is divided by characteristics (as in stratified sampling).
-Interviewers are given quotas (e.g., 20 males and 20 females) and fill them with respondents matching these traits.

Question 13

Why might it not be possible to create a representative sample?

Answer 13

-The social characteristics of the research population, such as age, gender and class, may not be known.

-It may be impossible to find or create a sampling frame for that particular research population.

-Potential respondents may refuse to participate.

Question 14

What is snowball sampling?

Answer 14

Snowball sampling:
- Begins by contacting key individuals who suggest others for interviews.
-Sample grows in a “snowball” fashion until sufficient data is collected.
-While not representative, it’s effective for reaching hard-to-find participants, such as criminals.

Question 15

What is opportunity sampling?

Answer 15

Opportunity sampling:
-Involves selecting individuals who are easiest to access.
-Examples include passers-by in the street or students in a classroom.
-This method is unlikely to yield a representative sample of the target research population.

Question 16

Why may researchers choose to not create a representative sample?

Answer 16

Interpretivists prioritize obtaining valid data and an authentic understanding of social actors’ meanings rather than discovering general laws of behavior.

Because they are less focused on making generalizations, they have a reduced need for representative samples in their research.

Question 17

Research characteristics: what are the 5 main groups?

Answer 17

1. pupils
2. teachers
3. parents
4. classrooms
5. schools

Question 18

Researching pupils: what are the 3 main differences between studying young people and studying adults?

Answer 18

• power and status
• ability and understanding
• vulnerability

Question 19

Researching pupils: power and status

Answer 19

• Children and young people have less power and status than adults, making it difficult for them to express their views, especially against adults.
• In schools, teachers hold more power, which can influence which pupils are selected for research to create a positive image.
• Formal research methods, like structured interviews, reinforce power imbalances since researchers control the questions.
• Sociologists should consider group interviews to address these disparities, though some power differences will likely persist.
• Pupils’ attitudes toward teachers can impact their cooperation in research; resentful pupils may be less cooperative, while some may feel empowered to share their true feelings.

Question 20

Researching pupils: ability and understanding

Answer 20

• Pupils typically have more limited vocabulary, self-expression, thinking skills, and confidence compared to adults which complicates sociological research.
• Researchers must carefully word questions to ensure clarity for young respondents.
• Limited understanding can hinder informed consent, as researchers may struggle to explain the study effectively.
• Young people use language differently, making question construction challenging, and younger children may need more time to comprehend questions.
• Pupils’ memory is less developed, affecting their ability to recall relevant information.
• Pupils are diverse; variations in class, age, gender, and ethnicity must be considered, as these factors influence communication styles and language use. Matching the researcher’s gender and ethnicity with that of the young person may be important.

Question 21

Researching pupils: vulnerability and ethical issues

Answer 21

-Young people are more vulnerable to physical and psychological harm than adults, raising ethical concerns for researchers.

-Sociologists should assess whether young people’s participation is necessary and beneficial.

-It’s not enough to obtain informed consent from parents or teachers; young participants should also understand the research, although this can be challenging due to their maturity level.

-Child protection issues are critical, and personal data should only be retained if essential to the research.

-Researchers must consider the nature of participation and potential stress, avoiding long questioning sessions with young children.

-There are more “gatekeepers” (e.g., parents, teachers, local authorities) controlling access to pupils, making sustained research more challenging.

Question 22

Researching pupils: laws and guidelines

Answer 22

-Child protection laws, such as the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, require researchers working in schools to undergo Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, which can delay or hinder research.

-Ethical concerns have led organizations like Unicef, Barnardo’s, and the National Children’s Bureau to establish special codes of practice for researching young people, enhancing the British Sociological Association’s ethical guidelines to better protect children’s rights in research.

Question 23

Researching teachers: power and status

Answer 23

• In schools, power dynamics are unequal, with teachers holding more authority due to their age, experience, and legal responsibilities.
• The classroom reinforces this authority, as teachers often view it as “my classroom,” making researchers seem like intruders.
• Teachers are constrained by heads, governors, parents, and pupils, limiting their autonomy.
• Researchers may need to pose as supply teachers or classroom assistants for covert investigations, which grants access but places them at a lower status, leading to unequal treatment by other teachers.

Question 24

Researching teachers: impression management

Answer 24

• Teachers are familiar with being observed, such as during Ofsted inspections, making them more open to research scrutiny.
• They engage in “impression management,” presenting curated images that can hide their true behaviors.
• Accessing “backstage” settings like the staffroom can be challenging due to close relationships and potential suspicion from staff.
• Teachers may avoid critical comments about their school for fear of repercussions, making observational methods more effective than direct questioning.
• Head teachers can influence which staff participate in research, often selecting those who portray a favorable image of the school.

Question 25

Researching classrooms

Answer 25

-Classrooms are closed social settings with defined boundaries, less open than leisure centers but not as restrictive as prisons.

-They are highly controlled environments where teachers manage layout, access, activities, noise, dress, and language.

-This level of control may lead to classroom behaviors that do not accurately reflect true thoughts and feelings.

-Teachers and pupils often conceal genuine emotions through impression management, affecting interactions with researchers.

-Classrooms are small spaces with clear roles, making interactions easier to observe and analyze.

Question 26

Researching classrooms: gatekeepers

Answer 26

-Access to classrooms is regulated by various gatekeepers, including head teachers, teachers, and child protection laws.

-The presence of multiple gatekeepers can make it more challenging for researchers to obtain and maintain access to the research setting.

Question 27

Researching classrooms: peer groups

Answer 27

-Young people often feel insecure about their identity and status, making them sensitive to peer pressure and the need to conform in school-based groups.

-This sensitivity can influence how they respond to research, necessitating supervision during activities like filling out questionnaires to prevent peer influence.

-In group interviews, individual pupils’ true attitudes may be obscured by the dominant views of their peers.

Question 28

Researching schools: schools own data

Answer 28

-Education is closely monitored by the media, parents, and politicians, with a focus on parental choice and school competition.

-Schools generate a wealth of secondary data, including exam results, league tables, and Ofsted reports, making them “data-rich” environments.

-Researchers may face challenges accessing confidential records and may find some data unreliable, such as falsified attendance figures or downplayed incidents.

-Official exam performance statistics should be treated with caution, as schools might alter curricula to enhance results without real improvement.

Question 29

Researching schools: the law

Answer 29

-The law mandates that young people attend school, similar to the prison system’s compelled presence.

-This creates a “captive population” for research, providing advantages like knowing where pupils are but also disadvantages, as teachers may view research as disruptive to education.

-Schools operate under legal frameworks that require them to collect data on attendance and achievement, which can be valuable for sociologists.

-However, the legal duty of care may restrict researchers’ access to students and data.

Question 30

Researching schools: gatekeepers

Answer 30

-Head teachers and governors can deny researchers access to schools if they feel research might disrupt operations or challenge teacher authority.

-Meistan and Harber (2007) note that heads often believe involving students in research could harm discipline, classroom relationships, and teacher evaluations.

-Certain situations, like head teachers’ interviews with parents, may be off-limits, and gatekeepers often steer researchers away from sensitive settings, such as poorly managed classes (Beynon and Atkinson, 1984).

Question 31

Researching schools: school organisation

Answer 31

-Schools have defined rules and hierarchies, leading researchers to be perceived as part of that structure, sometimes viewed as teachers or inspectors.

-Gender differences can pose challenges, with researchers attracting attention if they differ from the pupils’ gender.

-Schools’ complex schedules can limit research timing, as holidays and exam periods restrict access.

-Researchers may require significant time to navigate the school’s structure and identify key individuals.

Question 32

Researching parents: access to parents

Answer 32

-Parents are vital to children’s education, but most interactions occur at home, making research difficult.

-Classroom interactions are easy to observe, but parental support, like homework help, is not.

-Parents are usually outside the school, complicating contact for research.

-Schools may send letters or questionnaires home but don’t release parents’ information, and there’s no guarantee parents will respond.

Question 33

How do the researchers own experience of education affect?

Answer 33

-Researchers’ personal education experiences shape their hypotheses and interpretations.

-Familiarity with schools can lead to assumptions about their nature, overlooking key differences.

-Successful educational backgrounds may hinder empathy for struggling students, and class, gender, or ethnicity differences can impact research.

-Education is politically charged, and researchers should recognize that their work can influence broader political and media debates.