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RESEARCH METHODS - SOCIOLOGY (INTERPRETIVISM (PATTERNS & TRENDS…
RESEARCH METHODS - SOCIOLOGY
POSITIVISM
believes society shapes the individual
looks for
objective
causes for human behaviour
Explains human behaviour by looking for
social factors
which are
external
to the individual
Interested in finding the
trends & patterns
between variables
Looks for
correlations
Aims to be scientific
- detached / value free / objective - aims to reduce explanation to limited number of 'causes'
Uses quantitative methods
- surveys / official statistics / cross national comparisons
text
Study that used positivism - DURKHEIM=
study of suicide - wanted research to be reliable, representative, generalisable
PATTERNS & TRENDS
Focused on the MACRO - the relationships between parts of society, not individual experiences
believe that just like there are natural laws
there are social forces/laws governing human behaviour
- particularly with regard to everyday experiences and life chances
Views people as
puppets of society
who behave in
predictable
ways - groups of people follow particular patterns & trends in their behaviour
believe that the job of sociologists is to uncover these social forces/laws & to document predictable patterns & trends in social behaviour
Positivist research methods are
preferred by structuralist sociologists
(e.g functionalists & marxists)
who are interested in how
large-scale
social processes, structures & institutions shape & influence social trends or patterns of human behaviour
very influenced by natural science
argue that we should treat people as objects whose behaviour can be observed, measured and counted in the same way as other scientists have shown other natural phenomena to do - e.g birds, animals, weather, chemicals etc.
argues that the social structure produces forces like a consensus and integration that determine our behaviour
Patterns & Trends-
research should be designed to be standardised and logical
sociology is underpinned by perspectives and therefore will always be slightly biased
positivism ignores the role of the 'observer' in the investigation of social reality
representation of social reality produced by positivism is inherently conservative
believe that subjectivity undermines the reliability of research methods & results in findings that lack validity
Objectivity is a central aspect of reliability - if a research method s objectively designed other sociologists should be able to replicate the research & obtain similar results - to verify evidence
Aims to make generalisations
- aim to say that what is true of the group who are involved in the research is probably true of the wider group
P.R.R.O.V.D=
P
ositivism /
R
eliability /
R
epresentativeness /
O
bjective /
D
ata (quantitative)
INTERPRETIVISM
believes the individual shapes society
- by interacting with each other in social groups
interested in how the individuals explain their own
behaviour
Explain human behaviour through individual's own subjective worldview
Aim to let the participant tell their story
, gaining in-depth insight into individual meanings
motives
Aim for empathetic understanding - involved in research, interested in feelings and emotion, complex multiple understandings
Uses qualitative data
- unstructured methods, participant observation and personal documents
Study that used interpretivism- PAUL WILLIS-
wants research to be in-depth, to have rich data, response led and valid
PATTERNS & TRENDS
Observe that humans have consciousness which differentiates them from the subject matter of the natural sciences -
people have free will & can choose how to behave
- consequently the behaviour of any one human being is unique & cannot be predicted
take a micro approach
rather than macro - as they believe the individual is more important than society
argue that sociological research should focus on the shared meanings & interpretations that people use to make sense of their social world -
people know how to behave in most situations
(e.g at a funeral - because they've learnt these shared meanings)
believe that it's important to appreciate how the world looks from the point of view of those being researched -
subjective approach
emphasise validity rather than reliability
individuals are active rather than passive
people are architects of society rather than puppets
Rapport-
believe it's important to establish good relationships between researchers and their participants - to be able to build a true & authentic representation of their view of the world
Subjectivity-
the quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings
Researcher imposition-
the researcher making their own assumptions as to what is and isn't important
Reflexivity-
keen on the process by which the researcher reflects upon data collection and interpretation
unsystematic and unstructured
makes no attempt to control possible variables
presence of researchers can influence behaviour
research is difficult to replicate
can be subjecive
Verstehen-
when a sociologist employs a method that helps them to see the world through the eyes of the group being researched
S.E.R.R.V.D=
S
ubjective /
E
mpathy /
R
apport /
R
esearcher imposition /
V
erstehen /
D
ata (qualitative)
METHODS
Questionnaires
Considerations-
sampling (location, volunteer, random, quota), potential bias
Open Ended-
more data, harder to analyse as not standardised, ambiguous questions
Types-
postal, self completion (removes investigator effort), face to face
Closed Questions-
easier to analyse, less in-depth data, can be misinterpreted
Structured Interviews
Primary data-
data collected by the researchers themselves for a specific purpose
Secondary data-
data collected by someone but used by someone else for another purpose
(e.g national statistics, letters, newspapers, articles)
Sampling Techniques
A Simple random sampling-
involves selecting names randomly from a sampling frame - minimises the possibility of bias
Systematic random sampling-
(partly random sampling)
involves taking a sampling frame of names, randomly choosing a number between 1 - 10 & selecting every 10th name beginning at the number selected before
Stratified random sampling-
in order to get a true representative sample, a sampling frame
(e.g a school register)
is divided into a number of sub frames listing
(e.g boys & girls)
A systematic random sample is then taken from each of these sub-frames - advantage= distinctive groups that exist within the research population can be represented within the sample according to their proportions in the wider population - thus producing a sample that faithfully represents the variations that exist in the research population
NON-RANDOM SAMPLING TECHNIQUES=
sometimes sociologists don't require random samples because they're targeting particular specialised groups
(e.g housewives/doctors/teddy boys)
Snowball sampling-
may be used in order to access deviant or criminal groups -
(e.g sociologists may gain access to a drug addict/gang member who will introduce the researcher to another drug user/gang member and so on until the sample builds up to a respectable number)
- danger of snowball sample= people who are willing to participate may not be representative of the group
Volunteer sampling-
Opportunity sampling-
involves researchers making the most of opportunities available to identify & locate a group of people who may participate -
(e.g an event that only happens once/every few a year like a Star Trek convention/General Election)
- danger of this = may not be representative
Purposive sampling-
the researcher will seek specific groups to participate in the research on purpose because it would not make any sense to use any other social groups
(e.g Goldthorpe wanted to study manual workers with a high income so he purposely targeted workers in a car factory as he knew their income would be high)
= danger of this = may not be representative
Quota sampling-
TERMINOLOGY
Operationalisation-
breaking down the hypothesis or research aim into concrete things that can be observed or measured - e.g writing interviews/surveys, using government statistics
Validity-
refers to whether research and its findings give a true picture of what is being studied
Representativeness-
having a sample that is made of people who mirror characteristics of the larger population
Generalisability-
it being possible to make conclusions about the whole social group based n the sample group studied - can it be applied to everyone?
Ethnology-
a qualitative research project that's focused on providing a detailed and in-depth description of the everyday lives and practices of a group, being as faithful as possible to the way these people see their own lives.
Value Freedom-
the notion that sociologists should be objective when carrying out research & that their subjective beliefs, values and attitudes should not bias how they organise data or interpret data
Reliability-
a research tool is reliable if another sociologist can use it & obtain the same results
Objectivity-
the absence of bias or approaching research without any pre-conceived ideas
P.E.T.S=
P
ractical isues /
E
thical issues /
T
heoretical issues /
S
ample issues -
(for evaluation)
POSITIVIST THEORIES & STUDIES
DURKHEIM-
INTERPRETIVIST THEORIES & STUDIES
WEBER
ATKINSON-
INTERVIEW METHODS
Unstructured Interviews=
guided conversation/ flexible discussion
Semi-structure Interview=
combination of closed questions aimed at eliciting factual info, and open questions aimed at obtaining info about feelings
Advantages of Unstructured=
generates trust for valid answers, respondents becomes more important, leads can be followed up to gain more in-depth info
Disadvantages=
data cannot be easily classified or compared, could be less representative of the overall picture
Advantages of Semi-structured=
helps the researcher assess truthfulness of responses and clarify vague answers
Disadvantages of Semi-structured=
every interview is different, so data will not be comparable
Critiques/Persepctives
Critiques/Perspectives