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Theory and Methods / Methods in Context - All theorists / key ideas +…

- - - - Larger amount of access to students and teachers allow for better quality research
  - - - Sociologists might encounter "GUILTY KNOWLEDGE", e.g they might find out the inner workings of counter-school culture within a school environment, but they might not know how to handle this info
    - - The process of negotiating an agreement for an interview often takes more time for parents compared to working with those in a school environment
  - - - 32 young men observed in South Wales
      - Used part obsv
        
        Allowed him to gather the "richness of data"
      - Used ethnographic study to study this group of men as they did leisure activities and when to school
    - - Ethnographic study in a primary school in London
      - Wanted to present "case studies of working-class children and their families"
      - Observed teachers during lesson and would befriend / build rapport with pupils, did not want to seem like an authority figure to the pupils
    - - Carried out investigation at a boy's secondary school
      - Was seen as an authority figure
      - Investigated truancy, adopted the role of an education welfare officer
  - - - Researched how teenage students constructed gender in the classroom
      - Informed teachers about project's aims, but didn't tell the students she was focusing on gender
        
        Did acknowledge the ethical issues regarding this, but if the students were aware of these, then Hawthorne effect could come into pllay
      - Discussed how having an observer in the classroom could feel intimidating for teachers, can add additional pressure to teachers, as well as change some of the student's behaviour as they feel watched by an outsider
  - - - Examined how Black Caribbean M/C families use their social resources as a way of supporting their children's education, e.g selecting a school for their children
      - The purpose of the investigation was to analyse the educational perspectves of Black Caribbean M/C families
      - Focus on parent's role and the home setting rather than on school and how race intersects with social class status as a way of shaping how children might experience different things in life
    - - Papapolydorou
        
        Found the importance of social class to student's friendship groups in school
  - - - Explored different sources of info that students from adv and disadv backgrounds use in relation to their higher ed choices
      - Used questionnaires and qualitative data + focus groups
  - - - Explored young people's transitions from compulsory schooling to post-compulsory ed and training
      - Interviewed the same students time and again over several years
  - - - Assessed how far teacher's expectations of pupil's performance were related to their perceptions of the child's social class
      - Found that perceived socio-economic class was more strongly associated with the success amongst the white children, and failure with black children
      - The experiment did not demonstrate the M/C bias in teacher's perceptions affected student's academic performance in real world classrooms OR THAT THIS BIAS COULD BE COMMUNICATED TO THE CHILDREN
    - - Tested whether a teacher's positive attitudes of a pupil's supposed potential could affect their acheivements
      - Tested pupil's scores several times, making it reminiscent of a longitudinal experiment, but more of an experiment
        
        Allowed researchers to monitor development over time
  - - - Explored the education policy process in schools, and how they were interpreted and dealt with, or ignored entirely
      - Used semi-struct interviews with teachers
      - Collected policies from the school, also gathered info from sources such as Ofsted inspection reports
  - - - Not second hand data from interviews etc
  - - - Wanted to investigate casual sex between men's conversations in public toilets, gained trust of others without having to directly join in their activities
      - These men were also discussing homosexual affairs
        
        A year later Humphreys followed the same men home and pretended that he was conducting a health investigation, he asked the men their sexual orientation in front of their wives (knowing that they were secretly gay)
        
        Obviously, Humphreys had invaded their privacy
    - - Found that the only way to watch a small religious sect was to actually join them in person
    - - Often kept the real purpose of the investigation from the members, so that they would give him more info for his research
        
        Researched how bakers overcharge customers and steal bread to eat, as these were considered "perks of the job"
    - - Spent time with the black disciples (Chief Keef's gang) of Chi-town
      - Befriended J.T, became his key informant for his investigation, allowed him to add vital info his research
    - - Investigated a gang, a member of the gang called Doc (siege reference) became his key informant, but as he became this to Whyte, his behaviour changed from his normal behaviour, as Doc described that he had to think about what he was doing before he reported back to Whyte
    - - Getting more involved and gaining the trust of other players (was researching video games and those who play them) was massively necessary for Pearce's research
  - - - Wanted to test his prediction that U/C people were more selfish when driving compared to people who were lower down on the social class scale, based on driving behaviour
      - The drivers were unaware they were being observed for an investigation, and not aware of the hypothesis
      - Investigated the driver's interactions at pedestrian crossings, and how drivers treat pedestrians waiting to cross
      - Piff came to the conclusion that those who had a more expensive car treated others with less respect, and would cut other drivers off or wouldn't let pedestrians cross when they had right of way
  - - - Conducted a study using email interviews with 55 music fans
      - Her researched produced "rich and complex accounts of participants music experiences and memories"
      - These interviews constructed pre-made transcripts for her to work with
  - - - Lawson
        
        Study on adultery
        
        She wrote a newspaper article to gather volunteers
        
        Gather volunteers who had experienced adultery through her article to complete a questionnaire
        
        Volunteer samples are able to gather those who are interested in a topic and are willing to take part
  - - - Conducted a study on participants relating to social class and how they would count up the total of 5 dice rolls, were told that the larger their total, the larger their chance at obtaining cash prize
      - The participants were unaware however that they always added up to the same total, but it was often upper-class participants
      - In a similar experiment, members of different social classes were given a jar of sweets, and were told they were able to eat some of the sweets in the jar, and the rest were to be given to children in a nearby lab, and most of the time upper class members took the most sweets
  - - - "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"
        
        Used many historical docs in his study
        
        Suggested that if you were successful in your business, then God favoured you
        
        Profiting from work meant that you should put the profits back into your business
    - - "Hooligan: a History of Respectable Fears"
        
        Demonstrates how Victorian and 20th century Britain share the same fears and problems as modern day England
        
        Hooliganism creates a fear and moral panic, and it is "discovered" over and over again, in different forms
    - - Four types of content analysis
        
        Formal
        
        Classify and quantify the contents of a doc in an objective way
        
        Thematic
        
        This approach looks for the motivates of the author which underlie in the contents of the doc
        
        Textual
        
        Involve close exam of text to see how words and phrases used encourage a specific meaning of a doc
        
        Audience
        
        Film studies theory: either agrees, negotiates, or disagrees with the messages
        
        TAFT
    - - Four quality control criterias for assessing docs
        
        Authenticity
        
        Credibility
        
        Representativeness
        
        Meaning
  - - - Study of goths using a variety of methods and several types of data
      - Used pp observ at Whitby Goth Weekend
      - Used open-ended questionnaires to gather valuable comments
      - Used secondary data and documentary research, analysed websites and posters of his participants
    - - Studied fear of crime in high crime urban areas in England (in two separate areas)
      - Methods used
        
        PP observ in pubs
        
        Documentary research (local newspaper)
        
        Structured interviews (house-to-house)
- - - - Parents and teachers able to provide info on the children before they turned 16
    - - Found an enormous increase in living standards but a substantial rise in inequality
        
        Those who were born into poverty had poor outcomes in terms of health and the labour market
      - Discussed ideas regarding changes in family life, decline in marriage, rise in cohab, increased divorce and sep, also found the effects of divorce and sep on children
- - - - Society is a structure of interconnected parts which fit together
      - Parsons human body model
        
        Functional prerequisites
        
        Basic needs and functions of society in order to keep it evolving and the maintenance of society
        
        All parts of society have a purpose, the same as parts of the body also all serving a purpose
        
        E.g pain in the body = pain in society, alert of a problem which needs to be solved
      - Durkheim placed great emphasis on the role of social institutions (e.g family or schools), and socialising people through the value consensus, e.g passing on values and norms in society
        
        As one part of the system changes, this will change other parts of the system, resulting in structural differentiation
      - Merton
        
        Dysfunction
        
        When some parts of the structure do not work how they should, and there can be negative consequences
        
        New technology - functional and dysfunctional
        
        Functional as has created new advancements in technology, whilst also creating better quality products at a cheaper cost
        
        Dysfunctional as has increased the rate of climate change and industrial disease amongst workforces
        
        Manifest and Latent functions
        
        Manifest
        
        Intended and recognised consequences of actions
        
        Latent
        
        Unintended and unrecognised consequences
      - Weaknesses of functionalism
        
        Does not explain social change effectively
        
        Tends to be very conservative
        
        A grand theory that attempt to explain everything from one singular perspective
    - - Murray et al
        
        The welfare state has undermined personal responsibility and self-help, and devalued the importance of support from families
        
        Decline of the trad family model / nuclear family as a threat towards sufficient socialisation of children
  - - - Labour is a source of welath
        
        This was because in trad societies, workers were the all the same value as each other, and produced as much as they needed to survive, and no more than this
        
        When workers started producing surplus, this allowed some of the workers to not have to work anymore, dividing the society into non-workers and workers
        
        Marx argued that the workers would be exploited as they would produce more than enough for them to be paid enough by their employers
      - Suggested that the exploitation of the non-owners created differences in interest between these two different classes, creating conflict
        
        Workers would often want higher wages but this would be at the expense of the bosses' profits
        
        And also competing with other bosses to maintain their high profit, but also good enough wages for their workers to expand their profit margin
      - Dominant ideology
        
        Concerned with the needs of the ruling class and protected their own interests, and wealth
        
        Suggested that the workers would one day be aware of their own exploitation against by the ruling class and their ideologies and develop a form of class consciousness, and protest against the bourgeoisie
    - - Marx's predictions have not come true
      - Marx's two class model does not work
      - Tries to explain everything from one perspective
    - - The importance of people's choices in bringing about change
        
        And not just things like poverty and unemployment
    - - Structure of capitalist society consisted of three different levels
        
        The economic level
        
        The political level
        
        The ideological level (consisting of norms and values)
        
        These three levels preserve the dominant class' ideas and their power in society
  - - - Society is seen as a socially constructed creation by individuals
      - Emphasis placed on volunterism (agency) of people to form their own identities, rather being formed by external forces
      - The focus is placed on the individual, instead of the entirety of society (micro approach)
      - People's beliefs are driven emotions and feelings applied to a situation
    - - People act in terms of symbols (objects and gestures)
      - These meanings can develop through interactions with others
      - Individuals can only develop an idea of themselves through other's perceptions
    - - "looking glass self"
        
        Our image of ourselves is reflected back into the view of otehrs
        
        Our self concept is not therefore handed down by the social structure, but is subject to change through social interaction with others
      - The example of smiling
        
        If one person smiles at another and they smile back, the person who smiled originally will view themselves as friendly and approachable
        
        Although, if the same person smiled at another person and they did not smile back, then this person might view themselves as unfriendly
    - - "dramaturgical model"
        
        People shape their impressions on other similarly to how people do the same thing on TV or at the theatre, and people are constantly monitoring how they assert themselves to others
        
        This is known as "impression management"
    - - Study of suicide
        
        Classifying a sudden death as suicide is a construction of meaning, and this form of death has been labelled by members of society, as its only a corpse until it is labelled as something else
    - - "breaching experiments
        
        He wanted to expose people's taken-for-granted assumptions, and also the rules they placed on the world
        
        Key experiment: asking students to act as lodgers in their own home and to record their parent's reactions to their taken-for-granted relationship they had with their children
    - - Doesn't pay attention to the structures placed within society
      - Doesn't explain people's motives
      - Ignores the distribution of power in society
  - - - Recognised that people had free will, and could act to change structures, and were not just puppets used by others in society
      - Acknowledged that social structures in society also influenced the perspectives and beliefs that people held
      - Study on the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
        
        Identified the importance of religious ideas that people held in generating changes in the social structure
        
        These ideas were the main reasons as to why capitalist industrialisation occurred in Western Europe (post-communist)
    - - Duality of structure
        
        Link between structure and action
        
        Two way process by which people are constrained by society, and these structures only exist as long as people support them, as well as also challenging these ideas
        
        The idea of reflexivity, e.g in schools were the structure of schools is the rules placed in schools, whilst students and teachers slowly bend these rules until the new norm comes into effect through individual's actions
        
        Individuals can change the structure by ignoring or replacing rules which have already been put in place
    - - Laws influence people's behaviours
      - Giddens
        
        People are constantly reflecting on the state of the legal system and questioning which laws are outdated are which laws are worth keeping
        
        Some people might find that breaking these laws is worth it. e.g people smoke weed because they know law enforcement won't stop them, as well as the influence of other countries legalising this drug
  - - - Features of the scientific method
        
        Hypothesis formation
        
        Forming ideas regarding the causes of a phenomenon
        
        Falsification
        
        Use of empirical evidence
        
        Replication
        
        Accumulation of evidence
        
        Knowledge regarding a specific topic is collected through time
        
        Prediction
        
        Theory formation
        
        Theory can be formed if info is able to be tested against evidence provided
    - - "positive science of society"
        
        Behaviour in the social world is governed by the laws of cause and effect, the same way as the behaviour of objects in the natural world
      - Durkheim
        
        Argued for a positivist approach in sociology with is rule that sociologists should consider "social facts as actual things"
        
        Social facts
        
        Social facts are ideas that exist outside individuals and often by themselves in their own minds, which people will act upon them
    - - Human behaviour is typically shaped by a response to social facts
      - The use of statistical methods of data collection should only be used to study society
      - Positivist research is primarily focused on the search for the SOCIAL CAUSES of the different events across social classes, e.g why more people in lower social classes suffer from ill health and suicide compared to others
      - The focus on sociology is to study the entire society as a whole, and not to focus on specific individuals
    - - The problem of prediction
        
        Some experiments can have accurate predictions if they are carried out within laboratory
      - Artificiality
        
        The entire idea of sociology is to collect data from participants in their normal state
      - Hawthorne effect
        
        Participants being aware that they're being observed and shifting their behaviour from what it would be normally
      - Validity
    - - Every person gives a different meaning to different external forces
      - Human response cannot be quantified or placed in a pattern
      - Sociologists must see the situation from the perspective of their participant, VERSTEHEN
  - - - Sociology seen as inferior to natural sciences
      - This comparison between natural sciences and sociology stems from the idea that natural scientists are wholly objective (and do not contain their own biases within their research)
      - This argument can be doubted because of these reasons
        
        It is based on mistaken assumptions about what natural science is
        
        It ignores how scientific knowledge is constructed
    - - Realist view of science
      - Realism suggests that n
  - - - Joseph Rowntree foundation
      - Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR)
      - Institute of Fiscal Studies (reduce taxes, right wing think tank)
      - Universities can provide research for sociological research
    - - Allows people to become aware of cultural differences around themselves
        
        E.g postmodernists like Stacey describe ideas of differences in family structure
      - Providing awareness of self and increasing understanding
      - Changing assuptions
        
        McNeill
        
        Social policy can influence
      - Providing a theoretical framework
        
        theorists such as Giddens (ideas of confluent love, plastic sexuality and reflexivity, generated ideas for labour government) and Murray (perverse incentives, criticised by Fitzpatrick, generated ideas for conservative)
      - Being able to identify social problems
        
        Sociologists are able to develop insight for components of the government for them to build their social policies around (e.g feminist sociologists can
    - - What is described as a problem is often decided by those with power to decide what should and shouldn't be a social problem
    - - Debates regarding social policy do not take place within a vacuum, but depend on current perceptions of the problem
    - - Prostitution
        
        Coordinated Prostitution Strategy (2006, CPS)
        
        The strategy was massively selective in who it chose for social research in order to already reinforce its hostile view of the crime
        
        Ignored clients of prostitutes, and also other techniques in other countries which shows how this technique is ineffective
      - Cannabis
        
        Gov in 2008 (Labour) reclassified Cannabis from Class C to Class B as a way of curbing the use of weed
        
        Advisories of policy makers warned them that this would be an ineffective strategy
        
        Gov had to take into public perceptions of weed and how gov had to ensure health of children
    - - Feminist sociologists want social policies to not support the patriarchy anymore
      - The Economic and Social Research Council is an independent BODY to promote the use of social science research in policymaking
      - Marsland
        
        Suggests that policy makers should create policy entirely based on sociological evidence that has been created for the use of social policies