Sociological Research Methods Guldian

Sociological Research Methods: Choosing a research method

The purpose of sociology is to answer questions about social life and the social world!

EG: Why do middle-class children generally achieve better exam results than working class children?

The following are issues we need to think about when deciding which research methods to use..

For the exam, you must learn these definitions, as they can be worth two marks!

Primary Data- Information collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes.

EG: Social surveys (Observations/Interviews), Experiments, Observations

Secondary Data- Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own purposes, but which the sociologist can use.

EG: Official Statistics, Documents, such as letters/newspapers

Quantitative Data- Information in numerical form that can be presented in graph form EG: Closed ended questions, Structured Interviews, Official statistics

Qualitative Data: Information that focuses primarily on the meanings of things. These are data, which are no represented numerically but expressed in words.

EG: Unstructured Interviews, Participant observation

1

So how do we select the right one for our research?

Different methods and sources of data have different strengths and limitations and we need to be able to evaluate these when selecting which on to use.

We can look at these strengths and limitations in terms of practical, ethical and theoretical issues!

PRACTICAL ISSUES Time and Money Different methods require different amount of time and money.

Eg: Interviews-You would need to train staff, therefore becomes more costly, whereas participant observations are cheaper but may take longer.

Personal skills and Characteristics Each sociologist possesses different personal skills which affects their ability to use different methods.

Eg: Participant observation requires the ability to mix with people easilyyou need good powers of observation and trust.

Not all have these skills therefore it difficult to use these methods!

Research Opportunity: Sometimes the opportunity to carry out research occurs unexpectedly-meaning it won’t be possible to use structured methods Eg questionnaire-Long to prepare

2

ETHICAL ISSUES Ethics refers to moral issues of right and wrong.

The British Sociological Association (BPS) sets out guidelines for the conduct of research including:

Informed Consent Participants are given comprehensive information about the true aims and purpose of the experiment.

Confidentiality and Privacy Keep identity of research participants a secretto help prevent possible negative effects of them.

Personal information-kept confidential

Effects on research participants Be aware of the possible effects of their work on those they study.

(Prevent such harmful effects)

Vulnerable groups Special care should be taken where research participants are vulnerable (Age/disability)

Covert Research Researches identity is hidden from people being studiedThis creates serious ethical issues (E.g. Lying to people in order to win their trust to obtain info)

3

THEORETICAL ISSUES This refers to questions about what we think society is like and whether we can obtain an accurate, truthful picture of it.

Validity A true picture of what something is really like.

Allows researcher to get closer to the truth.

(Eg. Qualitative methods such as participant observation is more valid and a truthful account)

Reliability A reliable method is one which when repeated by another researcher, give the same results.

Representativeness Refers to whether or not the people we study are a typical reflection of the target population.

Quick Check Questions

1. Explain the difference between (a) quantitative and qualitative data (b) primary and secondary sources of data.

2. Give one example of (a) a primary method that produces quantitative data (b) a secondary source that give qualitative data.

3. Identify two ethical issues that sociologists may face in studying people.

4. True or False? If a method is reliable then is another researcher uses it they should get the same results.

5. What does Validity mean?

6. Name two practical issues that might affect a researcher’s choice of method.

4

SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHODS: Experiments Laboratory experiments Consists of two groups: 1. The EXPERIMENTAL GROUP: With this group, we might vary the variables/conditions 2. The CONTROL GROUP: With this group, the condition/variables stay the same

Reliability:  Once an experiment has been conducted, other scientists can replicate it.  The lab experiments are highly reliable producing the same results each time because the original experimenter can specify what steps were followed in the original experiment so others can repeat it.  It is a very detached method: the researcher merely manipulates the variables and records the results.  The scientists personal feelings and opinions have no effect.

The lab experiment has major advantages as the method can be used to identify cause and effects.

This is why positivists may use this method as they favour the scientific approach ADVANTAGES OF LABORATORY EXPERIMENT  Achieves their main goal of reliability  Careful control of experimental conditions  Reliable data because other researchers can replicate the experiment  Allows the researcher to identify and measure behaviour patterns quantitatively and to manipulate variables DISADVANTAGES OF LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS Often impossible/ unethical to control the variables Using a small scale participants means that the results may not be generalised or representative It fails to achieve their main goal of validity Un-natural behaviour Our behaviour can’t be simply explained in terms of cause and effect-there is always an element of free-will

5

PRACTICAL PROBLEMS: - It is impossible to identify/control all the variables that might exert an influence, i.e. a child’s educational achievement.

- Laboratory experiments cannot be used to study the past- It is impossible to control variables that were acting in the past rather than the present.

- Study small samples- It is difficult to investigate large scale- This reduces the representativeness.

Participants are given comprehensive information about the true aims and purpose of the experiment.

ETHICAL PROBLEMS -May be difficult to gain an INFORMED CONSENT -It is difficult to obtain if the participant is a child or has disabilities

THEORETICAL PROBLEMS Research by the social psychologist ELTON MAYO at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company (1925) provides a useful illustration of one of the major problems for social science using experiments: THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT. -He investigated if lighting had any effects on production levels -They found BOTH increased and decreased lighting led to increase performance -This had nothing to do with lighting-It was a result of the increased ATTENTION paid to workers

Field experiments 

A field experiment is an experiment that is conducted in ‘the field ’.

That is, in a real world situation.



In field experiments the participants are not usually aware that that they are participating in an experiment.

Advantages and Disadvantage of Field experiments: 

No Hawthorne effect as P’s don’t know they are taking part



Unethical= no informant consent

6

Using experiments to investigate Education Many sociologists claim that teachers’ expectations of different groups of pupils have important effects, leading to labelling, the self-fulfilling prophecy (It is the process by which ones expectations of a person leads that person to behave in ways that confirm those expectations) and unequal achievement.

Both field and lab experiments can be used to investigate these “Expectancy effects”. These can be positive or negative.

LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS AND TEACHER EXPECTATIONS Lab Experiment done regarding teacher expectations:  Harvey and Slatin (1976)  Charkin et al (1975)  Mason (1973)

Harvey and Slatin (1976) Aim: to investigate whether teacher had preconceived ideas about children from different social classes.

Procedure: Sample of 96 teachers.

Each P was shown 18 photos of children from different classes.

To control variables the photos were equally divided in terms gender and ethnicity.

They P’s were asked to rate the children on performance, parental attitudes to education, aspiration etc.

Finding: Lower-class children were rated less favourably, especially by more experienced teachers.

Teacher’s based their judgements on student they taught.

Showing that teacher label children based on social class and uses these labels to pre-judge their potential.

7

Charkin et al (1975) Procedure: 48 students from UNI (sample) were asked to give lesson to 10 year old boys.

1/3 of them (the high expectancy group) were told the boys’ were smart.

1/3 where told the boys had poor motivation and low IQ (low expectancy group.

1/3 were given no information. The lessons were then filmed.

Finding: The High expectancy group were given more eye contact and positive body language than the low.

Showing that expectation are passed to pupil’s through nonverbal communication.

Mason (1973) Aim: whether negative or positive expectations had a greater effect Procedure: Teachers were given positive, negative and neutral reports of pupils.

The teachers were then given video tapes of the pupil doing an exam, watching to see whether any mistakes were made.

Finally the teachers ask to predict the pupil’s attainment at the end of the year.

Findings: Negative expectations had a greater effect on a teacher’s expectations.

8

Ethical Issues: 

Lab experiments rarely use real children = so no children suffer negative effects ( e.g. Mason and Harvey and Slatin)



Charkin et al (1975) used real children= unethical because :



Vulnerable group



Don’t understand nature of experiment due to limited ability



Lack of informed consent



Psychological damage

Narrow Focus:  Focus on one aspect of teacher expectation (e.g. body language)= allows researcher to isolate variable and examine it more thoroughly  Teacher expectations are not see with the wider process of the labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy

Practical Issues 

Schools are large= many factors may affect teacher’s expectations (e.g.

Class size and streaming ect.)= impossible to identify and control variables which may affect teacher expectation.



Cannot investigate impact of government policies as lab experiments

9

are too small scale.

Field experiment and teacher expectations Rosethenal and Jacobson’s (1968) Aim: investigate extent of self-fulfilling prophecy Procedure : Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, in 1968, gave all the children in an elementary class a test and told teachers that some of children were unusually clever (though they were actually average).

They came back at the end of the school year and tested the same class again.

The children singled out had improved their scores far more than other children.

Findings: If a person thinks we are clever or stupid, they will treat us that way.

If we are treated as if we are clever, stupid, we will act, and even become, this way.

The person has thus had their prophecy about us fulfilled.

This is also known as the Pygmalion Effect.

10

Ethical Issues:  Best work when P’s are unaware of their involvement= deception  Some children may have been held back emotional be-

cause they were seen as less and given less attention

Reliability 

Rosethenal and Jacobson’s simple researcher design= easy to repeat

 Must consider individual differences e.g. age of pupils and teaching style = unlikely original can be replicated exactly.

Validity 

Rosethenal and Jacobson’s claimed teacher expectations were passed through classroom interactions yet had no collected no data to support this.



Claiborn (1969) Found no evidence of teacher expectations being passed through classroom interactions

Broader focus  Study was longitudinal = allowing them to identify tends over time Rosethenal and Jacobson’s looked at the whole process of labelling from teacher expectations through their effect on pupils, rather than single element in isolation

11

Sociological Research Methods:

Surveys  Social surveys involve gathering information by asking people questions about their lives, attitudes or behaviour.

 Social surveys take two basic forms: 

Written questionnaires: respondents are asked to complete and return by post or e-mail.



Interviews: either face- to- face or by telephone

 The questions we ask can be of two types: 

Closed-ended questions: People choose their answers from a limited range of answers e.g. yes/no/ don’t know



Open- ended questions: Participants answer freely in their own words and there are no pre-selected choices.

Once we have chosen a suitable topic for research, there are a number of stages we need to go through before we can start gathering data.

These include (1) formulating an aim or hypothesis: An aim is a statement that identifies what sociologists intend to study and hopes to achieve by carrying out the research.

E.g. collect data on a particular topic- peoples religious beliefs

A hypothesis is a possible explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence to prove it true/false.

Advantages of hypothesis: - Gives a direction to the research

12

-

Gives a focus to what questions are asked in questionnaires/interviews, since their purpose is to gather information that will either prove/refute our hypothesis If the hypothesis turns out to be false, we must discard it. This is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact it means we have made some progress.

Even if the hypothesis turns out to disprove, it means that we have learned something new.

Before we do research, we need to define our sociological ideas in such a way that they can be measured.

The

process of converting a concept into something that

can

be measured is called operationalisation.

A problem that can arise when operationalising concepts is when different sociologists operationalise the same concept differently E.g. we might agree that occupation is a useful operational definition of class, but disagree about whether a routine office worker is working-class or middle-class.

Disagreements like these can make it hard to compare the findings of different pieces of research.

Once we have a hypothesis, the next stage is to produce a draft version of the questionnaire/interview that we intend to use, and to give this a trial run.

This is known as a (2) Pilot study.

Advantage of a pilot study: -

Iron out any problems

-

Refine/ clarify questions and their wording

-

Give interviewers practice, so that the actual survey goes as smoothly as possible

13

Sociologists often aim to produce generalisations that apply to all cases of the topic they are interested in. However, we do not have the time or money to include everyone, so we have to choose a (3) sample of people to include.

A sample is a smaller sub-group drawn from the wider group that we are interested in.

The purpose of sampling is to ensure that those people we have chosen to include in the study are representative or typical of the research population.

Sampling Step 1: the target population is ALL the people that we want to make a statement about E.g. all the students in England Step 2: The sampling frame- the people we actually have access to.

E.g. all students at Barnet College Step 3: Sample- those are the people we actually select and test.

Sampling technique

Strengths

Limitations

Opportunity sample Consists of taking the sample from people who are available at the time the study is carried out and fit the criteria you are looking for.

-Quick, cheap & easy

- Not representative of the target population because you only get certain types of people e.g. just old people

Random Sampling Every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen.

-It’s a fair sample method and it should result in a representative sample

By chance it could end up being an unrepresentative sample as you could select randomly people from the same category/ background (e.g. all boys)

Stratified sampling Involves classifying the population into categories

-Highly representative as it is a mini-version of the target group

-time-consuming

-Potentially get a large sample size

14

-those chosen may not want

and then choosing a sample which consists of participants from each category in the same proportion as they are in the population.

Volunteer/self-selected sampling Consists of participants becoming part of a study because they volunteer when asked or in response to an advert.

PRACTICAL reasons why it

to take part

-Can potentially gain a large sample as adverts can reach a wide range of audiences

-unrepresentative sample something in common e.g. time on their hands/highly motivated etc Therefore difficult to generalise results.

may be possible to create a representative sample:

 The social characteristics of the research population e.g. age/gender may not be known.  It would be impossible to create a sample that was an exact cross-section of the research population.

 Impossible to find/create a sampling frame for that particular research population

 Potential respondents may refuse to participate in the survey

In cases where it is not possible to obtain a representative sample, sociologists sometimes use: 

Snowballs sampling  This involves collecting a sample by contacting a number of key individuals, who are asked to suggest others who might be interviewed, and soon, adding to the sample, until enough data has been collected.



Opportunity sampling  Involves choosing from those individuals who are easiest to access 15

E.g. selecting from people on the street

Theoretical reasons why it may be possible to create a representative sample: Interpretivists believe that it is more important to gain valid data and an authentic understanding of social actors’ meanings than to discover general laws of behaviour.

Once finalising the questionnaire/interview and selected the sample, we can begin to collect data about the topic.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Practical advantages: -Quick to gather large quantities of data from large numbers of people e.g. postal questionnaires.

-Cheap -Data’s usually easy to quantify (particularly where precoded/ closed ended questions are used) -Can be processed quickly by computer to reveal the relationship between different variables.

Practical problems: Researcher can’t be sure: -Whether respondent has received the questionnaire -Whether it was returned completed by the person whom it was addressed to.

-Sometimes offer incentives (entry into a prize draw)persuade respondents to complete it -Data tends to be limited -Need to be fairly brief- respondents are unlikely to return a long, time-consuming questionnaire -limits amount of information that can be gathered from each respondent.

Reliability: -Reliable- if repeated by another researcher, should get similar results to those gained by the first researcher.

-When repeated, a questionnaire identical to the original one is used Postal questionnaires- no researcher present to influence the respondents answers.

Inflexibility -Once the questions have been finalised, the researcher is stuck with them & can’t explore any new areas of interest.

Detached/Objectivity (unbiased): -sociologist personal involvement with their respondents is kept to a minimum.

Lacks validity: -Does not give a true picture of what has been studied.

-Most detached of all primary methods

16

Representativeness: -Collect information from large number of people, results stand better chance of representing wider population.

Hypothesis: -Useful for testing hypothesis about cause & effect relationships between different variables.

Response rate -Some respondents may not provide full and accurate answers- validity is low -Some respondents may lie, forget, not know or understand or try to guess the answers.

Questionnaires as snapshots -They give a picture of social reality at only one moment in time.

-Therefore they fail to produce a fully valid picture because they do not capture the way people’s attitudes and behaviour change.

Ethical issues: -pose fewer ethical issues than most other research methods -Although questionnaires may ask intrusive/ sensitive questions, respondents are generally under no obligation to answer them.

Researchers should gain their: -Informed consent -Guarantee respondents anonymity -make it clear that they have a right not to answer any of the questions.

17

Lying, forgetting and ‘right’ answerism -gathering data depends on the respondent’s willingness and ability to provide full and accurate answers.

-respondents may: *Lie *Forget *Not know *not understand the question *try to please the researcher

Involves turning abstract ideas

Difficult for pupils because:

into a measurable

-Their grasp of abstract

form

concepts is generally less than of adults.

-More difficult for them to sociological ideas into language that they would understand.

Operationalisation of Concepts

A problem of this: Sociologists have to over-simplify the questions

Samples and sampling frames: ď †

A sampling frame consists of lists of:

Parents Pupils

Staff

18



The most common sampling method used in schools is ready-made opportunity samples of pupils and teachers.

Problems sociologists face when wanting to obtain a representative sample of pupils:

Gaining access to confidential information may pose practical problems.

Schools may not keep lists that reflect the researcher’s interests.

Access and the response rate  Schools may be reluctant to allow sociologist to distribute questionnaires because: -

Of the disruption of lessons

-

They object to the researchers chosen topic

 If questionnaires were allowed to be conducted the response rate might be high because: -

The head teachers authority, pressurises teachers & students to cooperate

-

Head teacher may allow time to be taken out of lessons

19

-

Higher response rate = more representative data

 However response rates may be low because: -

Teachers are often too busy = reduce response rate

Practical issues  A practical advantage of questionnaires is that:  Very useful for gathering large quantities of basic educational information quickly and cheaply.

RUTTER (1979) AO1

RUTTER (1979) A02

-> Used questionnaires to collect large quantities of data from 12 inner London school.

-> Data generated by questionnaires is often: *limited *superficial

-> He was able to compare: *Achievement *Attendance *Behaviour

-> The data provided correlations between variables but not explanations for these correlations

-> Questionnaires are unsuitable for children because: *unsuitable for those who can’t read reasonably *certain learning disabilities

20



3 reasons why questionnaires may be impractical/ unsuitable to use with children:

1) Questionnaires-> Participants have to be able to read/understand the questions

2) Children-> have shorter attention span than adults (questions have to be brief)

3) Children’s life experiences are limited-memory are different from those of adults (won’t know the answers)



What might reduce the validity of questionnaire:

 Word of researcher’s presence-> questions may become known throughout the school long before all pupils/ teachers have been given it.

Anonymity and detachment  Useful when researching sensitive education issues like bullying.  Anonymity may overcome pupil’s embarrassment/fear of retribution from pupils.  Response rate may be higher  Pupils may be more likely to reveal details of their experience of being bullied.

21

Reassurance may be difficult as there is little/no personal contact with the researcher.  Interpretivist sociologists emphasise the importance of developing rapport  They reject questionnaires as a means of researching young people = lack of contact with respondents make rapport difficult  Questionnaires are formal documents -> anti-school subcultures may refuse to cooperate.

Involves turning abstract ideas

Difficult for pupils because:

into a measurable form

-Their grasp of abstract concepts is generally less than of adults.

-More difficult for them to sociological ideas into language that they would understand.

Operationalisation of Concepts

A problem of this: Sociologists have to over-simplify the questions

Samples and sampling frames: 

A sampling frame consists of lists of:

Parents Pupils

Staff

22

The most common sampling method used in schools is ready-made opportunity samples of pupils and teachers.

Problems sociologists face when wanting to obtain a representative sample of pupils:

Gaining access to confidential information may pose practical problems.

Schools may not keep lists that reflect the researcher’s interests.

Access and the response rate ď ś Schools may be reluctant to allow sociologist to distribute questionnaires because: -

Of the disruption of lessons

-

They object to the researchers chosen topic 23

 If questionnaires were allowed to be conducted the response rate might be high because: -

The head teachers authority, pressurises teachers & students to cooperate

-

Head teacher may allow time to be taken out of lessons

-

Higher response rate = more representative data

 However response rates may be low because: -

Teachers are often too busy = reduce response rate

Practical issues  A practical advantage of questionnaires is that:  Very useful for gathering large quantities of basic educational information quickly and cheaply.

RUTTER (1979) AO1

RUTTER (1979) A02

-> Used questionnaires to collect large quantities of data from 12 inner London school.

-> Data generated by questionnaires is often: *limited *superficial

-> He was able to compare: *Achievement *Attendance *Behaviour

-> The data provided correlations between variables but not explanations for these correlations

24

-> Questionnaires are unsuitable for children because: *unsuitable for those who can’t read reasonably *certain learning disabilities



3 reasons why questionnaires may be impractical/ unsuitable to use with children:

4) Questionnaires-> Participants have to be able to read/understand the questions

5) Children-> have shorter attention span than adults (questions have to be brief)

6) Children’s life experiences are limited-memory are different from those of adults (won’t know the answers)



What might reduce the validity of questionnaire:

 Word of researcher’s presence-> questions may become known throughout the school long before all pupils/ teachers have been given it.

25

Anonymity and detachment  Useful when researching sensitive education issues like bullying.

 Anonymity may overcome pupil’s embarrassment/fear of retribution from pupils.

 Response rate may be higher Reassurance may be difficult as there is little/no-personal contact with the researcher.  Pupils may be more likely to reveal details of their experience of being bulInterpretivists sociologistslied. emphasise the importance of developing rapport They reject questionnaires as a means of researching young people =  lack of contact with respondents make rapport difficult Questionnaires are formal documents -> anti-school subcultures may refuse to cooperate.

Practical issues

Response rate

*Training interviewers is straight forward & inexpensive.

*Have higher response rate because people find it harder to turn down a face-to-face request.

-However this is more costly than simply posting questionnaires

-However, it undermines the validity of any generalisations made from the findings.

*Can cover quite large numbers of people with limited resources -However still can’t match potentially huge numbers as postal questionnaires

Reliability

Validity

26

*Reliable because it is easy for the researcher to standardise & control them

-Usually produces invalid data because: -Uses closed-ended questions (restrict interviewees to choose from a limited number of questions)

*The advantage of all interviews having the same questions is that any other researcher should get the same results.

-People may lie/exaggerate (produce false data)

Inflexible

Feminist criticisms

-The researcher has already decided what is important

Graham (1983) Argues that structured interviews are patriarchal and give a distorted, invalid picture of women’s experience.

-This may not coincide with what the interviewee thinks is important

This type of research method imposes the researcher’s categories on women making it difficult for them to express their experiences.

Advantages of unstructured interviews

Disadvantages of unstructured interviews

Rapport and sensitivity

Practical problems

*Interviewer has the opportunity to develop a

-Takes a long time to conduct 27

relationship with the respondent. *Reassurance can be offered and trust develops.

(researcher will have a small sample compared with the larger numbers in structured interviews)

*Thus more valid information can be gathered.

-Training needs to be more thorough than for structured interviews

The interviewees world

Reliability

*No set questions the interviewee is given the opportunity to talk about things that are important to him/her.

Unreliable because:

*Valid data

-each interview is unique

*gives interviewees the freedom to talk about the issues that concern them.

-Impossible for another researcher to replicate

Checking Understanding

Quantification

*make it easier for interviewer/interviewee to check each other’s meanings

-open-ended questions-> difficult to count up & quantify

-not standardised

-lack of quantitive data = less useful for establishing cause and effect relationships

28

Practical issues  Young people’s linguistic & intellectual skills are less developed than those of adults

 This leads to misunderstanding and incorrect/ incom-

plete answers (invalid)

 Unstructured interviews are better to conduct:

-Allows the interviewer more scope to clear up misunderstandings by re-wording questions/ explaining their meaning  Interviews with young people may be more successful because young people tend to

have better verbal skills

Reliability 

Structured interviews in schools are unlikely to be valid because: -young people are unlikely to respond favourably to such a formal style.

Access and response rate 

When interviewing teachers the researcher might first have to obtain the permission of both the:

-local education authority

-head teacher



Schools might be reluctant because interviews disrupt lesson time.



The interviewer as ‘teacher in disguise’ 29

 Bell (1981) -> pupils might see interviewers as a ‘teacher in disguise’

 This can affect the validity of the data:

-pupils may see the ‘teachers’ approval by giving untrue but socially acceptable answers

Group interviews Strengths

Limitations

*creates safe peer environment

-Pupils are often strongly influenced by peer (may reduce validity of data)

*reproduce the small group settings that young people are familiar within classroom

Individuals may conform to peer expectations.

*Reduces the power imbalance between adult interviewer and young people

30

Non-participant observation

Participant observation

Observing a group without actually taking part

Researcher is actually taking part in the event while observing

Overt observation

Covert observation

True identity of the researcher is disclosed

Researcher takes on a fake identity posing as a genuine member of the group

Issues when conducting a participant observation:  Getting in: some are easier than others

 Acceptance: the researcher will have to win the trust of the group

 Staying in: researcher needs to be able to stay in the group & complete the study.

 Going native: problem of staying in the group is becoming over- involved which lead to the researcher being biased.

 Getting out: leaving the group may be difficult.

Advantages of Overt observation

Disadvantages of Overt observation

*avoids the ethical problems of obtaining information be deceit & when studying deviant groups.

-group may refuse the researcher -risks creating the Hawthorne effect

*observer can take notes openly *Allows researcher to use interview method 31

to check insights derived from observations

Advantages of observations

Disadvantages of observations

Validity

Practical disadvantages:

By actually observing them we could obtain a rich source of qualitative data that provides a picture of how they really live.

-very time consuming -researcher needs to be trained -personally stressful &demanding -requires observational & interpersonal skills

Insight

Representativeness

Allows researcher to gain empathy through personal experience.

Group studied is usually very small & the sample is often selected haphazardly.

By actually living as a member of the group, we can gain insight into their way of life.

Doesn’t provide a sound basis for making generalisations.

Flexibility

Reliability

Allow sociologists to enter the situation with a relatively open mind about what they will find

Usually produces qualitative data, this can make comparisons with other studies difficult.

Open-mindedness’ allows researcher to discover things that other methods may miss.

Advantages of covert observation

Disadvantages of covert observation

*reduces the risk of altering people’s behaviour

-keeping up an act may lead to physical harm -ethical issues-> deception

*it preserves the naturalness of people’s behaviour

-presence of new member may alter group 32

dynamics

Structured observational structures Practical issues:  Flanders system of interaction analysis categories (FIAC)- favoured by positivists

 FIAC- observer uses a standard chart to record interactions at 3 second intervals,

placing each observation in one of 10 pre-defined behaviour categories.

-observations can thus be easily converted into qualitative data simply by counting the number of times each type of behaviour occurs.  Flanders found that in the typical American classroom 68% of the time is taken up by

teacher’s talk, 20% by pupil talk & 12% lost in silence/confusion.

 FIAC quicker, cheaper & require less training

Reliability: 

FIAC uses only 10 categories of classroom interaction, which makes it relatively easy for other researchers to apply in standardised way.

33



Also generates quantitative data, which makes the findings easy to compare with those of other studies.

Validity: 

Interpretivist sociologists criticize structured observation of classroom interaction for its lack of validity.



Simply counting classroom behaviour & classifying it into a limited number of predecided categories ignores the meanings that pupil/teachers attach to it.

Less structured Observational methods Practical issues:  Observations in schools are time consuming therefore

more money is spent

Personal characteristics: 

Age , gender, ethnicity affect the process of observation



Wright (1992) found that African Caribbean ethnicity produced antagonistic reactions from some white teachers.



Schools are busy public places, so observer may find it difficult to find the privacy needed to record observa34

tions.

Ethical issues: 

Observation normally has to be conducted overtly because pupils are at a greater vulnerability & limited ability to give informed consent.



Delamont refers to ‘guilty knowledge’ being an ethical issue.

-That every observer in a school learns things that could get pupils into trouble.

-In some cases, this may even involve the law- stealing



Most research in education has to be overt.



This gives rise to the Hawthorne effect.



Kings (1984) he tried to blend into the background in an infant school

-Spends short periods of time in the classroom to allow the children to become familiar with his presence.

-So as not to be seen as a teacher.

-He avoided eye contact &politely refused their requests for help

Official statistics Official statistics are quantitative data gather by the government The government collect statistic to help in policy making.

Advantages of official statistics

Disadvantages of official statistics

35

Practical advantages Statistics allow comparisons to be made between groups. EG Compare statistics on educational achievement/Crime rates.

They are a free source of huge amounts of quantitative data. Only the state can afford to conduct large scale survey’s costing millions of pounds

Practical disadvantages The government collects information for its own purposes and not for those of sociologist = so there may be none available in the topic sociology is interested in The definition that the state uses in collecting the data may be different from those the sociologist = e.g. ‘family’, ‘truancy’ and poverty’ may be defined differently in sociology

Because official statistics are collected at regular intervals and they are longitudinal they show trends and patterns over time Representativeness: Advantages Representativeness: Disadvantages They have a large sample (the entire Some statistics may be less representative population) they are more representative than others than small scale surveys done by sociologists with limited resources better basis of generalisation

Reliability: Advantages Reliable because they are compiled in a standardised way by trained staff, following set procedures

Validity: Advantages Give an accurate picture-Eg number of Births/Deaths

Reliability: Disadvantages Official statistics are not always reliablecensus coders may make a mistake when recording data form.

Or member of the public may fill in the form incorrectly Validity: Disadvantages Soft stats such as police stats give a less valid picture as the police don not record all crimes

Education- using official statistics Positivists: See them as a valuable resource for sociologists. They take for granted that official statistics are ‘social facts’; true objective measures of the rate of crime suicide etc. They often use them to test their hypotheses. E.g. Durkheim.

Interpretivists: Argue that official statistics are not real things or ‘social facts’ that exist out there in the world. Instead, they are socially constructed they merely represent that labels some people give to the behaviour of others.

36

For example, Atkinson stated suicide statistics do not represent the ‘real rate’ of suicides that have actually taken place, but merely the total number of decisions made by coroners to label some deaths as suicides.

The government collects official statistics to help save time and money for sociologists. Some sociologists use official statistics to establish correlations between different social factors. An example of this may be that sociologists use statistics from the exam results on children who are entitled to free school meals, shows a correlation between material deprivation and achievement.

DOCUMENTS The term document refers to any written text. Such as personal diaries, government reports, medical records, novels, newspaper etc.

Public documents-Public documents are produced by organisations such as government departments.

37

Personal documents -Include things such as letters a, dairies, photo album and autobiographies Historical documents- Personal or public documents create

Interpretivists tend to favour documents because they achieve their main goal of validity. By:  They are not usually written with the research in mind and can thus be authentic statement of their authors’ view  They provide us with provide qualitative data that gives us insight into the author’s worldview and meanings

Practical advantages and disadvantages

Positivist’s rejects document because they do not achieve reliability, Generalisability and representativeness by:  They are a free source of huge amounts of quantitative data. Only the state  They are often unstandardized and unreliable can afford to conduct large scale survey’s costing millions of pounds  They are often unrepresentative = only literate people can write letters and diaries  In interpreting documents, R may imposing their own meanings on them  Only the government has the power to compel people provide them with in-

formation  Statistic allow for comparison between groups  Because official statistics are collected at regular intervals and they are longi-

tudinal they show trends and patterns over time  The government collects information for its own purposes and not for those of

sociologist = so there may be none available in the topic sociologists are interested in.

Assessing documents As John Scott argues, when assessing documentary sources, the general principles are the same as those for any other type of evidence. He puts forward four criteria for evaluating documents: Authenticity: Is the document what it claims to be? Are there any missing pages?

38

Credibility: Is the document believable? Was the author sincere?

Representativeness: Is the evidence in the document typical?

Meaning: May have to be translated from a foreign language

CASE STUDIES A case study is a study of one particular case or instance of something.

It may be the study of a particular school, factory or hospital or the study of a single individual such as a widow or a retired person.

39

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

They use qualitative methods like interviews, which provide a rick insight into particular group

Because case studies look at only one or a few cases, they cannot claim to be representative.

The major limitation of the method therefore is that we cannot make generalisations from them

They study exceptional cases, which would otherwise be unethical to be inducing.

It is often necessary to use recollection of past events as part of the case history and such evidence may be unreliable.

Longitudinal Studies Study that follows the same sample or group over an extended period of time.

ADVANTAGES Can trace developments over a period of time, not ‘snapshots’

DISADVANTAGES Problems with keeping track of the sample , and participants who drop out may not be typical of those who stay in making the sample unrepresentative

Also can make comparisons over time

Demographical changes in the research population may mean that the original sample is no longer representative Large amount of data produced may be difficult to analyse and by definition, results cannot be obtained quickly: time consuming and costly Hawthorne Effect may occur

Life Histories: Often used in case studies of individuals.

They are a good qualitative method used mainly by Interpretivists to understand 40

how individuals construct and interpret their ‘life worlds’.

They involve collecting and recording individual’s experiences.

This can be done either by the individual writing down their own life story (autobiography).

Or by a semi-structured or unstructured interview, which the researcher then writes up as a life story.

Life histories are a rich source of insight into both a person’s individual experiences, presented from their own point of view, and into the wider social forces that affect their lives.

STRENGTHS OF LIFE HISTORIES

LIMITATIONS OF LIFE HISTORIES

Rich source of insight into both a person’s individual experiences, presented from their own point of view.

Life stories conducted through interviews require the ability to emphasise with the subject and good listening skills Time Consuming Interview bias

Triangulation: The use of two or more different methods or sources of data so that they complement each other, the strengths of one countering the weaknesses of the other and vice versa; e.g. using both a qualitative method (participant observation) and a quantitative method (structured interviews).

-By combining different methods in this way, we can get the best of both words: both reliable quantitative data covering large numbers of cases, as favoured by positivists, and valid qualitative data looking at a smaller number of cases in depth, as preferred by interpretivists.

-E.g. Newby (1977): study of Suffolk farm workers.

This study uses a variety of methods and sources including participant observation and a survey. He argues that these two methods complement each other.

Exam style Question and Answer

41

42

43

44

45