research and methods - factors influencing research topic

Question 1

General - 1:
- Main factors influencing research topic (3)
- Factors influencing research (4)
- Terms (11)

Answer 1

Main factors influencing research topic:
1. sociological research provides value and insight into societal function, structure and the human social experience.

2. sociological study and research can be beneficial into policy-making, law-creating, academic study, informing literature and culture, aiding governmental function, providing insight for media and the business sector, influence sociology, culture, philosophy and ethics.
3. 3. sociologists priority to conduct a fair, balanced enquiry; choice can be influenced, but methods of evidence-gathering must be free of bias

Factors influencing research itself:
1. social issues
2. sociological problems
3. fashionable fields/sociological trends in any given era (70s women’s issues, 80s crime and unemployment, 90s postmodern identity and individuality)
4. funding (e.g. ESRC, charities, think tanks, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Runnymede Trust, Centre for Social Justice)

Terms:
- ‘normal’, ‘deviant’, descriptive vs explanatory vs evaluative research, negotiating terms of research, overpeopled fields of study, ‘gate-keeper’, longitudinal, first-hand research, ‘social characteristics’, guilty knowledge, ‘research/target population’

Question 2

General - 2:
- Access to research subjects (3)
- Choice of research methods (3)
- Theoretical and practical factors (2)
- BSA (3)
- research design (3)

Answer 2

Access to research subjects:
1. some fields difficult to reach (refuges, criminal gangs, psychiatric hospitals)
2. general negotiation, incentives, rewards, financial or otherwise compensation to access subjects
3. a ‘gate-keeper’/’intermediary’ provides an ‘in’ for researchers; establish rapport, bond, eventual verstehen

Choice of research method:
1. Primary data: researcher(s) in question pursue and collate their own data, from sources
2. Secondary data: data previously collected, usually in the form of official stats, documents, etc
3. most researchers use a combination; positivists are keen on secondary as it’s easier to generalise.

Theoretical and practical factors:
1. Theoretical: the sociological, ideological and personal perspective the researcher takes influences their research (e.g. Marxist on the poor, feminism on women’s issues, etc).
2. Practical: funding, time available, subjects accessible, content of the research and its accessibility, the researcher’s social characteristics compared to their subjects, being in code with the BSA (or likewise).

BSA (British Sociological Association)
1. a code must be followed by researchers, to remain ethical and humane.
2. no exploitation, subjects must be aware of being studied (informed consent), no deception, subject’s privacy should be safeguarded, subjects and researchers be protected from harm (psychologically, physically, emotionally), no illegality or immorality (‘guilty knowledge’).
3. ^ensures increased validity, smooth processes

Research design:
1. once hypothesis **(informed guess, assumption, prediction) is posed, research must be done to *mitigate repeated* study, or can *change their hypothesis* if preferred.
2. ‘grounded theory’: let hypothesis adapt and evolve as more insight and data is collected.
3. once hypothesis posed, operationalisation takes place - to break down hypothesis, to better study it.

Question 3

The sampling process:
- general (2)
- random/probability sampling (3)
- non-random sampling (6)

Answer 3

General:
1. to ensure generalisability, a cross-section or other form (random vs non-random) of sampling is used to get the research/target population.
2. All provide strengths and weaknesses, but most present forms of bias and sacrifice generalisability and validity over preference and catering to niche areas of research.

Random/probablility sampling:
1. a type of ‘lottery’; randomly selecting subjects from a sampling frame (organised into ‘sampling units’). Provides an equal chance, but can select less representative demographic, so systematic or stratified random sampling may be used.
2. systematic random sampling: randomly choosing digit 1-10, then picking out every tenth number from that number
3. stratified random sampling: dividing research population into different sampling frames, then using systematic random sampling to select the research sample group.

Non-random sampling:
1. targets specific groups, in varying ways:
2. quota sampling: like SRS^, but researcher picks number of each category of person to be picked (used by market researchers, tv news companies, newspapers).
3. purposive sampling: choosing subjects which fit the research being studied (e.g. Goldthorpe et al (1969): chose manual workers in a specific area to fit his field of study).
4. opportunity sampling: like purposive sampling, but utilising any opportunity. Looking for subjects anywhere they can find them.
5. snowball sampling: via pseudo-gatekeepers, used for more inaccessible groups - using one subject, slowly unearthing new subjects linked to the initial choice, getting deeper into the demographic.
6. volunteer sampling: snowball sampling variation, via advertisements and incentives.

Question 4

Bias:
- Detecting bias (2)
- Mixed methods (2)
- Triangulation (1)
- ‘Case Study’ (1)

Answer 4

Detecting bias:
1. ‘pilot’ studies used to detect possible bias before conducting the real study. A ‘study rehearsal’ to trial questions, clarify uncertainties, etc.
2. respondent validation and interpretation of data used also: relying on respondents to verify the data - but this is debated on its value, as subjects can’t be relied on to be objective or fully clear on the research (Bryman).

Mixed methods:
1. or called ‘methodological pluralism’
2. some researchers use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, and primary and secondary data

Triangulation:
1. combining research processes and methods to better verify or test validity of research findings

‘Case Study’:
1. a detailed and in-depth examination of one particular case or instance using methodological pluralism

Question 5

General book examples (5)

Answer 5

1. Townsend and Breadline Britain surveys of Mack and Lansley (1990): influenced social policy of Labour governments.
2. Townsend (1957, 1979): committed to eradicating poverty via his studies of older and poorer demographics.
3. Noble and Davies (2009): operationalised the concept of cultural capital for 16-17yr old students via a questionnaire.
4. Bagguley and Hussain (2007): used purposive and snowball sampling for their demographic of varying asian women (Pakistani, INdian, Bangladeshi)
5. Mills (1959): ‘what works best is best’