Factors Effecting Choice Of Method

Question 1

The most common influences of a sociologists choice of methods are:

Answer 1

Practical issues
Ethical issues
Theoretical issues
Choice of topic

Question 2

Practical issues

Answer 2

Time - some methods take more time than others
Finance - some methods cheaper than others
Personal - may have other commitments as well as research
Subject matter - some societal groups are less open

Question 3

Theoretical issues

Answer 3

Validity and reliability

Representativeness

Question 4

Choice of issue

Answer 4

Society values
Funding bodies
Practical issues
Theoretical perspectives

Question 5

Ethical issues

Answer 5

Consent
Confidentiality
What are the effect on the research participants?
Does the research involve vulnerable groups?

Question 6

Theoretical perspective

Answer 6

The sociologist’s theoretical perspective is a major influence upon their choice of research topic

Question 7

Representative

Answer 7

Refers to whether or not people we study are a typical cross section of the group we are interested in.

MAKING SURE THE SAMPLE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE WIDER POPULATION

Question 8

Methodical perspective

Answer 8

Interpretivist vs Positivism

Question 9

Society’s values

Answer 9

Sociologists themselves are part of the society they study and thus are influenced by its value

Question 10

Funding bodies

Answer 10

Funding bodies USUALLY EXTERNAL paying for the research, it will determine the topic investigated 
E.G
Government agencies
Charitable organisations 
Businesses

Question 11

Practical factors

Answer 11

The inaccessibility of certain situations to the researcher,may also restrict topic they are able to study.

Question 12

Vunerable groups

Answer 12

Special care should be taken where participants are vulnerable 
E.G
Age
Disability
Physical health 
Mental health

Question 13

Consent research

Answer 13

Can take/ create ethical issues as researchers results are hidden from participants.
If participants do not give consent from data collected, research CANNOT be published.

Question 14

Reliability (replicability)

Answer 14

A reliable method is one which, when repeated by another researcher, gives the same results

Question 15

Informed consent

Answer 15

Participants offered the right to refuse publish of data
Researcher should tell participant about all relevant aspects of the research so participants can make informed decision of they feel the need to leave.

Question 16

Confidentiality + PRIVACY

Answer 16

Research should respect privacy of participants

Question 17

Effects on research participants

Answer 17

Researchers need to be aware of the possible effects on their participants 
E.G
Social exclusion 
Psychological damage
Harm to employment prospects

Question 18

Time and money

Answer 18

Large scale research - expensive - timely

Small scale research - cheaper - participant observation : cheaper, timely

Question 19

Requirement of funding bodies

Answer 19

Research constitutes, business and other organisations that provide the funding research may require the results to be in a particular form

Question 20

Personal skills and characteristics

Answer 20

Each sociologist possess different skills - may affect ability to carry out different methods
E.G Interviews
If find it hard to talk to people other methods may need to be used

Question 21

Subject matter

Answer 21

May be harder to study a particular group or subject
E.G
For a male sociologist to study an all-female group by means of participant observation, while written questionnaires may be useless for studying those who cannot read.

Question 22

Research opportunity

Answer 22

Sometimes the opportunity to carry out can occur unexpectantly as a result methods may be spontaneous
E.G
An interview

Question 23

Positivism

Answer 23

Laborital experiments
Official statistics/ documents
Social surveys/ questionares
Structured interviews

Question 24

Interpreting

Answer 24

Direct observation
Participant observation
Unstructured interviews
Personal documents

Question 25

Validity

Answer 25

A method that produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like.

Question 26

Pros of Interpretivism

Answer 26

Good at understanding social processes

Allows for complexity and contextual factors

Question 27

Cons of interpretivism

Answer 27

Data collection can be time consuming

Data analysis is challenging and can be complex

Question 28

Pros of positivism

Answer 28

Favoured by the government

Easily comparable data

Question 29

Cons of positivism

Answer 29

Weak at understanding social processes

Inflexible - direction often cannot be changed once