methods in context

Question 1

what is the link between theory and methods? (social systems/ structuralist)

Answer 1

structuralists believe society is more powerful than the individual.
they study society as a whole (macro view)
structuralists want reliable data
they take a scientific approach and they are value free
research methods are quantitative e.g statistics, questionnaires with closed questions (census), structured interviews, experiments - this gives them reliable data
examples of structuralists: durkheim

Question 2

what is the link between theory and methods? (social action approach/interactionalists)

Answer 2

interactionlists believe that the individual is more powerful than society as a whole
they have a non scientific approach
not value free- they use their values
they take a micro view - try and focus on the individual/social actors - how they attach meanings, interpret, interact with society - weber wants to gain versethen
research methods are qualitative eg. unstructured interviews, participant observations, personal documents