Sociological Methods Flashcards
(13 cards)
What is positivism
‘social facts’ that can be studied objectively using methods that are similar to the natural sciences
What is interpretivism
People are conscious of their belief, meaning, values and interactions and that these influence how they act
Factors affecting researchers choice of topic
- sociologists perspective
- society’s values
- practical factors
- funding bodies
Research process
- formulating a hypothesis
- formulating an aim
- method choice
- operationalising concepts
- pilot study
- data collection
- share findings
What is operationalising concepts
Concepts within the sociologists aim/hypothesis are broken down to identify how they are measured (operationalised)
What is a pilot study
Draft version of the research carried out by a smaller sample
What do postmodernists argue?
Things have changed from the modernist era mainly due to globalisation. All countries are connected and seperate nation states aren’t significant.
What does Jean Baudrillard argue?
‘Death of the social’
Some individuals interact with the world with media which shapes their world and their sense of community is no longer relevant.
Who argues that sociology is a science?
Positivists
What is induction?
Researcher gathers large sample of statistics with the aim to try find trends and patterns that shows social facts
What’s the hypothetico deductive model?
Formulating a hypothesis that they wish to prove correct
What do interpretivist believe about ‘sociology is a science’
Human behaviour cannot be studied as a science as human nature is unreliable and actions have complex meanings
What is verstehen?
Researcher putting themselves in the place of the other for better understanding
