3.1. Sociological methods of research

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________ is the capacity of a research method to measure what it sets out to measure; a true or genuine picture of what something is really like.

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validity

Front

____________ data is information in numerical form (percentages, tables, graphs, etc.) e.g.: official statistics, the results of social surveys

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quantitative

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____________ data is information, usually expressed in words, about people’s thoughts, feelings, motivations, attitudes, values etc., obtained from participant observation, unstructured interviews, diaries, or letters. It aims to give an insight into what it is like to be in another person’s ‘shoes’.

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qualitative

Front

_______ data is information collected firsthand by sociologists themselves for their own research purposes. e.g.: participant observation, social surveys, experiments

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primary

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_________ data is information collected not by sociologists themselves for their own research purposes, but by other people or organizations for non-sociological purposes. Sociologists make extensive use of this ‘second-hand’ information because it is often free or cheap, readily available, and covers large numbers. e.g.: official statistics, the media, personal documents

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secondary

Front

___________ is when a piece of research produces exactly the same results when repeated using identical methods and procedures. This is more a characteristic of quantitative methods, because they use standardized procedures that are easier to replicate; e.g. a questionnaire asking all respondents the same set of questions.

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reliability

Front

A researcher may choose to study a sample of a larger group. If the sample is ______________, those in it will be typical of the larger group. This will allow the findings to be generalised, i.e. applied to all members of the group, not just those in the sample.

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representative

Front

__________ is the belief that society is made up of ‘social facts’ that can be studied scientifically to discover laws of cause and effect. With such knowledge, sociologists would be able to find solutions to social problems.

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positivism

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______________ focuses on how we construct our social worlds through the meanings we create and attach to events, actions, and situations. It favors qualitative methods and sees human beings as fundamentally different from the natural phenomena studied by scientists, in that we have free will, consciousness, and choice.

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interpretivism

Front

Sociologists often aim to produce generalisations that apply to all cases of the topic they are interested in. As it is not possible to study every individual in society, they have to choose a ______: a smaller sub-group whose elements are representative or typical of the whole group.

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sample