Sociology (9690) | Approaches to research

Sociology (9690) Study Notes: Approaches to Research (3.1.3.1)

Hello Sociologists! Welcome to the exciting world of research methods. This chapter is super important because it teaches you the fundamental *blueprints* and *philosophies* that underpin all sociological studies. Think of it as learning how different chefs approach cooking: some rely on precise measurements (numbers), and others rely on taste and intuition (meaning).

Understanding these basic approaches will help you evaluate all the studies you look at in Sociology, from families to crime. Let's dive in!

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1. The Two Types of Sociological Data

In Sociology, we primarily deal with two main types of evidence or data, and they are opposites!

Quantitative Evidence and Data (The Numbers)

Quantitative data is evidence that can be measured, counted, or expressed numerically. It focuses on how many, how often, or how much.

• Key Feature: Focuses on social facts—observable things that exist outside of individual consciousness (e.g., divorce rates, unemployment percentages).
• Goal: To measure patterns, trends, and correlations across large populations, allowing for generalisation (applying findings to a wider group).
• Examples: Official statistics (like census data), survey results where you count "Yes/No" answers, percentages, and graphs.

Analogy: Quantitative data is like taking a temperature. It gives you a precise number but tells you nothing about why the person is hot.

Qualitative Evidence and Data (The Meaning)

Qualitative data is evidence expressed in words, descriptions, images, or accounts. It focuses on meaning, experiences, and depth.

• Key Feature: Focuses on individual subjective experiences—how people interpret and feel about the world.
• Goal: To achieve Verstehen (deep empathetic understanding) and explore the complex reasons why people behave the way they do.
• Examples: Transcripts from in-depth interviews, field notes from a participant observation study, diaries, and letters.

Analogy: Qualitative data is like reading a diary. It doesn't use numbers, but it gives you rich, deep insight into someone's feelings and context.

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2. Primary and Secondary Sources of Data

Once we know what kind of data we want (numbers or words), we need to decide where to get it. Data sources are split into two categories:

Primary Sources and Data

Primary data is information collected firsthand by the sociologist or research team specifically for their own research project.

• Benefit: The data is exactly tailored to the research question. The sociologist controls the process.
• Limitation: Can be very expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to manage (practical issues).
• Examples: A sociologist conducting their own new survey, running a lab experiment, or carrying out their own set of interviews.

Analogy: If you are conducting an interview, you are creating brand new (primary) data, like cooking a meal completely from scratch.

Secondary Sources and Data

Secondary data is information that already exists, having been collected by someone else (another sociologist, a government agency, or a company) for a different purpose.

• Benefit: It is often cheap, quick, and provides access to very large data sets (like national statistics) that a single researcher couldn't collect.
• Limitation: The data might not perfectly match the researcher's needs, and you have to trust the original collector's methods and intent (concerns about validity).
• Examples: Official statistics (government data on crime, education, health), historical documents, academic journals, newspapers, diaries, and letters written by others.

Analogy: Using existing official statistics is secondary data, like ordering a take-out meal—it's fast, but you didn't control how it was cooked.

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3. The Big Sociological Debate: Philosophical Approaches

The choice between quantitative/qualitative data is often driven by a sociologist's underlying philosophical belief about how society works and how we should study it. These beliefs are called Positivism and Interpretivism.

Positivist Approaches (The Scientist Approach)

Positivists believe that the social world can be studied in the same way as the natural world (like Physics or Biology). They aim to be objective and value-free.

The Positivist View in Three Steps:

1. Society is a Structure: Positivists see society as a predictable system that shapes individual behaviour (structure).
2. Find Social Laws: Their goal is to discover objective social facts and the universal laws of cause and effect (causation) that govern human behaviour.
3. Measure and Count: They strongly prefer Quantitative data (surveys, official statistics) because it allows them to measure things accurately and objectively, leading to high reliability.

Key Focus: Measuring observable social patterns (e.g., finding the correlation between poverty and educational attainment). They want to know *what* is happening.

Memory Aid: P = Physics (Like scientists) and P = Patterns (Looking for trends and laws).

Interpretivist Approaches (The Human Approach)

Interpretivists argue that humans are fundamentally different from rocks or chemicals because we have consciousness and attach meaning to our actions. Therefore, we cannot study people like we study objects.

The Interpretivist View in Three Steps:

1. Focus on Agency: They believe individuals have free will and actively construct their own reality (agency).
2. Understand Meaning: Their goal is to understand the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their own actions and the actions of others (achieving Verstehen).
3. Explore in Depth: They strongly prefer Qualitative data (unstructured interviews, participant observation) because it provides rich detail and high validity (true-to-life picture).

Key Focus: Understanding individual motivation and experience (e.g., exploring why a young person chooses to drop out of school). They want to know *why* people feel or act that way.

Memory Aid: I = Interpretation and I = Insight (Deep understanding).

Don't worry if this seems tricky at first. The key is remembering that Positivists want to measure society from the outside, while Interpretivists want to experience and describe society from the inside.

Key Takeaway for this Section: The philosophical approach a sociologist takes (Positivist or Interpretivist) determines the type of data (Quantitative or Qualitative) and the specific methods (like surveys or interviews) they will use.