Immediate activity Which of the following would you associate with Positivism and Interpretivism Argues we can study society by looking for Cause and effect Qualitative data collected Analyses meaning No correlations searched for No social facts – only individual interpretations. Argues there is no cause and effect in human behaviour Believes in the existence of ‘Social Facts’ that apply to the whole of society Looks for links and Correlations Quantitative data collected Describes patterns Then: write a list of the research methods that would be used by interpretivists and positivists

No social facts – only individual interpretations. Which of the following would you associate with Positivism and Interpretivism Quantitative Qualitative Cause and effect No cause and effect Correlation No correlation Social Facts No social facts – only individual interpretations. Describes patterns

Secondary Data: Documents

Types of Documents: Personal Documents Public Documents Letters, diaries, photographs, internet blogging, etc Public Documents Documents produced by agencies such as Government, Schools etc. Documents may include things like Ofsted reports, minutes from a meeting and so forth. Historical Documents Any document created in the past which can be used to gain insight into previous social activity. This data is often used in comparison with more recent activity. Plus, when studying the past, there really is only this data available!!

Assessing the value of documents Scott’s 4 categories: You MUST know these! Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today! Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those who are foolish. Awful: Awful things used to be “worthy of awe” for a variety of reasons, which is how we get expressions like “the awful majesty of God.” Fizzle: The verb fizzle once referred to the act of producing quiet flatulence (think “SBD”); American college slang flipped the word’s meaning to refer to failing at things. John Scott (1990): Assessing Documents Scott offers a 4 point check list for documents of all kinds… Authenticity – Is it a genuine piece of writing, does it fit in with other secondary sources from around the same time? Credibility – Is the author sincere, and how do you know? Representativeness – Is it typical of the time/place etc? Why can this be difficult to ensure with documents?  Meaning – This can relate to the literal meaning of the text, problems with the language etc ACTIVITY: Look at the 19th century painting of a child- why is this not a representative document? TV documentary link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00023vy/american-historys-biggest-fibs-with-lucy-worsley-series-1-1-the-american-revolution They said what???!

Documents- A famous example Thomas and Znaniecki wanted to know about people’s personal experience of migration and social change Questions: 1)Why would using documents enable them to do this? 2)Why would positivists reject this research? 3) Using Scott’s criteria identify a potential problem with the documents used in the study for each category

Analysing Documents: Using content analysis- THE POSTIVIST APPORACH Objective way of classifying and quantifying a document’s contents e.g. how many female roles are displayed in a child’s book. These are simply counted and interpreted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Jbd4-fPOE Questions How did Lobban (1974) use content analysis to analyse gender roles in children’s reading schemes? What would be the advantage of her using content analysis over other methods? What disadvantages might there be? Why would positivist accept this approach to using document? Why would interpretivists reject it?

Examples of Documents Being Used in Sociological Research:   Max Weber – 1905 study of Calvinist Protestants – used diaries to uncover belief, thoughts and attitudes of Calvinists – led to his book “The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” (2) Valerie Hey 1997 “The Company She Keeps” an investigation into the friendship groups of school girls. Hey studied the notes girls past between each other in lessons behind the teacher’s back in combination with diaries and participant observation What is this also an example of?

Exam Questions Over to you….. Outline two advantages of using documents in sociological research Evaluate the use of secondary sources in sociological research (16 marks)