Factors influencing choice of Methods

Practical issues Time and money- large scale surveys may employ dozens of interviewers and cost a great deal of money. By contrast, a small scale project involving a lone researcher may take several years to complete Requirements of funding bodies- Research institutes may require results to be in a particular form Personal skills- Each sociologist has different personal skills and this may affect their ability to use different methods

More practical issues Subject matter- It may be harder to study a particular group or subject by one method than by another Research opportunity- Sometimes the opportunity to carry out research occurs unexpectedly and this means that it may not be possible to use methods that take longer to prepare

Ethical issues Informed consent- Consent should be obtained by the researcher Confidentiality- Researchers should keep the identity of research participants secret in order to help to prevent possible negative effects on them Effects on research participants- Researchers should try to anticipate and prevent possible harmful effects on their subjects

More ethical issues Vulnerable groups- Special care should be taken where research participants are vulnerable because of their age, disability or physical or mental health Covert research- Some sociologists argue that the use of covert methods may be justified in certain circumstances. These may include gaining access to areas of social life closed to investigation by secretive, deviant or powerful groups

Theoretical issues Validity- A valid method is one that produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like. It allows the researcher to get closer to the truth Reliability- A reliable method is one which when repeated by another researcher, gives the same results Methodological perspective- Sociologists are influenced by their view of what society is like and how we should study it. There are two contrasting perspectives on the choice of methods: Positivism and Interpretivism

Factors influencing choice of topic

Theoretical perspective- A sociologists theoretical perspective is a major influence on their choice of topic Society’s values- focus of research changes over time e.g. 60s and 70s focus on gender inequality- environmentalist concerns in 21 st century Funding bodies- As the funding body is paying for the research, it will determine the topic to be investigated Practical factors-The inaccessibility of certain situations to the researcher may also restrict what topic they are able to study

Task Using p-g 164/165 explain how ‘practical’ and ‘ethical’ factors influence a researchers choice of method Using p-g 165 explain the difference between ‘Validity’ and ‘Reliability’ Using p-g 166 copy Box 20-why do positivists and interpretivists prefer different types of data Using p-g 167 explain what factors influence a researchers choice of topic