Sociology as a Science

Sociologists use a range of methods to do research.

Many Sociologists think the purpose of Sociology is to make policy proposals based on research.

POSITIVISM – The Scientific approach

Positivism is used by all Sociologists but mainly structural approaches like Functionalism and Marxism Methods Collection of Primary data through: Questionnaires, Structured Interviews,Content analysis,Experiments. Use of secondary data like official statistics which have already been gathered e.g ONS, Home Office. The data produced is QUANTITATIVE – numbers/statistics

Example DFE statistics show that 80% of students from wealthy backgrounds achieve 5+ GCSES A*-C whereas only 35% of children on free school meals achieve 5 GCSES. This shows a social pattern BUT, is doesn’t tell us much about the experiences of children from low-income families.

Interpretivism – the not-so scientific approach

Interpretivists argue Sociology can’t be objective because Sociologists are human beings studying other human beings. They understand the social world through exploring the meanings and motivations of others, using their own experience & verstehen. What did you look at me like that for, you silly sausage.

Interpretivist approach is used by many sociologists but mostly Interactionists, feminists and post modernists Methods Collection of primary data through: Observation of small groups, Semi or unstructured interviews Use of secondary data through use of Personal documents like diaries. Data produced is QUALITATIVE – rich text with themes about the behaviour of those studied.

Example Paul Willis (1977) conducted observation of a group of working class lads at school. He found that educational failure was related to an anti-school (laddish) culture that was at odds with the very middle-class environment at school.

Activity Turn to Sociological Research Methods page Complete questions a and b in your workbooks.

The different research methods produce different types of data with their own strengths and limitations.

Key concerns in research. When we evaluate how well a piece of research has been carried out we consider the following things. Generalisation Representativeness Operationalisation Validity Ethics Reliability GROVER

Generalisation Can the results of the study be applied to wider society? E.g if you studied knife crime in Torquay could you apply the findings to the whole of UK?

Representativeness Does the sample of people you studied accurately represent the target population. E.g If you are studying anti-social behaviour of young people but only studied boys, your sample would not represent ‘young people’

Operationalisation Has the study correctly defined what they are studying. E.g If you wanted to study happiness but defined this as having Sky television it would not be a very accurate study! This therefore affects the validity of your research.

Validity This is related to the accuracy and truthfulness of your findings. E.g If you went to lower school and asked everyone whether or not they smoked you would probably find that 100% said no! BUT….. OBJECTIVITY is important as if there are biases in your research it will not be valid

Ethics British Sociological Association have guidelines which must be followed. Informed Consent Privacy/confidentiality of participants Protection from harm caused by potential deception, embarrassment etc Right to withdraw from the study

Reliability This is about the way the data is collected. If it is a consistent measure such as a questionnaire with yes/no answers then another sociologists could repeat the study and get similar results. If is say an interview/conversation then another sociologists might get different results and the study might be unreliable.

A little Test In pairs test each other on the meanings of the terms in GROVER.

Work in groups to produce an outline of how you would study one of the following. Experiences of education of black males Links between gender and academic achievement Experiences of youth offenders Childhood suicide and wealth of family Geographical area and use of drugs Experience of youth unemployment

Decisions to make Theoretical background – quantitative or qualitative? How will you operationalise the concepts? What you predict you might find – a hypothesis Method to use How to get your participants

Quantitative Vs Qualitative Advantages Advantag Disadvantages Advantages Dis Disadvantages

Famous Studies in Sociology Work in groups to research one of the following studies and create a poster showing the Aim, Method, Findings and some evaluation. James Patrick – A Glasgow Gang Observed Eileen Barker – The making of a Moonie Paul Willis – Learning to Labour Laud Humphreys – Tearoom Trade Philip Zimbardo – Stanford Prison Study