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Theories on Research Methods
There are two main theoretical/methodological approaches to the study of society. These are
positivism and interpretivism.
Positivism
Positivists believe that there are external social forces making up a society’s social structure
that cause or mould people’s ideas and actions. These are called social facts.
Positivists believe social institutions influence people’s behaviour with social control making
individuals behave in socially approved ways.
Durkheim said the study of sociology should be the study of social facts and that these could,
in most cases, be observed and measured quantitatively. The feelings, emotions and motives
of individuals cannot be observed or measured and should therefore not be studied. These
feelings are the result of social facts such as the influences of socialisation anyway.
Positivists believe that quantitative data needs to be collected for sociology to be seen as a
science and for studies to be repeated to check findings, establish the causes of social events
or make generalisations.
Positivists use research methods which collect quantitative data. These are more likely to
involve large scale research or a macro approach. These methods include:
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Experiments
The comparative method
Surveys
Structured questionnaires
Formal/structured interviews
Non participant observation
Interpretivism
Interpretivists believe that, because people’s behaviour is influenced by the interpretations
and meanings they give to social situations, the researcher’s task is to gain an understanding
of these interpretations and meanings. Sociology should therefore use research methods
which provide an understanding from the point of view of individuals and groups who are
being studied.
Interpretivists suggest there is a need to discuss and get personally involved with people in
order to understand their interpretations and meanings.
Interpretivists therefore favour research methods which collect qualitative data. These
include:
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Participant and sometimes non participant observation
Informal/unstructured interviews
Open questionnaires
Personal accounts
These tend to involve a micro approach with small scale, in depth research.
Methodological Pluralism
Most sociologists will use a range of methods to collect different kinds of data.
The use of a variety of methods is known as methodological pluralism.
Sociologists will often use two or more research methods to check the reliability and validity
of findings. This is known as triangulation.