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Transcript
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: 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: 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.