1. Research Methods Learning goals:
To understand factors affecting choice of research methods and topics
To understand the research process
As a sociologist, what different factors do you need to consider before carrying out research?
Pair and Share

2. Primary and Secondary sources of data
Watch the video and make notes on the different types of data:
Primary Data
Secondary Data

3. Qualitative and Quantitative sources of data
Watch the video and make notes on the different types of data:
Qualitative Data
Quantitative Data

4. Factors influencing choice of methods
What factors influence a sociologist’s choice of methods (e.g. interview, observation, social experiment, questionnaire) ?
Practical issues
Ethical issues
Theoretical issues

5. Kaira is studying sociology at university
Kaira is studying sociology at university. Her mid-term project requires her to investigate parental expectations in education. What methods can she employ? What are her limitations? (think about practical, ethical and theoretical)

6. Factors influencing choice of methods
Time and money available – large surveys or observations can be time consuming and expensive to complete and take a long time to analyse
Aims of the researcher – researchers could sometimes try and twist the data so it confirms hypothesis, so they might choose a method they think will give them the results they want
What is known about the field you are investigating – if someone has already carried out a survey in one field a sociologist might choose to interview participants instead, for example.
Whether the researcher is interested in the subject or not – if the researcher is not interested in the subject area they might choose a quicker and less time consuming method than if they were very interested by it
Whether the research is ethical or not – it could be that in one scenario using a certain method could be unethical. For example, interviewing a recently bereaved family could be unethical, so they would choose a different method.
Whether the method is suitable – for example using a written questionnaire could be difficult for investigating criminals, many of whom could be illiterate.
Theoretical beliefs of the researcher – different researchers will have different views on what research type to use. For example positivists are more likely to choose something that will yield quantitative results such as a closed survey.

7. Questions to consider
Give one example of a quantitative primary method and a qualitative secondary source
Explain one practical issue which might affect a sociologist’s choice of research methods? Illustrate your answer with an example.

8. A qualified sociologist wants to research gangs in London
A qualified sociologist wants to research gangs in London. What are some of the practical/ethical/theoretical issues?

9. The process of research
Formulating an aim or hypothesis
Operationalising concepts
The Pilot Study
Samples and Sampling

10. Questions
Give one example of a quantitative primary method and a qualitative secondary source
What practical methods might affect a sociologist’s choice of research methods?
Identify three ethical issues sociologists face
What is a hypothesis?
Define the following terms a) research population, b)sample c) sampling frame
What measure might you use to operationalise the idea of ‘social class’

11. Glossary
You can now create a glossary of all the key terms learnt this lesson!