Methodological approaches to research
Methodological Approaches to Research
Experimental Methods
- Laboratory experiments: Understand cause and effect relationships in a controlled setting.
- Field experiments: Conducted in the natural environment of participants, offering more realism than lab experiments.
- However, ethical issues, practical problems, and a lack of representativeness can limit the usefulness of experiments in sociology.
Survey Methods
- Questionnaires: Efficient tool for gathering data from a large group; responses can be put into statistical format.
- Interviews: Include structured interviews for quantitative data and unstructured interviews for qualitative insights.
- Surveys may suffer from issues of response rate and contextual misunderstanding.
Observational Methods
- Participant observation: The researcher takes part in the social setting under study; offers a deep understanding of social behaviour.
- Non-participant observation: The observer remains detached from the participants; may lead to more objective data.
- Observational methods provide rich, detailed data but may be time-consuming, subjective, and raise ethical dilemmas.
Secondary Analysis and Historical Research
- Involves studying already existing materials such as documents, statistics, and media content.
- Content analysis: Systematic examination of communicative material.
- Historical analysis: Analyses social phenomena over time.
- These provide valuable perspectives but depend heavily on the availability and reliability of sources.
Comparative Methods
- Involves comparing two or more societies, cultures, or groups, often to discern universal social patterns or differences.
- The method may face issues due to the complexity of societies, variation in cultural contexts and difficulties in making valid and reliable comparisons.
Longitudinal Studies
- Observes the same subjects over an extended period to detect patterns and changes.
- Allows the study of developments and changes over time but can be lengthy and expensive.