Chapter 5 Doing Sociology : Research Methods

Introduction

This chapter explores how sociology, as a social science, gathers knowledge about society. While everyone lives in society and has experiences of social life, sociology's approach to understanding society is distinct due to its methodology.

Why Sociology Is A Social Science

Sociology is considered a social science because it employs systematic methods and procedures to study social phenomena. Unlike common sense knowledge based on personal experience, sociological knowledge is acquired through rigorous research methods.

Importance Of Method

The crucial difference between a sociologist and a lay person lies in the method used to acquire knowledge. Method refers to the procedures through which knowledge is systematically gathered and verified. Method gives sociology its scientific credibility.

Outsider Versus Insider Perspectives

Sociology is interested in both the observable aspects of social phenomena (outsider's point of view) and the subjective experiences, opinions, and feelings of the people involved (insider's point of view). Understanding both perspectives is another reason why method is particularly important in sociology; it requires methods that can access these different dimensions of social reality.

Some Methodological Issues

Methodological issues are general problems of scientific knowledge-gathering. Key issues in sociology include objectivity, subjectivity, and the use of multiple methods.

Objectivity And Subjectivity In Sociology

While all sciences aim for objectivity (unbiased knowledge based on facts), it is particularly challenging in social sciences like sociology because social scientists study the social world they themselves inhabit. This creates problems of potential bias:

• Personal Bias: Sociologists' own experiences, likes, and dislikes can influence their research.
• Bias from Social Context: Researchers can be influenced by the values and prejudices of their own social group or environment when studying others.

Sociologists use several strategies to guard against bias:

• Self-Reflexivity (Reflexivity): Rigorously and continuously examining one's own ideas, feelings, and potential biases about the research subject. Trying to see one's own work from an outsider's perspective.
• Documentation: Carefully documenting all research procedures and citing sources of evidence. This allows others to check the research process and conclusions.
• Acknowledging Potential Bias: Explicitly mentioning aspects of their own social background that might be relevant sources of bias in the research topic.

Another challenge to traditional objectivity is the existence of multiple versions of truth or interpretations of social reality. Different individuals and groups may perceive the same events differently based on their vantage points (e.g., shopkeeper vs. customer view of 'good price'). Sociology is often interested in *what* people think and *why*, rather than judging one interpretation as simply more 'true'.

Furthermore, sociology is a multi-paradigmatic science, meaning competing and sometimes incompatible schools of thought coexist within the discipline (e.g., conflict theory vs. functionalism). This adds another layer of complexity to the idea of a single 'objective' truth.

Given these challenges, the traditional notion of complete, unbiased objectivity is seen by many social scientists as an outdated or even misleading ideal. Objectivity is now often understood as the goal of a continuous, ongoing process of striving for unbiased knowledge, rather than an endpoint that can be fully achieved.

Reflexivity And Documentation

Reflexivity is the process of self-examination by the researcher to acknowledge and account for their own potential biases. Documentation involves meticulous recording of methods, procedures, and sources to ensure transparency and allow for verification by others, strengthening the research's validity.

Multiple Truths And Perspectives

The social world is inherently complex and can be understood and interpreted in multiple ways depending on individual positions, experiences, and theoretical frameworks. Sociology acknowledges these diverse interpretations and perspectives as part of social reality.

Multiple Methods And Choice Of Methods

The existence of multiple perspectives and types of research questions in sociology necessitates the use of multiple methods. There is no single best method; the choice depends on the research question, researcher preferences, and practical constraints (time, resources).

Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

Methods are often distinguished as:

• Quantitative Methods: Deal with measurable variables (numbers, statistics, proportions) to analyse social patterns on a large scale.
• Qualitative Methods: Deal with subjective, less easily measurable phenomena like attitudes, meanings, and experiences, often involving in-depth exploration.

While distinct, these can complement each other.

Secondary Versus Primary Data

• Secondary Data: Already existing data (documents, records, artefacts) not collected by the researcher specifically for the current study (e.g., historical records, census data).
• Primary Data: Data generated directly by the researcher specifically for the current study (e.g., through interviews, surveys, observations).

Micro Versus Macro Methods

• Micro Methods: Designed for studying small, intimate settings or individual interactions (e.g., interview, participant observation). Often involve single researchers working closely with subjects.
• Macro Methods: Designed for large-scale research involving large numbers of respondents and investigators (e.g., survey research, some historical methods tackling large populations/phenomena).

Methodological classifications are conventional and flexible. Methods can be converted, combined, or supplemented.

Triangulation

A recent trend is using multiple methods ('triangulation') to study the same research problem from different angles. This allows methods to complement each other, providing a more comprehensive picture and stronger results than any single method alone. Methods designed to produce primary data, like surveys, interviews, and participant observation, are particularly important in sociology.

Field Work In Social Anthropology

Participant observation is a distinctive method, particularly popular in social anthropology, involving long-term immersion in the community being studied.

Field Work As A Rigorous Method

Participant observation involves the researcher spending an extended period (months to over a year) living among the research subjects, interacting intimately, learning their language and explicit/implicit cultural knowledge. The goal is a holistic understanding of the community's 'whole way of life' from an 'insider' perspective. It is often called 'field work', a term borrowed from natural sciences.

Bronislaw Malinowski And The Invention Of Field Work

While not the first to use it, Bronislaw Malinowski is credited with establishing field work as the central method of social anthropology. His extended stay (as an 'enemy alien' during WWI) in the Trobriand Islands (1914-1916) and rigorous method (living in villages, learning language, detailed daily notes/diaries) resulted in classic studies. He advocated for direct, unmediated interaction with the community, avoiding interpreters and studying life in context, pushing for field work's institutionalisation as mandatory training to establish anthropology as a respected science.

Techniques Of Field Work (Census, Genealogy, Notes, Informants)

Key techniques used in anthropological field work include:

• Census: Detailed listing of community members with demographic information.
• Genealogy: Constructing detailed family trees across generations to understand kinship system, roles of relatives, and social structure. Helps the researcher get acquainted with the community.
• Detailed Notes: Recording observations of daily life, customs, rituals, events, economic activities, family relations, child rearing, etc. Written daily as field notes or diaries.
• Informants (Principal Informants): Individuals from the community who act as key sources of information and 'teachers' for the anthropologist.

Anthropologists ask endless questions about taken-for-granted practices, adopting a child-like curiosity to gain an insider perspective.

Field Work In Sociology

Sociological field work employs similar techniques as social anthropology but differs in context (where it's done) and emphasis (topics studied). Sociologists also live among communities to become 'insiders', but often study a wider range of communities beyond remote tribes.

Context And Emphases In Sociological Field Work

Sociologists do field work in various communities, not just remote tribal ones. Their fieldwork may not always involve 'living in' but requires spending significant time with the community. Sociological field work often focuses on specific topics or aspects within a community rather than aiming for a complete holistic account (though holistic understanding remains a goal). Examples include studying street gangs in an urban slum (William Foote Whyte) or industrial workers in a factory (Michael Burawoy).

Field Work In Sociology – Some Difficulties

Studying literate communities in one's own society poses unique challenges: the subjects may read the research report, identity can be harder to disguise, and the researcher carries a heavy responsibility regarding potential harm or helpfulness of the research to the community.

(William Foote Whyte's quote highlights difficulties in disguising identity, the risk of causing harm, and the responsibility towards the studied community in sociological fieldwork.)

Village Studies In India

Village studies became a prominent form of sociological field work in India, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The village served as the equivalent of the tribal community for earlier anthropologists – a relatively 'bounded community' small enough for a single researcher to study holistically. Village studies were seen as more relevant and less colonially biased than solely studying tribes. They were also important for providing insights into rural India, crucial for post-independence development programmes, and relevant to the majority of the Indian population.

Different Styles Of Doing Village Studies

Village studies in India were conducted in various styles:

• Missionary By-product: Like William and Charlotte Wiser's 'Behind Mud Walls', emerging from their missionary work.
• Classical Social Anthropological Style: Treating the village as a 'bounded community' like a tribe (e.g., M.N. Srinivas's 'The Remembered Village'). Involved long-term stay and detailed qualitative methods.
• Multidisciplinary Collective Projects: Teams from different disciplines studying a village (e.g., S.C. Dube's 'Indian Village' as part of a rural development project).
• Large-Scale Academic Projects: Groups of scholars from different universities/countries studying multiple villages in a region (e.g., Cornell Village Study Project).

Some Limitations Of Participant Observation

Strengths: Provides rich, detailed 'insider' perspective, corrects initial impressions, tracks changes over time/contexts, avoids certain biases of shorter methods. Weaknesses: Covers only small part of population (difficult to generalise), risk of researcher bias (conscious/unconscious selection/presentation of data), one-sided relationship where researcher speaks for 'the people'. Suggestions to counter limitations: more 'dialogic' formats (involving respondents in verifying/commenting on findings), making research more democratic and critical.

Surveys

Survey is a widely used sociological method, now commonplace in public life for various purposes (e.g., election prediction, marketing, public opinion). A survey provides a comprehensive overview based on information from a carefully chosen representative sample of a large population.

What Is A Survey

A survey is a method of gathering information from a sample of individuals (respondents) to describe or understand characteristics of a larger population. It provides a broad overview rather than in-depth details from individuals.

Advantages Of Surveys

Main advantage: Ability to generalise results from a small sample to a large population, making it efficient in terms of time, effort, and money. Survey provides an aggregated picture, making social problems visible at a collective level that might not be apparent from individual cases alone.

Principles Of Sampling

To make a survey result generalisable, the sample must be representative of the population. This relies on sampling theory and two main principles:

• Stratification: Recognising relevant sub-groups (strata) in the population (e.g., rural/urban, different village sizes, class, caste, gender, age, religion) and ensuring they are represented in the sample proportionate to their share in the population.
• Randomisation: Selecting the actual units (persons, households, villages) to be part of the sample purely by chance. This relies on probability and techniques like drawing lots, using random number tables, or computer generation. Random selection ensures each unit has an equal chance of being chosen, leading to a representative sample.

The goal is a sample that stands for the entire population, allowing characteristics of the sample to closely resemble those of the population, with a calculable margin of error (sampling error) due to using a sample, not the whole population.

The Census And The National Statistical Organisation

A census is a complete enumeration of every member of a population, the largest form of survey (e.g., Indian Census every 10 years). While highly accurate due to full coverage, it's costly and infrequent. Sample surveys, like those conducted by India's National Statistical Organisation (NSO), are more frequent and efficient. NSO conducts large sample surveys annually and even larger ones every five years, which, despite covering a tiny proportion of the population, are scientifically selected to be representative and provide accurate estimates.

Sample Selection Example

An example of selecting a sample involves listing units (villages, households), stratifying by relevant criteria (size of village), deciding sample size from each stratum, and randomly selecting units from the lists using chance methods (drawing lots, random numbers). Actual designs are complex, but the principle remains representing the whole through a carefully selected sample.

Aggregate Statistics And Social Problems

Surveys and censuses produce aggregate statistics (data for a collectivity). Many social problems (like falling child sex ratio) become visible only through such aggregate data; they might not be apparent by looking at individual cases alone. This highlights the importance of macro-level methods for studying certain social issues.

Disadvantages Of Surveys

Surveys cover breadth at the cost of depth. Getting in-depth information from respondents is difficult due to limited time per respondent. They are also vulnerable to non-sampling errors.

Non-Sampling Errors

Errors not due to sampling but to research design flaws or implementation shortcomings. Examples: differences in how investigators ask questions, recording errors, respondents giving inaccurate (memory lapses) or untruthful (sensitive questions) answers. Such errors can mislead survey results. Designing the questionnaire ('survey instrument') carefully and ensuring consistent implementation is crucial, but challenges remain in ensuring truthful responses when trust is lacking.

Surveys rely on a structured, sometimes inflexible questionnaire and depend on investigator-respondent interaction quality and respondent cooperation.

Interview

An interview is a guided conversation between a researcher and a respondent, often used as a research method in sociology.

What Is An Interview

It's a research method involving direct conversation where the researcher asks questions to elicit information, opinions, and insights from the respondent.

Advantages Of Interview

Main advantage: Flexibility. Questions can be rephrased, ordered differently, extended, or shortened based on the conversation's flow and respondent's reactions. This allows for gaining in-depth information and exploring complex topics more fluidly than a rigid questionnaire.

Disadvantages Of Interview

Also related to flexibility, interviews can be unstable and unpredictable. Success depends heavily on rapport and communication. They are vulnerable to the respondent's mood, interviewer's concentration lapses, and challenges in consistent recording and analysis across multiple interviews. Recording methods (audio/video vs. note-taking) have trade-offs (formality vs. detail loss).

Styles And Recording Methods

Interview styles vary from loosely structured checklists of topics to more structured specific questions. Recording methods include audio/video recording, detailed note-taking during the interview, or writing notes from memory afterwards. How interviews are transcribed and presented (edited narrative vs. verbatim transcript) also differs.

Use With Other Methods

Interviews are often used alongside or as a supplement to other methods like participant observation (long conversations with key informants) or surveys (intensive interviews adding depth to survey findings). Interviews require personalised access and trust between researcher and respondent.