Sociology · Sociology Themes and Perspectives (Haralambos and Holborn)

Chapter 14 : Methodology

Table of contents131 sections

1.Methodology
2.Introduction
3.Key Terms
4.📌 Exam Tidbits
5.'Scientific' quantitative methodology
6.Positivism, Durkheim and sociology
7.Social facts
8.Statistical data
9.Correlations
10.Causal connections
11.Multivariate analysis
12.Laws of human behaviour
13.Karl Popper - falsification and deduction
14.The laboratory experiment and sociology
15.Field experiments
16.The comparative method
17.Key Terms
18.📌 Exam Tidbits
19.Interpretive and qualitative methodology
20.Qualitative data
21.The interpretive approach
22.Key Terms
23.📌 Exam Tidbits
24.The sociology of suicide
25.Durkheim - Suicide: A Study in Sociology
26.Durkheim, suicide and methodology
27.Positivist responses to Durkheim
28.Interpretive theories of suicide
29.J. Maxwell Atkinson - Discovering Suicide
30.Criticisms of phenomenology
31.Jonathan Scourfield, Ben Fincham, Susanne Langer and Michael Shiner - mixed methods and the sociological suicide autopsy
32.Steve Taylor - beyond positivism and phenomenology
33.Key Terms
34.📌 Exam Tidbits
35.Quantitative and qualitative methodology
36.Key Terms
37.📌 Exam Tidbits
38.Critical social science methodology
39.Lee Harvey - critical social research
40.Criticisms of critical social research
41.Phil Carspecken - a defence of critical social research
42.Key Terms
43.📌 Exam Tidbits
44.Feminist methodology
45.The attack on 'malestream' research
46.Feminist research methods
47.Feminist standpoint epistemology
48.Key Terms
49.📌 Exam Tidbits
50.Postmodern methodology
51.Varieties of postmodern methodology
52.Criticisms of epistemological postmodernism
53.Mats Alvesson - the uses and limitations of postmodern methodology
54.Key Terms
55.📌 Exam Tidbits
56.The choice of research topic
57.Values
58.Developments in sociology and in society
59.Funding
60.Practicalities
61.Ethics
62.Key Terms
63.📌 Exam Tidbits
64.Primary sources: choosing methods and samples; piloting research
65.Choosing a primary research method
66.Choosing a sample
67.Types of sampling
68.Case studies
69.Life histories
70.Pilot studies
71.Key Terms
72.📌 Exam Tidbits
73.Quantitative primary research: social surveys and questionnaires
74.Social surveys
75.Questionnaires
76.The advantages of questionnaires
77.The disadvantages of questionnaires
78.Questionnaire research - conclusions
79.Key Terms
80.📌 Exam Tidbits
81.Interviews
82.Types and styles of interviewing
83.Individual and group interviewing
84.The advantages and disadvantages of interviews
85.Key Terms
86.📌 Exam Tidbits
87.Observation, ethnography and participant observation
88.Observation
89.Ethnography
90.Participant observation
91.Critical ethnography
92.Postmodern ethnography
93.Key Terms
94.📌 Exam Tidbits
95.Longitudinal research
96.Key Terms
97.📌 Exam Tidbits
98.Secondary sources
99.Official statistics
100.Historical sources
101.Life documents
102.Visual analysis
103.The mass media and content analysis
104.Evaluating secondary sources
105.The internet as a secondary source
106.Key Terms
107.📌 Exam Tidbits
108.Combining methods and triangulation
109.Examples of combining methods
110.Reasons for combining methods
111.Conclusion
112.Key Terms
113.📌 Exam Tidbits
114.Sociology and science
115.Scientific methodology
116.The social context of science
117.Feminism and science
118.Thomas Kuhn - paradigms and scientific revolutions
119.The realist view of science
120.Key Terms
121.📌 Exam Tidbits
122.Methodology, values and objectivity
123.Defining objectivity and value-freedom
124.Value-freedom in classical sociology
125.Weber and the selection of research topics
126.Domain assumptions, methodology and values
127.Towards objectivity in research
128.Summary and conclusions
129.Key Terms
130.📌 Exam Tidbits
131.Quick-Recall Box

Chapter preview

Methodology

Introduction

Any academic subject requires a methodology to produce and analyse data systematically; without it, findings can be dismissed as guesswork. Methodology encompasses both detailed research methods (data collection) and the broader philosophies underlying them, known as epistemology. Alan Bryman (2012) notes that considering epistemology helps decide how to study the social world and the utility of scientific methods.

Sociology emerged in 19th-century Europe during industrialisation, a period when science gained unprecedented prestige for producing objective knowledge. Consequently, many early sociologists adopted scientific methodologies. However, others argued that studying human behaviour differs fundamentally from studying the natural world because humans possess consciousness.

Historically, sociology divided into two broad traditions:

Advocates of scientific and usually quantitative methods (numerical/statistical).
Supporters of humanistic and qualitative methods.

Recently, sociologists have questioned this rigid division, advocating for combining approaches. Additionally, new methodologies have emerged:

Critical social science: Favours qualitative methods but is defined by linking research to transforming society. It rejects researcher impartiality, siding with disadvantaged/oppressed groups (e.g., feminists) to liberate them.
Postmodernism: Rejects the belief in discovering objective truth. Instead, it examines the social world from different actors' viewpoints and seeks to deconstruct existing explanations, arguing no single account is superior to others.

Key Terms

Concept	Definition
Methodology	The detailed research methods through which data are collected, and the more general philosophies upon which the collection and analysis of data are based.
Epistemology	Issues concerning the general philosophies upon which the collection and analysis of data are based; the theory of knowledge.
Quantitative methods	Numerical statistical methods used to produce data.
Qualitative methods	More humanistic methods used to produce non-numerical data.
Critical social science	An approach that links research with trying to transform society, rejecting impartiality to side with and liberate disadvantaged and oppressed groups.
Postmodernists	Researchers who reject the belief that they can ever discover some objective truth about the social world, instead examining it from different actors' viewpoints and deconstructing existing explanations.

📌 Exam Tidbits

Alan Bryman (2012): Noted that epistemology helps decide the utility of scientific methods in studying the social world.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative…

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Chapter 15 : Sociological theory