Module 5a

Unit 1: Theory and Methods
Introduction
Sociology tries to understand and explain the To study the complex behaviour of people in social
relationship between people and the societies they live groups sociologists use different kinds of tools. The
in. A society is the group to which you belong; it can be a main tools are of two types: theories about society
small unit like the family or a large one like your country, and methods used to explore those theories. This unit
and anything in between. People can be grouped by the looks at the main theories and methods used. Notice
things they have in common: for instance, their level of that the theories are based on very different ideas
education or their religious attitudes, whether they are about what the relationship between people and the
recent migrants to a country or whether they are male societies they live in could be and the methods they
or female. The subject matter of sociology consists of use are also very different from each other. To study
the actions and beliefs of people in social groups, the sociology you need to have a good understanding
relationships between social groups and the ways in of these differences as well as understanding the
which people’s actions can change society, as well as content of each main theory discussed here. This
the ways that social change in the whole society affects book will try to help by pointing out the important
different social groups. features of each.
KEY TERMS
Structuralism: an approach
How do different sociologists interpret society?
focusing on the large-scale social Structuralist and interpretivist approaches:
structures in which people play
defined roles.
the individual, identity and society
7
Macro/micro approaches: Structuralism
macro approaches focus on the
large scale of whole societies, There are two main approaches to sociology: structuralist and interpretivist.
micro approaches on small-scale Structuralist approaches focus on large-scale (macro) social structures and
social interaction. institutions rather than individuals. Structuralists see societies as a set of structures
in which individuals play definite roles. In this approach it is the social roles and
the actions that people carry out in fulfilling these roles that are important, not the
individuals themselves. Sociologists use these theories to discover social structures
that may be hidden from individuals.
A well-known example of a structuralist approach is the work of Emile
Durkheim on suicide published over 100 years ago. He chose to study suicide
because we usually think of it as an individual act motivated by private troubles but
he wanted to show it is linked to the way societies are organised. Durkheim noticed
that suicide rates – the proportion of the population who committed suicide
each year – in a country did not change much. However, there were significant
differences in suicide rates between countries. Durkheim tried to show that social
forces (or the social causes of actions) lay behind individual actions like suicide.
These social forces led to the different suicide rates. A social force, for example, is
the connection between individuals and support networks such as families and
religious organisations. Strong connections lead to lower suicide rates and weak
connections lead to higher rates. Suicide rates thus show us something about the
nature of a society, not about individuals.
Durkheim was working within the framework of the positivist method
that is used in natural science. Like other structuralists, he looked for
Emile Durkheim
Cambridge IGCSE Sociology
correlations and causation between variables. According to the structuralist

KEY TERMS
approach, individuals have little freedom of thought or action (though they may
Correlation: when two variables think that they do). Society controls our lives. Individuals are puppets, and hidden
are related to each other but social forces are pulling the strings that make individuals behave as they do.
causation cannot be proved;
for example, ill-health is related Interpretivism
to poverty. This is not a causal In contrast, interpretivists start with the individual rather than society and focus
relationship because some sick
on the micro rather than the macro scale. Interpretivists believe individuals are
people are not poor and some
poor people are not sick. in control, pulling the strings of society. People make the societies they live in and
change them through their actions. We are born into particular societies and learn
Causation: where a strict link
can be proved between variables the norms and values of the society we grow up in but we do not have to accept
in a time sequence; such as, them, and the values themselves also change continuously over time as people’s
heating water to 100°C causes it ideas change. Interpretivists are interested in how individuals make sense of society
to boil. Causation is hard to find in and of social actions – the things that they do.
sociology.
Interpretivists start their study of society from the level of the individual,
Interpretivism: approaches unlike structuralists. They are interested in how people see themselves and what
that start at the level of the
makes up their identity (who we think we are). In all societies we are given labels,
individual, focusing on small-scale
phenomena and usually favouring and these can be part of our identities. We choose among the identities that are
qualitative methods. socially available to us and reject others, and these labels carry different meanings
Identity: how a person sees for us. For instance, someone may see themselves primarily through their religious
themselves, and how others see identity or their age identity. Similarly, we may see other people in terms of labels
them, for example as a girl and a that they might accept or reject. Socially available labels include:
student.
■ sex and gender identities
8 ■ ethnic identity – membership of an ethnic group
■ age
■ social class
■ nationality
■ occupation
■ roles within a family, such as parent
■ membership of a religious or political organisation.
We have some choice about aspects of our identities and may also decide for
ourselves how important different aspects of our identities are to us. In the case
of national identity, some people may be very patriotic but others may not see
their nationality as important, or may identify more strongly with a religious or
ethnic identity. So interpretivists believe our identities are not imposed by society,
as structuralists would argue, but come from the interaction between our own
thoughts and actions and those of others. Our identities bind us to certain social
groups and to certain ways of behaving.
Interpretivists use research methods that try to discover what meanings people
give to their actions and how they interpret the world around them. Interpretivist
researchers try to understand how people see the world. For example, in
researching crime an interpretivist would want to know what the people involved
had to say about what they did, not just what happened.
TEST YOURSELF
1 Summarise the main differences between structuralism and interpretivism.
2 The picture on page 9 shows puppets and strings. Think of another way of
showing the different approaches in a visual way, using as few words as
possible.
Society Society
STRUCTURALISM INTERPRETIVISM
Approaches to studying society and individuals
How different theories on conflict and consensus create

alternative sociological perspectives
KEY TERMS
Sociologists have different views on the nature of society and social life. These
Perspectives: ways of viewing are referred to as perspectives. In this section we discuss the different underlying
social life from different points of ideas about confl ict and consensus in functionalist, Marxist and feminist
view. perspectives.
Consensus: basic agreement on
a set of shared values. Consensus and conflict
Conflict: disagreement between One major difference between perspectives in sociology is the extent to which they
groups with different interests. emphasise either social consensus or social conflict.
There is social consensus when people generally share values and there are no
major disagreements between the main groups. This is possible only if either all the
groups in a society have similar levels of wealth, status and power or if it is widely
accepted that it is right for each group to have the level of wealth, status and power
that it does. A society built on consensus will be stable and harmonious. The values
that are shared may be based on a religion or a belief system, or perhaps on political
ideas, and there are likely to be shared practices and rituals that bring everyone
together and make them feel a sense of belonging so they identify strongly with
their society and its values.
Social conflict occurs when major disagreements arise about important issues
such as wealth, status and power. In a society based on conflict there will be
significant and important differences between groups, which may become open
conflicts, and there will be no overall set of shared values held by all groups.
A society based on conflict will be unstable, though there may be long periods
where one group in power is able to suppress others that challenge it.
Because interpretivist approaches are more interested in individuals and small-
scale (micro) social interaction than in the overall nature of a society, the debate
about conflict and consensus does not apply to them. However, this means that they
are sometimes criticised for not taking into account the wider issues such as power,
which may influence the situations they study.
Functionalism
The main sociological perspective based on a consensus view of society is
functionalism. Functionalists emphasise social functions and ask, ‘What function
does this aspect of society carry out that keeps this society stable and allows it to
continue?’ They might say, for example:
■ The function of schools is to give young people the skills they need for work, which
helps the economy of a society.
■ The function of families is to socialise children into the norms and values of the
10 society so that the next generation will have these values.
■ The function of prisons is to remove temporarily from society people who do not
keep the laws and who therefore upset the smooth running of society.
Functionalists perceive human society as being like the human body. This is called
the organic or biological analogy because it compares society to a living organism.
The different parts of the human body – the brain, heart, liver, skin and so on – all
have jobs to do to keep you healthy. In the same way, each part of society is seen
as having functions that all help the society as a whole to be healthy and survive.
If something goes wrong in one part of your body it may affect other parts and it
may be a warning sign that you need to do something. So, in a human society, an
increase in crime might become a problem that needs to be tackled, perhaps by
getting schools to be better at teaching people to obey the law.
Functionalism was the most important perspective in sociology for many years,
especially in the early and mid-20th century. It was the way that most sociologists
thought societies worked. It is often referred to as structural functionalism. The
main sociologist associated with it is the American Talcott Parsons (1902–1979).
Marxism
Marxism is a perspective that argues that modern industrial societies are based
on a fundamental conflict between different social classes. Marxists argue that
there is a permanent and continuous conflict of interest between social classes that
takes the form of strikes and other protests by the working class, and can lead to
revolution. Marxists refer to the two main classes as the bourgeoisie (the owners
of wealth and property) and the proletariat (the working class). The bourgeoisie
has power and wealth and exploits and oppresses the proletariat, who are ‘wage
slaves’. This means that the proletariat have no choice but to work if they are to
survive but that they are never paid the full value of their work – this is taken by
the ruling class as profits.
Where functionalists look at parts of society and see how they keep society stable
and harmonious, Marxists look at the same phenomena and see how they allow the
bourgeoisie to keep their wealth and power. Marxists might say, for example:
■ Schools ensure that some people fail and that they think this is their own fault so
that they then accept a low position in society.
■ The mass media distract people’s attention from what is really going on and make
people interested only in celebrities, sport and trivial issues.
So Marxists agree with functionalists that parts of society have functions although
they disagree completely about their interpretation.
Marxism is much more than a sociological perspective; it is also important
in politics, history and economics. Marxism inspired the political movements of
socialism and communism, which involve attempts to create new societies based on
equality rather than class divisions. Marxists are in favour of radical social changes
that will end exploitation and make everyone equal. Critics of Marxism argue that
this is probably impossible and that the attempts to create equal societies have led
to even greater oppression.
Marxism is named after Karl Marx (1818–1883). Marxist ideas have developed
considerably since his time, as later Marxists have tried to adapt his ideas to explain
what has happened since, particularly why the revolutions in modern industrial
societies that Marx expected did not happen. Modern Marxist writers are often
Karl Marx called neo-Marxists. 11
Feminism
A second sociological perspective that emphasises conflict is feminism. Like
Marxists, feminists see a fundamental division between two groups in society,
but for feminists this division is between the two sexes rather than two classes.
Feminists argue that it is men who control society and who have wealth and power
in all aspects of society – in relationships, families, the world of work, education,
and so on. The control of society by men is called patriarchy. Feminist sociologists
research on gender differences; for example, they are interested in why, although
girls tend to do better in school than boys, it is still boys who, when they are men,
will be in higher paid jobs.
Like Marxism, feminism is much more than a sociological perspective; it is
important in other subjects and it is a broad social and political movement with a
long history. Feminists have campaigned for equality between men and women for
many years. They have achieved advances in many societies but argue that there
is not yet full equality. Feminism has sometimes been seen as being anti-men but
TOP TIP many feminists argue that equality will bring benefits for men as well.
Throughout this book you Feminism covers such a very wide range of ideas that there are several strands
will study the ways that these within feminism. They include:
different approaches have been
applied to different topics in ■ liberal feminists, who believe that major advances have been made and that
sociology (families, education, equality can be reached through further changes such as new laws; their view does
crime and so on). For questions
not emphasise conflict
on theory and methods, you can
bring in relevant examples from ■ radical feminists, who believe that despite these advances, societies remain
any of the topic areas. fundamentally patriarchal and men still have power; though this may now be less
obvious, radical changes are still needed
■ Marxist (or socialist) feminists, who bring together the insights of both Marxism and
feminism, focusing on how class and gender work together to produce fundamental
divisions in society.
TEST YOURSELF
1 Marxism and feminism are both broad political movements as well as sociological
perspectives. Why might those who adopt these perspectives want to change
society as well as study it?
2 How might Marxists and functionalists interpret differently the functions of (a) the
government and (b) the police force?
ACTIVITY: discussion
Which of the consensus and conflict approaches discussed here do you think is the
most relevant today? Be prepared to justify your choice.
How do sociologists study society?

The distinction between positivist and interpretivist approaches
to research methods
In all subjects the methods used to carry out research are important. Sociologists
use a range of different methods. They choose methods that are appropriate for
what is being studied and for what they want to find out. If the methods are
12
appropriate and have been implemented well other people are more likely to
accept that the research findings add to our knowledge. If the method has not
been chosen and carried out well, the research will be criticised by others and
the findings may be rejected.
Positivism
Positivism is an approach that concentrates on producing quantitative data,
usually in the form of statistics. It is based on the belief that, as far as possible,
KEY TERMS sociology should use the same research methods as the natural sciences such as
physics, chemistry and biology.
Positivism: an approach to
sociology based on studying
This approach in sociology goes back to 19th and early 20th century sociologists
society in a scientific manner. such as Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim. They witnessed the growing ability
Quantitative data: of the natural sciences to understand and predict the workings of the natural world.
information and facts that take a They believed that there were laws of social behaviour that could be discovered
numerical form. by using similar methods and so they advocated the use of scientific methods in
Bias: prejudice that distorts the sociology.
truth when research is influenced Scientists try to be objective. They try to be neutral and to discover the truth
by the values of the researcher rather than being guided by their values and by what they would like to be true. If a
or by decisions taken about the
researcher can be objective the results will be unbiased and should be an accurate
research, such as the sampling
method used. account of what really happened. Critics have pointed out that this is probably
Objectivity: absence of bias;
impossible; for example, scientists’ research is influenced by their values from the
the researchers do not allow their very beginning, when they choose to research something they think is important.
values or feelings to influence the Positivists reply that even scientists cannot attain objectivity yet sociologists should
research. always aim to be objective.
Positivists favour experiments, as these are typical methods used in the natural
sciences. However, it is often difficult to carry out experiments in sociology.
Positivists tend to use instead social surveys and questionnaires, which also
produce quantitative data.
Surveys using questionnaires
Interpretivism
Interpretivists take a different view from positivists. They argue that there is a
difference between the subject matter of sociology and natural science. Humans
are active, conscious beings; they make choices. What makes a social event social is
that those involved in it give it broadly the same meaning.
It follows that if we want to understand people’s actions we have first to understand
these actions in the way that the participants do. Social reality does not exist separately
from human actions. It is embedded in social actions. Sociologists need to understand
how people make sense of the social reality around them before they can understand 13
their actions. Interpretivists say that if the subject of sociology is so different from
that of the natural sciences, sociologists need to use different methods. Positivist
methods are not appropriate. Positivists may be able to describe the social world, but
interpretivists think it is more important to understand why people behave as they do.
Where positivists prefer experiments and surveys, interpretivists prefer to use
unstructured interviews and participant observation, which are more helpful in
uncovering why people behave as they do. For example, a positivist may be able to
say how many people commit what types of crime, while an interpretivist will want
to find out why they commit crimes.
An interview
TEST YOURSELF
1 What do you think positivists mean by the ‘laws of social behaviour’?
2 Why do interpretivists prefer different research methods to those preferred by
positivists?
The main steps in devising and implementing a research strategy

In this section we discuss research aims and selection of topic; hypothesis setting
and revision; pilot studies; and sampling.
Research aims and selection of topic

Sociological research starts with the identification of a problem. The best research
TOP TIP often involves problems that are also puzzles: not just a lack of information, but
Sociologists study a lack of understanding. A research problem could be, for example, why girls do
sociological problems. These are better than boys at school. Research projects do not stand alone; they are always
not the same as social problems, related to or even arise directly from earlier research.
which are the difficult issues In deciding what to research, sociologists may be influenced by factors such as:
that a society faces, such as
how to tackle crime or poverty. ■ their personal interests, experiences and observations
Sociologists may study these but
■ what is already known about the topic and what is not yet known about it
the main aim is to understand
them, not to provide answers ■ social changes and developments – there may be something new that we know
about what to do about them. little about
■ whether funding is available, which may depend on how important funders think
14 the topic is
■ how practical it will be to do the research; for example, will it possible to identify
and contact respondents?
■ what ethical issues are raised by this topic.
Doing research can be costly, so obtaining funding for the research is important. The
costs include not only travel and materials such as paper but the time spent on the
research. Most research is carried out by sociologists employed by universities and
other educational or research bodies, though the money may come from government,
businesses and companies or from charitable organisations. To be able to start the
research the sociologist may have to convince the funding bodies that it is a worthwhile
project by writing them a proposal, including estimates of what the study will cost.
KEY TERM Hypothesis setting and revision

Having identified the problem or puzzle, the next stage is to review the available
Hypothesis: a theory or
evidence. This involves finding out what is already known. Who else has identified
explanation at the start of
research that the research is the same problem and how have they gone about investigating it? The evidence will
designed to test. be in books and academic journals. This stage is often called the literature review.
Drawing on the ideas of others helps the sociologist clarify the issues and make
decisions about how to proceed.
The next stage is to turn the ideas into a clear hypothesis that can be
investigated. A hypothesis is a statement that the research will attempt to find
evidence to support or disprove; it is a sort of educated guess, often about how
two or more variables are connected. The hypothesis might suggest a cause and
effect relationship but sometimes research is only able to establish a correlation.
While a research investigation using a positivist approach will probably have a
hypothesis, a more interpretivist approach may have a looser and broader aim, such
as to find out what a group of people thinks about something.
Now the sociologist has to decide the research method and plan its
implementation. A range of different methods is available and the sociologist has
to choose among them, influenced by practical, ethical and theoretical issues.
The method chosen must be able to produce material that will provide evidence
supporting or disproving the hypothesis or achieving the aim.
Pilot studies
Whatever method is chosen, it is important whenever possible to test it with a small
number of respondents or in a limited way to see if there are any problems in the
design or if the research plan can be improved. This is a pilot study. For example,
KEY TERMS
a pilot questionnaire might be given to a small number of people to see if they can
understand all the questions, and whether the answers available cover the responses
Pilot study: a small-scale test they want to give. Putting problems right at an early stage saves money, time and
of a piece of a research project effort later.
before the main research.
Survey population: all those to Sampling
whom the findings of the study The researcher has to choose an appropriate sample for the research by selecting some
will apply and from which a of all possible respondents. It is usually expensive and impractical to include all of
sample is chosen.
them in the research so a number of them are chosen. Samples make research more
Sampling frame: a list of
manageable by making it possible to do research with smaller numbers of participants.
members of the population from
which the sample is chosen. The people that the research is about are called the survey population. A list of
everyone in the population is called a sampling frame. Commonly used sampling
frames include the following. 15
■ The electoral roll (also called the electoral register): this is the list of everyone
registered to vote in elections, with their address. It therefore includes most
adults, though it will not include anyone who is not registered or not allowed to
vote.
■ Telephone directories: these are easily available in countries where many people
have land-line telephones and they give addresses as well as telephone numbers.
However, they usually list only one person in each household. They do not tell you
how many people live at an address and they do not include people who do not
have telephones or who have chosen not to be in the directory.
■ School registers: for research in a school there will be lists of children, with other
information such as their gender, but these lists will be available only to genuine
researchers and permission from those in authority, such as the head teacher, is
needed.
All these sampling frames have problems. Getting a good, useful sampling frame
can be difficult. But sometimes samples are not necessary. If you are in a small or
medium-sized school you might find it possible to ask questions of everyone in
your year group. Many countries have a census, which is a social survey carried
out by the government to get information about every single person in the country.
Censuses collect information from the whole population, not a sample.
Samples are usually chosen so that they are representative, that is, so that
the researcher can claim that the results apply to the whole population, not just
the sample. To be representative, the sample has to be a cross-section of the
population. For example, if there are equal numbers of males and females in the
KEY TERMS population, there should be equal numbers of males and females in the sample. The
sample then has generalisability.
Generalisability: when the
findings about a sample can Types of sample
be said to apply to a larger Samples can be chosen in several different ways. Some of the most common are:
group of people sharing their
characteristics. 1 Random samples. This is when everyone in the sampling frame has an equal
Random sampling: when each chance of being chosen. This can be done by drawing names from a hat. It is the
person has an equal chance of method used in making draws for sports competitions and for lotteries (you would
being selected. be annoyed if you chose a number and found later that it was less likely to be
chosen than others). Random samples are not always representative; for example,
by chance, a sampling frame containing equal numbers of boys and girls might
produce a sample dominated by one sex.
16
Random samples
KEY TERM 2 Stratified samples. To overcome the problem that random samples are not always
representative, the sampling frame can be divided (for example, into boys and
Stratified sample: when the girls) and a random sample is then taken from each division of the sampling
sampling frame is divided, for frame. Stratifying samples can be done by sex, age, ethnic group or any other
example, by gender or age.
characteristic. In draws for sports competitions, seeding is a way of stratifying the
sampling frame and keeping the top players or clubs apart in the early stages of the
competition. If the sampling frame is first stratified, then a random sample taken,
this is a stratified random sample.
3 Systematic samples. This is when there is a regular pattern to the choice – for
example, every tenth name in the sampling frame is chosen. It is not random
because other names in the frame have no chance of being chosen.
4 Cluster samples. These are used when the population is spread out over a large
area, such as a whole country. Certain areas are chosen for the sampling frame (for
example, a city area and a rural area) and random samples taken in those areas to
avoid the expense and time involved in travelling around the whole country.
5 Opportunity samples. These are simply the people who are available at the time to
take part in the research. They are used, for example, when researchers stop people
on the street and ask them questions. This is not random, because people who are
not there at the time have no chance of being chosen, and because the researcher
will make decisions about who to ask (for example, by not asking people who look
too busy or as if they would not want to take part). Opportunity samples are very
often used by students who do not have the time to get a random sample.
KEY TERMS 6 Quota samples. This is when a researcher is sent out with instructions to find
people with certain characteristics, for example, 10 teenagers taking IGCSE
Quota sampling: deciding in Sociology. This is often used in market research. If you are stopped in the street by
advance how many people with someone asking questions they may well be finding out whether you are a suitable
what characteristics to involve in
person for their survey.
the research and then identifying
7 Snowball samples. This has become a well-known way of contacting people when
them.
normal sampling will not work. It involves finding one respondent and getting
Snowball sampling: when one
respondent puts the researcher in them to put you in touch with one or more others. It has been used, for example,
contact with others. in interviewing gangsters – for whom there is no sampling frame.
Sampling methods: the
Notice that the last three sampling methods described above do not involve a
different ways in which samples
can be created.
sampling frame.
After a pilot study and the choice of a sample, the research is carried out.
The data are collected and the information recorded. Having collected the
data, the sociologist has to analyse them and work out what they mean for the
research problem. This is often far from straightforward; most research raises
TOP TIP
further questions because it is not clear what the findings mean, and they can be
The Cambridge syllabus only
interpreted in different ways.
refers to four sampling methods:
random, snowballing, quota and The research findings then have to be reported so that they can be read and used
stratified. Three other methods by others researching the same or related areas. Findings are usually published in
are explained here to give you academic journals or in books. This is the end of the individual research, but all
an idea of the range of sampling research continues in the sense that it is part of the continuing process taking place 17
methods sociologists use. within the worldwide sociological community.
TEST YOURSELF
1 Why is it important for sociologists to choose their sampling method and sample
carefully?
2 Why are pilot studies important?
Difficulties in implementing a research strategy

The stages involved in planning and preparing for research have been outlined
above. Each stage involves problems. Some of these are listed in Table 1.1.
Research stage Potential problem

Identifying a topic for research There may be practical problems that can be foreseen, such as finding respondents. It
may be difficult to get funding.
Reviewing existing evidence It may be difficult to find existing evidence; the researcher may have to check many
possible sources.
Developing a hypothesis or aim At this stage difficult choices must be made about the overall approach;
for example, what kinds of data are required.
Choosing a method The method chosen may not produce data that can confirm or disprove the hypothesis
or does not fulfil the aim of the project.
Implementing the research method The problems with each method are explained in the sections on individual methods.
The problems can be classified as practical, ethical or theoretical.
Table 1.1: Problems encountered in planning a piece of research

KEY TERM Ethical issues affecting the choice and implementation

Ethical issues: issues that have
of a research strategy
a moral dimension, such as when Sociological research involves people, and so it raises issues about the welfare of
harm or distress may be caused to both the researchers and respondents involved. Sometimes some research or some
the participants. activities that might be part of the research should be avoided. Ethical issues
involve decisions about what is right and wrong, and therefore involve values.
Because it is possible to make wrong decisions and to carry out research that might
harm people or damage the reputation of the university or organisation they work
for, or of sociology as a discipline, the main professional associations in sociology
have codes of conduct that guide researchers through these difficult areas.
ACTIVITY: research
The professional association for sociology in the UK is the British Sociological
Association (BSA). You can find their code of conduct online at
http://www.britsoc.co.uk/media/27107/StatementofEthicalPractice.pdf.
You will notice that these are guidelines rather than rules. This is partly because
The British Sociological Association there are disagreements over what is and is not ethically acceptable, but also
because there are some situations where breaking the guidelines might be justified.
The guidelines exist to help researchers make the right decisions, not to tell them
what to do in a particular situation.
18 Some of the main ethical guidelines that almost all researchers keep to are:
1 The participants must not be harmed.

2 The participants’ informed consent should be obtained.
3 The researcher should not invade the participants’ privacy.
4 Participants should not be deceived.
The researcher must also ensure that as far as possible and whenever appropriate
the research is:
■ anonymous – the participant’s name (or anything else which might identify an
individual) does not appear on the survey form; this is not always done if it might be
necessary to contact someone again for further information
■ confidential – it is not possible to trace an individual’s answers from the published
findings.
These main guidelines are considered one by one.
1 Harm. It is wrong to harm participants in a study but it is not easy to decide what
harm means or to know in advance that harm will be caused. Harm does not have
to be physical. It might include making participants feel angry or upset. This could
happen if they are asked about something that disturbs them. Participants can be
protected by confidentiality.
2 Informed consent. The respondent must agree to take part, having fully
understood what is involved. Informed consent includes explaining the purpose
of the research, when and where the fi ndings will be available and what they
might be used for. People have the right to refuse to take part in research or
to refuse to answer particular questions, and the researcher should not try to
persuade them if they do not want to. It is sometimes not necessary or possible
to get informed consent from everyone involved in research; for example, in

observing a large number of people. Some kinds of research bring the researcher
into contact with all sorts of people. However, the rule of obtaining informed
TOP TIP consent rules out covert observation (see next section). There is also a problem
Students often think anonymity about how much information has to be given to the participant in order for the
and confidentiality are the consent to be informed. Explaining everything is time-consuming and probably
same, but they are different.
not necessary. In fact, researchers probably break this guideline in minor ways
When someone completes a
census form, for example, they quite frequently. For example, researchers may well underestimate how long an
are asked to give their name interview is likely to take when telling a participant. There also is sometimes a
so their information is not question of whose consent is needed. For a study of children of school age, should
anonymous, but it is confidential, respondents get informed consent from the children, their parents (and which
as the findings of the census parent) or both?
are published as statistics from 3 Invasion of privacy. After they have obtained participants’ informed consent the
which it is impossible to find out
researcher still needs to respect their privacy. If a participant has agreed to be
what answers any individual
interviewed, they can still refuse to answer particular questions, and this may be
has given.
because the questions seem to invade their privacy, for example by asking them
about their earnings, their religious beliefs or their sexual activity.
4 Deception. A researcher may present their research as something different from
what it is. This can involve lying about what the research is about, but it can also
mean not giving full information in order to try to get the participant to respond
more naturally. For example, a researcher observing a classroom may tell the pupils
that they are helping the teacher rather than that they are researching the children’s
behaviour. This is deception.
TEST YOURSELF 19
1 Write an introduction to a questionnaire in which you ask the respondents for their
informed consent. Start by asking them to complete the questionnaire but tell
them that they do not have to do so, and go on to explain about other aspects of
informed consent and about anonymity and confidentiality.
2 You decide to observe a class in a primary school to see whether the teacher treats
boys and girls differently. What ethical issues would you have to consider, and how
would you ensure you keep to the ethical guidelines?
The main methods used in sociological investigation;

their strengths and limitations
The main methods used in sociological investigation are:
KEY TERMS ■ questionnaires/social surveys

■ interviews
Questionnaires:
■ experiments
a standardised list of questions
used in social surveys. ■ case studies
Social surveys: the systematic ■ longitudinal studies
collection of information from ■ participant observation
a sample, usually involving a
■ non-participant observation
questionnaire or structured
interviews. ■ content analysis
■ triangulation.
In this section we look at the strengths and limitations of each method and assess
their usefulness in sociological research and examine the types of evidence each
produces.
Questionnaires and social surveys

Types of questions in questionnaires and surveys
Most surveys use different types of question. It is important to choose the right
type of question for the information you want to collect and to make it easier to
analyse your data. The main types of question are:
KEY TERMS ■ Closed or pre-coded questions. The researcher provides a set of answers
from which the respondent can choose one (or sometimes more), so the
Open, closed and pre-coded researcher limits the responses that can be given. Each answer is coded by
questions: closed or pre-coded
being given a number or value that is then used for analysing the responses.
questions are those where the
researcher has set out which The advantage of this is that it makes it easy to analyse the results and
responses can be recorded. In produce statistical tables. The disadvantage is that some respondents may
open questions the respondent want to give answers that are not available in the options provided. This
can reply freely in their own words disadvantage can be reduced by introducing an ‘other (please specify)’ option
to give their responses. among the answers.
Respondent: someone
■ Scaled questions (a particular form of closed-ended question). A common
who provides information to
researchers, usually used for
set of possible responses is: agree strongly/agree/neither agree nor disagree/
surveys and interviews rather than disagree/strongly disagree. There is a debate about whether it is better to have
other methods. an odd or even number of possible responses. If you have an odd number of
Qualitative data: information responses – if there are, say, five options – most respondents will probably
and facts (like attitudes or kinds choose the middle one (in the example above, this would be ‘neither agree nor
of actions) that are not able to be disagree’) because this avoids making a decision. If there are even numbers – if
presented in numerical form. you eliminate the middle option – you push your respondents into making a
Self-completion decision. This helps to produce data that seem to prove something, but runs
20
questionnaires:
the risk of making people agree (or disagree) when they really do not have a
questionnaires that are
completed by the respondent on preference.
their own, with the researcher not ■ Open questions. The aim of a survey is always to produce mainly quantitative data.
present. However, in order to probe more deeply into why people believe or do particular
Postal questionnaires: self- things it is possible to use open-ended questions where the respondents can write
completion questionnaires that their own response. This produces some limited qualitative data but it does make
are sent out and returned by post. it more difficult to analyse the data. It is normal in a questionnaire to code answers
Response rate: the proportion to open-ended questions so they can be analysed.
of responses obtained out of a
sample.
Ways of administering surveys
1 Self-completion questionnaire, also known as a self-administered
questionnaire. Respondents answer the questions without any additional
guidance from the researcher, who is not present. The most common type
of self-completion questionnaire is by post, but in a school, for example, you
might distribute questionnaires by asking teachers to give them to their classes.
Postal questionnaires can reach large numbers of people so you can have a
large sample, depending on your sampling method, which should make your
results more representative and allow you to generalise. However, the response
rate for postal questionnaires is often very low and this calls into question the
representativeness of the findings. It might be the case that those who return the
questionnaire are in some way different from those who do not; for example, they
may have a particular interest in what the questionnaire is about. Because the
researcher is not present, sometimes questionnaires are returned on which some
questions have not been answered or the respondent has given inappropriate
answers or clearly did not understand the question.
Ways of improving the response rate:

■ sending a letter explaining the research in some detail, which not only gets
informed consent but makes it more likely that the participant will answer
■ sending a stamped, addressed envelope
■ following up those who do not respond with a further letter reminding them
about the questionnaire
■ making the questionnaire as short and easy to complete as possible, so it is
more likely to get a response
■ giving clear instructions and questions that are likely to be relevant to or of
interest to participants
■ using people’s names in a letter (rather than ‘dear sir or madam’) to make
the participants feel more personally involved; the researcher could also
individually sign each letter
■ offering the participant an incentive of money or the chance of being entered in
a prize draw if the questionnaire is returned.
KEY TERMS 2 Structured interviews (also called standardised interviews). It may at first seem
strange to include interviews here, but this kind of interview is really just an alternative
Structured interview: way of administering a questionnaire. In a structured interview the researcher reads
an interview in which the out the questions, including the answers allowed in closed questions, and records
questions are standardised (the
the respondents’ answers for them. This can be done as a telephone questionnaire
same questions asked in the same
order) and the replies codified to
or face-to-face. If the interviews are face-to-face, the location where they are held
produce quantitative data. (administered) is very important. Ideally, the time and place for the interview should
Telephone questionnaires: have been agreed in advance and the interviewee should be made to feel at ease. For a
21
when the researcher reads the structured interview the questions need to be standardised (that is, the same questions
questions to a respondent over are asked in the same order). Structured interviews normally have a higher response
the telephone and records their rate than postal questionnaires because the researcher can explain the purpose of the
answers. research and reassure the participants about any issues they may have. The researcher
may also be able to give the interviewer prompts. However, structured interviews take
up much more of the researcher’s time than postal questionnaires do and are therefore
more expensive. The researcher may employ assistants to carry out the interviews, in
which case clear and detailed instructions need to be given to them.
TOP TIP Some guidelines for good questionnaire design
The best way to learn about
research methods is to try ■ A questionnaire should be as short as possible, with a clear layout that is easy to follow.
them out. The sections ■ Instructions for completing it should be easily understood and it should be easy to
here on guidelines for good follow and complete.
questionnaires and interviews
■ There should only be as many questions as necessary to obtain all the information
and on the types of question to
ask should be helpful if you try required.
out these methods yourself. ■ You should start with short questions that need simple answers and that are likely
to interest participants.
■ There should be just enough alternative answers to allow participants to express
their views and to provide the information required.
■ Questions should not be leading questions that suggest to the participant that a
particular answer is expected or is right.
■ Questions should avoid words that might not be understood by everyone, including
sociological terms.
■ Questions should only be asked about things that participants are likely to know
about and be able to give meaningful answers to.
■ It is best to leave personal information (such as asking for the participants’ name
and age) to the end.
22
A question from the UK census
Strengths and limitations of self-completion questionnaires

Strengths:
■ They are cheaper than structured interviews because they can be distributed by
post.
■ Large numbers of questionnaires can be posted to participants who may be
geographically distant.
■ The researcher is not present so cannot influence the answers given.
■ They are convenient for participants who can complete the questionnaire when
they choose.
Limitations:
■ The response rate is low compared to structured interviews.

■ Questions may be misunderstood and if a participant does not understand a
question there is no one present to explain it.
■ The researcher cannot be sure who answered the questions.
■ Participants often leave some questions unanswered.
Strengths and limitations of structured interviews

Strengths:
■ If the participant does not understand a question the interviewer can explain it.
■ The interviewer can ask additional questions, probing deeper, or avoid questions
that are not relevant to the participant.
■ There is a higher response rate to structured interviews than to self-completion

questionnaires.
■ The interviewer may be able to set up a good relationship with the participants,
winning their trust and getting valid answers.
Limitations:
■ The interviewers may themselves influence the answers given either through
their own social characteristics (such as their age, sex, ethnic group and so on) or
through interaction with the participant.
■ They take more time and are therefore more expensive than self-completion
questionnaires.
■ Participants may give socially desirable answers; that is, the answers that they
think are the right ones, which give the interviewer the impression of them that
they want.
■ If several interviewers are used they may approach their work in different
ways.
KEY TERMS Social surveys are usually high in reliability; that is, they can be repeated and
similar responses will be obtained. However, they are not always valid – the
Reliability: when the research fi ndings are not necessarily true. Th is was shown by research in the 1980s to fi nd
can be repeated and similar
out how many unsuitable fi lms children had watched. These fi lms were horror
responses will be obtained.
fi lms known as ‘video nasties’ and at the time there was concern in the media
Validity: when the findings
accurately reflect the reality that it
that young children who saw these fi lms were being influenced by them. Surveys
is intended to capture. found that many children did say they had seen some of these fi lms but to check 23
the validity of the research a number of fi lms that did not exist had been included
in the survey. Children claimed to have seen these and so their answers must
have been invalid. The children were claiming to have seen these fi lms as a way of
showing off to their peers, trying to seem more experienced and grown up than
they really were.
CASE STUDY
A survey: the UK census

Like many countries, the UK holds a census to gather statistical information about everyone living there. The UK
census is carried out every 10 years, most recently in 2011. Every household has to answer many pages of questions on
a range of subjects, from the number and ages of people living there and their ethnic group and religion to how people
travel to work. See online at http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/index.html.
You can find the actual questions asked in 2011 by clicking on Downloads then 2011 Census questionnaire
online at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/the-2011-census/2011-census-questionnaire-content/
index.html.
TASK
1 Using the website, put together a page of information about the census that answers these questions
(and any information that you think is important): what is the census? How many households took part? When was the
first census? What sorts of the questions does the census ask? Who has to fill in the census? What is the information
from the census used for? How is the information kept confidential?
2 What strengths and limitations of the survey method does the census show?
KEY TERMS Interviews

The main types of interviews for qualitative research are unstructured interviews,
Unstructured interview:
semi-structured interviews, focus groups and group interviews. They are
an interview without set questions
that usually involves probing into different from the structured interviews discussed above in several ways:
emotions and attitudes, leading
to qualitative data.
■ Interviewers do not have to keep to a schedule of questions.
Semi-structured interview: ■ The interviews are much more flexible and more like a conversation.
an interview with some ■ The interviewer can follow up things that the interviewee says by asking new
standardised questions but questions. In fact, if the interviewee goes off the point this may be seen as a good
allowing the researcher some thing, because it reveals what the interviewee, rather than the interviewer, sees as
flexibility on what is asked in what
important.
order.
Focus group: a group brought
together to be interviewed on
a particular topic (the focus); a
special type of group interview.
Group interview: any interview
involving a group interviewed
together.
24
A typical unstructured interview
In unstructured interviews the interviewer has only a brief set of prompts. The
aim is to get the interviewee to talk freely and the interviewer will try not to
say very much except for encouraging the interviewee or probing a bit deeper
at times.
In semi-structured interviews the interviewer has an interview guide, that is, a
list of questions or fairly specific topics to be covered. The order of questions may
vary and questions not in the guide may be asked, but all the questions in the guide
will be used with a fairly similar wording.
While it is useful to identify different types of interview, in reality many
interviews contain both types of approach.
Unstructured and semi-structured interviews are extreme types of interview
research but most interviews are close to one type or another. Both types are
flexible and clearly different from structured interviews, where there is no
flexibility.
Some guidelines for good interviews
Interviewing is a skill. Good interviewers have to be flexible and good listeners,
knowing when to intervene and when not to. They may be able to strike up a
rapport with the interviewee, which will lead to rich, detailed and valid responses.
They are likely to try to do the following things.
■ Make the interviewee feel comfortable with the research situation, reassuring them
about the purpose of the interview and that their anonymity and confidentiality will
be preserved.
■ Create a certain amount of order, so the questions flow reasonably well (but the
order can be altered in the interview).
■ Make sure the language used is understandable and relevant.
■ Avoid leading questions or questions that make assumptions.
■ Keep a fact sheet record, including the interviewee’s name, age and gender to
contextualise people’s answers.
■ Make sure the interview takes place in a quiet and private setting so that the
interviewee feels at ease and able to talk freely and so that what they say can be
heard (including on a recording).
■ Use a good quality recording machine and microphone. It is always good to
record and transcribe interviews whenever possible (remembering respondents
have the right to refuse to speak into the microphone) because it helps correct
the natural limitations of the interviewer’s memory and it allows them to
examine thoroughly what people say. The data can then be looked at again and
used by others. However, recording and transcribing is time consuming – the
usual estimate is that transcribing takes about five or six times as long as the
interview itself.
25
Some types of questions used in interviews
■ Introductory questions such as, ‘Can you tell me about . . .? Have you
ever . . .?’
■ Follow-up questions to get the interviewee to elaborate, such as, ‘What do you
mean by . . . ? You mentioned . . . ?’
■ Probing questions, such as, ‘Could you say a bit more about . . . ?’
■ Specifying questions asking for detail or elaboration, such as, ‘What did you do
then?’
■ Indirect questions. For example, ‘Why do many people feel that . . . ?’ is probably a
roundabout way of asking ‘Do you feel that . . . ?’
■ Silence, so that interviewees can reflect on and amplify an answer.
■ Interpreting questions such as, ‘Do you mean that . . . ?’
Focus group interviews

Focus group interviews are a particular kind of group interview. While some group
interviews simply consist of a number of respondents who are interviewed together
to save time and money, focus group interviews are about one particular topic. They
were first used in market research but are now being used more often in sociology.
The researcher will have an interview guide with different types of questions. Focus
groups enable researchers to find out not just what individuals say but what they say
as members of a group and how they respond to the views of others. This is closer
to real social life than individual interviews, because we form our opinions through
being aware of the views of others and through discussion with others, rather than
on our own.
A focus group in action
Focus groups bring out a wide variety of views. Group members bring out the
issues they think are important and their views may well be challenged by others
in the group. The researchers need to decide how much they will be involved.
26
Allowing a group to discuss freely is good because they can decide what is
important but this runs the risk of much irrelevant discussion, so the researcher
may intervene to keep discussions on track. The researcher may need to decide
how to deal with silences and with reluctant speakers as well as with those who
speak too much. Recording and transcribing focus group interviews are even more
difficult than with individual interviews. It can be difficult to decide who said what
and people often talk over each other.
Strengths and limitations of qualitative interviews

Strengths:
■ Interviews, conducted well, provide detailed and valid data on the point of view of
respondents, who are able to say what they really think.
■ The flexibility of the interview allows the interviewer to probe more deeply or to
follow new directions.
■ Interviewers can often assess the honesty and validity of the answers as they are
given.
■ They can bring out information for further investigation.
Limitations:
■ Interviews are time consuming, both to carry out and then to transcribe and
analyse.
■ It can be difficult to make generalisations when standardised questions are not
used.
■ They are less reliable than structured interviews because they are difficult to
replicate.
KEY TERM ■ The interviewers need to be highly skilled.

■ The responses may be a affected by interviewer bias; that is, by the intentional or
Interviewer bias: intentional or
unintentional effects of the way that the interviewer asks questions or interprets
unintentional effect of the way that
the interviewer asks questions or answers.
interprets answers. ■ The responses may also be affected by interviewer effect; that is, the answers are
affected by, for example, the interviewer’s sex, age or ethnicity.
CASE STUDY
Interviews: Hard Labour (2004) by Caroline Gatrell

This research, published as Hard Labour in 2004, studied how women in top professional jobs in the UK combined
work with being a mother. Gatrell carried out 20 in-depth unstructured interviews with women and 18 with their
male partners. The women all had at least one baby or preschool child. Gatrell asked questions about becoming a
parent, housework and the problems the women faced at work because they were mothers and whether they felt
there were conflicts between motherhood and work. She found that the women faced far more problems than men
in combining being a parent with paid work and that laws on equality were not very effective and did not prevent
discrimination (for example, a hospital consultant was demoted because she wanted to work part time) and that the
women had to find complex ways of balancing work and motherhood. The women were willing to talk openly because
Gatrell won their trust: this increased the validity of the findings. This was particularly important when asking about
sensitive topics such as whether the women thought they were good parents. The sample was small and the couples
were not representative of the whole population because of their high status and earnings.
TASK
27
1 Why is this type of interview good for researching sensitive topics?
2 Gatrell used individual interviews, partly because the women lived all over the UK. If focus group interviews
had been held with groups of the same women, consider how the research and findings might have been
different.
Experiments
Experiments are in many ways a neglected method in sociology but they are a valid way
of studying social behaviour. They are the closest we can get in sociology to the methods
KEY TERMS
of the natural sciences. They are usually a positivist method, producing quantitative
data, and are often used to find cause and effect relationships or correlations.
Interviewer effect: ways Natural sciences such as physics and chemistry are traditionally associated with
in which an interviewer may experimentation. Scientists, usually working in a laboratory, control the variables
influence participants’ responses,
they are interested in, quantify the data and test their hypotheses, thus isolating
by their characteristics or
appearance or by verbal cues causal links and minimising subjectivity. The experiments involve manipulating
such as facial expressions and one independent variable and creating change in a dependent variable. Provided
tone of voice. that all other factors can be held constant (controlled), changes in the dependent
Subjectivity: lack of objectivity; variable can then be said to be caused by the change to the independent variable.
the researcher’s view influences The aim of the experimenter is to test a hypothesis. The results of the experiment
the approach taken. determine whether the hypothesis is accepted or rejected. Scientists claim that
Laboratory experiments: experiments have a high degree of reliability and experiments are always reported
experiments taking place in a in a way that makes it possible for other scientists to replicate the research and
laboratory, that is, an artificial
check the findings. Scientists also claim experiments have a high degree of
setting created for the research
where external variables are validity – they tell us something true about what is being studied.
excluded as far as possible. There are very few laboratory experiments in sociology. Laboratory
experiments are deeply flawed from a sociologist’s point of view. People live
KEY TERMS in societies, not in laboratories, so studying how they behave in laboratories
when they know they are being observed is not very helpful (people’s behaviour
Hawthorne or Observer
changes when they know they are being observed – this is known as the
Effect: the unintended effects
of the researcher’s presence on
Hawthorne or Observer Effect).
the behaviour or responses of Because of this, sociologists use field experiments (‘the field’ being naturally
participants. occurring settings) more often than laboratory experiments. These experiments are
Field experiments: often used by non-positivists and the results can be qualitative.
experiments that take place in the
natural setting of the real world Field experiments
rather than in a laboratory. ■ These can present ethical problems: is it right to deceive people about the existence
of the experiment or to manipulate their behaviour?
■ They can involve risk: people may become angry about strange and new
situations.
■ The researcher can lose a large degree of control over what happens once the
experiment is under way.
■ They are a very effective way of getting inside group behaviour.
CASE STUDY
Laboratory experiment: Bandura and the Bobo dolls

A number of studies claim to have proved a link between watching violent acts and imitating them. Many of these
were experiments conducted in laboratory conditions so that an imitative effect can be established. In the early 1960s
Bandura and his colleagues carried out the best known of these experiments. They set up an experiment with four
28 groups of preschool children, as follows:
■ Group 1 saw real-life adult men and women attacking a self-righting inflatable doll with mallets.
■ Group 2 saw a film of adult men and women attacking a self-righting inflatable doll with mallets.
■ Group 3 saw a TV film of cartoon characters attacking a self-righting inflatable doll with mallets.
■ Group 4 was the control group. The children saw no violent activity.
Following this experience, each child was deliberately mildly frustrated by being put in a room with lots of exciting
toys but was told, on beginning to play with them, that they were reserved for other children. The child was then put in
a room with only a doll that was like those seen by groups 1, 2 and 3. Each child spent 20 minutes in this room and was
observed by judges seated behind a one-way mirror. The researchers found that the first three groups were all equally
aggressive towards the dolls, and all were more aggressive than the control group. In other words, most of the children
used the mallet to hit the doll, which was taken to prove that the children who had seen aggressive behaviour were
more likely to be aggressive towards the Bobo dolls (the control group was less aggressive).
Here are some of the problems with this research:
■ What is meant by violence or aggression here? Is it violence if no one is hurt? The children hit the dolls but this does
not mean they would hit a real person.
■ Children do not normally watch television in a laboratory with researchers watching – they watch at home with their
parents, who can explain what is happening.
■ If the media do affect people, it is likely that this is a long-term process – the ‘slow drip effect’ rather than being
something that can be detected in their behaviour immediately afterwards.
TASK
1 Add to the list of problems given above. Think particularly of ethical problems.
2 Why would it not be possible to carry out an experiment to see if the children were violent towards real
people?
CASE STUDY
Field experiment: Pygmalion in the Classroom (1968)

by R. Rosenthal and L. Jacobson
In this experiment the researchers went to a primary school in San Francisco. They claimed to have a new intelligence
(IQ) test that could predict which children would become ‘high attainers’ in the near future. The teachers were
told that about 20 per cent of the age group would fall into this category of ‘very able children’ and were invited to
administer the test. The researchers then told the teacher which pupils had been identified by the test as likely to
become high attainers. In fact, the names had been chosen at random.
Over the next 18 months, the researchers went to the school regularly. At the end of the time the named children
had made significant progress compared to others in the class, more than could be explained by chance. The
researchers claimed that the dramatic improvement in performance was due to increased teacher expectations of the
children in question. So teacher expectation was shown to be an important variable in shaping the child’s self-image.
TASK
1 What was the main purpose of the experiment?
2 What was the main finding of the experiment?
3 What ethical problems arose from this experiment?
4 Why do you think this research has never been repeated?
Case studies
KEY TERM Case studies involve detailed research on one or more examples of people or things. 29
Case studies can involve any method or combination of methods, quantitative or
Case study: a detailed in-depth qualitative. Many research projects involve a case study.
study of one group or event.
It is usually not possible to generalise from case studies or to use them to prove or
disprove a hypothesis. There are some exceptions, however, where these are possible.
One very famous case study in sociology was the affluent worker study in 1968
by John Goldthorpe and David Lockwood. They investigated whether car factory
workers in the UK, because they were paid well compared to other factory workers,
were starting to behave more like middle-class people than working-class people.
Although only one factory (the ‘case’ in this case study) was researched, it was the
where workers were paid most. Therefore, if embourgeoisement was not happening
there the researchers could be sure it was not happening at other factories. This is an
example of an extreme case being used to draw wider conclusions.
Strengths:
■ Case studies allow different aspects of the case being studied to be explored using
appropriate methods.
■ Case studies can provide a deep and detailed account of the case.
■ If the case is carefully chosen it may be possible to draw wider conclusions.
■ Case studies can produce findings that can be tested by other research elsewhere.
Limitations:
■ The findings may only apply to the case so generalisations cannot be made.
■ The findings cannot be replicated.
■ The deep involvement of the researchers may lead to them being influenced by
their own feelings.
Longitudinal studies
KEY TERM Longitudinal studies are carried out periodically over a period of time, rather than
as a one-off piece of research. Longitudinal research is often used by government-
Longitudinal survey: a survey funded research organisations to ask basic questions about changing lifestyle,
taking place at intervals over a
health, illnesses, education and employment. Most longitudinal research employs
long period.
surveys. Examples of these in the UK include the:
■ British Social Attitudes survey

■ British Crime Survey
■ British Household Panel Study (BHPS).
Panel studies
In some longitudinal research the same sample is used each time. The group
of people or households being studied is called the panel or the panel
sample. Panel members are interviewed on a regular basis with a period
of months or years between each interview. The key requirement of panel
studies is that as far as possible the respondents are the same people throughout
the study.
CASE STUDY
Longitudinal panel research: the National Child Development

Study (NCDS)
30 This follows the lives of 17 000 children in the UK all born in one week in March 1958. There have been eight follow-
up surveys (or ‘sweeps’) when the respondents were 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42, 46 and 50 years of age. The data collected have
been used to understand the importance of class and education, among other factors, in a person’s life. Using NCDS
data we know that the sons of professional fathers are more likely to get professional jobs than sons of working-class
parents. We also know that working-class children who achieve A-level qualifications are far more likely to move
up the social scale than working-class children who leave school with few GCSEs. Other topics that have since been
studied include medical care, health, home environment, family relationships, economic activity, income, training and
housing and even sleep patterns.
TASK
1 In what ways are the data gathered in longitudinal research more useful than that gathered in a one-off
survey?
2 How might being involved in the NCDS affect members of the sample?
Strengths and limitations of longitudinal research

Strengths:
■ One of the standard criticisms of survey research is that it only gives

us a snapshot view of society. A survey based on questionnaires or interviews
may tell us how a certain number of people think or behave in specific respects.
But longitudinal research is like a film. It can show us how people’s lives change
over time. This is a great advantage of this type of research.
■ It becomes possible to see what factors may have brought about changes in
people’s lives over time.
■ Because the respondents have to be committed to the research there is a good
chance that they will provide valid data.
Limitations:
■ This kind of research requires a considerable commitment of time and research

over a long period.
■ There is an inevitable drop out from the research (also known as sample attrition), as
individuals die or move away or decide they do not want to take part any more. The
BHPS deals with this by following individuals wherever they go and also by including
new household members to top up the original sample (for example, when a child
becomes adult and marries, their partner will be invited to join the survey). This keeps
the total numbers roughly the same but there is some movement of individuals in and
out of the study at each wave. To motivate participants the BHPS keeps in touch with
them by newsletter and written reports. Some panel surveys even send their members
birthday and greetings cards.
■ Being part of research like this may also change the participants. Sociologists
call this the Hawthorne Effect described above. Someone taking part in this kind
of research may well start to think more about aspects of their lives they are
questioned about and may act differently as a result.
CASE STUDY
7 Up
Although it is not, strictly speaking, a piece of sociological research, the British television series 7 Up is a good
example of a panel survey. It began as a one-off documentary made in 1964, in which 20 7 year olds from very different
backgrounds are shown talking to each other, going to the zoo and playing in a park. Every 7 years the same group is
visited and interviewed about the progress of their lives. 7 Up has given us some dramatic life histories and given us an 31
insight into career and family choices and ageing in modern Britain. This type of programme has since been made in
other countries and with new groups of children born later.
TASK
1 How does this case study illustrate the strengths of panel studies?
2 How might a) the Hawthorne Effect and b) sample attrition affect 7 Up?
ACTIVITY: research
The Centre for Longitudinal Studies in London also runs the 1970 British Cohort
Study and the Millennium Cohort Study. Find out more about all three projects
by visiting the website at http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk.
ACTIVITY: research
Find out if an equivalent of 7 Up has been shown on television in your country.
If you can, watch it and think about how much useful information it provides for
sociologists about how people live.
Participant and non-participant observation

Participant observation
Participant observation is used to develop an understanding of the world from
the point of view of the subjects of the research. In this case researchers put themselves
in the same position as those they are studying. The idea is to get inside people’s heads
to see the world as they do and how they make sense of it. It involves joining a group of
people and living as they do. The stages of participant observation can be summed up
in terms of getting in, staying in and getting out of the group concerned.
1 Getting in. Joining a group raises many questions about the researcher’s role.
KEY TERMS Researchers adopt an overt role where they declare their true identity to the group
and tell them that they are being studied. Alternatively, the researcher may adopt
Overt participant a covert role (by concealing their identity) or produce a cover story (partially
observation: when the group declaring their role as a researcher, but concealing elements of it). To participate
being studied is aware that
successfully, particularly if adopting a covert role, the researcher needs to share
research is taking place and of
who the researcher is.
some of the personal characteristics of the group, such as their age, gender or
ethnicity. After deciding what role to play, the next problem is getting access to
Covert participant
observation: covert means the group. The presence of a stranger needs explanation. This may involve gaining
‘hidden’; in such research the friendships with key individuals, known as gatekeepers.
group being studied is unaware of 2 Staying in. The observer has to develop a role that will gain the trust and
the research and is deceived into cooperation of those observed, so that they can continue to participate in and
thinking the researcher is a real observe the group. At first this will involve learning, listening and getting a sense
member of the group. of what is going on. Problems encountered in staying in include the need to take
notes, which may disrupt the natural behaviour of the group, and also deciding
how far to be involved without either losing the trust of the group or the objectivity
of a researcher. To maintain the group’s trust, researchers may be expected to
participate in acts that they do not agree with.
3 Getting out. Getting out of the group involves issues such as leaving it after the
research observation without damaging relationships, becoming detached enough
to write an impartial and accurate account and making sure members of the group
32
cannot be identified.
Covert and overt participant observation

In covert participant observation the group being observed does not know that
research is taking place. They assume that the participant observer is a new member
of their group. This involves deceiving the group by concealing the truth about
what the researcher is doing. The members of the group do not give their informed
consent although the published research is likely to protect their anonymity.
There are advantages to adopting a covert role in participant observation. It is
most likely to be used where criminal or deviant activities are involved. It avoids
the risk of changing the behaviour of the group under study because they do not
know they are being studied. However, if the covert role is used and maintained,
the researcher has little choice but to become a full participant in the group,
because the research may be ruined if the researcher’s real identity and purpose are
discovered. This may involve participating in illegal or unpleasant activities. It is
also difficult to ask questions and take notes without arousing suspicion, and there
are moral and ethical concerns about observing and reporting on people’s activities
in secret without obtaining their consent first. The covert participant observer is
likely to have to work hard at passing as a member of the group and making sure
that the groups cannot discover that research is taking place.
Adopting an overt role means that the group is aware that research is taking place.
The participant observer may well introduce themselves, explain the purpose of the
research and obtain the group’s informed consent. The advantage is that the researcher
may be able to ask questions or interview people, and avoid participating in illegal or
immoral behaviour. It is ethically and morally right for people to be aware they are
being studied. However, adopting an overt role does have problems. For example,
there is always the possibility that the group being studied may behave differently from
normal, perhaps trying to make a particular impression on the participant observer.

This raises questions over the validity of the research. The behaviour being observed
and recorded is not how the group would behave if the participant observer was not there.
Strengths and limitations of participant observation
Strengths:
■ They are usually high in validity, because the normal behaviour of the group is
observed in its natural setting over a period.
■ A deep understanding can be obtained, seeing things from the point of view of
those involved.
Limitations:
■ The presence of the participant observer may affect the behaviour of the group, but
the researcher will not know in what ways it is doing so.
■ Reliability is low because the research is very difficult to repeat or check.
■ It is unlikely that generalisations can be made about other groups.
■ There are problems throughout the research in gaining access to the group, winning
acceptance, recording information, leaving the group and analysing the data.
■ The researcher needs to have the social characteristics (such as age, gender,
ethnicity) that will allow them to join the group and be accepted.
■ Covert research involves the researcher devoting a lot of their time and energy to
maintaining their cover, rather than gaining information.
■ Researchers may lose their objectivity if they come to identify strongly with the 33
group and see things from its point of view.
CASE STUDY
Participant observation: Gang Leader for a Day

by Sudhir Venkatesh
As a young sociology student in Chicago, USA, Venkatesh decided to research the
lives of people living in a poor area in the city. The area had many social problems
including a high rate of crime and drug use and poor quality high-rise housing. The
people in the neighbourhood there were African–Americans living in poverty. People
at his university thought that Venkatesh was brave or foolish even to visit the area,
which they considered dangerous. Almost by chance, Venkatesh was able to win the
support of J.T., the leader of the Black Kings gang, who acted as the gatekeeper, taking
Venkatesh around with him and in effect showing him how the gang and social life
in the area worked – which was very different from what might have been expected
from media and other accounts by outsiders. Venkatesh found that the gang played
an important part in the life of the area, providing support to some of the most needy
people and also punishing people whose actions harmed others in the community.
For several years he spent most of his time in the neighbourhood.
TASK
1 In what ways does this research show some of the problems and advantages of participant observation?
2 This research was largely overt. People knew Venkatesh did not belong in the area, though they did not all know he
was doing research. What issues could the covert researcher encounter in an area like this?
Non-participant observation
KEY TERM Some sociological research is carried out by observation alone (without the
researcher participating), which is known as non-participant observation. The
Non-participant observation: main reason for this is to reduce or eliminate the risk that people will be affected
when the researcher observes a
by the presence of a researcher or a new member of their social group. It may also
group but does not participate in
what it is doing. be used when groups might be unwilling to cooperate in the research, though this
raises ethical issues. It is often used to produce quantitative data, with the observer,
for example, counting the number of times something happens.
Non-participant observation also allows sociologists to observe people in their
normal social situations and avoid the Hawthorne Effect. This can be achieved fully
only when the observation is carried out without the knowledge of the observed, for
example from a distance, by blending into the background, through one-way glass
or using video cameras. If the observer is visibly present, even though they are not
participating, there is still the possibility that their presence will influence what is
happening.
A problem with this method is that it does not allow the researcher to
investigate the meanings people attach to the behaviour that is being observed.
The data produced may well simply reflect the assumptions and interpretations of
the researcher, raising issues over the reliability and validity of the data.
Content analysis
KEY TERM Content analysis is a research method used specifically to study the content
of documents and the mass media, such as books, newspapers and magazines,
Content analysis: a method of television and films and websites. A researcher using content analysis defines a set
34 studying communication and the
of categories and then classifies the material being studied by how frequently it
media, which involves classifying
the content and counting appears in the different categories. This can involve counting the number of times
frequencies. particular words are used or the amount of space or time given to a particular item
or type of story.
For example, the Glasgow Media Group uses content analysis findings as
evidence to support its claims about bias in the media, showing that striking
trade unionists were given less time to explain their case than management
representatives. Content analysis has also been used to show that disabled people
are underrepresented in almost every genre of television programmes.
Strengths and limitations of content analysis
Strengths:
■ It provides information about content of the media in statistical form and this can
be used both to test sociological theories and to change the content of the mass
media. For example, television stations might decide to improve provision for
people with a disability as a result of content analysis findings.
■ It is reliable.
■ It does not involve people as respondents, so avoiding ethical issues.
Limitations:
■ It produces quantitative data, that is, statistics. These can be interesting but will not
tell us why a media text is the way it is or whether or how this affects audiences.
■ It can be difficult to decide what categories to use.
■ It can be difficult to allocate material to different categories.
CASE STUDY
Content analysis: Viewing the World (2000)

The UK government’s Department for International Development commissioned research into the way that developing
countries were reported on British television. The researcher recorded all the main news programmes on the five main
terrestrial television channels for three months and then analysed them, counting the number and length of news
stories that mentioned developing countries and also the tone of the story – what impression it gave of the country
being reported on. They also analysed the content of some non-news programmes that had some coverage or mention
of the developing world. It was found that the developing world was underreported (that is, there were few stories on
these countries) and that the coverage was overwhelmingly negative, focusing on wars, disasters and deaths. Visits to
these countries by famous Americans or Europeans and stories about wildlife were also reported. Nearly half of all the
137 developing countries were never mentioned at all in this period. There were also differences in coverage between
the channels. Channel 4 had more news about countries in the developing world and was more likely to go beyond the
normal negative coverage.
TASK
1 What decisions would these researchers have had to make when recording their data?
2 How do you think they measured the tone of the news stories?
3 What other content in the mass media could be analysed in this way?
Triangulation
KEY TERM Triangulation is when a researcher decides to use a variety of research methods. 35
For example a study may be conducted based on both observation and structured
Triangulation: use of two interviews, or on both closed questionnaires and diaries.
or more methods in the same
research project. Strengths and limitations of triangulation
Strengths:
■ Triangulation can allow the researcher to support quantitative data with qualitative
examples, thereby providing a study with reliability and validity.
■ It can be used to check the validity of the research.
■ It can be used to check the reliability of the research using different sources.
■ It can be used for cross-referencing the researcher’s interpretations to other data
collected to check for accuracy.
■ It can provide balance between methods, where one may be weaker than another
in that particular area of research.
Limitations:
■ Using several methods is time consuming and expensive.

■ The researcher needs to be skilled in several research methods.
■ Positivist and interpretivist approaches are based on very different ideas, so it may
be difficult to combine them in one piece of research.
TEST YOURSELF
1 In what ways are structured interviews more like questionnaires than unstructured
interviews?
2 What are the advantages of longitudinal research over research carried out at one
time?
3 Compare the differences between participant and non-participant observation in
relation to practical, ethical and theoretical issues.
4 Draw a diagram showing the main research methods. Arrange them so that each
method is placed closest to the other methods that it is in some ways similar to,
and further away from those from which it is most different. You can use arrows
and up to six words for each method.
The importance of analysing and evaluating research

KEY TERM This section examines issues of validity, reliability, representativeness and research
bias in sociological research.
Representativeness: the degree When you evaluate a research method you must consider three types of
to which research findings about
issues: practical, ethical and theoretical. Practical issues involve, for example, the
one group can be applied to a
larger group or similar groups. resources, time and money the project needs, the response rates you have and
the difficulties of transcribing long interviews. Ethical issues involve anonymity,
confidentiality, informed consent, potential risks and harm. Theoretical issues
include the overall positivist or interpretivist approach that is taken, but also
validity, reliability, representativeness and bias. Usually researchers want their
research to be both valid and reliable but it is difficult to achieve this because as you
36
increase one you tend to lose the other.
Validity
Validity refers to the extent to which the research findings accurately reflect
reality. The findings of participant observation and unstructured interviews are
usually said to be valid because these methods allow the researcher to develop a
detailed, in-depth understanding of the respondents and the research topic. In
these situations it is unlikely that the respondents could mislead the researcher or
provide false information. However, while these methods produce valid findings,
their reliability is not as strong. These methods are favoured by interpretivists, who
see validity as being more important than reliability.
TOP TIP
Reliability
Many students think that
reliability and validity, because Reliability refers to the extent to which the findings of the research can be
they are both important, are confirmed by repeating the study. Some research can be replicated. For example,
similar or even the same. They are science experiments can be carried out again in exactly the same way and in
very different and it is essential to the same conditions, and if the experiment is reliable the same results should be
understand the differences.
obtained. This is hard to achieve with sociological research, but research repeated
with a similarly representative sample should, with some allowance for individual
differences within a sample, produce broadly similar results. Surveys are more
reliable than participant observation and unstructured interviews but they tend to
be less valid. This is because respondents do not always give truthful information.
Representativeness
Most research involving samples will use a representative sample. This means that
the sample must be in effect a smaller version of the population being studied, with
the same proportions of people of different gender, age and so on, according to
what is relevant to the research. The researcher can then claim that the findings of
the research apply not only to the actual sample but to the whole population being
studied. This is generalisation. However, samples cannot be the same as the whole
population, so there will always be a difference between the results for a sample and
the results for the whole population. This is called sampling error. Sampling error
can be reduced by having a large random or stratified random sample.
Research bias
Bias may come from the researcher’s values, such as their political views. Positivists
argue that researchers should be neutral and objective so that the findings would
be the same regardless of who carries out the research and analyses the findings.
However, interpretivists argue that because sociology is about people it is not
possible to be completely unbiased. Even deciding what to research is likely to be
influenced by the researcher’s values. So researchers should be completely open
about their bias to their readers and let them make their own decisions about the
validity and reliability of the findings. This approach has been adopted by many
feminist researchers.
The ways in which researchers can influence the findings is called the
imposition problem; that is, the problem of the researcher imposing themselves
or their values on the research. This can happen through the social characteristics
of the researcher (gender, age and so on) influencing the answers given or the
behaviour observed, or through the ways in which researchers word questions or
analyse data. The findings of sociological research do not speak for themselves; they
have to be interpreted. To assess the research we need to be aware of any possible
37
bias in the interpretation.
TEST YOURSELF
1 Choose any of the case studies of research methods in this unit and assess how
valid, reliable and representative the findings are likely to have been.
2 In which research methods does it make most difference who the researcher is
(in terms of their gender, age and so on)? Are there any methods where this is not
important?
ACTIVITY: evaluation
Evaluate the relative importance of the different factors sociologists consider
when choosing a research method.
ACTIVITY: discussion
Is it possible for any research in sociology to be completely free of bias? Consider
the case studies in this unit and any other sociological research you know.
What types of data and information do

sociologists use?
The difference between primary and secondary data
Primary and secondary data have different uses and their strengths and limitations
also differ.
Primary data and secondary data

KEY TERMS Primary data are collected by the researcher. Secondary data are data that already
exist, having previously been gathered by an earlier researcher (at which time they
Primary data: information were primary data). In most research projects, the researcher first studies all the
collected by the sociologist at first
published research on the topic under investigation. By doing this they start by
hand.
using secondary data. They then carry out research that produces new primary data,
Secondary data: information
collected earlier by others and
adding to knowledge on the topic and supporting or questioning the secondary data.
used later on by a sociologist. Sociologists use four main types of secondary data:
■ official statistics produced by government or official organisations

■ other research by other sociologists, by journalists and by the government
■ the media (television, radio, internet, newspapers and magazines)
■ other sources, mainly of qualitative data, such as diaries, letters and photographs.
Qualitative and quantitative data

This section discusses the strengths and limitations of different kinds of data.
Qualitative data include historical and personal documents, diaries and media
content. Qualitative data include numerical data such as official statistics and data
in tabular and graphic form, including diagrams, charts and graphs.
Both primary and secondary data can be either quantitative or qualitative.
Quantitative data are produced as numbers that can be used for statistics;
qualitative data are usually in the form of words describing phenomena. Positivists
tend to prefer quantitative data while interpretivists prefer qualitative data.
38 Quantitative secondary data: official statistics
KEY TERM Official statistics are the main source of secondary quantitative data for
sociologists and are widely used. They consist of numerical data produced by
Official and non-official national and local governments and by official bodies. It is useful to make a
statistics: official statistics are
distinction between hard and soft statistics. Hard statistics are those that, apart
produced by government and
official agencies, non-official from any errors or incompleteness in compiling, should be completely accurate. For
statistics are produced by other example, records are kept in most countries of all births, marriages and deaths. The
organisations, such as charities number of people found guilty of a particular crime is also a hard statistic, as all
and think tanks. that is involved is counting all the cases found guilty in all the courts.
Soft statistics, on the other hand, depend on people making decisions about
what to record and how, so that these decisions may lead to different statistics.
These include crime and unemployment statistics because decisions are made about
what to include and how to compile the statistics.
Strengths and limitations of official statistics
Strengths:
■ They are readily available, often free of charge and on the internet, and therefore
cheap and easy to use. Governments have spent more time and resources
collecting these statistics than a sociologist would be able to.
■ They are usually produced by research that is well planned and organised, using
large samples. They are likely to be valid, reliable and representative.
KEY TERM ■ They are often part of longitudinal research so they show changes over time,
Trend: A change over time in a for example, in crime, unemployment and divorce rates. This makes it possible
particular direction. to identify trends; that is, the general direction in which something develops or
changes over time.
■ They allow comparisons to be made, such as between men and women or between
different areas of a country.
■ They are widely used to help governments and other organisations plan ahead. They
provide information that is useful to policymakers as well as sociologists.
Limitations:
■ Interpretivists argue that statistics are socially constructed, rather than being objective
facts, and that therefore we should be very cautious about using them, especially
about taking them at face value. For example, statistics showing an increase in
motoring offences such as speeding may not really mean there has been an increase
in the offence. They may mean that the police have been cracking down on motorists
and so more offences are being recorded.
■ Statistics are often not as complete or accurate as they may appear to be or may
claim to be. For example, it is thought that the 2011 UK census, conducted with a
huge budget and when it was an offence not to complete a census form, missed out
about a million people.
■ Official statistics have been produced by others and are unlikely to contain exactly
what a sociologist would like to know. For example, sociologists might want
to know how many marriages break down but official statistics will only count
divorces and not separations.
■ Official statistics are funded by a government, which means that politics can affect
the statistics. Statistics may be biased in favour of the government, massaged (or
altered, subtly or not) to show things in the best light. When statistics would be
embarrassing for the government, they may not be published or they may never be
collected in the first place.
■ Comparisons over time can be made only if the same phenomenon has been 39
measured in the same way at every stage. For example, a rising crime rate could
be explained by a government passing new laws making more activities illegal.
KEY TERM Official statistics are therefore very useful for comparative studies, which involve
comparing different areas, groups or periods of time, looking for similarities and
Comparative study: in research, differences.
looking at two or more different
groups or events in terms of their
■ Marxists argue that statistics reflect the interests of the ruling class; they help to
similarities and differences. maintain and justify the way things are. For example, the way laws are made and
the statistics put together has the effect of drawing attention away from crime
committed by the ruling class.
Non-official statistics
ACTIVITY: research
As well as official statistics, other widely available statistics are of use to sociologists.
Visit the website of the Joseph These include research commissioned by organisations such as religious groups and
Rowntree Foundation. Make charities and the work of organisations such as policy institutes (often called ‘think
a list of the kinds of research tanks’ in the media) that carry out research. In the UK, for example, the Sutton Trust
project the foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation carry out research on social issues.
carries out. Choose one Diagrams, charts, graphs and tables
project to investigate in detail
Statistics and quantitative data can be presented in a number of formats.
and make a summary of the
Researchers have to decide the most appropriate format for presenting data and
methods and findings.
for making their findings accessible to their readers. Sociological researchers use
various types of diagrams, charts, graphs and tables. Students of sociology need to
be able to interpret these tables accurately and extract information, and if you carry
out your own research you may also need to be able to construct diagrams, charts,
graphs and tables. The activity on the following page gives examples of some of the
most common ways of presenting statistical data. Answer the questions to see if you
can interpret the data.
ACTIVITY: data interpretation

Graphs
80 UK
Mauritius
70
Pakistan
Life expectancy
60
50
Sierra Leone
40
Life expectancy at birth,
total (years) from 2003 to 0
03
04
05
06
08
09
10
11
2011 for four selected
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
countries Year 2003–2011
1 Which country has the highest life expectancy throughout the period?
2 In which country did life expectancy increase most over the period 2003 to
2010?
40
Tables
Country Literacy rate

2000/2001 2010
Mauritius 84 89
Sri Lanka 91 91
Bangladesh 47 57
Singapore 93 96
Italy 98 99
The Gambia 37 50
China 91 94
Saudi Arabia 79 87
World Bank literacy rate; adult total (% of people ages 15 and

above), 2000/2001 and 2010
Note: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). The total is the percentage of the
population age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a
short, simple statement. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’,
the ability to make simple arithmetic calculation.
1 Which countries in the table had the highest and lowest literacy rates in each
year?
2 Which country made the greatest improvement between 2000/1 and 2010?
Bar charts
25
20
Population in millions 15
10
0
Mexico City
New York
Lagos
Mumbai
Kolkata
Metro Manila
Karachi
São Paulo
Jakarta
Buenos Aires
Delhi
Dhaka
Shanghai
Osaka
Tokyo
Los Angeles
2000 2015
Growth of megacities
1 What was the largest city in 2000?

2 Which other city will also have a population of over 25 million by 2015? 41
3 Identify the four cities that will have grown the least between 2000 and 2015.
Pie charts
Developed Near East and

Total = 925 million
countries, 19 North Africa, 37
Latin America and

the Caribbean, 53
Sub-Saharan
Asia and the Africa, 239
Pacific, 578
Undernourished people in the world by region, 2010
1 Which regions of the world have (a) the highest number of undernourished
people and (b) the lowest number?
2 What would you need to know to calculate which regions of the world had
the highest rates of undernourishment (that is, per number of people in the
population)?
Types of qualitative data and their strengths and limitations Qualitative

secondary data include a wide variety of sources. The main ones are historical
and personal documents, such as letters and diaries, and media sources
such as newspapers and television programmes. E-mails, tweets and other
e-communication may soon also become useful sources as more people use them.
Historical and personal documents including diaries
KEY TERM Among the historical documents used sometimes by sociologists are letters and
diaries. These are personal accounts, so the researcher will need to bear in mind
Historical documents: a that they may well not be representative. Sometimes letters and diaries have been
wide range of documents from
the past used as sources of
written with the intention that they will be published at some time in the future.
information by sociologists. Some famous people, including politicians and leaders, have done this. It is likely
that they will give, deliberately or otherwise, a favourable view of themselves
and their actions. The researcher will need to check the validity of their accounts
against other sources.
Other letters and diaries will have been written with no intention that they
should be read by anyone else. These will be less easy for the researcher to obtain,
since the writer or their family may feel these are private and may not make them
available or even let others know of their existence. However, if they can be used
they will have greater validity than letters and diaries written for publication.
Sociologists may also make use of autobiographies, people’s published accounts
of their lives. As with diaries and letters intended for publication, these need to be
treated with caution as the writer may have been more concerned with giving their
own version of events and presenting themselves in a favourable light than with
42 writing an accurate account. Autobiographies are also likely to be written many
years after the events they describe, so they may be affected by a faulty memory.
The validity of autobiographies is therefore questionable.
Governments and other official organisations produce documents of many
types. Some of these are available immediately to the public but others are made
available only to particular researchers, not the general public and still others
are kept secret for many years, covered by official secrecy laws. In the UK census
Photographs can be returns the actual forms filled in by the public (not the statistical summaries
useful documents compiled from them) are available only after a hundred years. Most documents
in sociology are eventually made public when they are no longer seen as confidential
or sensitive.
Other types of documents can be useful in sociological research,
such as household accounts, wills and even shopping lists.
Documents are not necessarily written: photographs and home
videos can be useful sources. Some documents such as
school reports may also contain quantitative data (in
the case of school reports, exam or test grades). Some
research has even used notes written by pupils in class
and passed around when the teacher was not looking.
Sociologists are always curious about social life and will
use whatever sources of information are available.
Sometimes researchers ask people to keep diaries,
which can then be used alongside data from interviews or
questionnaires. One of the best known examples of this was the
Mass Observation research in the UK in the 1930s in which large
numbers of people were asked to keep diaries, providing a rich source of
information about life at the time. In the Mass Observation these were primary
data, but they became secondary data when used by later researchers.
Strengths and limitations of qualitative secondary data such as letters
and diaries
Strengths:
■ They may be high in validity.

■ They offer first-hand accounts by people involved.
■ They provide descriptive detail and insight missing in statistical sources.
Limitations:
■ They may be unrepresentative.

■ They need to be checked against other sources.
■ They may be biased, intentionally or otherwise and may reflect the emotional state
of the writer at the time.
Media content
The media (such as newspapers, magazines, television, film, recorded music and the
internet) provide a vast amount of material of interest to sociologists. The media
can be a source of information on a topic being researched. The sociologist may
use a relevant documentary television programme, for example, as part of their
literature review at the start of a research project together with printed material, to
find out what is already known about a topic. The researcher needs to be aware of
43
possible bias and selectivity in the content of the programme.
The media can be a source of

information
Media such as novels and films explore themes of interest to sociologists.

Sometimes these are intended to be accurate descriptions of what life was like in a
particular time and place and they can bring that experience to life in a way factual
writing cannot. It can, however, be difficult for the sociologist to separate what is based
on reality and on detailed research from work that comes from a writer’s imagination.
Interpreting and evaluating evidence from

qualitative sources
A sociologist using qualitative secondary sources needs to be able to interpret and
evaluate the sources. These are some of the questions that sociologists may ask to
help them do this:
■ Who produced the source? For historical sources we need to evaluate whose point
of view is promoted, and take into account groups whose points of view are not
available. Many sources will be written by people coming from the middle and
upper classes, and the point of view of those lower down the social scale and who
are more likely to be unable to write may be missing.
■ Why was the source produced; for example, was it intended to be read by others or
not?
■ Was the author in a position to know about what they are writing about
(for example, is it a first-hand account of an event?)
■ Does the source seem to be biased?
■ Does it seem to be typical of this kind of social actor and how can this be decided?
■ Are there other sources that corroborate or conflict with the source?
44
■ Is it clear how the author meant the document to be interpreted?
ACTIVITY: evaluation
Evaluate the usefulness of different types of secondary data in sociological
research.
TEST YOURSELF
1 Explain the difference between primary and secondary data.
2 List all the types of a) hard statistics and b) soft statistics you can think of. Use a
newspaper or news website to find some statistics and work out whether they are
hard or soft. Even football league tables are statistics.
3 How can qualitative secondary sources be evaluated for validity, reliability and
representativeness?
Unit 2: Culture, Identity and Socialisation
Introduction
What is it about human beings that makes us what we For sociologists, what makes us distinctively human
are? We all belong to a single species, Homo sapiens, is our relationships with other people, how we live
the only survivor of a number of species of ape that in groups and societies and how we reflect and act
we call human. We have a lot in common with other upon our lives. This unit explores the relationships
species of animals yet we feel we are different. We between individuals and societies, and how much we
have grown in numbers and become the dominant are shaped by the social influences around us. It looks
species on the planet, expanding into areas very at how our sense of our own identity is shaped by
different from the original habitat of our distant those around us, and at how, in learning to live with
ancestors on the plains and in the forests of Africa. others, we are learning to be human. In doing so this
We live in complex societies that are increasingly unit will sometimes look at other possible alternative
interconnected. Increasingly, we control (or fail to influences, looking beyond sociology and putting
control) our own destiny as a species and the destiny sociological ideas in a wider context.
of our planet and all its life forms.
What is the relationship between the individual

and society?
Culture, norms, values, roles and beliefs
KEY TERMS This section examines the social constructions of culture, norms, values, roles and
beliefs and how these influence human behaviour. 47
Culture: the way of life of
There is no agreed definition of the term culture but it is used in two main
a society.
ways. In everyday speech it usually refers to things like art, music and literature.
Beliefs: statements that people
hold to be true.
Sometimes it also refers to things such as the media, fashion and advertising –
which are sometimes called popular culture. In this unit we are using the term in
a broader way to mean the whole way of life of a society. In this sense every aspect
of human life is influenced by culture because we constantly refer, consciously or
unconsciously, to our society or social group for guidelines about how to think and
behave. Culture includes:
■ what you eat and drink, with whom and when

■ how you dress and the care you take over your appearance
■ the language, spoken and unspoken, that you use to communicate with others
■ the way you spend your leisure time
■ the kind of home and family you live in
■ religious and spiritual beliefs and practices
■ festivals and celebrations.
All societies have ideas about the right and wrong ways of doing these things.
Elements of culture: norms, values, roles and beliefs

Each human culture can be thought of as having these five elements:
1 Symbols. These are anything that carries particular meaning recognised by people
who share the same culture. For example, a cross worn on a chain is a symbol of
Christian religious beliefs and a shirt with a particular colour and crest may show
that the person wearing it supports a particular football team. Some countries have
national symbols.
2 Language. A system of symbols with sounds and words carrying meanings that
KEY TERMS
allows people to communicate with one another.
Values: standards shared by 3 Values. These are standards of what is considered good and right that act as guides
members of a culture and used to for what people should think and believe and how they should act. Many people
judge whether behaviour is right claim to have their own values but these will be shared with others.
or wrong. 4 Beliefs. These are statements that people hold to be true. They are more specific
Norms: the behaviour that than values.
societies expect of their members 5 Norms. These are the kinds of behaviour that a society expects of its members in
in particular situations. particular situations. Sometimes norms are divided into two types, mores and
Social interaction: any situation folkways. Mores are norms that are widely observed and carry more of a sense of
in which two or more people have what is right or wrong. Folkways are norms for routine, casual social interaction.
social contact with each other.
Norms that are widely accepted and continue over time are sometimes called
Customs: norms in a particular customs. In addition, some norms are given extra weight by being used as the basis
society that are widely accepted
for rules, regulations and laws. Norms are usually enforced by informal means, laws
and carry on over time.
by formal means.
Laws: rules that are given
force by being formalised by Values, beliefs and norms (including mores and folkways) are not always easy to
governments.
separate in reality. They all provide guidelines for how people should behave but they
Status: a position that someone differ in how specific or general they are. Values include things like personal space
has in a society; status can be
and privacy. In some modern industrial societies these are highly valued. From these
ascribed (fixed by others) or
achieved. values derive beliefs, such as that it is wrong to move into someone’s personal space.
Knowing what the values are makes it possible to work out what the norms will
be, even in a new situation. Norms derived from these values include how far away
you stand when talking to someone and where you sit, for example, on a bus or in a
48 train. Norms can usually be traced back to an underlying belief or value.
Values and norms vary between societies so they are social constructions. For
example, in some societies people stand closer to each other when talking than is
normal in modern industrial societies. There are also societies where it is normal
and right to sit next to a stranger on a bus, even if there are empty seats somewhere
else. The norms here are based on values about personal space.
One distinctive value in modern industrial societies is the desirability of being
wealthy and owning material goods. North American Indians also placed a high
value on possessions but this is not for personal enjoyment. At festivals known
as potlatch celebrations, wealthy Indians gave away lavish gifts to their guests. In
return, the gift giver received the approval of the recipients and was looked up to
and highly respected. Possessions were considered to have little value other than to
be given away, by which the owner could acquire status and respect. An individual
in a modern industrial society who gave away most of their possessions in this way
would be considered eccentric or even insane.
Norms and values also change over time in a society. Norbert Elias described in
TOP TIP his book The Civilising Process how in the Middle Ages there were fewer constraints
Values and norms are the most on individual behaviour than there are today. The state was weak and unable to
commonly used of these terms. control individual behaviour to any great extent and those with power could use
Think of values, beliefs and norms violence and force to get their own way. But as the state grew in power a ‘civilising
as lying along a continuum with process’ started. It had been common for strangers to share a bed in an inn, for
no clear distinction between people to eat with their fingers from common bowls and for people to go to the
them.
toilet in public. By the late medieval period books on etiquette were advising the
nobility that burping, breaking wind, spitting and picking one’s nose in public were
uncouth and bad manners. By the 19th century such behaviour was unacceptable
in all but the lowest classes. We still distinguish classes by their refi nement in
manners and personal behaviour.
In modern society there are more norms that cover more areas of life. Elias also
suggests that it became the norm to control emotion. People still have violent and
intense emotions but are now shocked by emotional display when they would not
have been centuries ago. Because norms and values are different in different societies
around the world and differ in different periods of history we can say that they are
socially constructed. They are made by societies not by individuals and they are not
natural in the way that scratching an itch is natural (dogs and cats scratch as well).
Because people in a society share values and norms, most of the time social life
is orderly and predictable. Not everyone shares all the values or conforms to all the
norms but societies have ways of expressing disapproval of those who break the
norms and of encouraging or forcing people to conform.
Elements of culture: status, role and identity

Most norms are associated with status, which is the position someone has in a
society. You have the status of a sociology student. Your teacher’s status is that of
a teacher. But you both have other statuses too. For example in your family your
status is son or daughter, brother or sister. In traditional societies, most statuses
KEY TERMS
were ascribed; that is, they were decided at birth, with individuals unable to choose
Role: the patterns of behaviour or decide their status for themselves. In modern industrial societies some statuses
expected of someone because of are now achieved. Individuals make decisions or follow courses of action that lead
their status in society. to particular statuses. With each status goes a set of norms called a role. The role of
Social institutions: parts of a student includes norms such as attending classes, asking questions and learning.
society that have their own sets
Students are expected to sit at a desk and listen to what the teacher says. A role is
of norms and values, such as the
family and the school system. like a script to follow in a play but it is one that gives you some choice over how you
49
Social identity: individuals’
act it out (you may be a good student or a lazy one, for example).
perception of themselves, based At this stage it is helpful to think more about what is meant by society and culture.
partly on ideas about how others They are very closely related and sometimes interchangeable terms, but they are
see them. different. Cultures and societies cannot exist without each other. Society is made up of
Gender: the roles and institutions, both formal ones such as the legal and educational systems and informal
expectations associated with ones such as families. Culture is about how these institutions work, setting norms
being male or female. and expectations about the roles people should play. At the macro level we talk about
culture and society; at the micro level about individuals and identities. Identities refers
to our sense of who we are, how we see ourselves and the ways in which we think we
are similar to and different from other people. An inescapable part of this is about how
other people see us and judge us. In other words, our sense of ourselves comes to a
large extent from others. Other people may give us feedback about ourselves and our
behaviour but even without feedback we can put ourselves in the position of others and
imagine how they would see us. The norms and values of our culture are part of our
identity, because if we conform we will be seen as good and will see ourselves as good.
Our social identity or image of ourselves is therefore formed through
interaction with others – ‘no man is an island’ (sociologists would add ‘or woman’).
Identifying ourselves as male or female is our gender identity. We also develop
identities in groups and situations such as the family, at work, at school. We see
ourselves as having certain characteristics such as being a good friend or being
a tough boss. Identities connect individuals to the macro level in the sense that
through our identity we can see ourselves in the context of our culture, linking our
inner selves (who we think we really are) with the roles we occupy in society.
We can choose how to respond to the identities we see ourselves as having. For
example, a person with a disability may see their disability as an important aspect
Stuart Hall (see page 50) of their identity because such people are often treated differently from others.
They can choose how to deal with this, for example, by passively accepting inferior
treatment or by rejecting the label and fighting back to emphasise their abilities.
Stuart Hall has argued that in the 21st century people are often more uncertain
KEY TERM about their identities than they were before. For example, ethnic identities are no
longer as clear as they once were and more people have mixed backgrounds and
Stereotype: the attributes that
people think (often wrongly) are familiar with different cultures. We also have more roles and sometimes there
characterise a group. is more uncertainty about what these roles involve. This can be experienced as
disorientating or as liberating, in that it breaks down old stereotypes.
ACTIVITY: research
Interview several older people and ask them how your society’s culture has
changed over their lifetimes. What changes in values and norms do they think
there have been?
TEST YOURSELF
1 What is the difference between a society and a culture?
2 How are our identities connected to the culture that we live in?
3 In what ways is social life like performing in a play?
KEY TERMS Conformity and nonconformity

Social control: ways in which
This section examines the agencies and processes of social control and gives
50
members of society are made to examples of the rewards and sanctions applied in different societies and
conform to norms and values. organisations (such as schools and the workplace). It looks at the existence of
Rewards: a positive sanction sub-cultures (like youth sub-cultures and religious sub-cultures) in society and
so that someone is praised or is how these impact on social consensus and conflict.
better off.
Sanctions: ways of rewarding
Conformity and non-conformity: the agencies and processes
or punishing acceptable or
unacceptable behaviour, usually of social control
used in the sense of punishment Nearly all people conform to most norms most of the time. People conform
(negative sanctions). because through socialisation they have internalised the norms and values of
Sub-culture: a group within a their culture. There is a value consensus; nearly all people in a society agree on
larger culture that has its own shared values, and also on the norms derived from them. Even criminals will
distinctive norms and values. often disapprove of the actions of other criminals, which suggests that they
Youth sub-culture: a share part of the overall value system. However, societies need to have ways of
sub-culture of adolescents or
ensuring social conformity. All societies have ways of making their members
young adults that is usually
distinguishable by their style, conform to norms. Th is is achieved by systems of sanctions. Positive sanctions
dress and musical preference. are often referred to as rewards and so sanctions usually mean negative
Value consensus: general sanctions (punishments).
agreement across a society on a Informal social control is exercised by individuals and groups who do not
set of values. have any official power to do so. It includes, for example, any way in which you
Social conformity: acting in might express disapproval of something your friends have done that you do
accordance with norms and social not like. You might make a negative comment about them or refuse to speak to
expectations. them until they apologise. Informal social control can seem minor but is often
Informal social control: ways of very effective. It can be exercised through glares and comments like ‘that was
controlling behaviour imposed by
rude’ or expressions of anger or disgust. One common form of informal social
people without a formal role to do
so (such as peers).
KEY TERMS control in peer groups of young people is ostracism or social rejection; that is, an
individual is excluded from the group and made aware that they are not welcome.
Peer group: people of the same
Some types of informal social control are:
status (for example, they are the
same age). ■ shame
Ostracism: excluding someone ■ ridicule
from the community or group.
■ sarcasm
Formal social control: social
■ criticism.
control imposed by a person or
organisation (such as a teacher When informal social control does not work, then formal social control may be
or a police officer) who has the used. This needs to be done by someone who has authority in that situation, such
authority to implement rules or
as a teacher, employer or police officer. Agencies of formal social control include
laws.
the police and the criminal justice system. They can impose a wide range of formal
Agencies of socialisation:
institutions in which people
sanctions, such as fines and imprisonment.
are socialised. Agencies of social control are also agencies of socialisation. They pass on
Primary socialisation: the norms and values but they are also able to make people conform. The main agencies
first and most important period of social control are as follows.
of socialisation in which the
■ Families. It is through primary socialisation in the family that children absorb
individual learns the basic norms
of behaviour. norms and values. The strong bonds between parents and children and the
impressionability of young children make this the most important period of
Hidden curriculum: what pupils
learn in schools apart from the socialisation. Children learn to regulate their own behaviour so as not to offend
content of lessons, such as the others. They internalise values so that they feel guilt and remorse if they break
importance of following rules and norms that are based on them.
the consequences of not doing so. ■ Schools. In the school system children are controlled in many ways. They are told
Peer pressure: the influence what to do and when, most of the time. Unit 5 explores the idea of the hidden 51
that a peer group has to force or
curriculum, which suggests that at school learning to obey the rules and conform to
persuade its members to conform.
education is as significant for children as learning knowledge and skills.
Coercion: the use or threat of
force or violence. ■ Religion. For those with religious beliefs, religions offer guidelines and laws for how
to behave and offer both rewards and punishments for behaviour. The values of a
society are often based on the main religion.
■ The media. The media offer role models as well as constant messages about how to
behave and reminders about rewards and punishments through offering examples
of good and bad behaviour, both in factual news reporting and in fiction.
■ Workplaces. There are rules and regulations at places of work and other norms that
TOP TIP people may need to learn as they settle into a new job.
Some agencies of social control ■ Peer groups. These are powerful agencies of social control because people feel
can use both formal and informal the need to belong to groups. The threat of being rejected is often a powerful
methods to control deviance. one. When we feel we have been pushed into behaving in ways that our peers will
For example, schools have formal approve of, this is called peer pressure.
punishments such as detentions,
but also control behaviour in more If these agencies fail to control behaviour then societies have more powerful
informal ways, for example, a sanctions. The police and the criminal justice system can be used to enforce laws.
disapproving look or warning Police forces are set up with the explicit purpose of social control. They are able to
by a teacher.
use coercion (force) when they decide it is necessary. By arresting and charging
people the police bring people into the criminal justice system where judges and
juries, acting on behalf of society, have the power to impose sanctions. The range of
sanctions available is discussed in Unit 6 on crime and deviance. In some countries
if it seems that the police are unable to control behaviour the armed forces may be
used to do so.
Functionalist and Marxist views of social control

One way of viewing social control is to say that it is most effective when it involves
persuading people to conform by convincing them that this is the right thing to do.
People internalise the norms and values of their society, thinking of them as their
own. If this persuasion does not work there is the threat of sanctions. Functionalists
believe this process is positive and is essential to the continued stability of the
society, whereas Marxist see it as negative in that it allows the ruling class to
continue in power, keeping the working class controlled.
For functionalists like Emile Durkheim societies need a set of shared values
to hold them together as functioning societies and in order to prevent anomie.
Anomie happens when individuals lack the guidance of norms and values and are
unable to regulate their behaviour so that the bond between the individual and
society breaks down. Durkheim argued that societies need a collective conscience,
shared by all or nearly all. In the traditional societies in Australia studied by
Durkheim, the clan or tribe joined together in worshipping a totem and this
gave them a sense of shared identity. The clan’s values were their own. In modern
societies, and especially during periods of rapid social change, there is a risk that
the bonds that hold society together will break down.
The Marxist Louis Althusser referred to schools, the media and religion as
the ideological state apparatus, that is, institutions that make people believe that
it is right to conform. However, the norms and values they conform to are those
that suit the ruling class and help to keep the ruling class in power. For example,
working-class people might accept the belief that people who are born into a
52 high status deserve their status and should be respected and obeyed. Th is is in
effect a form of brainwashing and the working class concerned is in a condition
of false consciousness, by accepting beliefs that are against its own interests. The
state keeps in reserve the use of the repressive state apparatus of the police, the
criminal justice system and the armed forces when the ideological state apparatus
does not work.
Examples of rewards and sanctions in different

societies and organisations
Here are just some of the rewards and sanctions that can apply in different societies
and organisations. As well as the positive sanctions that apply to individuals,
organisations often offer incentives that apply to all their members and are designed
to increase motivation. In a school, for example, a pleasant working environment
and an ethos of caring for all pupils may help reduce the need for sanctions. In a
workplace the company may offer health care, paid holidays, pensions and other
benefits. These are offered to make the workers feel loyal to a company that treats
them well and to encourage them to work hard because they want to, rather than
because of threats of sanctions.
Rewards and sanctions in schools
Most schools display their rules on notice-boards and elsewhere, and will
have a policy on rewards and sanctions. Increasingly, in modern industrial
societies rewards are emphasised more than sanctions. Schools find they get a
better response by reinforcing positive behaviour than by punishing negative
behaviour. The rewards include verbal praise, positive comments on written work,
positive letters to parents, merit badges or stickers, positive points, certificates of
achievement and success in exams.
Sanctions include looks of disapproval by teachers, verbal comments by

teachers, negative comments on written work, making students sit or work alone,
sending them out of the classroom, keeping them in at break, lunchtime or after
school (detention), making them write lines, contacting their parents to report
their misbehaviour or concerns, confiscating their property such as cigarettes.
In the past, and still today in some countries, students are given corporal
punishment (beating).
53
School punishments
Rewards and sanctions in the workplace

Like schools, all workplaces have rules, for example about starting and finishing
times and about what to wear. The ultimate sanction is being fired. There are laws
to prevent workers being fired unfairly so if being dismissed is threatened there
may well be a disciplinary hearing first at which the workers can put their case. If
the worker belongs to a trade union, the union can offer support in this process.
Rewards in the workplace include promotion to a better post, a pay increase,
performance-related pay, bonus payments, commissions or being given shares in
the company.
Sanctions include the loss of pay, having to face a disciplinary hearing, being
closely monitored at work, being demoted to a lower post, being given less pleasant
work and being fired.
Rewards and sanctions in traditional societies
In traditional societies social control is mostly informal in character. Sanctions for
breaking rules can be extreme, for example by putting the offender to death. There
is usually no equivalent of prison as this would require people to run the prison
and would take time and resources. Punishments are therefore often physical
punishments that are over fairly quickly. In medieval Europe offenders could be
put in the stocks where they were unable to move while the community showed
its disapproval by throwing dirt or rotten fruit at them. Once the punishment was
over the offenders would be free to resume their role in the community. Traditional
societies usually have common laws that are not written down and are part of
the cultural tradition of the group. Public sanctions against offenders remind the
community of these laws. Sanctions are more about enabling the community to
regain the stability that has been upset by the offence than to punish wrongdoing at
the individual level.
Collective sanctions or rewards are also common in traditional societies.
This means that sanctions are applied not to an individual offender but to other
members of their group, such as their family. This meant that wrongdoing had
serious consequences for other people close to the offender and they were likely
to try to regulate the offender’s behaviour for their own benefit. Collective
punishments have also been used in the army (punishments for a whole army
unit for the wrongdoing of one soldier) and in schools (keeping a whole class in
detention when one or a few pupils have misbehaved).
Rewards include being given a position of responsibility in the community,
respect, status and gifts to show appreciation.
Sanctions include being shunned by the community, being expelled from the
community (sent away), having your possessions taken away, being punished
physically, including beatings, having your head shaved, being mutilated or
killed or having to pay blood money (the murderer is made to pay the family of
the victim).
KEY TERM
Rewards and sanctions in modern industrial societies
Social order: the ways in which Social order in modern industrial societies depends on a complicated system
societies and their institutions of formal sanctions. This is because these societies are diverse and complex so
54 remain stable over time. informal sanctions cannot be relied upon. Unlike in traditional societies, sanctions
often take the form of imprisonment. For this a police force or equivalent, courts
and prisons are needed. In the UK today there are four main types of sanction:
■ Discharge. This is when individuals are found guilty but are not punished. If the
discharge is conditional they may be punished later for this offence if they commit
further offences.
■ Fine. This is the most common sanction and is used for many minor offences.
The offender is punished financially according to the severity of the offence and
their ability to pay. Fines are often imposed for offences such as driving and traffic
offences and criminal damage.
■ Community service. This covers a wide range of sanctions where offenders
do not go to prison but are required to do certain things or their actions are
restricted in some way. They may have to do unpaid work or get training or
treatment, live in a particular place, be put under a curfew and be made to avoid
activities like attending football matches. They may have to report to a police
station or see a probation officer regularly. The purpose of these sanctions is to
try to prevent reoffending and to punish the offender.
■ Prison sentence. This is reserved for the most serious offences. Prison sentences
can be for any length of time or for life.
The UK has used many other sanctions in the past that are not considered suitable
today. These include:
■ Execution. The death penalty has been abolished. The last execution by hanging
was in 1964. Some modern industrial societies, notably the USA and Japan, still
have the death penalty.
■ Transportation. Offenders in the 19th century could be transported to a colony

(in the UK this was usually Australia) as punishment. This is a form of exile. It was
considered a humane alternative to execution.
■ The pillory and the stocks, described on page 53.
The formation and existence of sub-cultures

So far we have discussed cultures, their norms and values, informal and formal
social control and the sanctions and rewards they impose. As well as cultures
there are sub-cultures. Sub-cultures are groups of people in a culture whose norms
and values are different in some ways from the overall culture. This may show in
their different value systems, different behaviour and different style of dress and
appearance. The members of a sub-culture are influenced by the culture of the
society and their own position in it but they reject or rebel against aspects of it in
some way. In the eyes of the wider society the members of the sub-culture may
appear not to be conforming but they do conform to the norms and values of the
sub-culture. Sub-cultures may even use informal social control to regulate the
behaviour of members, for example refusing to accept them as members.
Youth sub-cultures
The term youth sub-culture is mainly associated with groups of young people
who adopt a style and culture that is partly at odds with the main culture. Some
sub-cultures identified in the UK since the 1950s are:
■ beatniks
■ mods and rockers 55
■ skinheads
■ hippies
■ punks
■ Goths
■ emo.
Skinheads – a youth sub-culture

Clothing, music, appearance and speech can act as symbols of these sub-cultures.
All these groups attracted considerable media attention and were widely considered
to be deviant. These youth sub-cultures were often identified as threats by the
main culture because their values and behaviour were seen as deviant. They were
therefore subject to sanctions. For example, a student might be excluded from
classes for dressing in the style of the sub-culture. In addition to this the police
might deal more severely with deviance by youth sub-culture members than with
others who did not fit police stereotypes.
The existence of sub-cultures suggests that not everyone in a society holds
the same values and norms. However, there will be dominant norms and values
to which the sub-cultures are a reaction. From a functionalist point of view,
sub-cultures offer a kind of safety valve. Growing up is a difficult period for
many and a youth sub-culture may help adolescents to manage this period.
Young people need to develop a sense of autonomy and independence from
their parents and so they turn to the support of their own age group. Within
the strong peer groups of young people the norms and values may be different
to some extent from those of the rest of society. Th is period, during which
individuals are less dependent on their parents than in childhood, is functional
both for the individual and society.
Some functionalists also use the idea of sub-culture to explain the higher rates
of crime among working-class boys. Joining a sub-culture is functional for some
individuals whose route to success seems to be blocked, for example because they
have not done well at school or cannot find a job. The sub-culture gives them a
group in which they can win status and respect. It gives such people an alternative
56
opportunity structure. The members of the sub-culture may start by having the
same values as everyone else but it is because they cannot achieve their goals by
socially acceptable means that they form sub-cultures. Most people belong to sub-
cultures for a limited period only. Employment, marriage and adult responsibilities
make people leave the sub-culture and adopt mainstream norms and values. While
too much crime and deviance is dysfunctional and can destabilise a society, sub-
cultures can therefore carry out valuable functions.
While functionalists tend to talk about a youth culture, Marxists and
interactionists refer to youth sub-cultures. This is because the Marxist and
interactionist theories of sub-cultures were formed in the 1960s when it was clear
that there was not one but many youth sub-cultures, all with very different styles
and often at odds with other sub-cultures. Marxist approaches therefore tried to
explain why different groups of young people adopted different sub-cultures.
Marxists saw the youth sub-cultures as rebellions by working-class youth
against capitalism. The young people were reacting against a system that seemed
to offer them little. They had been failed by the education system and had no jobs
(or dead-end jobs) and no prospects. These young people could not try to defend
KEY TERMS themselves against the system through trade unionism as their parents might have
done. Middle-class youth did not rebel in the same way because they could see that
Childhood: the period before they could be successful through getting academic qualifications and a career. This
adulthood, in which individuals
approach is different from the functionalist one because it is not concerned with
are not granted full adult rights.
the transition from childhood to adulthood generally, but with the place in which
Adulthood: when an individual
is accepted by their culture as a young people find themselves in the economic system and class structure. Marxists
full member. therefore see youth sub-cultures as one way in which deep conflicts within society
become visible.
CASE STUDY
Phil Cohen: Sub-cultural Conflict and Working-Class Community (1972)

Phil Cohen studied working-class communities in the east end of London in the early 1970s. These communities were
changing rapidly. People were being rehoused and moved away from the area where they lived; older industries and
small businesses were closing so there were few jobs and new immigrants were arriving into the area. The old way
of life was disappearing. Teenage boys could no longer assume they would have jobs for life in a stable community.
They were angry and confused about their situation and they reacted by forming sub-cultures. One of these was
the skinhead sub-culture, which was based on being aggressive, defending the community against all outsiders and
showing fierce loyalty to the group. Cohen argued that the appearance of skinheads was an exaggerated version of how
men in those areas had always appeared – with hair cut very short and wearing heavy boots and baggy trousers with
braces. The heavy boots had been needed for work on the docks or on building sites but now the skinheads wore them
as a symbol of aggressive masculinity. The skinheads defended their area against ethnic minorities and outsiders and
Cohen saw this also as a version of older working-class values.
TASK
1 Why would middle-class boys be less likely to form a sub-culture?
2 Why did the skinhead sub-culture adopt the signs and symbols (appearance, dress and so on) that it did?
KEY TERM Although youth sub-cultures attracted a lot of media and sociological attention it
should be remembered that most young people never belonged to any of these sub-
Masculinity: the expected cultures. Most young people conform most of the time to norms and values of the
behaviour associated with being 57
main culture. In addition, some of those who seem to be members of a sub-culture
male.
move between the sub-culture and the main culture so that they may dress and
behave as a sub-culture member at the weekend but at work they look like everyone
else and their work colleagues may not even know they are different outside work.
Some writers have suggested that the sub-cultures quickly became little more
than fashion, created by the mass media and marketing so that in any case the
sub-culture’s values have little depth; they are more style than substance. They
may have begun as real rebellions, as suggested by the Marxists, but they soon
became incorporated into the system. For example, early punks rejected fashion by
making their own clothing from ripped old clothes, safety pins and even bin liners
but before long mass-manufactured punk clothing could be bought in fashion shops.
Sociologists have also tried to explain why girls do not seem to form
sub-cultures in the way boys do. All the youth sub-cultures seem to have been very
male-dominated, with fewer committed girl members or girls who were only there
because their boyfriends were. However, this may be because girls’ behaviour was
seen as less deviant or threatening and so got less media attention or because the
male sociologists studying these sub-cultures did not see the girls’ sub-cultures as
relevant or interesting. Parents and others also tend to keep greater control over
girls than boys. Angela McRobbie suggested that there were female sub-cultures
but that girls got together in their homes, not on the streets as boys tended to.
She called this a bedroom sub-culture. Teenage girls met to listen to music and
experiment with make-up. The girls created a sub-cultural space away from adults
but also from boys. McRobbie saw this as rebelling against sexual subordination.
Girls were more in evidence in some of the later sub-cultures, such as Goths. This
can be explained by the changing gender roles in society.

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Unit 1: Theory and Methods

correlations and causation between variables. According to the structuralist

Approaches to studying society and individuals

How different theories on conflict and consensus create

How do sociologists study society?

Surveys using questionnaires

The main steps in devising and implementing a research strategy

Research aims and selection of topic

KEY TERM Hypothesis setting and revision

Difficulties in implementing a research strategy

Research stage Potential problem

Table 1.1: Problems encountered in planning a piece of research

KEY TERM Ethical issues affecting the choice and implementation

1 The participants must not be harmed.

These main guidelines are considered one by one.

to get informed consent from everyone involved in research; for example, in

The main methods used in sociological investigation;

KEY TERMS ■ questionnaires/social surveys

Questionnaires and social surveys

Ways of improving the response rate:

Strengths and limitations of self-completion questionnaires

■ The response rate is low compared to structured interviews.

Strengths and limitations of structured interviews

■ There is a higher response rate to structured interviews than to self-completion

A survey: the UK census

KEY TERMS Interviews

A typical unstructured interview

Focus group interviews

A focus group in action

Strengths and limitations of qualitative interviews

KEY TERM ■ The interviewers need to be highly skilled.

Interviews: Hard Labour (2004) by Caroline Gatrell

Laboratory experiment: Bandura and the Bobo dolls

Field experiment: Pygmalion in the Classroom (1968)

■ British Social Attitudes survey

Longitudinal panel research: the National Child Development

Strengths and limitations of longitudinal research

■ One of the standard criticisms of survey research is that it only gives

■ This kind of research requires a considerable commitment of time and research

Participant and non-participant observation

Covert and overt participant observation

normal, perhaps trying to make a particular impression on the participant observer.

Participant observation: Gang Leader for a Day

Content analysis: Viewing the World (2000)

■ Using several methods is time consuming and expensive.

The importance of analysing and evaluating research

What types of data and information do

Primary data and secondary data

■ official statistics produced by government or official organisations

Qualitative and quantitative data

ACTIVITY: data interpretation

Country Literacy rate

World Bank literacy rate; adult total (% of people ages 15 and

1 What was the largest city in 2000?

Developed Near East and

Latin America and

Undernourished people in the world by region, 2010

Types of qualitative data and their strengths and limitations Qualitative

■ They may be high in validity.