Research Methods for Sociologists

Sociological Perspective
The sociological perspective is a perspective on how human activity and behavior relates to society. By looking at the relationship between individuals and social structures, the sociological perspective emerges as one that identifies functions, conflicts and interactions within society and among people. In other words, the sociological perspective allows researchers to see how people and society relate to one another, what connects them, what drives them, and what shapes their evolution.
There are many different ways in which researchers can study people and society. The methods used by sociologist to study society include survey research, interviews, participant observation, and secondary/historical analysis. Survey research is conducted when a researcher constructs a set of questions with a list of options to choose from when answering the question. For example, a question might provide a participant with a choice of five different answers to choose from. The sociologist will survey a sample of participants and then analyze the data to see what can be concluded from the responses given by the participants. Because the survey frames the responses within specific terms, the survey method typically proceeds from a previously established hypothesis that the sociologist wants to test using the survey.
The survey method is different from the interview method in that the interview method usually allows for more open-ended questioning to be conducted. Researchers who are doing exploratory research and want to find more information on a subject before they construct a hypothesis will typically engage in interview research. Interview research usually produces qualitative data to be analyzed, which means that researchers use this type of data to identify themes or concepts that emerge through participant responses. Survey research data tends to be quantitative in that researchers will statistically evaluate the responses to see if there is a pattern of correlation or predictability among variables, for example.
Participant observation is a method that a sociologist will use when the researcher wants to immerse himself into the environment of the subject. For example, a sociologist might want to study how children in a school behave when a subject is introduced in the classroom. The researcher will conduct participant observation to directly observe the participants in a natural setting. The aim of this type of research is to see how people act in their normal lives to stimuli as opposed to seeing how they react in a controlled environment. This type of research is also typically exploratory and qualitative like the interview method.
The secondary/historical analysis method of research is used to conduct a systematic review of existing literature or documents that can help to construct an informative basis or foundation for future research and understanding of concepts applied in the sociological field. A sociologist might conduct this type of research when there is a need to refresh a perspective or theory based on the available literature. This method can also be helpful in explaining how a theory or perspective has evolved over the years. The researcher can trace its evolution by examining documents and publications and other research that has been conducted in the past to show how ideas impact one another and create changes in the way a perspective is held. This type of research is different from survey, interview, and observational research because it is not using any participants at all in the study. It is simply looking at records that already exist and using them to build a better understanding of a concept.