Types of Research Methods in Sociology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

Last Updated on October 5, 2026 by Karl Thompson

Sociologists use a wide range of research methods to study social life, from large-scale surveys to in-depth interviews. The choice of method depends on what kind of data the researcher wants to collect and the theoretical approach they take to understanding society.

Broadly speaking, there are two main types of research methods in sociology — quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative methods such as surveys and experiments focus on collecting numerical data that can be measured and statistically analysed. Qualitative methods such as participant observation and unstructured interviews, on the other hand, explore meanings, motives, and experiences in more depth.

Understanding the difference between these two approaches is essential for A-level sociology students, as it helps explain how sociologists produce knowledge about the social world.

This post provides an introduction to research methods in Sociology covering quantitative, qualitative, primary and secondary data and defining the basic types of research method including social surveys, experiments, interviews, participant observation, ethnography and longitudinal studies.

Research methods are assessed as part of Theory and Methods, on Paper 1 and Paper 3 (mostly Paper 3), and you also need to apply them in methods in context questions on Paper 1.

Why do social research?

The simple answer is that without it, our knowledge of the social world is limited to our immediate and limited life-experiences. Without some kind of systematic research, we cannot know the answer to even basic questions such as how many people live in the United Kingdom, let alone the answers to more complex questions about why working class children get worse results at school or why overall crime, as measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales, has fallen since it peaked in 1995.

So the most basic reason for doing social research is to describe the social world around us: To find out what people think and feel about social issues and how these thoughts and feelings vary across social groups and regions. Without research, you simply do not know with any degree of certainty, what is going on in the world.

However, most research has the aim of going beyond mere description. Sociologists typically limit themselves to a specific research topic and conduct research in order to achieve a research aim or sometimes to answer a specific question.

Subjective and Objective Knowledge in Social Research

Research in Sociology is usually carefully planned, and conducted using well established procedures to ensure that knowledge is objective – where the information gathered reflects what is really ‘out there’ in the social, world rather than ‘subjective’ – where it only reflects the narrow opinions of the researchers. The careful, systematic and rigorous use of research methods is what makes sociological knowledge ‘objective’ rather than ‘subjective’.

Subjective knowledge – is knowledge based purely on the opinions of the individual, reflecting their values and biases, their point of view

Objective knowledge – is knowledge which is free of the biases, opinions and values of the researcher, it reflects what is really ‘out there’ in the social world.

How far research can really be objective is one of the main disagreements in sociology, and it is covered in Positivism and Interpretivism in Sociology.

Sources and types of data

In social research, it is usual to distinguish between primary and secondary data and qualitative and quantitative data

Quantitative data refers to information that appears in numerical form, or in the form of statistics.

Qualitative data refers to information that appears in written, visual or audio form, such as transcripts of interviews, newspapers and web sites. (It is possible to analyse qualitative data and display features of it numerically!)

Secondary data is data that has been collected by previous researchers or organisations such as the government. The main sources of secondary data are covered in the secondary research methods section below.

Primary data is data collected first hand by the researcher herself. If a sociologist is conducting her own unique sociological research, she will normally have specific research questions she wants answered and thus tailor her research methods to get the data she wants. The main methods sociologists use to generate primary data include social surveys (normally using questionnaire), interviews, experiments and observations.

For short definitions of these and the other key terms, see Research Methods Key Terms.

Types of Research Methods in Sociology: primary research

For the purposes of A-level sociology there are four major primary research methods

• social surveys (typically questionnaires)
• experiments
• interviews
• participant observation

I have also included in this section longitudinal studies and ethnographies/ case studies.

Social Surveys

Social Surveys – are typically structured questionnaires designed to collect information from large numbers of people in standardised form.

Social Surveys are written in advance by the researcher and tend to be pre-coded and have a limited number of closed-questions and they tend to focus on relatively simple topics. A good example is the UK National Census. Social Surveys can be administered (carried out) in a number of different ways – they might be self-completion (completed by the respondents themselves) or they might take the form of a structured interview on the high street, as is the case with some market research.

Experiments

Experiments – aim to measure as precisely as possible the effect which one variable has on another, aiming to establish cause and effect relationships between variables.

Experiments typically start off with a hypothesis – a theory or explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation, and will typically take the form of a testable statement about the effect which one or more independent variables will have on the dependent variable. A good experiment will be designed in such a way that objective cause and effect relationships can be established, so that the original hypothesis can be verified, or rejected and modified.

There are two types of experiment – laboratory and field experiments – A laboratory experiment takes place in a controlled environment, such as a laboratory, whereas a field experiment takes place in a real-life setting such as a classroom, the work place or even the high street.

Interviews

Interviews – A method of gathering information by asking questions orally, either face to face or by telephone.

Structured Interviews are basically social surveys which are read out by the researcher – they use pre-set, standardised, typically closed questions. The aim of structured interviews is to produce quantitative data.

Unstructured Interviews, also known as informal interviews, are more like a guided conversation, and typically involve the researcher asking open-questions which generate qualitative data. The researcher will start with a general research topic and ask questions in response to the various and differentiated responses the respondents give. Unstructured Interviews are thus a flexible, respondent-led research method.

Semi-Structured Interviews consist of an interview schedule which typically consists of a number of open-ended questions which allow the respondent to give in-depth answers. For example, the researcher might have 10 questions (hence structured) they will ask all respondents, but ask further differentiated (unstructured) questions based on the responses given.

Participant Observation

Participant Observation – involves the researcher joining a group of people, taking an active part in their day to day lives as a member of that group and making in-depth recordings of what she sees.

Participant Observation may be overt, in which case the respondents know that the researcher is conducting sociological research, or covert (undercover) where the respondents are deceived into thinking the researcher is ‘one of them’ and do not know the researcher is conducting research.

Ethnographies and Case Studies

Ethnographies are an in-depth study of the way of life of a group of people in their natural setting. They are typically very in-depth and long-term and aim for a full (or ‘thick’), multi-layered account of the culture of a group of people. Participant Observation is typically the main method used, but researchers will use all other methods available to get even richer data – such as interviews and analysis of any documents associated with that culture.

Case Studies involves researching a single case or example of something using multiple methods – for example researching one school or factory. An ethnography is simply a very in-depth case study.

Longitudinal Studies

Longitudinal Studies are studies of a sample of people in which information is collected from the same people at intervals over a long period of time. For example, a researcher might start off in 2015 by getting a sample of 1000 people to fill in a questionnaire, and then go back to the same people in 2020, and again in 2025 to collect further information.

Secondary Research Methods

The main type of secondary quantitative data which students of A-level sociology need to know about are official statistics, which are data collected by government agencies, usually on a regular basis and include crime statistics, the Census and quantitative schools data such as exam results.

Secondary qualitative data is data which already exists in written or audiovisual form and include news media, the entire qualitative content of the internet (so blogs and social media data), and more old-school data sources such as diaries, autobiographies and letters. Government reports and personal documents such as diaries are two of the many qualitative sources, alongside the staggering amount of audio-visual content available online.

Sociologists sometimes distinguish between private and public documents, which is a starting point to understanding the enormous variety of data out there!

Secondary data can be a challenge to get your head around because there are so many different types, all with subtly different advantages and disadvantages, and so this particular sub-topic is more likely to demand you to apply your knowledge (rather than just rote learn) compared to other research methods!

Evaluating research methods

Whichever method you are writing about, you will usually be asked to evaluate it, and the main evaluation points come from a small set of ideas. Validity asks whether the method gives a true picture of the social world, and reliability asks whether another researcher could repeat it and get the same results. Sampling affects whether the findings are representative of the wider population. Which of these a researcher puts first depends largely on whether they take a Positivist or an Interpretivist approach.

Related Posts

Factors Affecting the Choice of Research Method

Positivism and Interpretivism in Sociology

Research Methods Key Terms

My main research methods page contains links to all of my posts on research methods.

References and Further Reading:

The first four go beyond A-level, but they are useful if you want to read around research methods or you are studying it at degree level.

• Bryman, A. (2016) Social Research Methods. Oxford University Press.
• Gilbert, N. and Stoneman, P. (eds) (2016) Researching Social Life, 4th edition. SAGE. A step-by-step guide to the research process, from research design to data collection and analysis. There is a companion website with datasets, checklists and journal articles.
• Haralambos & Holborn (2017) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. Collins.
• The British Sociological Association has a Statement of Ethical Practice, a code of ethics for sociological research. https://www.britsoc.co.uk/
• The Office for National Statistics publishes the UK’s official statistics, including the Crime Survey for England and Wales. See the ONS user guide to crime statistics for how that survey works, which is a useful way into how statistics are socially constructed.

Theory and Methods A Level Sociology Revision Bundle

If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my Theory and Methods Revision Bundle – specifically designed to get students through the theory and methods sections of A level sociology papers 1 and 3.

Contents include:

• 74 pages of revision notes
• 15 mind maps on various topics within theory and methods
• Five theory and methods essays
• ‘How to write methods in context essays’.

Signposting

This post has been written primarily for students studying theory and methods, as part of the AQA’s A-Level Sociology course.

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