Last Updated on October 16, 2026 by Karl Thompson
The research methods section of the AS sociology Paper 2 (7191/2), Research Methods and Topics in Sociology, starts with a 4-mark question asking you to “outline” two things about some aspect of research methods. On recent papers this is Question 01, followed by a 16-mark research methods essay. Below are a few possible 4-mark questions and some suggested answers.
Each point of your answer to a short “outline” question is best thought of as worth “1 + 1” marks: make a point, then explain it. As you can see below, each point has two sentences.
Remember, it’s always better to think these up for yourself rather than just reading and copying out the answers here!
For example, the June 2022 paper asked students to outline two advantages of structured interviews in sociological research (4 marks). For the material you’d need, see Structured Interviews in Social Research.
Outline two practical advantages to the researcher of using social surveys in social research (4)
- Surveys are a quick and cheap way of gathering data from large numbers of people across wide areas. They are an efficient method because computers can analyse pre-coded answers and quantify the data almost instantly.
- You don’t need “people skills” to use social surveys, so almost anyone can use them to do research. This is because they can be written in advance and put online or sent by post, so the sociologist’s personal involvement with respondents can be kept to a minimum.
In Paper 1 or Paper 3 of the A-level exam you might get this same question as a 10-mark question, in which case you’re expected to develop both points further. For how you would do this, see the practical advantages section of my questionnaires post.
Outline two theoretical problems sociologists might face when using social surveys to conduct research (4)
- The imposition problem: closed questions limit what respondents can say. Interpretivists argue that respondents have diverse motives and researchers are unlikely to think of every possible response, so questionnaires will lack validity.
- Self-completion surveys can also suffer from poor representativeness. People with low literacy skills are less likely to return them, because they find them hard to complete, which results in a narrow, biased, self-selecting sample.
To see how you might turn this into an A-level answer (Papers 1 and 3), see the theoretical problems section of my questionnaires post.
Outline two ways in which a researcher might improve the response rate of postal questionnaires (4)
- You could include an incentive that people can claim when they return the questionnaire, such as entry into a prize draw. This means people would be motivated by the reward to complete and return it.
- You could remind people by phone a few days after they have received the questionnaire. They may have ignored or forgotten it, and the personal contact from the researcher may make them more likely to respond.
Outline two ways in which sociologists might ensure respondents do not misinterpret the questions they are asked in postal surveys (4)
- You could make sure questions are clearly worded in simple language to reduce misinterpretation. A pilot study with an interviewer present would be a useful way of finding out which wording is easiest to understand.
- You could carry out the survey as a structured interview instead, or, if it stays a postal survey, provide a phone line where people can ask questions. This way a researcher could explain how to interpret any difficult questions.
Signposting
- For the 16-mark research methods essay that follows this question on the AS paper, see Research Methods Essays: How to Write Them.
- For the basics of the method, see Social Surveys: Definition and Types.
- For the A-level “outline and explain” version of these questions, see Research Methods Practice Questions.
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