ReviseSociology

Tag: positivism

  • Victimology

    Victimology for A-Level sociology students studying the crime and deviance option

  • Scientific Quantitative Methodology in Sociology

    Positivists prefer to the limit themselves the study of objective ‘social facts’ and use statistical data and the comparative method to find correlations, and multivariate analysis to uncover statistically significant ‘causal’ relationships between variables and thus derive the laws of human behaviour. This post explores the Positivist approach to social research, defining and explaining all of the above…

  • Qualitative Data – Strengths and Limitations

    A summary of the theoretical, practical and ethical strengths and weaknesses of qualitative data sources such as unstructured interviews, participant observation and documents. Examples of Qualitative Data Open question questionnaires Unstructured interviews Participant observation Public and private documents such as newspapers and letters. Theoretical strengths Better validity than for quantitative data More insight (Verstehen) More…

  • Assess the Usefulness of Positivist Approaches to Social Research (30)

    Just a few thoughts on how you might go about answering this question… if it comes up on paper 3 of the A level sociology exam  Paragraph one – outline the key ideas of Positivism Positivists believe that sociology can and should use the same methods and approaches to study the social world that “natural”…

  • Evaluate the View that Theoretical Factors are the most Important Factor Influencing Choice of Research Method (30)

    Just a few thoughts on how you might answer this in the exam.  Introduction – A variety of factors influence a Sociologist’s decision as to what research method they use: the nature of topic, theoretical, practical and ethical factors. Theoretical factors – Positivism vs Interpretivism – Positivists are interested in uncovering the underlying general laws…

  • Outline and explain two reasons why Positivists generally prefer to use quantitative methods (10)

    The theory and methods 10 mark question appears as a special treat at the end of paper 1 (Education, Methods in Context and Theory and Methods), you’ll also get a big 30 mark essay question at the end of paper 3 (Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods) too, but more about the 30 markers…

  • Theory and Methods for A Level Sociology: The Basics

    An overview of theory and methods for second year A level sociology – a very brief overview covering the bare-bones of (1) Positivism and Interpretivism, (2) Is sociology a science?, (3) Sociology and value freedom, (4) Functionalism, (5) Marxism, (6) Feminism, (7) Social action theory, (8) Post and late modernism, (9) Sociology and social policy. …

  • Is Sociology A Science?

    Positivists argued that sociologists should study society using ‘objective’ quantitative scientific methods. Interpretivists and others argue that sociology should not and cannot be scientific and that it should be more humanistic with multiple interpretations, and they also question whether science itself is truly objective!

  • What are ‘Social Facts’ ?

    Social Facts are one of Emile Durkheim’s most significant contributions to sociology. Social facts are things such as institutions, norms and values which exist external to the individual and constrain the individual. The University of Colorado lists as examples of social facts: institutions, statuses, roles, laws, beliefs, population distribution, urbanization, etc. Social facts include social…

  • Social Surveys – Advantages and Disadvantages

    Social Surveys are a quantitative, positivist research method consisting of structured questionnaires and interviews. This post considers the theoretical, practical and ethical advantages and disadvantages of using social surveys in social research.  The Theoretical Advantages of Social Surveys Detachment, Objectivity and Validity Positivists favour questionnaires because they are a detached and objective (unbiased) method, where…