Tag: surveys
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What is a Likert Scale?
A Likert* scale is a multiple-indicator or multiple-item measure of a set of attitudes relating to a particular area. The goal of a Likert scale is to measure intensity of feelings about the area in question. A Likert scale about Likert scales! In its most common format, the Likert scale consists of a statement (e.g.…
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A few thoughts on revising research methods
Sociology_Revision_Surveys Here’s a general plan of how I tend to revise each research method with my students, for A level sociology, focussing on social surveys revision. The link above is to the section of the revision hand-out I use (working through it should take about an hour). I use very similar looking material, and pretty…
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No Future for Millennials?
A recent report by the Resolution Foundation based on a survey of 2000 people aged 16-75 found that the vast majority of people are pessimistic about the prospects for young people. In total, 21% of respondents believed Millennials (those born between 1981 and 2000) could expect to enjoy a better standard of living than their…
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Surveys on Family Life in the UK
Social Surveys are one of the most common methods for routinely collecting data in sociology and the social sciences more generally. There are lots of examples of where we use social surveys throughout the families and households module in the A level sociology syllabus – so what do they tell us about family life in modern…
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Why Do Voting Opinion Polls Get it Wrong So Often?
Surveys which ask how people intend to vote in major elections seem to get it wrong more often than not, but why is this? Taking the averages of all nine first and then final polls for the UK general election 2017, the predictions for the Conservatives show them down from 46% to 44%; and Labour…
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Why Did Labour Gain Seats in the 2017 General Election?
In the recent June 2017 General Election, Labour won more votes than it did in 2001, 2005, 2010 or 2015, proving almost all the forecasts and commentators wrong.According to this Guardian article there are three main reasons for this… It motivated young people to get out and vote. A lot’s been made of the historically…
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Outline and Explain Two Theoretical Problems of Using Social Surveys in Social Research
Firstly, social surveys suffer from the imposition problem, closed questions limits what respondents can say Interpretivists argue respondents have diverse motives and it is unlikely that researchers will think up every possible relevant question and every possible, response, thus questionnaires will lack validity. This is especially true for more complex topics such as religions belief…
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Outline and Explain Two Practical Advantages of Using Social Surveys in Social Research (10)
It’s possible that a 10 mark question on A level sociology papers 1 or 3 could simply ask you about a ‘pure’ research method, as with the example above. You might like to review the fuller material on social surveys first before looking at the answer below! This post suggests a strategy for how to…
