‘QUANTITATIVE SOCIOLOGY (Positivism) Society as an objective reality Behaviour is determined by external social forces [Loge of natural sciences should and can be apied to study of society ‘Sori behaviour is patterned, it can be measured tnd future bebiviou predicted ‘Am oftociology iso entity ‘case and effet’ relationships RELIABILITY REPLICABILITY [REPRESENTATIVENESS Sociology should and can be scientific ints approach QUANTITATIVE Social surveyalquestonnsres Structured inerviews Experiments (Closed-ended, fixed response, sutured Oficial statics Existing quantitative sociological esearch data Quantitative content analysis Structural Social Systems theories “ THE 'TWO METHODOLOGIES’ «Methodology ——>| }-—— basic assumptions. ——e| Key concepts ‘emphasised —! ]-—— Should sociology ——} be scenic? ‘Type of da usually generated [+ Primary data collection ——e] ‘methods used ‘Types of questions ‘sully asked ——*] J+ Secondary data used ——>] |+— Allied theoriesperspecves —o| ‘QUALITATIVE SOCIOLOGY (nterpretiviem) Society hs no objective realty but i composed ‘ofthe intersubjective reales, the ‘universes of ‘meaning held by soil actors ‘The im of sociology sto uncover the meanings social actors attach to behaviour, evens etc ‘vauTy Sociology cannot and should not attempt tobe scent QUALITATIVE Ethnograpy/partipant observation Unatructred interviews Ethnomethodological'experinenty Open-ended, unstructured Personal documents Semiolgial analyis Symbolic Interactionsm EthnomethodologyHEALTH WARNING! ‘Although this mind map’ presents methodology and research methods as being divided into two neatly separate two methodologies, in realty such a clea distinction cannot bbe made. There are several factors which blur this division including Practicalities - time, money, resources - which influence choice of research method ‘The source of funding forthe research affects research methodology Notall sociologists see themselves as either ‘psitivsts or ‘interpetivists' ‘The trend towards combining methods'methodologies, tailoring methods to the topiclissue/group being examined So itis best to use this chart as a starting point for understanding the links between ‘methodology, theory and methods.