Different factors that Influence Sociologist's choice of research methods.

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Different factors that Influence Sociologist's choice of research methods

There are different factors that influence sociologist's choice of research. Sociologists have to firstly decide what particular area or topic they want to study, in order for them to carry out their research. When sociologists choose a topic, there are two types of sources available to the sociologists, they are Primary and Secondary. Primary is the data collected by the researchers themselves, usually in the form of questionnaires or interviews. Secondary is the data that is already available e.g. official statistics, diaries, historical documents etc. The researcher then has to decide what type of method they will use for their research.

The topic chosen for research will indicate the method to be used e.g. voting would involve the use of large numbers of people, therefore quantitative methods would be used. Quantitative methods involve reliability and are more practical as they take less time, require less commitment from the researcher and are cheaper. Quantitative methods aren't so easy to quantify. Topics such as Bullying would involve qualitative research, because it is a detailed topic, which allows a deeper, and a valid relationship. Qualitative methods involve validity because the research gives