Why sociologists choose either quantitative or qualitative research method?
A) Why sociologists choose either quantitative or qualitative research method?
Quantitative research method is data in statistical form, positivist sociologists tend to use this method. Quantitative research method can be a primary or a secondary research method depending on how it is used. It can be secondary data if the person doing the research uses materials that are already collected by organizations, government officials and individual people. Etc. it can also be referred to as primary data because the secondary data is collected and put together by someone.
Sociologists feel that using quantitative method is a lot easier than qualitative because of the availability of information from various places, such as; the Internet, library, institution, etc are all easy to obtain. This is one of the main reasons why sociologists (researchers) use secondary data. Many sociologists are limited in what they can do because of the lack of funds given to them; however in that situation they are likely to choose quantitative research method because it is much cheaper. Sociologists choose quantitative research method because it allows you to test your hypothesis. Emile Durkheim (1897) was a positivist’s sociologist who believes that showing a statistical data on a research is valid because it is a social fact. He used statistics to test his hypothesis, “Suicide is caused by lack of social integration". He said that catholic and protestant religions differ in how well they integrate. Using official statistics he revealed how protestant had a higher suicide rate than catholic. Statistics showed him that his hypothesis was right. Quantitative research method allowed him to test his hypothesis. Most times sociologists have to study people that cannot be studied, even if the sociologists wanted to. Some studies research cannot use a primary research method because of the people involved. E.g. Historians, people involved in illegal activities. Etc However in these situations a sociologist can choose to use qualitative research method when studying people that are involved in illegal practices by doing a covert participant observation; but this can be very dangerous. In 1973 Eyre Methuen studied a delinquent gang by infiltrating to be a juvenile gang member through participant observation. On the day he met the gang he played daft so that he wouldn’t have to answer the questions they asked him. If he had been found out he would have been in great danger.
