Research methods and researching social inequalities

Research methods in sociology are the tools sociologists use to gather data about society. This topic covers both quantitative methods (e.g., surveys, structured interviews, official statistics) and qualitative methods (e.g., participant observation, unstructured interviews, personal documents). You'll learn about the practical, ethical, and theoretical factors that influence a sociologist's choice of method, including the key debate between positivism (favouring quantitative data for objectivity and generalisability) and interpretivism (favouring qualitative data for validity and depth). Understanding these methods is essential for critically evaluating sociological studies and for designing your own research.

When studying social inequalities, research methods become particularly important because how we measure inequality can shape our understanding of it. For example, official statistics on income inequality may hide the experiences of those in the informal economy, while qualitative interviews can reveal the lived reality of poverty. You'll explore how different methods have been used to study inequalities related to social class, gender, ethnicity, and age. This includes classic studies like Townsend's work on poverty, Oakley's research on housework, and more recent studies on intersectionality. The topic also covers the ethical challenges of researching vulnerable groups and the importance of reflexivity.

This topic is central to the OCR A-Level Sociology course because it underpins all other topics. Whether you're studying education, crime, or families, you need to understand how sociologists know what they claim to know. It also develops critical thinking skills: you'll learn to question the validity and reliability of research findings and to consider how the researcher's own position might influence the data. Mastering this topic will help you evaluate studies in exams and write sophisticated essays that engage with methodological debates.