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Assess the advantages and disadvantages of Quantitative research in Sociology
Sociology is often described as the systematic study of society. To study society efficiently, research needs to take place and a methodology is needed. A methodology is a “systematic way of producing knowledge” (Haralambous and Holborn 1995), and is to do with both thorough research methods where information is gathered, as well as the theories that the information collection is based on. ... These are the sociologists who tend to prefer the use of scientific study as a research method, which typically involves the use of quantitative research methods, or statistical methods. The second category consists of sociologists who consider humanistic and qualitative research as a better method.
Different sociologists hold different opinions of the quantitative research ideas depending on their sociological beliefs of what research method studies sociology in a better way. To address the advantages and disadvantages of quantitative research as a sociological research approach, an analysis of quantitative research is required along with examples of some sociologists that favour this method, with an analysis of qualitative research and a selection of sociologists that support qualitative research. This will then illustrate the pros and cons of quantitative research against qualitative research and will show where there are strengths and weaknesses quantitative research methodology. This essay will firstly analyse three research methods used in sociology, interviews, questionnaires and surveys, it will then look at the ideas of quantitative sociologists Comte and Durkheim in comparison to Weber and the idea that qualitative research is much more advantageous research method in Sociology.
So, as already stated above, quantitative research is the idea of taking a scientific approach to sociology and creating a statistical analysis of the subject being researched. Quantitative research involves an objective look into society; which relies only on statistics and number rather than opinions and feelings through word.
Quantitative research methods include fully structured interviews, questionnaires and social surveys, where attitudinal scales are used. ... Other disadvantages are that the interviewees could be influenced by the presence of the interviewer. ...
Another research method is that of using Questionnaires. ... Quantitative questionnaires are those with fixed questions and have fixed responses. Questionnaires have a number of advantages from a quantitative point of view.
Approximate Word count = 1822
Approximate Pages = 7.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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