Topic 6 revision notes: Practical,
ethical and theoretical influences
on sociological research
Practical influences on sociological research
The practical influences on research include accessibility to money, time, nature of the topic
and research questions
Access to and availability of data
- Access to public places to conduct research is relatively easy
- Permission is needed from gatekeepers to research in sites e.g. schools, hospitals
and prisons
- Can be difficult to gain access into groups such as criminal gangs or young children in
schools
- Gatekeepers unlikely to allow access to country’s secret service organisation]
Interests of the researcher
- Researchers sometimes choose research which reflect their hobbies and interests
e.g. might like rap and see how that relates to black youths
Funding
- Research grants may be available from government, businesses or charitable
foundations
- Choice of topic however can be shaped by funding body e.g. business may want
research on particular concerns to them
- It can influence choice of methods as some methods can cost a lot of money and so
researchers must choose methods that can match their budget
Time
- Some methods are more time consuming and laborious than other e.g. participant
observation compared with interviews
The topic and research questions
- Topic and research influence the choice of methods e.g. a researcher studying the
experience of becoming a parent would use qualitative methods (unstructured
interviews) to get peoples subjective experiences and meaning
Characteristics of the researcher
- Researchers have an age, ethnicity, gender and class which may affect them being
accepted by certain social groups in order to research them effectively e.g. an older
researcher may find it hard to be accepted by young gang members
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