Before conducting research, sociologists need to choose what they are going to research and how they are going to research it. What is one influential factors in this choice?

What sort of topics are functionalists most interested in?

What sort of topics are marxists most interested in?

What sort of topics are feminists most interested in?

What sort of topics are interactionists most interested in?

The influence of a theory isn't wholly prescriptive, however. Why?

The influence of theory is perhaps stronger on which other choice?

Functionalist theories of society concentrate on analysis of the role and function of institutions in society. However, this often doesn't require any empirical research. Rather, what sort of research method do many functionalists use?

However, functionalism does not have a clear and close relationship with any research method in particular and different approaches have been used by different functionalists. For example, what sort of research method did George Peter Murdock use when examining the nature and role of the family?

Having said that, most functionalists do prefer positivist research methods. Why?

Positivist methodology favours research methods that are well suited to producing statistical data. Give examples of such methods:

Functionalists tend to be opposed to the use of in-depth qualitative methods. Why?

Who was the first functionalist to illustrate in detail how positivist methods could be used to study society?

Durkheim attempted to use positivist methods to identify and explain sociological causes of suicide rates. What method did he use?

Durkheim found higher rates of suicide among which groups of people?

Additionally, Durkheim found that suicide rates increased during what periods of time?

From this, Durkheim claimed to have identified different types of suicide that were linked to how strongly 'integrated' people were into society and how strongly 'regulated' they were by society. What do these terms mean?

Both too much and too little integration and regulation could result in suicide rates increasing. Generally, what sort of society had too little integration and regulation, and why?

What sort of society had too much integration and regulation, and why?

What are the four types of suicide Durkheim identified?

Although Durkheim's theory of suicide has been highly influential, it has also been widely criticised by interpretivists. Why?

Interpretivists believe that we could gain a better understanding of suicide if we examine the actual meanings and motives of those who killed themselves. This is in keeping with which german concept?

Additionally, interpretivists question the validity of statistics. Why?

Symbolic interactionism is one of many different types of social action and interpretivist theories. Who developed it?

What sort of methods do symbolic interactionists favour?

The labelling theory and the dramaturgical theory also favour qualitative methods, as they were both influenced by symbolic interactionism. What qualitative method did both Becker (labelling) and Goffman (dramaturgy) use?

Why do symbolic interactionism, labelling and dramaturgy all have a strong affinity with qualitative, interpretivist methods?

Which sociologist applied interpretivist methods to the study of suicide?

Douglas argued that it was misleading to to treat all suicides as the same type of social fact, because the meaning of suicide varies greatly in different societies. What example does he give?

Interpretvisits believe quantitative methods cannot reveal the different meanings of suicide and therefore use qualitative methods instead. However, what issue can arise here?

Another problem with interpretivist methods is that they tend to be based on small sampled. Why is this, and what impact does this have?

Phenomenology goes further than interpretivist theories by regarding all data as socially constructed. Like the above theories, it does tend to use qualitative methods. However, they do take an interest in statistics. Why?

What is the advantage of statistics, according to phenomenologists?

Who applied phenomenology to the study of suicide?

Why was Atkinson critical of Durkheim's study of suicide?

Rather than looking for the cause of suicide, what did Atkinson attempt to discover?

What research method did Atkinson use to do this?

Atkinson concluded that coroners took four main factors into account in reaching their decision. What were they?

What has Atkinson been criticised of?

Atkinson has also been criticised for assuming that all knowledge is a matter of opinion. As such, how can is work be described?

How can Atkinson's claims be applied to his own work, thus making it ineffective?

What does the term 'critical sociology' refer to?

What theories are included under the term?

What do all of these theories have in common?

While no single research method is used by these theorists, what method do they rarely use, and why?

However, Lee Harvey argues that critical social research does have two common features. What are they?

Critical sociology involves 'reconceptualisation'. What is meant by this?

Critical social research is seen as a form of 'praxis'. What is meant by this?

Critical social research is very different to positivist research, which is tied to a small selection of research methods. Why does critical social research use a whole range of research methods?

Marxists sometimes want to examine both the structure of society as a whole and the experience of exploitation and oppression from those who are disadvantaged. What method might they subsequently use?

Which sociologist described how critical ethnographers should create a picture of the social world from the viewpoint of those who are in disadvantaged positions in society?

How can critical ethnographers create this picture, according to Carspecken?

However, Carspecken also states that critical research should go beyond this, being used to "discover system relations". What does he mean?

Critical sociology hasn't been used extensively to study suicide, but it was used by Michel Dorais. He studied the high suicide rate among which group?

Dorais' study focused on 32 Canadian men aged between 14 and 25, who had all attempted suicide at least once. What qualitative research method did Dorais use to examine the subjects' motives for attempting suicide, and what were his findings?

What quantitative research method did Dorais used to examine the wider structural patterns in which the subjects attempted suicide, and what were his findings?

From his findings, Dorais broadened his argument so that it was not just about suicide. Instead, what matter did he cover?

Feminism is a form of critical social science that has developed its own methodologies. They are highly critical of 'makestream' research. What does this phrase mean?

Feminists argue that new research methods need to be developed - methods that reject patriarchal assumptions about social life and the way it should be studied. Who was one of the pioneers of feminist methodology?

According to Oakley, there was a dominant masculine, patriarchal model of interviewing that social scientists typically used. This model was based on the masculine values of objectivity, control and detachment. What sort of data did this approach produce, and why?

According to Oakley, what is this patriarchal approach based on?

What sort of interviewing method does Oakley advocate for?

As a critical social scientist, Oakley believes in positive intervention in the social world in order to improve it. How can interviewers do this?

When interviewing women about their experience of being a housework, how did Oakley positively intervene with her subjects?

Another aspect of feminist interviewing is the encouragement of women to discuss the findings of the research. Why were they encouraged to do so?

There is an alternative strand of feminist methodology. What is it known as?

What is epistemology?

Positivist epistemologists believe knowledge can be obtained through direct observation of facts. How do feminist standpoint epistemologists differ?

Which two sociologists advocated for the feminist standpoint epistemology?

Because they believe that understanding comes from experience, what sort of methods do Stanley and Wise prefer?

Positivists completely reject feminist standpoint epistemology. Why?

Positivists dislike all types of critical social science methodology, arguing that they are based on little more than the ideologies of those who support them. What does he mean by this?

How does Phil Carspecken respond to this?

Although there is no agreement among all postmodernists about what sort of methodology should be used to study the social world, what methods are most postmodernists critical of?

Why do postmodernists believe positivism is an example of modernist methodology?

Which postmodernist supports postmodern ethnography?

Why does Tyler support postmodern ethnography?

Why does Tyler want to gather multiple descriptions of the social world?

What form of research method does postmodern methodolgy tend to adopt?

What is the problem with postmodern ethnography?

Why have their lack of explanation resulted in postmodernists being disapproved of by critical sociologists?

In the study of suicide, a good example of methodological pluralism is the work of Jonathan Scourfield et al. How did their study incorporate positivist, interpretivist and phenomenologist approaches?

Scourfield et al accept Atkinson's point that suicide verdicts may not be entirely reliable. However, how do they differ from Atkinson?