Primary Sources of Data: Quantitative Methods | Sociology for GCSE/IGCSE - Year 11 PDF Download

Social Surveys

Social surveys are a widely used research method that collect data from a large group of people through a standardized set of questions, ensuring each respondent answers the same questions in the same order.

How to Carry Out Survey Research

Survey research can be conducted in two primary ways:

1. Self-Completion Questionnaires: These can be distributed and completed via:
   • Post: Sent and returned by mail.
   • Email: Delivered electronically.
   • Hand Delivery: Physically distributed to respondents.
2. Structured or Formal Interviews: An interviewer reads questions from a schedule, and responses are recorded in real-time. These can be conducted:
   • Face-to-Face: In-person interviews.
   • By Telephone: Over the phone.

Types of Questions

Surveys use two main question types:

1. Closed or Fixed-Choice Questions:
   • Respondents choose from predefined options, such as ticking a box for 'yes' or 'no.'
   • Easily analyzed by software, providing statistical summaries.
   • Must include all possible response options to be effective.
   • Generate quantitative data for statistical analysis.
2. Open-Ended Questions:
   • Allow respondents to provide their own answers, e.g., "What are your views on the current government?"
   • Responses are varied, detailed, and harder to quantify statistically.
   • Produce qualitative data for deeper insights.

Postal Questionnaires

A postal questionnaire involves mailing a questionnaire to participants, who complete and return it by post. A key example is the census, a mandatory questionnaire completed every 10 years by households. It collects data on:

• Age, race, occupation, and relationship status of all household members.
• Provides a population snapshot, informing government planning for housing, education, healthcare, and transport.
• Tracks changes over time, such as population growth.
• In 2021, the census could be completed online for the first time.

Evaluation of Postal Questionnaires

Advantages:

• Efficiently gather large amounts of data from diverse, geographically spread populations, ensuring representativeness.
• Cost-effective compared to interviews, as no interviewer is needed.
• Respondents may feel more comfortable answering sensitive questions without an interviewer present.
• Standardized questions allow for easy comparison and replication to verify reliability.
• Closed questions yield quantitative data for statistical analysis, e.g., correlations between gender and income.

Limitations:

• Unsuitable for groups like the homeless or those with literacy issues.
• Lack of an interviewer may lead to misunderstandings or incorrect responses.
• Respondents may provide socially desirable answers, reducing data validity.
• Pre-set answer options limit flexibility, as respondents’ true answers may not fit provided choices.
• Low response rates, especially for long questionnaires, may skew representativeness and hinder generalization.
• Closed questions lack depth, as respondents cannot explain their choices, reducing validity.

Interviews: Structured

Structured interviews involve standardized closed questions, similar to questionnaires, and are conducted face-to-face or by telephone. They collect quantitative data and share similar advantages and disadvantages with questionnaires.

Evaluation of Structured Interviews

Advantages:

• Standardized questions enable easy analysis and comparison of responses to identify differences in attitudes or experiences.
• Closed questions provide quantitative data for statistical analysis of relationships between variables.
• Standardized format allows replication to assess reliability and track changes over time.
• Trained interviewers can clarify questions, reducing misunderstandings.
• Interviewers ensure all questions are answered, unlike postal questionnaires.

Limitations:

• Interviewer bias: Respondents may give socially desirable answers, reducing data validity.
• Interviewer effect: Characteristics like age, gender, or ethnicity of the interviewer may influence responses, affecting validity.
• Pre-set questions limit flexibility, preventing respondents from expressing unique views or follow-up questions.
• More expensive than questionnaires due to the need for trained interviewers.
• Some feminists critique structured interviews for unequal power dynamics between interviewer and interviewee.

Longitudinal Studies

Surveys can be cross-sectional (one-time data collection) or longitudinal (data collected over time). Longitudinal studies are typically quantitative but can also be qualitative.

Types of Longitudinal Design

According to Bryman (2016), there are two types:

1. Panel Study:
   • A randomly selected sample is surveyed multiple times, e.g., the Understanding Society survey, which tracks changes in respondents’ lives over time.
2. Cohort Study:
   • Surveys a group sharing a characteristic or experience at regular intervals, e.g., the 1970 British Cohort Study, which follows individuals born in 1970, collecting data in nine “sweeps” to monitor health, education, and socioeconomic circumstances.

Evaluation of Longitudinal Studies

Advantages:

• Enable tracking of social changes over time, unlike one-time snapshots.
• Allow study of changes in individuals’ lives, behaviors, values, and opinions.
• Can use smaller sample sizes, focusing on a specific group over time.

Limitations:

• Expensive and time-consuming due to extended timeframes.
• Difficult to maintain contact with participants, as they may move or become unavailable.
• Attrition: Participants may withdraw, reducing sample size and limiting generalizability.