When searching for information there are numerous ways to attain it. In sociology, there are two research methods that are commonly used. These two research methods are quantitative and qualitative. Gathering information through these two research methods allows researchers to describe, explore and explain various social phenomena.
Quantitative methods seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form (Conley, 45). This method is similar to the scientific method in use of trying to use treatment and control (placebo) groups to determine how changes in one aspect of a situation affect another social outcome. Information gathering using quantitative methods is often obtained by surveys but can also be obtained through sampling banks records, weighing people on a scale or even hanging out with teens at the mall. Using …show more content…
Unlike quantitative search methods, data is collected in a different way. Some ways that date is collected includes: spending time with people and recording what they do, (participant observation) interviewing them in an open-ended manner or even to reviewing archives (Conley, 45). Interviews can allow researchers to get a lot of information, however interviews can sometimes veer off from the main focus. During an open-ended interview, an interview that has more than one set of topics to cover in no particular order, this allows the interviewee to go off topic. The researcher has to know when to bring the interviewee back to the main topic. Some researchers prefer to use semi-structured or structured interviews. An interview would be considered a semi-structured interview when the researcher asks a specific set of questions in a particular order in a relatively fixed sequence. Once an interview because very structured it is considered survey
Quantitative methods seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form (Conley, 45). This method is similar to the scientific method in use of trying to use treatment and control (placebo) groups to determine how changes in one aspect of a situation affect another social outcome. Information gathering using quantitative methods is often obtained by surveys but can also be obtained through sampling banks records, weighing people on a scale or even hanging out with teens at the mall. Using …show more content…
Unlike quantitative search methods, data is collected in a different way. Some ways that date is collected includes: spending time with people and recording what they do, (participant observation) interviewing them in an open-ended manner or even to reviewing archives (Conley, 45). Interviews can allow researchers to get a lot of information, however interviews can sometimes veer off from the main focus. During an open-ended interview, an interview that has more than one set of topics to cover in no particular order, this allows the interviewee to go off topic. The researcher has to know when to bring the interviewee back to the main topic. Some researchers prefer to use semi-structured or structured interviews. An interview would be considered a semi-structured interview when the researcher asks a specific set of questions in a particular order in a relatively fixed sequence. Once an interview because very structured it is considered survey