Sociology › Section B · Sociological research › Topic B.2
Research methods
Once a sociologist has a question, the next decision is how to gather the evidence. Surveys, field research, experiments and existing data each answer some questions well and others badly, so choosing the method is part of the science.
In this topic
- Choosing a research design
- Surveys
- Samples, questions and data
- Field research and participant observation
- Ethnography and case studies
- Experiments
- Worked example: reading an audit study
- The Hawthorne effect
- Secondary data and content analysis
- Worked example: why young people leave a small town
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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