Fiducia TogetherResearch methods in sociology
How sociologists gather evidence, and the argument about what counts as evidence.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
Methods split into quantitative (questionnaires, official statistics, structured interviews) and qualitative (unstructured interviews, participant observation, documents). Concepts: validity, reliability, representativeness, and primary versus secondary data.
Where it applies
GCSE and A Level sociology.
How it works
Positivists favour quantitative methods for reliability and generalisability; interpretivists favour qualitative for validity and depth. That disagreement is itself examined.
Practical, ethical and theoretical factors — the PET framework — determine which method is chosen.
How to use it in your work
Use PET to structure any "why choose this method" answer.
Name the strength AND its trade-off. High reliability usually costs depth.
Official statistics are secondary data with their own biases — how a crime is recorded shapes what the statistics show.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's specification — these qualifications vary more between boards than the traditional GCSEs do, and much of the grade is coursework marked against stated criteria.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Sociology Song The GCSE sociology topics, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.