Evaluation
Eduqas GCSE Sociology C200QS
Socialisation, Culture and Identity
Families
Education
Sociological Research Methods
Social Differentiation and Stratification
Crime and Deviance
Applied Methods of Sociological Enquiry
Sociological Research Methods
- 5 subtopics
- 15 things to know
- Component 1
What Sociological Research Methods covers
Sociological Research Methods is examined in Component 1, Understanding Social Processes. It covers types of data and their usefulness, questionnaires, interviews and observation, sampling techniques, practical issues in research and ethical issues in research.
Where it is assessed
Component 1
Understanding Social Processes, a 1 hour 45 minute paper worth 50% of the GCSE.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 5 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Types of data and their usefulnessPrimary and secondary, quantitative and qualitative data, official statistics and the census, non-official statistics, diaries and academic journals.Open →
- Questionnaires, interviews and observationReliability and validity, open and closed questions, structured and unstructured interviews, interviewer bias, Ann Oakley on interviewing, participant and covert observation, and James Patrick's Glasgow gang.Open →
- Sampling techniquesSampling frames and representativeness, random, systematic, stratified, quota, opportunity and snowball sampling, and worked sampling and response rate calculations.Open →
- Practical issues in researchGaining access and gatekeepers, the practical problems faced by James Patrick and Simon Holdaway, and how long a method takes, its cost, funding and the researcher's own characteristics.Open →
- Ethical issues in researchInformed consent, confidentiality and anonymity, harm, deception and covert research, pseudonyms, debriefing and ethics committees, with the ethics of Patrick's and Holdaway's studies.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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Key term
A researcher sends out 800 questionnaires and 184 are returned. What is the response rate?
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What does validity mean in sociological research?
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What does gaining access mean in sociological research?
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What are research ethics?
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What is primary data?
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What does reliability mean in sociological research?
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What is a sample, and why do sociologists use one?
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Why can some groups be hard to access?
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What is informed consent?
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What is secondary data?
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What is the difference between closed and open questions?
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What is a sampling frame?
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What is a gatekeeper in research?
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Why is informed consent harder to obtain from children?
Take Sociological Research Methods further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Primary data vs Secondary data
Primary data: information a researcher gathers first-hand for their own study. Secondary data: information that already exists, gathered by someone else for another purpose.
Quantitative data vs Qualitative data
Quantitative data: information expressed as numbers, such as percentages or totals. Qualitative data: information in words or images describing experiences and meanings.
Reliability vs Validity
Reliability: getting the same results when another researcher repeats the study. Validity: giving a true picture of what is really being studied.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is primary data?
Model answer
Primary data is information a sociologist collects first-hand for their own study. Questionnaires, interviews and observation all produce primary data.
- 2
What is secondary data?
Model answer
Secondary data is information that already exists because someone else collected or produced it. A sociologist reuses it rather than gathering it afresh.
- 3
Why might a sociologist collect primary data rather than rely on secondary data?
Model answer
Primary research lets the sociologist decide exactly what is asked, and of whom. The data therefore fits the research question and is up to date.
- 4
Why might a sociologist use secondary data instead of collecting their own?
Model answer
Secondary data is usually cheap and quick to obtain. Secondary sources can also cover whole populations or past periods that no single researcher could study.
- 5
Define quantitative data.
Model answer
Quantitative data is information in numerical form, such as percentages, rates or totals. Researchers can present it in tables and graphs.
- 6
Define qualitative data.
Model answer
Qualitative data is information in words or images that describes people's experiences, feelings and meanings. Diaries and interview transcripts are typical examples.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Sociological Research Methods revision questions
- What does Sociological Research Methods cover in Eduqas GCSE Sociology?
- 5 subtopics: types of data and their usefulness, questionnaires, interviews and observation, sampling techniques, practical issues in research and ethical issues in research. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Sociological Research Methods organised?
- By the Eduqas C200QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Sociological Research Methods, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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