Paper 2 Research Methods

Question 1

What do positivists argue

Answer 1

We should treat people as objects whose behaviour can be directly observed and measured in teh same way as teh weather,birds etc

Question 2

How do positivists see sociology

Answer 2

As the science of society as humans beings can be measured in the same way as natural sciences

Question 3

What approach do positivists take and examples of positivist theories

Answer 3

Macro approach
Functionalism, Marxism and feminism

Question 4

Who argues there is an important difference between sociology and natural sciences

Answer 4

Weber

Question 5

What view do interpretivists reject

Answer 5

That humans are treated like objects
Said people are active beings with free will who can make choices

Question 6

Interpretivists believe society is socially constructed in the product of what two processes:

Answer 6

1. People choose to come together to interact in social groups
2. Group interacts in the same way, they all share the same sense of what is going on, interpreting their own behaviour and others too

Question 7

How must we acknowledge society according to interpretivists

Answer 7

That society is a social construct which includes social interactions, interpretations and meanings