Tools Used in Sociology

Secondary research is one tool used in sociology.

Sociology is the scientific study of human behavior. Sociologists use research tools to learn about the structure of groups of people and to study the ways people interact together within these groups.

Types

Some of the tools sociologists use to conduct experiments and perform research include field observation, scientific experiments, questionnaires and surveys, interviews, statistics, and studying primary and secondary resources.

Function

The purpose of these tools is to help a researcher create reliable and verifiable data. The information obtained is useful if it can be generalized from the small control group to a larger group.

Considerations

The tool a sociologist chooses to use depends on many factors, including the experiment's time frame, costs involved and the reliability of sources. For example, personally interviewing a large number of people may yield great results, but sending surveys to these same people would be much more time and cost effective.

Effects

If other researchers can repeat a sociologist's experiments and obtain the same or similar results, the data is deemed reliable. In order to create the most accurate data, a sociologist must carefully consider which sociological tool best fits his purposes.

Research Sources

There is a great deal of sociological research available. A sociology student should be able to identify good material that fits her research needs. Primary sources are best and recreate original work, although they can be hard to find on some topics. Secondary sources are also valuable, so long as a student does not rely solely on these sources and makes sure the existing studies fit her current needs.

References

• Methods of Sociological Inquiry
• AS Sociology for AQA: Sociological Methods
• What Is Sociology?

Resources

• Sociological Research Methods