SOC101: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Group Assignment

Section: 5

Submitted to:

Tahsina Akhter

Submitted by:

Group- 1

Submission Date: 02-05-2023

Group Members

S.M. Ifthker Uddin (2019-1-10-223)

Md. Toufiq Hasan Rafi (2021-1-10-058)

Araf Al Tasin Khan (2021-3-40-112)

Kaniz Fatema Kanta (2022-1-10-429) (sec 5)

Awabin Hasan Pranto (2021-1-10-036)
Shamiha Tasnim (2021-3-10-013)
Suprokash Mitra Joy (2021-1-10-222)
Mirza Mohammed Ali (2021-2-10-063)
Farhan Rafique (2019-1-10-031)

Mazharul Mustari (2023-1-40-104)

What is research method? What are the major steps of research? Describe one method that
you think is the best method to conduct research of your interest/ field.

“A research method is a systematic plan for doing research.” (Macionis, 2017, p.27).

There are 10 major steps in sociological research.

1. Topic Selection
2. Literature review
3. Question Formulation
4. Budget and Timeline
5. Ethical concerns
6. Methodology
7. Data Collection
8. Data Analysis
9. Drawing conclusion
10. Dissemination

There are four researching method in sociology.

i. Experiment
ii. Survey
iii. Participant observation
iv. Existing sources

“A research method is a detailed plan for obtaining data scientifically.” (Schaefer, 2011, p. 36 ).
Selection of a research design is often based on the theories and hypotheses the researcher starts
with (Merton 1948). The theories and hypotheses should select with creativity and ingenuity,
because it directly influences both the cost of the project and the amount of time needed to
collect the data. Research designs that sociologists regularly use to generate data include surveys,
ethnography, experiments, and existing sources. As we are students, we use survey method to
conduct research most of the time. This is the best method to conduct research of our interest,
because of the following reasons.
Method Application Advantages Limitations
Survey • For gathering information • Sampling, using • Questionnaires
about issues that cannot be questionnaires allows must be carefully
directly observed, such as surveys of large population prepared and may
attitudes and values. • Interviews provide in-depth yield a low return
• Useful for descriptive and responses rate
explanatory research • Interviews are
• Generates quantitative or expensive and
qualitative data. time consuming.
Figure: Survey Research method

Source: Macionis, 2017, p.36

“A survey is a research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions

on a questionnaire or in an interview.” ( Macionis, 2017, p. 28 ). The survey is an example of
quantitative research, which collects and reports data primarily in numerical form. In preparing
to conduct a survey, researcher must not only develop representative samples; they must also
exercise great care in the wording of questions. An effective survey question must be simple and
clear enough for people to understand. It must also be specific enough so that there are no
problems in interpreting the results.

There are three elements of survey research.

• Target Population
• Questionnaire
• Interview

Target Population: A survey is conducted on a selected population which is called target

population. Conducting a survey on a vast number of people is quite impossible. So, researcher
usually does surveys using sample to conduct their research.
“Sample refers to a much smaller number of subjects selected to represent the entire
population.” ( Macionis, 2017, p. 28). Surveys using samples as few as 1,500 people commonly
give accurate estimates of public opinion for the entire country. Besides, a particularly important
procedure used to ensure that a sample is representative is random sampling. “Random sampling
refers to a sample which is chosen so that every member of population has the same probability
of being included.” ( Giddens, 2006, p.88). The most sophisticated way of obtaining a random
sample is to give each member of the population a number and then use a computer to generate a
random list from which the sample is derived.

Questionnaire: “Questionnaire is a series of written statements or questions” ( Macionis, 2017,

p.28). The researchers let subjects choose possible responses to each item as on a multiple choice
test. Sometimes, though, a researcher may want subjects to respond freely to permit all opinions
to be expressed. That’s why; two sorts of questionnaire are used in surveys such as standardized
and open ended questionnaires.
Standardized questionnaires consist of fixed-choice, set of questions, to which only a
fixed range of responses is possible like Yes, No, and don’t know. Such surveys have the
advantage that response is easy to compare and count up as only a small number of categories
are involved.
Open-ended questionnaires are where respondents have more opportunity to express their
views in their own words. (Giddens,2006, p.88). Open-ended questionnaires typically provide
more detailed information than standardized ones. Open-ended questions must be carefully
phrased in order to collect the type of information desired. As a result, the researcher can follow
up answers to find out what the respondent thinks. Questionnaire items are normally listed so
that a team of interviewers can ask the questions and record responses in the same predetermined
order. Questionnaires should also take into consideration the characteristic of respondents.

Interview: “Interview means a researcher personally asks subjects a series of question, thereby
solving one problem common to the questionnaire method.” (Macionis, 2017, p. 29). Interviews
give participants freedom to respond as they wish. An interviewer can obtain a higher response
rate, because people find it more difficult to turn down a personal request for an interview than to
throw away a written questionnaire. Also, a skillful interviewer can go beyond written questions
and find out a subject’s inner feelings and reasons. Researcher often asks follow-up questions to
clarify an answer. However, a researcher must avoid interviewing the subject in subtle ways,
such as raising eyebrow as the subject offer an answer.
As an example, we can take census of Bangladesh. First of all, our target populations are the
people of Bangladesh. We use questionnaire to collect various types of data and information of
our target population. We ask about their income, age, family members etc. These questions are
asked directly to the household people and it is considered as interview. This is how we can
conduct our research and get our survey done.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Survey: Surveys are widely used in sociological research,
for several reasons. Responses to questionnaires can be more easily quantified and analyzed than
most other research methods; large numbers of people can be studied; and given sufficient funds,
researcher can employ an agency specializing in survey work to collect the responses. Many
sociologists argue that an appearance of precision can be given to findings whose accuracy may
be doubtful and levels of non-response are sometimes high, especially when questionnaires are
sent and returned through the mail.

After discussing in above, we can say that the survey is well suited to studying and helpful
for us to do research of our own interests.