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Examine Sociological Methods

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Examine the different factors that influence the sociologists choice of research methods.
The main factors that influence a sociologist's choice of research method depend on two different theoretical approaches to the study of society;
Positivism is an approach in sociology that believes society can be studied using similar scientific techniques to those used in the natural sciences, such as physics, biology and chemistry.
Durkheim, a positivist, called the external social forces that make up a societies social structure that cause or mould people's ideas and actions social facts.Durkheim said the aim of sociology should be the study of social facts, which in most cases could be measured and observed quantitatively, in number or statistical form. Such as the number of people applying for visas to work in a particular country.
Interpretivism is an approach emphasizing that people have consciousness involving personal beliefs, values and interpretations that influence the way they act and that they do not simply respond to forces outside them. These two theoretical approaches often use different research methods because they have different assumptions about the nature of society, this influences the type of data they are interested in collecting. Practicality, ethics, theory and subject of study also contribute to the methods used for research.
Durkheim, a positivist, called the external social forces that make up a societies social structure that cause or mould people's ideas and actions social facts.Durkheim said the aim of sociology should be the study of social facts, which in most cases could be measured and observed quantitatively, in number or statistical form. Such as the number of people applying for visas to work in a particular country. as emotions feelings and motives of individuals cannot be observed he suggested that they shouldn't be studied.

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