Sociology. Anthony Giddens
times and perhaps uses different sampling strategies within the same research project. Investigator triangulation is where a team of researchers, rather than a single researcher, carries out the fieldwork. Theoretical triangulation is more controversial, as it involves using several theoretical approaches when interpreting the data. Finally, methodological triangulation is the adoption of more than one methodology as part of a research study. We can see the potential value of combining methods – and, more generally, the problems and pitfalls of real sociological research – by looking once again at Laud Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade.
One of the questions Humphreys wanted to answer was ‘What kind of men use the tearooms?’ It was very hard for him to find this out because all he could really do was observe. The norm of silence made it difficult to ask questions or even to talk, and it would have been very odd if he had asked personal questions of the participants. As we have seen, Humphreys noted the car number-plates of people involved, giving the numbers to a friend at the Department of Motor Vehicles, who secured the owners’ addresses. Some months later, he persuaded a work colleague at Washington University in St Louis, who was conducting a door-to-door survey of sexual habits, to add the names and addresses of his own tearoom sample. Disguised as an investigator, Humphreys interviewed the men in their homes to learn more about their backgrounds and lives, interviewing wives and family members too.
Leaving aside the unconventional and ethically dubious tactics he employed, Humphreys was engaging in a form of methodological triangulation. He tried to overcome the limitations of participant observation by joining a social survey and, by combining the results, was able to produce a richer, more detailed and powerful piece of research. Mixing methods has become common today for precisely this reason. However, it is not a panacea and is certainly not accepted or adopted by all.
Because sociologists often study things about which most people have some personal experience, it is possible to believe that sociological knowledge is merely a restatement, in abstract jargon, of things we already know. Yet very rarely is this the case. Because sociological findings must be rooted in evidence they are never just personal opinion or speculation. In fact, good sociology sharpens our understanding of things that appear obvious or completely transforms our common-sense perspective (Berger 1963). In either event, sociology is neither tedious nor a restatement of the obvious. Sociological research has allowed us to see aspects of society about which we had no previous knowledge, and research findings often challenge our personal beliefs and prejudices about social groups, individuals and institutions.
Similarly, sociologists may begin with a problem to which many people think they already know the answer. Is crime really getting worse? Why are boys underachieving in secondary school? Why do women still do more housework than men? In addressing such questions, sociologists are never content with anecdotal evidence, personal beliefs, newspaper stories or television news reports. They always employ research methods to collect evidence, which they then analyse and interpret using theoretical ideas to generate a deeper understanding of the phenomena under study. In this way sociology often challenges the ‘obvious’ or simple answers and sets our local knowledge within a much wider frame of reference, most recently the global level of social interactions.
Sociological research is rarely of interest only to the community of sociologists. A good proportion of research funding comes from government sources and is directly linked to social issues and problems. Many studies of crime and deviance, for example, target specific offences or types of offender with a view to gaining better understanding so that the problems associated with crime can be tackled more effectively. Sociologists also work with voluntary agencies, public bodies and businesses, bringing their research skills to bear on questions set by the former. Much of this is applied social research, which does not simply endeavour to produce better knowledge but also seeks to inform interventions aimed at improving some aspect of social life. Researchers studying the effects on children of parental alcohol use, for instance, may be interested in whether a particular treatment programme has any effect on reducing alcohol abuse.
The findings from sociological research are also disseminated throughout society. Sociology, it must be emphasized, is not just the study of societies; it is a significant element in the continuing life of societies. Consider the transformations taking place in relation to marriage, sexuality and the family (discussed in chapters 7, 14 and 15). Most people have some knowledge of these as a result of the filtering down into society of social scientific research findings. Our thinking and behaviour are thus affected by sociological knowledge in complex and often subtle ways. However, as our behaviour changes, so does society – the very subject of sociological investigation. A way of describing this two-way phenomenon, using our technical language, is to say that sociology stands in a ‘reflexive relation’ to the human beings whose behaviour it studies. Reflexivity, as we shall see in chapter 3, describes the interchange between sociology and social life. We should not be surprised that sociological findings often correlate closely with common sense. But this is not because sociology tells us what we know already. Rather, sociological research helps to shape our common-sense knowledge of society in the first place, even though we may not immediately realize it.
1 What research methods were used in Humphreys’ research study Tearoom Trade (1970)? Why was this project considered ‘controversial’?
2 Are any of these subjects effectively ‘off-limits’ to sociologists?gender differences in the membership and use of dating appsthe voting intentions of newly eligible voters aged eighteen to nineteenthe extent of elder abuse in care homes.
3 Explain what is meant by each of these: comparative research, developmental research and applied social research.
4 List some ethical issues that sociological researchers need to consider. How are these different to those that face natural scientists?
5 ‘Is sociology a scientific discipline?’ Choose TWO philosophers of science and outline how they answered this question.
6 What is the difference between a correlation and a cause? Provide one example of a genuine causal relationship.
7 ‘Quantitative research can be scientific, qualitative research cannot.’ Explain why this statement is not correct.
8 Give ONE real-world example of an appropriate subject for each of the following methods: ethnography, biographical methods, visual sociology, survey research, historical research.
9 Devise a research strategy involving TWO research methods to investigate the following subjects. What ethical and practical problems do you foresee and how would you overcome them?domestic violence within female same-sex relationshipsthe extent of self-harming behaviour among schoolchildren aged eleven to sixteenthe coping strategies adopted by ‘lifers’ in male prisons.
10 What is meant by digital sociology? What kinds of digital data can be useful for sociologists?
Most sociology graduates will know of the classic studies of the discipline. But sociology exists in its ongoing research programmes and studies, most of which are published in a range of academic journals. Journal articles (called ‘papers’) are part of the continuing process