The distinction between primary and secondary data and quantitative and qualitative data, and the theoretical positions of positivism and interpretivism on how society should be studied.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to explain the difference between primary/secondary and quantitative/qualitative data, and the two main methodological positions: positivism and interpretivism, including the methods each favours and why. This dot point underpins every methods question, so precision about reliability, validity and representativeness matters.

Types of data

These two distinctions are independent: a researcher can collect primary quantitative data (a survey) or use secondary qualitative data (old diaries). Three further concepts are central to the debate: reliability (would a repeat give the same result), validity (does it give a true, in-depth picture) and representativeness (does the sample reflect the wider population).

Positivism

Positivists model sociology on the natural sciences.

• Society consists of social facts that exist outside the individual and shape behaviour (Durkheim); patterns such as suicide rates are real and external.
• The aim is to discover cause-and-effect laws through objective, systematic study, using the comparative method as a substitute for the laboratory.
• They favour quantitative, reliable, representative data from social surveys, structured interviews, the comparative method and official statistics, prizing the ability to find correlations and generalise.

Interpretivism

Interpretivists reject the idea that people can be studied like objects.

• People are conscious actors who interpret the world and give meaning to their actions, so behaviour cannot be reduced to external causes.
• The aim is verstehen (Weber): empathetic understanding of action from the actor's point of view.
• They favour qualitative, valid, in-depth data from unstructured interviews, participant observation and personal documents, prizing depth and authenticity over numbers. Douglas, for example, attacked Durkheim's use of suicide statistics, arguing they hide the meanings coroners and the bereaved give to a death.

The methods each favours and evaluation

• Positivists prioritise reliability and representativeness (quantitative methods), so they can generalise and find laws.
• Interpretivists prioritise validity and meaning (qualitative methods), so they can understand the actor's world.

Many sociologists now reject a rigid divide and use methodological pluralism (combining methods to build a fuller picture) or triangulation (using one method to check another). Realists argue science itself studies unobservable structures, narrowing the supposed gap between the two positions, and feminists and others stress that the choice is also shaped by power and values.