How do sociologists use experiments, questionnaires and interviews, and what shapes their choice of method?
Quantitative and qualitative methods of research, including experiments, social surveys, questionnaires and interviews, and the practical, ethical and theoretical factors influencing the choice of method and topic.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Sociology Theory and Methods topic on primary methods, covering laboratory and field experiments, the comparative method, questionnaires and interviews, and the practical, ethical and theoretical factors affecting choice of method.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to explain the main primary methods (experiments, surveys, questionnaires, interviews), their strengths and weaknesses, and the practical, ethical and theoretical (PET) factors that shape the choice of method and topic. Every methods answer should hang on PET and on the reliability, validity and representativeness concepts.
The PET framework
Three core concepts recur: reliability (would the study give the same results if repeated), validity (does it give a true, in-depth picture) and representativeness (does the sample reflect the wider population, so findings can be generalised).
Experiments
- Laboratory experiments allow control of variables and the testing of cause and effect, and are reliable, but are artificial (low ecological validity), raise the Hawthorne effect (people behave differently when they know they are studied), and face ethical and practical problems studying people (consent, harm, the small scale).
- Field experiments take place in real settings (greater validity), for example Rosenthal and Jacobson's "Pygmalion" study, but offer less control and raise consent issues (subjects often do not know they are in a study).
- The comparative method (Durkheim's suicide study) compares groups using existing data to test cause and effect "in the head", avoiding the artificiality and ethics of the lab.
Social surveys and questionnaires
Social surveys use questionnaires (or structured interviews) to gather standardised data, often from a large, representative sample selected by a sampling technique (random, systematic, stratified or quota) from a sampling frame.
Strengths: cheap, quick, geographically spread, representative and reliable. Weaknesses: low response rates (which can wreck representativeness), the risk of misunderstanding, and limited depth (low validity, no chance to probe).
Interviews
- Structured interviews: like a spoken questionnaire with fixed questions, reliable and quick, producing quantitative data (positivist).
- Unstructured (in-depth) interviews: flexible, open questions giving rich, valid, qualitative data (interpretivist), but time-consuming, hard to replicate and vulnerable to interviewer bias and social desirability.
- Semi-structured interviews combine a fixed core with room to follow up.
Choosing a method
The decision depends on the research aim, the topic (sensitive topics raise ethical issues and may need rapport), the group studied (access and the ability to build trust), and the researcher's theoretical position (positivists prefer reliable quantitative methods; interpretivists prefer valid qualitative ones). Many studies use triangulation to offset the weaknesses of any single method.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 201810 marksOutline and explain two practical advantages of using questionnaires in social research.Show worked answer →
A 10 mark "outline and explain two" item: two developed paragraphs, no item.
Advantage one: cheap, quick and large-scale. Postal or online questionnaires can reach a large, geographically spread sample at low cost and be processed quickly, producing representative quantitative data without a large research team.
Advantage two: reliable and replicable. Because the questions are standardised and fixed, another researcher can repeat the study and compare results, giving the reliability positivists value.
Markers reward two developed advantages clearly labelled as practical and linked to PET.
AQA 202110 marksOutline and explain two theoretical advantages of using unstructured interviews.Show worked answer →
Two developed paragraphs, no item.
Advantage one: high validity and verstehen. Open, flexible questions let the interviewer follow up and probe, producing rich qualitative data that captures the respondent's own meanings, which interpretivists prize as valid.
Advantage two: rapport and access to sensitive topics. Building trust over a longer, conversational interview can encourage respondents to discuss difficult or sensitive subjects honestly, improving validity where a questionnaire would get superficial answers.
Markers reward two developed advantages clearly labelled as theoretical and linked to interpretivism.
Related dot points
- Observation (participant and non-participant, overt and covert) and the use of secondary sources, including official statistics, documents and other existing data, and their strengths and limitations.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Sociology Theory and Methods topic on observation and secondary sources, covering participant and non-participant observation, overt and covert roles, official statistics and documents, and their strengths and limitations.
- 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.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Sociology Theory and Methods topic on positivism and interpretivism, covering quantitative versus qualitative data, social facts, verstehen, reliability and validity, and the methods each approach favours.
- The nature of science and the extent to which sociology can be regarded as scientific, including positivism, Popper's falsificationism, Kuhn's paradigms and the realist view of science.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Sociology Theory and Methods topic on whether sociology is a science, covering positivism, Popper's falsificationism, Kuhn's paradigms, the realist view and the interpretivist objection.
- The relationship between theory and methods, and debates about objectivity, values and value freedom in sociological research, including the views of Weber, the positivists and committed sociology.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Sociology Theory and Methods topic on value freedom, covering positivist and Weberian views, committed and relativist positions, and how values enter research at every stage.
- Social action and interactionist theories and postmodernism, including symbolic interactionism, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, Weber's social action theory and the structure-action debate.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Sociology Theory and Methods topic on social action theories, covering Weber, symbolic interactionism, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, the structure-action debate and postmodernism.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Sociology (7192) specification — AQA (2015)