• Practical research experience is different from reading about research; it involves collecting evidence systematically and helps understand both the excitement and difficulties of sociological research.

• Suggested projects are small and manageable, aimed at giving a feel for research, not full-scale studies.

• Students are encouraged to think up their own research ideas in consultation with teachers.

• Every research question requires a suitable research method; a question may have more than one method, but a method is not suitable for all questions.

• Selection of a research method depends on technical criteria (compatibility with the question) and practical considerations such as time, resources, and circumstances.

• Example topic: Comparing co-educational schools with boys/girls only schools.

• Specific research questions must be formulated, e.g.:

  • Do students in co-educational schools perform better academically?

  • Are boys-only schools better in sports?

  • Are children in single-sex schools happier than those in co-educational schools?

• Once a specific question is chosen, select an appropriate method:

  • Interviews: Ask students how they feel about their school and analyse responses.

  • Direct observation: Spend time in schools observing student behavior and develop criteria to measure happiness.

  • Survey method: Prepare a questionnaire, distribute it equally, collect responses, and analyse results.

• Practical difficulties in research include:

  • Making enough copies of questionnaires, requiring time, effort, and money.

  • Obtaining permission from teachers to distribute questionnaires.

  • Incomplete responses or non-returned questionnaires and deciding how to handle them (ignore incomplete, follow up, or consider only completed answers).

• Researchers must be prepared to handle problems and adapt during the research process.

Variety of Methods

Survey Method

• A survey involves asking a relatively large number of people (e.g., 30, 100, 2000) the same fixed set of questions; what counts as ‘large’ depends on the context and topic.

• Questions can be asked:

  • In person, where the investigator reads them and records answers.

  • Self-administered, where respondents fill out the questionnaire themselves and return it.

• Main advantage: Covers a large population, making results truly representative of the relevant group.

• Disadvantages:

  • Questions are fixed; no on-the-spot adjustments possible.

  • Misunderstood questions can produce wrong or misleading results.

  • Interesting responses cannot be followed up due to the fixed format.

  • Provides a snapshot at one particular moment; may not reflect changes over time or past situations.