Module: Practicing Sociology
Week 8 – General attitude towards poverty in the UK
People’s attitudes towards poverty is important because it can tell us about what
they are willing to do.
Quantitative data
Number based
We tend to trust numbers because it feels scientific. However, it can hide a lot
of things.
Qualitative data
Captures opinions and attitudes
It’s very difficult to turn it into numbers
It dissects the questions
Researchers get a better general understanding of the issue
Quantitative research: British social attitudes survey
It did not take place at a university, but it has an academic rigour to it.
It’s a regular survey that takes place annually or biannually that picks out 300
random people to send the survey to.
It works on a random probability sample – choosing who you are going to use
in your survey.
Sampling means choosing people to participate in your research study.
Snowball sampling – this is not done randomly. It’s where you have
specifically chosen one or two people to start a snowballing effect. It’s useful if
you are looking for people with particular traits. One problem with this is that
you end up with a very partial result. You could end up with a confounding
variable. This is bad for quantitative research because it tries to look for a
general representation.
It tries to make sure that the sample represents the total population.
Random sampling it’s not truly random. You might have conscious biases.
You choose which street to go to to interview people. You have a database of
people – the people are assigned a random number and then there’s a
machine that does the choosing for you to take away the bias factor.
Week 8 – General attitude towards poverty in the UK
People’s attitudes towards poverty is important because it can tell us about what
they are willing to do.
Quantitative data
Number based
We tend to trust numbers because it feels scientific. However, it can hide a lot
of things.
Qualitative data
Captures opinions and attitudes
It’s very difficult to turn it into numbers
It dissects the questions
Researchers get a better general understanding of the issue
Quantitative research: British social attitudes survey
It did not take place at a university, but it has an academic rigour to it.
It’s a regular survey that takes place annually or biannually that picks out 300
random people to send the survey to.
It works on a random probability sample – choosing who you are going to use
in your survey.
Sampling means choosing people to participate in your research study.
Snowball sampling – this is not done randomly. It’s where you have
specifically chosen one or two people to start a snowballing effect. It’s useful if
you are looking for people with particular traits. One problem with this is that
you end up with a very partial result. You could end up with a confounding
variable. This is bad for quantitative research because it tries to look for a
general representation.
It tries to make sure that the sample represents the total population.
Random sampling it’s not truly random. You might have conscious biases.
You choose which street to go to to interview people. You have a database of
people – the people are assigned a random number and then there’s a
machine that does the choosing for you to take away the bias factor.
