AQA A Level Sociology -
Research methods
Questions with Detailed
Answers A+ Grade
2026/2027
, Primary data Information Collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes - may be to
obtain a first-hand picture of a group or society, or to test a hypothesis
Social surveys (PD) These involve asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview.
Participant observation (PD) The sociologist joins in with the activities of the group they are studying
Experiments (PD) Sociologists rarely use laboratory experiments, but they sometimes use field
experiments and the comparative method
Secondary data Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own
purposes, but which the sociologist can then use
Official statistics (SD) Produced by the government one a wide range of issues, as well as other statistics
produced by charities, businesses, churches and other organisations
Documents (SD) Letters, emails, diaries, photographs, official reports, novels, newspapers, the
internet and television broadcasts
Quantitative data information that can be measured and written down with numbers
Qualitative data descriptive data drawn from non statistical sources, including participant
observation, personal stories, interviews, and life histories and gives a 'feel' for what
something is like
Validity - theoretical issue A method that produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like
Reliability - theoretical issue A method that, when repeated by another researcher, gives the same results
Representativeness - theoretical issue Whether or not the people we study are a typical cross-section of the group we are
interested in
Positivists They prefer quantitative data and seek to discover patterns of behaviour and see
sociology as a science
Interpretivists They prefer qualitative data and seek to understand social actors' meanings and
reject the view that sociology can model itself on the natural sciences
Hypothesis A possible explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence to prove it true or
false
Research methods
Questions with Detailed
Answers A+ Grade
2026/2027
, Primary data Information Collected by sociologists themselves for their own purposes - may be to
obtain a first-hand picture of a group or society, or to test a hypothesis
Social surveys (PD) These involve asking people questions in a written questionnaire or an interview.
Participant observation (PD) The sociologist joins in with the activities of the group they are studying
Experiments (PD) Sociologists rarely use laboratory experiments, but they sometimes use field
experiments and the comparative method
Secondary data Information that has been collected or created by someone else for their own
purposes, but which the sociologist can then use
Official statistics (SD) Produced by the government one a wide range of issues, as well as other statistics
produced by charities, businesses, churches and other organisations
Documents (SD) Letters, emails, diaries, photographs, official reports, novels, newspapers, the
internet and television broadcasts
Quantitative data information that can be measured and written down with numbers
Qualitative data descriptive data drawn from non statistical sources, including participant
observation, personal stories, interviews, and life histories and gives a 'feel' for what
something is like
Validity - theoretical issue A method that produces a true or genuine picture of what something is really like
Reliability - theoretical issue A method that, when repeated by another researcher, gives the same results
Representativeness - theoretical issue Whether or not the people we study are a typical cross-section of the group we are
interested in
Positivists They prefer quantitative data and seek to discover patterns of behaviour and see
sociology as a science
Interpretivists They prefer qualitative data and seek to understand social actors' meanings and
reject the view that sociology can model itself on the natural sciences
Hypothesis A possible explanation that can be tested by collecting evidence to prove it true or
false
