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Positivist:

they like any methods which gives them qualitative data;

for example Durkheim created the suicide quiz.

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Questionnaires - Low response rate.

Interviews - Time consuming as it takes a while to gather a sample.

Observations - Time consuming as would need to make sure that ethical issues are seen to.

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Sampling!
Random; Randomly selected participants
Snowball: When people pass on the questionnaire/information to friends and others.
Self Selected: When you volunteer to participate.
Stratified: Collecting a representative sample.

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These interviews are typically semi-structured or unstructured interviews with a focus group. A focus group is a specific targeted demographic of people. These interviews are very unreliable but are very valid.

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These interviews have a few set questions and a list of topics the interviewer wishes to cover, it is a mix of a structured interview and a unstructured interview. It has the advantage of being more reliable than an unstructured interview and more valid then a structured interview but it is not as reliable as a structured or as valid as an unstructured. One theorist of used semi-structured interviews was Humphries.

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Unstructured interviews are when there may be a general topic but the interviewer lets it go to where the participant wants. An issue is that it doesn't produce reliable results as everyone has a different experience. A positive is that the results are valid to the group giving them and usually uncut. Interpretivists favour this method especially feminists. Sue Sharpe interviewed girls about their priorities in the 70's, the rapport was very important to feminists.

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Positivist:

they like any methods which gives them qualitative data;

for example Durkheim created the suicide quiz.

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Questionnaires can have both open and closed questions.

Open questions are where the respondent is free to write their own answer. An example of a open question is 'What courses do you take and why do you take them?'

Closed questions are where the respondent has a limited choice of answers. An example of a closed question is 'Do you like your courses, yes or no?'

Qualitative data would be produced by open questions as there is no fixed response.

Quantitative data would be produced by closed questions. This is because of the fixed responses, you can tally the number of people that have selected each response.

An example of a sociologist that used questionnaires in their research is Humphries, he used them to question the families of the men in the tearoom trade.

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Structured Interviews are when you have a set list of questions you have prepared to ask. An issue with these are that you can't expand on it and it poses a framework on the people they're interviewing. An example is the CCCS. A positive is that it produces reliable results. Structured interviews are similar to questionnaires and time consuming. They are not usually used.

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Observations can be:

> Participant observations
> Non-participant observations
> Overt observations (Not-Hidden)
> Covert observations (Hidden)

Covert observations are less ethical as no consent is given before you observe the individuals. It is normally more valid as the individuals don't know they are being watched which means they is no hawthorne effect. It is not reliable as the results only include one researchers opinion.
- An example of Covert observations is the Laud Humphreys study of 'The Tearoom Trade'
Humphreys sat in public restrooms and covertly observed men, that entered the restroom to participate in homosexual acts.

Overt observations are more ethical, as you would have included a sign or told people in the area that you are currently observing in that area, meaning those people could leave, if they wanted to. Overt observations is low in validity as the individuals know they are being watched, which may make them behave differently to their normal behaviour. This is known as the Hawthorne Effect.

Participant observations is where you include yourself in the group you are observing. This is more reliable as you can gain more results due to the fact that they trust you. An example of a study that used Participant observations is "Gang Leader For a Day". It can be dangerous as including yourself with a group means you might have to participate with everything that they do.
Non-participant observations is when you don't join in with the group, however it can be overt or covert.