Class 12 Sociology · Chapter 7 NotesSuggestions for Project Work

There is a big difference between reading about research and actually carrying it out. Doing a small project gives you first-hand experience of the excitement as well as the difficulties of sociological research. The projects suggested in this chapter are meant only to give you a feel for research; a real project would be far more elaborate and time-consuming. You are free to think up your own ideas in consultation with your teachers. The chapter also asks you to revisit Chapter 5 of the Class XI textbook, Introducing Sociology, where research methods were discussed in detail.

• Practical research experience is valuable but different from textbook learning.
• Suggested projects are small-scale and flexible.
• Students may design their own projects with a teacher's guidance.

Every research question needs an appropriate method. A given question may be answered by more than one method, but a given method is not suitable for all questions. So the choice of method is usually limited. After specifying the research question, the researcher must select a method based on technical compatibility between question and method, as well as practical considerations such as time available, resources in terms of people and materials, and the circumstances in which the research has to be done. For example, to study whether students in single-sex schools are happier than those in co-educational schools, you could use interviews, direct observation or a survey — each with its own demands and limitations.

• Research question comes first; method comes next.
• Technical criteriadoes the method fit the question?
• Practical criteriatime, resources, circumstances.

Even a small project faces practical hurdles. If you decide to do a survey, you must make enough copies of the questionnaire, which takes time, effort and money. You may need permission from teachers to distribute it in classrooms, and permission may not come immediately. After distribution, many respondents may not return the questionnaire or may leave questions unanswered. You then have to decide how to deal with this: go back to respondents, ignore incomplete questionnaires, or use only the completed answers. Researchers must be prepared to handle such problems as part of the research process.

• Making copies of questionnaires costs time and money.
• Permissions may be delayed or refused.
• Incomplete responses need a clear decision on how to handle them.

A survey usually involves asking a relatively large number of people the same fixed set of questions. The questions may be read out by an investigator who notes down answers, or the questionnaire may be handed over for respondents to fill in themselves. The main advantage is that a survey can cover many people, so results can be truly representative of the relevant group or population. The disadvantage is that the questions are fixed in advance, so no on-the-spot adjustments are possible. If a question is misunderstood, wrong or misleading results may follow. Interesting replies cannot be followed up with further questions. Also, a survey is like a snapshot taken at one moment; it cannot capture how the situation may have been different before or may change later.

• Large number of respondents, same fixed questions.
• Advantagerepresentative coverage of a population.
• Disadvantagesno flexibility, risk of misunderstanding, snapshot in time.

An interview is always conducted in person and usually involves far fewer people — as few as 5, 20 or 40, and usually not much more. Interviews may be structured, following a pre-determined pattern of questions, or unstructured, where only a set of topics is pre-decided and the actual questions emerge as part of a conversation. They may be more or less intensive: one may interview a person for two to three hours or in repeated visits to get a detailed version of their story. The advantage is flexibility — promising topics can be pursued in greater detail, questions refined along the way, and clarifications sought. The disadvantage is that interviews cannot cover a large number of people and present only the views of a select group.

• Conducted in person; fewer respondents than a survey.
• Structuredfixed questions. Unstructured: topics guide a conversation.
• Advantageflexibility and depth. Disadvantage: limited coverage.

Observation requires the researcher to systematically watch and record what happens in a chosen context. This sounds simple but is not always easy. Careful attention must be paid without pre-judging what is relevant. Sometimes what does not happen is as important as what does: if a particular class or group never enters a public space, that absence is itself significant. Methods can also be combined to approach the same question from different angles, which is often highly recommended. For example, to study the changing place of mass media such as newspapers and television, a survey can show what is happening today while archival methods can reveal what magazines, newspapers or television programmes were like in the past.

• Observationsystematic watching and recording.
• Absence of an event or group can be as meaningful as presence.
• Combining methods gives a fuller picture — e.g., survey plus archival work.

The chapter suggests six broad themes, each of which must be narrowed into specific questions. Public transport: who depends on it, what problems are associated with it, how it has changed over time, and the history of a particular mode such as the tonga, rickshaw or train. Role of communication media in social life: changing place of mass media, shifts between print, radio and television, likes and dislikes of different groups, and content analysis of media coverage. Household appliances and domestic work: how devices such as stoves, mixies, washing machines and pressure cookers have changed household work and the division of labour. Use of public space: how open fields, footpaths and empty plots are used by vendors, homeless people, religious functions and others, and the conflicts this generates. Changing aspirations of different age groups: how goals change with age and whether patterns emerge across genders, schools and parental backgrounds. The 'biography' of a commodity: tracing the life-history, circuits of exchange and symbolic significance of a household item such as a television set, motorcycle or carpet.

• Public transport — dependence, problems, historical change.
• Communication media — formats, preferences, content analysis.
• Household appliances — domestic work and division of labour.
• Public space — multiple uses and conflicts.
• Changing aspirations — age, gender and background patterns.
• Biography of a commodity — production, trade, purchase and meaning.