A-Level Sociology (AQA)

Topic Summaries

Research methods

Qualitative methods

  • Qualitative methods provide detailed insight into meanings, motives, and experiences.
  • This method is favoured by interpretivists for validity.
  • For example, 👤 Oakley’s (1980) unstructured interviews on motherhood revealed hidden aspects of women’s lives.
    • Strength: rich detail, captures context.
    • Weakness: time-consuming, small samples, less reliable, researcher bias.

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