Mr Sociology

Surveys and Sampling Methods Surveys are used to collect primary data from large numbers of people, usually via questionnaires or structured interviews. Positivists prefer the survey method because it produces quantitative data in statistical form. The government often carry out surveys like the census, and other such as market researchers and election pollsters to find out how people intend to vote. Sociologists rarely have the time or funding to complete large scale surveys of the entire population, so they instead opt for a smaller group known as a sample . To achieve a representative sample, all the relevant characteristics of the whole group must be included (survey population).  For example, to get the voting intentions of women aged 30-40 in the UK, one woman aged in this range could be selected from every postcode in the UK, then the results of the study could be generalised to the wider population. It is very important for a sample to be representative , otherwise generali...

Experiments  Experiments are a main feature of scientific research in the natural sciences. A scientist will form and test a hypothesis often in laboratory experiments. Researchers will investigate the relationship between an independent variable (cause) and a dependent variable (effect), e.g. drinking alcohol causes you to perform poorly on the game 'operation'.  Positivists regard the experiment as a good form of research because of its scientific qualities including, - the research can control conditions and keep them high scientific (ruling out distracting variables) - experiments produce quantitative data - it is detached and objective. The researcher merely sets up the condition and records the results Problems with experiments in Sociology - Humans are complex beings and no two humans are exactly alike, therefore it is difficult to make conclusions like can be made in other sciences - Lab experiments only focus on small scale studies and cannot (should not) be generalis...

A huge part of being a psychologist involves conducting research - this often involves experiments along with a lot of other research methods. Let's begin with an experiment! Half of the class will write the following sentence on a piece of paper with their eyes open and the other half of the class will write it with their eyes closed. "I love psychology class. It is the best" The hypothesis will be; Students who write this sentence with their eyes open will produce neater handwriting than students who write this sentence with their eyes closed . Aims The aim of research is to develop a theory based on an idea, a question, thought, observation or prior knowledge. You may notice that some people's handwriting is worse when they are not fully concentrating on the page, or in the example from the book, that people become much more talkative after drinking a sugary drink. So, an aim is stating what we intend to investigate. Hypothesis What is a hypothesis? A hypothesis i...

Primary data refers to data that has been collected by the sociologists themselves from questionnaires, interviews, participant or non-participant observation. Secondary data refers to data that already exists that can include the research of other sociologists, journalists, official statistics, diaries, and official statistics (e.g. census). Qualitative data Qualitative data is data that is obtained from research methods such as unstructured interviews and it is made up content based on words rather than reducing answers to numbers.  Qualitative secondary data Qualitative secondary data can include media reports, novels, diaries, letters, autobiographies, historical documents, parish records, school records, previous sociological studies, police records and some official government reports.  Advantages of Qualitative secondary data - it can provide a valuable insight into life and information from the past - it can be useful for Sociologists to get an insight into the ideol...

Specification the theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research Influences on the choice of research topic and method It may not come as a shock to hear this, but most academic sociological researchers choose to research a topic for which they have a deep interest. It is often an area where they work, something that has affected them or something that they have experienced and wish to further research to develop knowledge to share.  Once the topic is chosen there are a range of factors to consider how best to go about researching the topic.  A useful way to remember the influences of choice of research topic and method is PET - Practical issues, Ethical Issues and Theoretical issues. Practical Issues - Accessibility - in some settings accessibility is easy. We are often approached in public places by people conducting surveys and happy to take random people from the street to do it. Other setting...

Drug Therapy As we saw in the biological explanation of OCD, the condition is associated with low levels of Serotonin, therefore the biological approach to treating OCD focuses on increasing the level of Serotonin in the brain. Snap question - what is serotonin? SSRI's SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor which is the standard prescribed medical treatment for OCD. SSRI's are a particular type of antidepressant drug and they are also used to treat other mental health conditions including depression. SSRI's work by preventing the reuptake of serotonin after it is released across the synapse. This ensures that more serotonin is absorbed by the postsynaptic neuron and ensures that more serotonin remains in the body system. The increased serotonin goes on to improve mood and regulate the amount of required serotonin to help the patient deal with OCD. There is a huge variety of SSRI drugs available and the impact on patients can vary, taking at least a month for...

Genetic explanations OCD is a mental disorder that has a large biological component to it. A study by Lewis (1936) found that of his patients, 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD. This shows a genetic link and indicates that OCD runs in families. OCD sufferers pass on the genetic vulnerability to children (not the certainty of OCD) and the condition is often triggered by a stressful or traumatic experience.  Researchers have identified the genes that create the genetic vulnerability for OCD - candidate genes . The first is the SERT gene which affects the transmission of serotonin back to the pre-synatpic neutron (re-uptake). People with this gene have lower levels of serotonin. The second is the COMT gene which regulate the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is evolved with the brains reward system. High levels of dopamine are are associated with compulsions: the simple repetitive behaviour are rewarding for the OCD suffers because they reliev...

DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistics manual for mental disorders) recognises OCJ and related conditions which include; OCD Trichotillamania Hoarding disorder Excoriation disorder Go to page 144 in the 'green haired' book for a definition of all of the above, or better still, type it into google and do some independent research! What is OCD?  OCD is a mental health condition where a suffer has recurring thoughts and repetitive behaviours that cannot be controlled. Behaviour characteristics of OCD (what we do) Compulsions are repetitive People with OCD feel compelled to repeat a behaviour, e.g. hand washing, turning off lights, arranging and ordering groups of objects. Compulsions reduce anxiety For the majority of OCD suffers the repetitive behaviour is performed in an effort to reduce anxiety, e.g. excessive hand washing in a response to an obsessive and irrational fear of germs. Avoidance People with OCD often avoid situations that can trigger their OCD. This avoidance then can co...

Specification the relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘social facts’ Lets get thinking with an activity. Each member of the class will come to the board and together we will collect one quantitative data in graph form. Each member will draw a block over the month of their birthday. I will get us started. It will eventually look like the graph below and in the end we will have a 2 axis graph showing us quantitative data related to the what month each member of the class was born.  It will look something like the graph below Lets follow this link to find some more interesting statistics -  https://bestlifeonline.com/crazy-statistics/ The main sociological research methods stem from two opposing theoretical approaches to the study of society. These approaches are called positivism and interpretivism. Both approaches use different methods of studying society and carrying out research. As a result they use different research metho...

Today we are going to keep it short and sweet.  Can Sociology be a science? This often comes up in exams and it is a topic that students struggle with so lets get straight to the point.  The case for 'yes' - Positivists like Durkheim and Comte believe Sociology can be a science and that society can be studied scientifically, applying methods from other sciences to the study of people. They believe that people are not free agents and their behaviour is influenced by external factors (e.g. the structures of society) and therefore their behaviour can be analysed and measured using methods from other sciences. - Positivists prefer to use pursue research methods that produce quantitative data such as statistics to observe and make conclusions from statistical trends, e.g. more crime is committed in working class areas. The case for 'no' - Interactionists claim that Sociology can not be a science because human behaviour is too diverse and unpredictable. Humans do not behave a...

AQA specification -  The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression: Beck’s negative triad and Ellis’s ABC model; cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), including challenging irrational thoughts. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Cognitive behaviour therapy is the most commonly used treatment for depression and other mental health issues.  The cognitive behaviour therapist will try to identify the clients irrational thoughts and challenge them to help the client see that they are being irrational and to try to turn irrational thoughts into rational ones with more positive feelings. Beck's Cognitive therapy This approach takes in Beck's theory of negative triad - negative thoughts about the world, the self and future. Once these thoughts are identified they must be challenged.  Thought catching - the therapist will train the client how to catch, identify and record automatic negative thoughts. Once identified, these thoughts can be recognised and challenged. As well a...

 The AQA Psychology spec for this segment requires you to be familiar with 2 theories; 1. Beck's negative triad 2. Ellis's ABC Model In order to make this an interesting task - it can be best to recap on behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of depression that we learned about in the previous lesson.  We saw that depression can lead to aggression, changed eating behaviour, low mood and low self esteem, poor concentration and a tendency to dwell on the negative. For homework, you can take one of the two theories mentioned above, read about it in your book on page 150 and draw a diagram or colourful mind map to help you remember and imbed the theory. You can present it to the class and explain any creative additions you included and why they help you remember the theory.  Beck's negative triad Beck looked at people's cognitions (the way they think) to explain depression and he came up with some interesting theories. Faulty Information Processing - this is ...

 Behavioural Characteristics of Depression - Low or reduced activity levels - Disruption to sleep and changed eating behaviour (eating more or less) - Aggression, agitation and self harm Emotional Characteristics of Depression - lowered mood, e.g.feeling sad, worthless - Anger - towards themselves or others - Lowered self-esteem - self loathing, dislike for yourself. Cognitive Characteristics of Depression - Poor concentration - unable to stick with a task or enjoy a book or film. This can interfere with a persons study or work - Dwelling on the negative - paying more attention to the negative events in life rather than the positive - Absolutist thinking - depressives tend to see things in black and white terms, all good or all bad. - suicidal thoughts

Systematic Desensitisation This is used to gradually reduce feelings of anxiety through classical conditioning. If a person can learn to relax in the presence of the phobic stimulus they are cured.  For example, if a person has a fear of snakes, they may firstly sit in the presence of images of snakes, then move on to a toy, then hold the toy, then watch a film, then visit the zoo, then hold a snake. There are three processes in systematic desensitisation. 1. The Anxiety hierarchy - this is when a therapist and client put together a list of anxiety provoking situations from least anxiety provoking to the most anxiety provoking 2. Relaxation - the therapist teaches the client to relax as much as possible. This can be done by focusing on slow breathing exercises and/or visualising clam scenes 3. Exposure - finally the client gets exposed to the stimulus in small steps while in relaxed state. The therapist and client then slowly move up the hierarchy with gradual exposure.  Watch...

Recap questions 1. What is a phobia? 2. What are the 3 categories of phobia according to DSM-5? 3. Name and explain some behavioural characteristics of phobias? The Two-process model Acquisition by Classical Conditioning Mowrer (1960) proposed the two-process model to explain behavioural characteristics of phobias. This model suggests that phobias are acquired (learned) through classical conditioning and then maintained because of operant conditioning. Classical conditioning means learning to associate a situation or a stimulus with which we initially had no associations/fears with something that we do fear.  The study of little Albert (Watson & Raynor 1920) best demonstrates this, where researchers gave Albert a phobia of white rats through classical conditioning. - Initially Albert had no fear of white rats and would play with them.  - Other times researchers would bang a metal pipe to make a loud noise to scare Albert and make him cry - They then would let Albert see th...

A phobia can be defined as an irrational fear of an object or situation. The DSM-5 recognises three categories of phobias (DSM-5 - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorder) - Specific Phobia - Social Phobia (Social anxiety) - Agoraphobia Specific Phobia This relates to a phobia of an object such as spiders, or a situation such as elevators or airplanes. Social Phobia This is a phobia of a public, social situation, like getting on a bus, public speaking, reading in class or using a public toilet Agoraphobia This is a phobia of being outside in a public place.  Behavioural Characteristics of Phobias Now is your chance to do some thinking and application.  Scenario - if you had a phobia or fear of something, what are you likely to do to deal with the feelings of fear that surround it? Let's say you have a fear of snakes and someone tells you there is a snake in their schoolbag. What would you do? Now lets go to page 140 in the Psychology to look at some behavioural ch...

Statistical Infrequency Question. Watch this video and decide if it is normal or abnormal. Defining Abnormality  According to statistics (numbers) any usual behaviour can be thought of as normal and any unusual behaviour is abnormal.  Some simple examples (fictional) - if most children aged 17 (80%) are in full time education then that is considered the norm. Those in the 20% category are outside the usual behaviour category and can be considered abnormal.  We sometimes look at graphs to depict these abnormalities.  Look at the graph below (and in your book) for IQ abnormalities. The light grey middle section shows the normal range where most people fit. Anything above or below it is considered abnormal. IQ is measured using psychometric intelligence tests and most people's score falls in around the average which is 100. Only 2% score below 70, so this is considered unusual, therefore - abnormal and people with a score of less than 70 are liable to be diagnosed with ...

 The Unconscious Sigmund Freud developed the psychodynamic approach. He believed that behaviour was determined by psychological factors rather than biological or environment.  He suggested that the part of the mind that we are aware of is just the tip of the iceberg as seen above and the rest of the mind is an unconscious storehouse of drives and impulses that impact our behaviour. As a result he assumed that our behaviour is largely driven by our unconscious. The Structure of Personality Freud saw the personality as divided into 3 parts; Id - this is the selfish, primitive part of the mind that gets what it wants. It operates on the pleasure principle and is a seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts. Babies are small bundles of Id - they cry a lot and demand food, sleep and attention. The Id in action - if a person is hungry, the Id demands food right there and then, regardless of the circumstances. Ego - The ego works on the reality principle and acts as mediator (...