Sociological Research Ethics

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Firstly, to conduct this research the ethics of the hypothesis and the research must be assessed. The British Sociological Association sets out guidelines and principles for the conduct of research carried out by sociologists. It is crucial when carrying out research that the participants should be offered the rights to refuse to take part in the research as well as gaining a form of tangible consent. There is also the opportunity when conducting an observation to offer the participants retrospective consent once they are aware they were being observed for a sociological study. Research should be legal to carry out, whilst keeping the identity of those involved confidential and be aware of any possible effects that taking part in this research …show more content…

Whilst a more structured interview may come under criticism for its lack of validity, there are several advantages to taking an unstructured approach to the interview process. Unstructured interviews allow for a more relaxed atmosphere allowing the interviewer to gain a rapport with the interviewee making it easier for them to share their own personal views with the interviewer. The flexibility offered by this method allows for the exploration of unfamiliar topics and the ability to make sure that the interviewee is clear on the meaning of the questions they are being asked and the answers they give. However, whilst the structure of the interview offers several advantages a survey cannot, they do present practical problems such as the time they take to complete and the small number of varied responses cannot be representative or quantified (Webb, …show more content…

The news may try to present facts related to single parents that may show them in a negative light, or a drama (such as a soap opera) may have a single parent character that is poor, aggressive and look down upon by the other characters for "not looking as good as everyone else" (Appendix vii) helps to reinforce the views of the other respondents. However, it is the response of the final interviewee that begins to somewhat take a deeper understanding of why the media portrays single parents as they do stating “In general, single parents get portrayed negatively but every so often single parents seems to be forced into a hero like or martyr roles. It’s normally a single mum battling a corrupt system or organisation and sometimes single dads for just being single dads. Generally, only lesser amounts of positive stories are a very fluff piece like. But as a demographic, they are portrayed as a drain on the system.” (Appendix ix). These results suggest that those who were interviewed believe that the media is somewhat responsible for the stigma that single parents face as the majority of the time they are negatively labelled supporting Hillary Land’s 1978 study 39 years

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