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The most common method of collecting primary information is survey, which consists of an oral or written address to the population of individuals (respondents) being studied with questions about the problem under study.
There are two main types of surveys: written (questionnaire) and oral (interviewing).
Questionnaire(questioning) consists of writing to respondents with a questionnaire (questionnaire) containing a set of questions ordered in a certain way.
The survey can be: face-to-face, when the questionnaire is filled out in the presence of a sociologist; by correspondence (mail and telephone survey, through the publication of questionnaires in the press, etc.); individual and group (when a sociologist works with a whole group of respondents at once).
Great importance is attached to the preparation of the questionnaire, since the objectivity and completeness of the information received largely depends on this. The respondent must fill it out independently according to the rules specified in the instructions. The logic of the arrangement of questions is determined by the objectives of the study, the conceptual model of the subject of study and the set of scientific hypotheses.
The questionnaire consists of four parts:
1) Introduction introduces the respondent to the content of the questionnaire, provides information about the purpose of the study and the rules for filling out the questionnaire;
2) The information part includes substantive questions.
Questions can be closed, offering a choice of one of the presented list of questions [for example, to the question “How do you evaluate P.’s activities as prime minister?” three answer options are given (positive; negative; difficult to answer), from which the respondent selects the appropriate one], and open ones, to which the respondent forms the answer himself (for example, “Where are you going to relax this summer?” Answers: “At the dacha,” “In sanatoriums”, “Abroad at a resort”, etc.).
There are also filter questions designed to identify individuals to whom special questions are addressed, and control questions asked to check the completeness and accuracy of answers to other questions.
Questions should be arranged in increasing degrees of difficulty.
This part of the questionnaire consists, as a rule, of content blocks devoted to any one topic. Filter questions and control questions are placed at the beginning of each block.
3) The classification part contains socio-demographic, professional and qualification information about respondents (for example, gender, age, profession, etc. - “report”).
4) The final part contains an expression of gratitude to the respondent for participating in the study.
The second type of survey is interviewing(from the English inter-view - conversation, meeting, exchange of opinions). An interview is a method of collecting sociological information, which consists in the fact that a specially trained interviewer, usually in direct contact with the respondent, orally asks questions provided for in the research program.
There are several types of interviews: standardized (formalized), which uses a questionnaire with a clearly defined order and wording of questions in order to obtain the most comparable data collected by different interviewers; undirected (free) interview, not regulated by the topic and form of the conversation; personal and group interviews; semi-formalized; indirect, etc.
Another type of survey is an expert survey, in which the respondents are specialist experts in some activity.
The next important method of collecting information is observation. This is a method of collecting primary information by directly recording by the researcher events, phenomena and processes taking place under certain conditions. When conducting observations, various forms and methods of registration are used: a form or observation diary, photo, film, video equipment, etc. At the same time, the sociologist records the number of manifestations of behavioral reactions (for example, exclamations of approval and disapproval, questions to the speaker, etc.). A distinction is made between participant observation, in which the researcher receives information while being an actual participant in the group being studied in the process of a certain activity, and non-participant observation, in which the researcher receives information while outside the group and group activity; field and laboratory observation (experimental); standardized (formalized) and non-standardized (unformalized); systematic and random.
Primary sociological information can also be obtained by analyzing documents. Document analysis– a method of collecting primary data in which documents are used as the main source of information. The documents are official and unofficial documents, personal documents, diaries, letters, press, literature, etc., appearing in the form of written, printed records, recordings on film and photographic film, magnetic tape, etc. Methods for qualitative and quantitative analysis of documents have been developed. Among them, noteworthy is the biographical method, or the method of analyzing personal documents, and content analysis, which is a formalized method for studying the content of consistently repeating semantic units of text (titles, concepts, names, judgments, etc.).
A huge number of sociological problems are associated with the study of processes occurring in small groups (teams, families, departments of companies, etc.). When studying small groups, various studies of small groups are used to describe the system of interpersonal relationships between their members. The technique of such research (a survey regarding the presence, intensity and desirability of various types of contacts and joint activities) allows us to record how objective relationships are reproduced and assessed by people who remember the different positions of individuals in a given group. Based on the data obtained, sociograms are constructed, which reflect the “subjective dimension” of relations in the group. This method was proposed by the American social psychologist J. Moreno and is called sociometry.
And finally, another method of data collection is experiment– a method of studying social phenomena and processes, carried out by observing changes in a social object under the influence of factors that influence its development in accordance with the program and practical goals of the study. A full-scale (or field) experiment can be carried out, which involves the intervention of the experimenter in the natural course of events, and a thought experiment - manipulation with information about real objects without interfering with the actual course of events.
The development of the research program is completed by drawing up research work plan, constituting the organizational section of the programs. The work plan contains the calendar timeframe for the study (network schedule), provision of material and human resources, the procedure for providing pilot research, methods for collecting primary data, the procedure and provision of field observation and provision of preparations for processing and processing of primary data, as well as their analysis, interpretation and presentation results.
By drawing up a work plan, the first (preparatory) stage of the study ends and the second, the main (field) stage, begins, the content of which is the collection of primary social information.
2. Processing and analysis of sociological research results
The final stage of sociological research includes processing, interpretation and analysis of data, construction of empirically verified and substantiated generalizations, conclusions, recommendations and projects. The processing stage is divided into several stages:
- editing information - checking, unifying and formalizing the information obtained during the research. At the stage of preliminary preparation for processing, methodological tools are checked for accuracy, completeness and quality of completion, and poorly completed questionnaires are rejected;
- coding - translation of data into the language of formalized processing and analysis by creating variables. Coding is a link between qualitative and quantitative information, characterized by numerical operations with information entered into the computer memory. If during encoding there is a failure, replacement or loss of the code, the information will be incorrect;
- statistical analysis - identifying certain statistical patterns and dependencies that give the sociologist the opportunity to make certain generalizations and conclusions;
- interpretation - the transformation of sociological data into indicators that are not just numerical values, but certain sociological data correlated with the goals and objectives of the researcher, his knowledge, experience.
The analysis of information material differs depending on what kind of research is being conducted - qualitative or quantitative. In qualitative research, analysis usually begins during the data collection phase as the researcher makes comments in her field notes, notes ideas discussed, and so on. During the analysis period, the researcher sometimes has to return to collecting data again if it turned out to be insufficient or to check the correctness of the hypotheses put forward. In qualitative analysis, the researcher faces the problem of maintaining a balance between description and interpretation (it is important to give as complete as possible, as close to reality as possible, an idea of the observed phenomenon, but avoid unnecessary comments), the correct relationship between his interpretations and how the situation is perceived and understood participants (it is important to fully facilitate the transfer of the perception of reality by the actors themselves and avoid justifying or diagnosing their behavior, to purely reproduce the opinions of the actors, but it is equally important to preserve those aspects of the phenomenon being studied that are subject only to analytical construction). Quantitative analysis deals with the concepts of variables influencing each other. When collecting, processing, analyzing, modeling and comparing the results of different studies, a set of methods and models of applied mathematical statistics is used. The first group includes the sampling method, descriptive statistics, analysis of relationships and dependencies, the theory of statistical inferences, estimates and criteria, planning of experiments, the second group includes a number of methods of multivariable statistics, various scaling methods, taxonomic procedures, correlation, factor, causal analysis, as well as a large group of statistical models.
Basic procedures of sociological measurement.
Measurement is the procedure of superimposing objects of measurement (relative to properties and relationships between them) on a certain numerical system with corresponding relationships between numbers, which in sociological research are called scales.
A scale is a representation of an empirically arbitrary system with relations in a numerical system consisting of the set of all real numbers. A nominal scale is a scale of names that includes a list of qualitative objective characteristics of the respondent (gender, nationality, education, social status) or opinions, attitudes, assessments. An ordered nominal scale (or Guttman scale) is designed to measure the subjective attitude towards an object, the subject’s attitudes. This scale has such important advantages as cumulativeness and reproduction. The rank scale includes a ranked distribution of responses in order of decreasing or increasing intensity of the characteristic being studied. An interval scale is a type of scale determined by the difference (intervals) between the ordered manifestations of the social object being studied, expressed in points or numerical values. Each scale allows only certain operations between symbols (sign indicators) and the calculation of only a specific set of statistical characteristics.
Working out a scalegram has its own procedure: an experimental group (about 50 people) is selected, which is asked to express its opinion on judgments that supposedly form a continuum. The highest score on the scale is determined by summing the scores for each answer. The survey data from the experimental group is arranged in the form of a matrix so as to order the respondents by the number of points scored from highest to lowest. The sign “+” means a favorable attitude towards the object of evaluation, “-” - an unfavorable one.
Analysis and synthesis.
There are qualitative and quantitative types of mass media analysis. Quality types include:
- functional analysis aimed at identifying stable invariant connections of an object;
- structural analysis associated with identifying the internal elements of objects and the way they are combined;
- system analysis, which is a holistic study of an object.
Quantitative (statistical) analysis of information includes a set of statistical methods for processing, comparison, classification, modeling and evaluation of data obtained as a result of sociological research. Based on the nature of the problems being solved and the mathematical apparatus used, methods of statistical analysis are divided into four main groups:
1) univariate statistical analysis - makes it possible to analyze the empirical distribution of characteristics measured in a sociological study. In this case, the variances and arithmetic means of the characteristics are isolated, the frequencies of occurrence of various gradations of the characteristics are determined;
2) analysis of contingency and correlation of characteristics - involves the use of a set of statistical methods associated with the calculation of pairwise correlations between characteristics measured in quantitative scales, and analysis of contingency tables for qualitative characteristics;
3) testing of statistical hypotheses - allows you to confirm or refute a certain statistical hypothesis, usually associated with the substantive conclusion of the study;
4) multivariate statistical analysis - allows you to analyze the quantitative dependencies of individual substantive aspects of the object under study on many of its characteristics.
A contingency table of characteristics is a form of presenting data about objects of sociological research based on grouping two or more characteristics according to the principle of their compatibility. It can only be visualized as a set of two-dimensional slices. The contingency table allows you to conduct a gradation analysis of the influence of any characteristic on others and a visual express analysis of the mutual influence of two characteristics. Contingency tables formed by two characteristics are called two-dimensional. Most communication measures have been developed for them; they are more convenient for analysis and give correct and significant results. The analysis of multidimensional contingency tables of characteristics mainly consists of the analysis of its constituent marginal two-dimensional tables. Contingency tables of characteristics are filled with data on the frequencies of co-occurrence of characteristics, expressed in absolute or percentage terms.
There are two main classes of statistical conclusions that are made when analyzing contingency tables: testing the hypothesis about the independence of characteristics and testing the hypothesis about the relationship between characteristics.
Statistical analysis methods include:
- analysis of average values;
- variation (dispersion) analysis;
- study of fluctuations of a sign relative to its average value;
- cluster (taxonomic) analysis - classification of characteristics and objects in the absence of preliminary or expert data on the grouping of information;
- loglinear analysis - search and assessment of relationships in the table, concise description of tabular data;
- correlation analysis - establishing dependencies between characteristics;
- factor analysis - multidimensional statistical analysis of characteristics, establishment of internal relationships between characteristics;
- regression analysis - the study of changes in the values of the resulting characteristic depending on changes in the characteristic factors;
- latent analysis - identifying hidden features of an object;
- discriminant analysis - assessment of the quality of expert classification of objects of sociological research.
The study is considered complete when the results are presented. In accordance with the purpose of the study, they take different forms: oral, written, using photographs and sound; can be short and concise or lengthy and detailed; compiled for a narrow circle of specialists or for the general public.
The final stage of the sociological research consists of preparing a final report and subsequently submitting it to the customer. The structure of the report is determined by the type of research conducted (theoretical or applied) and corresponds to the logic of operationalization of basic concepts. If the research is theoretical in nature, then the report focuses on the scientific formulation of the problem, substantiation of the methodological principles of the research, and theoretical interpretation of concepts. Then the rationale for constructing the sample used is given and - certainly in the form of an independent section - a conceptual analysis of the results obtained is carried out, and at the end of the report specific conclusions, possible practical results and methods for their implementation are outlined. The applied research report focuses on solving problems posed by practice and proposed by the customer. The structure of such a report must include a description of the object and subject of the study, the objectives of the study, and justification for the sample. The main emphasis is on formulating practical conclusions and recommendations and real possibilities for their implementation.
The number of sections in the report, as a rule, corresponds to the number of hypotheses formulated in the research program. Initially, the answer to the main hypothesis is given. The first section of the report contains a brief rationale for the relevance of the sociological problem being studied and a description of the research parameters. The second section describes the socio-demographic characteristics of the research object. Subsequent sections include answers to the hypotheses put forward in the program. The conclusion provides practical recommendations based on general conclusions. An appendix must be made to the report containing all the methodological and methodological documents of the study: statistical tables, diagrams, graphs, tools. They can be used in preparing a new research program.
4. interpretation.
In order to use the sociological data obtained during the study, they must be correctly interpreted. In sociology, the term “interpretation” (from the Latin interpretatio) is used in the sense of interpretation, explanation, translation into a more understandable form of expression. Interpretation of the data obtained requires deep knowledge of the object of study, high professionalism and experience, the ability to analyze and summarize extensive empirical information, often of a mosaic nature, to give an objective interpretation of the identified phenomena and process.
At the interpretation stage, along with justification of representativeness, the sociologist needs to “translate” the received data into indicators (percentages, coefficients, indices, etc.). The resulting quantitative values acquire semantic meaning and sociological significance only by correlating them with the intentions of the researcher, the purpose and objectives of the study, that is, they are transformed into indicators of social processes.
At the interpretation stage, the degree of confirmation of the proposed research hypotheses is assessed. It must be remembered that any numbers and sociological quantitative indicators have the possibility of different interpretations, sometimes diametrically opposed. Hence the possibility of their different interpretations. Depending on the position of the researcher, his official position and departmental affiliation, the same indicators can be interpreted as positive, negative or not expressing any trend.
When interpreting the results of a sociological study, it is important to correctly select evaluation criteria, that is, signs by which the level of development of the social phenomenon or process under study is judged. An error in choosing a criterion may lead to an erroneous interpretation of the results obtained.
For example, K. Marx considered class struggle as a universal criterion for the evolution of society.
D. Moreno argued that the true structure of society cannot be discovered without trying to modify it at the interpersonal level. But it is obvious that not everything that “works” in a small group can be extended to the whole society.
From the point of view of modern sociology, such criteria can be: social, economic interests and legal guarantees for their protection.
Interpretation also includes understanding and clarification of terminology, interpretation of additionally involved information, i.e. is a kind of qualitative analysis of the data obtained. It includes such forms of analysis as typology, ranking, modeling.
One of the main ways of interpretation is to correlate data.
Topic 5. Society as a social system.
1. sociological analysis
2. modern approaches to understanding society. Typology of societies.
3. social-historical determinism. Social action. Social connections.
1. sociological analysis of society assumes a multi-level nature. The model of social reality can be presented at least at two levels: macro- and microsociological.
Macrosociology focuses on behavioral patterns that help understand the essence of any society. These models, which can be called structures, include social institutions such as family, education, religion, as well as political and economic systems. On macrosociological level society is understood as a relatively stable system of social connections and relationships of both large and small groups of people, determined in the process of historical development of mankind, supported by the power of custom, tradition, law, social institutions, etc. (civil society), based on a certain method of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and spiritual goods.
Microsociological level analysis is the study of microsystems (circles of interpersonal communication) that make up a person’s immediate social environment. These are systems of emotionally charged connections between an individual and other people. Various clusters of such connections form small groups, the members of which are connected with each other by positive attitudes and separated from others by hostility and indifference. Researchers working at this level believe that social phenomena can be understood only on the basis of an analysis of the meanings that people attach to these phenomena when interacting with each other. The main topic of their research is the behavior of individuals, their actions, motives, meanings that determine the interaction between people, which in turn affects the stability of society or the changes occurring in it.
2. The entire history of sociological thought is the history of the search for scientific approaches and methods for constructing a theory of society. This is the history of theoretical ups and downs. It was accompanied by the development of various conceptual approaches to the category “society”.
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle understood society as a set of groups, the interaction of which is regulated by certain norms and rules; the 18th century French scientist Saint-Simon believed that society is a huge workshop designed to exercise human domination over nature. For the thinker of the first half of the 19th century, Proudhon is a set of contradictory groups, classes, carrying out collective efforts to realize the problems of justice. The founder of sociology, Auguste Comte, defined society as a twofold reality: 1) as the result of the organic development of moral feelings that bind together a family, a people, a nation, and finally all of humanity; 2) as an automatically operating “mechanism” consisting of interconnected parts, elements, “atoms”, etc.
Among modern concepts of society stands out "atomic" theory, according to which society is understood as a set of acting individuals and relationships between them. Its author is J. Davis. He wrote:
“The whole of society can ultimately be represented as a light web of interpersonal feelings and attitudes. Each given person can be represented as sitting at the center of the web he has woven, connected directly to a few others, and indirectly to the whole world.”
The extreme expression of this concept was the theory of G. Simmel. He believed that society is the interaction of individuals. Social interaction- this is any behavior of an individual, a group of individuals, or society as a whole, both at a given moment and during a certain period of time. This category expresses the nature and content of relations between people and social groups as permanent carriers of qualitatively different types of activities. The consequence of such interaction is social connections. Social connections- these are connections and interactions of individuals pursuing certain goals in specific conditions of place and time. At the same time, this idea of society as a cluster of social connections and interactions only to a certain extent corresponds to the sociological approach.
The main provisions of this concept were further developed in "network" theory of society This theory places the main emphasis on acting individuals who make socially significant decisions in isolation from each other. This theory and its variants place the personal attributes of acting individuals in the center of attention when explaining the essence of society
In theories of "social groups" society is interpreted as a collection of different overlapping groups of people who are varieties of one dominant group. In this sense, we can talk about popular society, which means all kinds of groups and aggregates existing within one people or Catholic community. If in “atomistic” or “network” concepts an essential component in the definition of society is the type of relationship, then in “group” theories it is groups of people. Considering society as the most general collection of people, the authors of this concept identify the concept of “society” with the concept of “humanity” ".
In sociology, there are two main competing approaches to the study of society: functionalist and conflictological. The theoretical framework of modern functionalism consists of five main theoretical positions.
1) society is a system of parts united into a single whole;
2) social systems remain stable because they have internal control mechanisms such as law enforcement agencies and the court;
3) dysfunctions (developmental deviations), of course, exist, but they can be overcome on their own;
4) changes are usually gradual, but not revolutionary:
5) social integration or the feeling that society is a strong fabric woven from various threads, formed on the basis of the agreement of the majority of citizens of the country to follow a single system of values.
The conflictological approach was formed on the basis of the works of K. Marx, who believed that class conflict is at the very basis of society. Thus, society is an arena of constant struggle between hostile classes, thanks to which its development occurs.
Typology of societies.
Several types of society, united by similar features and criteria, form a typology.
T. Parsons, based on the methodology of systemic functionalism, proposed the following typology of societies:
1) primitive societies - social differentiation is weakly expressed.
2) intermediate societies - the emergence of writing, stratification, the separation of culture into an independent area of life activity.
3) modern societies - separation of the legal system from the religious one, the presence of an administrative bureaucracy, a market economy, and a democratic electoral system.
In sociological science, a common typology of societies is pre-literate (those who can speak, but cannot write) and literate (those with an alphabet and recording sounds in material media).
According to the level of management and the degree of social stratification (differentiation), societies are divided into simple and complex.
The next approach, called formational, belongs to K. Marx (the criteria are the method of production and the form of ownership). Here we distinguish between primitive society, slaveholding, feudal, and capitalist.
Socio-political sciences distinguish pre-civil and civil societies. The latter represent a highly developed community of people that has a sovereign right to life, self-government and exercises control over the state. The specific features of civil society, in comparison with pre-civil society, are the activities of free associations, social institutions, social movements, the possibility of realizing the rights and freedoms of the individual, its security, and the independence of business entities. The economic basis of civil society is made up of various forms of ownership.
Another typology belongs to D. Bell. In the history of mankind he highlights:
1. Pre-industrial (traditional) societies. Characteristic factors for them are the agricultural structure, low rates of production development, strict regulation of people's behavior by customs and traditions. The main institutions in them are the army and the church.
2. Industrial societies, for which the main features are industry with a corporation and a firm at the head, social mobility (mobility) of individuals and groups, urbanization of the population, division and specialization of labor.
3. Post-industrial societies. Their emergence is associated with structural changes in the economy and culture of the most developed countries. In such a society, the value and role of knowledge, information, intellectual capital, as well as universities as the place of their production and concentration, sharply increases. There is a superiority of the service sector over the production sector, the class division is giving way to a professional one.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the determining factor in the socio-economic development of Western society was the transition from the economy of things to the economy of knowledge, which is due to the increasing role of social information and information and communication technologies in the management of all spheres of society. Information processes are becoming the most important component of all processes of economic, social and political activity of society and the state. Therefore, the term “information society” appears in the social sciences, its essential characteristics, social and spiritual consequences of development are developed. The founders of the theory of the information society are Y. Haashi, T. Umesao, F. Machlup. Among researchers of the role of social information in modern society, there has not been a unified approach to the term “information society”. Some authors believe that information societies have recently emerged with characteristic features that significantly distinguish them from those that existed in the past (D. Bell, M. Castells, etc.). Other researchers, recognizing that information in the modern world has acquired key importance, believe that the main feature of the present is its continuity with respect to the past, consider informatization as one of the non-main characteristics of the stability of social systems, as a continuation of previously established relationships (G. Schiller, E. Giddens , J. Habermas, etc.).
3. The identification of functional subsystems raised the question of their deterministic (cause-and-effect) relationship. In other words, the question is. which subsystem determines the appearance of society as a whole. Determinism is the doctrine of the objective, natural relationship and interdependence of all phenomena in nature and society. The original principle of determinism goes like this. all things and events of the surrounding world are in the most diverse connections and relationships with each other.
However, there is no unity among sociologists on the question of what determines the appearance of society as a whole. K. Marx, for example, gave preference to the economic subsystem (economic determinism). Supporters
Technological determinism sees the determining factor of social life in the development of technology and technology. Supporters of cultural determinism believe that the basis of society is made up of generally accepted systems of values and norms, the observance of which ensures the stability and uniqueness of society. Supporters of biological determinism argue that all social phenomena must be explained based on the biological or genetic characteristics of people.
If we approach society from the standpoint of studying the patterns of interaction between society and man, economic and social factors, then the corresponding theory can be called the theory of socio-historical determinism. Socio-historical determinism is one of the basic principles of sociology, expressing the universal interconnection and interdependence of social phenomena. Just as society produces man, so man produces society. In contrast to the lower animals, he is the product of his own spiritual and material activity. A person is not only an object, but also a subject of social action.
Social action is the simplest unit of social activity. This concept was developed and introduced into scientific circulation by M. Weber to denote the action of an individual consciously oriented towards the past, present or future behavior of other people.
The essence of social life lies in practical human activity. Man carries out his activities through historically established types and forms of interaction and relationships with other people. Therefore, no matter what sphere of social life his activity is carried out, it always has not an individual, but a social character. Social activity is a set of socially significant actions. carried out by a subject (society, group, individual) in various spheres and at various levels of social organization of society, pursuing certain social goals and interests and using various means to achieve them - economic, social, political and ideological.
History and social relations do not exist and cannot exist in isolation from activity. Social activity, on the one hand, is carried out according to objective laws that are independent of the will and consciousness of people, and on the other hand, it involves people who, in accordance with their social status, choose different ways and means of its implementation.
The main feature of socio-historical determinism is that its object is the activity of people, who at the same time act as the subject of activity. Thus, social laws are the laws of the practical activities of the people who form society, the laws of their own social actions.
The concept of “social action (activity)” is peculiar only to man as a social being and occupies one of the most important places in the science of “sociology”.
Every human action is a manifestation of his energy, prompted by a certain need (interest), which gives rise to a goal for their satisfaction. In an effort to achieve a goal more effectively, a person analyzes the situation and looks for the most rational ways to ensure success. And what is especially important is that he acts self-interestedly, that is, he looks at everything through the prism of his interest. Living in a society of people like themselves, who respectively have their own interests, the subject of activity must take them into account, coordinate, comprehend, focus on them: who, what, how, when, how much, etc. In this case action takes on character social actions, i.e. characteristic features of social action (activity) are comprehension and orientation towards the interests of others, their capabilities, options and consequences of disagreements. Otherwise, life in a given society will become uncoordinated, and the struggle of all against all will begin. Due to the enormous importance of the issue of social activity for the life of society, it was considered by such famous sociologists as K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons and others.
From the point of view of K. Marx, the only social substance, creating man and its essential forces, and thereby society as a system of interaction between many individuals and their groups, is active human activity in all its spheres, primarily in production and labor. According to Marx, it is in social activity that the development and self-development of man, his essential powers, abilities and spiritual world occur.
M. Weber made a very significant contribution to the interpretation of activity with his theory of “social action.” According to it, an action becomes social when it:
§ is meaningful, i.e., aimed at achieving goals clearly understood by the individual himself;
§ consciously motivated, and the motive is a certain semantic unity that appears to the actor or observer as a worthy reason for a certain action;
§ socially meaningful and socially oriented towards interaction with other people.
M. Weber proposed a typology of social actions. In the first case, a person acts according to the principle “the best means are those that help to achieve the goal.” According to M. Weber, this purposeful type of action. In the second case, a person tries to determine how good the means that are at his disposal are, whether they can harm other people, etc. In this case, they talk about value-rational type of action (this term was also proposed by M. Weber). Such actions are determined by what the subject must do.
In the third case, a person will be guided by the principle “everyone does this”, and therefore, according to Weber, his action will be traditional, i.e. its action will be determined by the social norm.
Finally, a person can take action and choose means under the pressure of feelings. Weber called such actions affective.
Social connection it is not just a set of various kinds of relationships and dependencies, it is an organized system of relationships, institutions and means of social control that unite individuals, subgroups and other constituent elements into a functional whole capable of sustainability and development. The establishment of a social connection does not depend on the personal characteristics of the individual; it is objective. Their establishment is determined by the social conditions in which individuals live and act, and the essence of these connections is manifested in the content and nature of people’s actions.
Topic 5. The concept of a social institution. Institutionalization as a form of life organization.
1. institutionalization of public life.
2. The state as a basic socio-political institution. Civil society.
3. Family in the system of social institutions of society.
4. Religion as a social institution.
5. social organizations, associations. Bureaucracy as a model of organizing people.
1. Social institutions (from Latin institutum - establishment, establishment) --
these are historically established stable forms of organizing joint
activities of people. The term "social institution" is used in the most
various meanings. They talk about the institution of family, the institution of education,
healthcare, state institution, etc. First, most often
the used meaning of the term “social institution” is associated with
characteristic of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization
public relations and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and
standardization is called institutionalization
Institutionalization is the replacement of spontaneous and experimental behavior with predictable behavior that is expected, modeled, and regulated.
Institutionalization is the replacement of spontaneous and experimental behavior with predictable behavior that is expected, modeled, and regulated. Thus, the pre-institutional phase of a social movement is characterized by spontaneous protests and speeches, disorderly behavior. The leaders of the movement appear for a short period of time and then are displaced; their appearance depends mainly on energetic calls. Every day a new adventure is possible, every meeting is characterized by an unpredictable sequence of emotional events in which a person cannot imagine what he will do next. When institutional moments appear in a social movement, the formation of certain rules and norms of behavior begins, shared by the majority of its followers. A place for a gathering or meeting is designated, and clear regulations for speeches are determined; Each participant is given instructions on how to behave in a given situation. These norms and rules are gradually accepted and become taken for granted. At the same time, a system of social statuses and roles begins to take shape. Stable leaders appear, who are formalized according to the accepted procedure (for example, elected or appointed). In addition, each participant in the movement has a certain status and performs a corresponding role: he can be a member of an organizational activist, be part of leader support groups, be an agitator or ideologist, etc. Excitement gradually weakens under the influence of certain norms, and the behavior of each participant becomes standardized and predictable. The prerequisites for organized joint action are emerging. As a result, the social movement becomes more or less institutionalized. The process of institutionalization, i.e. the formation of a social institution consists of several successive stages: 1. the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions; 2. formation of common goals; 3. the emergence of social norms and rules in the course of spontaneous social interaction carried out by trial and error; 4. the emergence of procedures related to norms and regulations; 5. institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, i.e. their acceptance, practical application; 6. establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, differentiation of their application in individual cases; 7. creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute without exception. So, the final stage of the institutionalization process can be considered the creation, in accordance with the norms and rules, of a clear status-role structure, socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process. Without institutionalization, without social institutions, no modern society can exist. That is why chaotic quarrels and fights turn into highly formalized sports matches, curiosity, the desire to know the truth - into ordered scientific research, promiscuous sex life - into a strong family. Institutions are thus symbols of order and organization in society.
2. The state acts as the main means of exercising political power in society, therefore it is the central institution of the political system. The very concept of “state” is used in two main meanings: in a narrow sense, the term denotes the institution of domination of some social groups over others, opposed to the entire society; in a broad sense - a state-formed social community, a civil union.
Thus, the state acts as a system of organs of society that ensures the organized internal legal life of the people as a whole, protects the rights of its citizens, carries out the normal functioning of the institutions of power (legislative, executive and judicial), controls its territory, protects the population of the country from external threats, guarantees the fulfillment of obligations to other states, preserves the natural environment and cultural values, contributing to the survival of society and its progress.
The historical significance of the state for the formation and development of civilization was determined by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, the author of the famous political and philosophical treatise “Leviathan, or Matter, the Form and Power of the Church and Civil State.” He wrote: “Outside the state, the rule of passions, war, fear, poverty, abomination, loneliness, savagery, ignorance, bestiality; in the state - the rule of reason, peace, security, bliss, splendor, society, sophistication, knowledge, favor.”
The following main features of the state are distinguished:
The separation of public power from society, its discrepancy with the organization of the entire population, the emergence of a layer of professional managers;
The territory delineating the borders of the state;
The prerogative to issue generally binding regulations (laws, decrees, etc.);
Sovereignty, i.e. political independence and independence of the state in internal and external political activities;
The right to collect taxes and fees from the population;
Monopoly on the legal use of force and physical coercion against the population.
In society, the state performs certain functions that characterize the main directions of its activities, expressing the essence and social purpose of public administration of society, namely:
Internal (protection of the existing mode of production, regulation of economic activities and social relations; protection of public order and cultural and educational activities);
External (protection of the interests of the state in the international arena; ensuring the defense of the country, or military and political expansion in relation to other states; development of normal relations with other countries, mutually beneficial cooperation; participation in solving global problems; development of various forms of integration and participation in the international division of labor) .
Family- a social group based on family ties (by marriage, by blood). Family members are connected by a common life, mutual assistance, moral and legal responsibility.
· in form (open and closed, direct and indirect);
A closed question is one in which a full set of answer options is given in advance. The types of such questions are alternative and non-alternative. An alternative question allows the respondent to choose only one answer option. Non-alternative questions allow the respondent to select several answer options.
Open questions do not contain hints and do not force answer options on the respondent. Open questions provide an opportunity to express an opinion in full and in great detail. It is with the help of such questions that you can collect information that is more complete in content than when using closed questions.
When the questionnaire questions require the respondent to have a critical attitude towards himself, the people around him, and an assessment of negative phenomena, the researcher uses the questions in an indirect form. When constructing such questions, they proceed from the assumption that, when answering them, respondents rely on their own experience, but report it in an indifferent form, which removes the severity of critical assessments characteristic of first-person statements.
· by function (main and non-main)
The main questions of the questionnaire are aimed at collecting information about the content of the phenomenon under study. Non-basic - to identify the addressee of the main question (filter questions), checking the sincerity of answers (control questions).
1.2 MAIL SURVEY
A postal survey is a type of questionnaire. It can be rightfully considered as an effective method of collecting primary information. In its most general form, it consists of sending out questionnaires and receiving postal responses to them. An important advantage of a mail survey is its ease of organization. The advantages of the method include the fact that it allows you to simultaneously conduct a survey over a large area, including in hard-to-reach areas. Another advantage of this method of collecting information is that the questionnaire is filled out only by the respondent. Thus, there is no contact between the respondent and the questionnaire, and, consequently, a psychological barrier, sometimes observed during an individual survey.
Another positive feature of a postal survey is the ability of the respondent to choose a time that is convenient for him to fill out the questionnaire.
Disadvantages of postal surveys include incomplete return of questionnaires.
Begin the survey with easy questions that are interesting in content. Questions that are similar in content are formed into blocks. There is some negative relationship between the volume of questionnaires and their return rate. However, it may be more advisable to increase the respondent’s interest in the questionnaire by using a number of additional questions rather than shortening it. It is recommended to print the questionnaire in a printing house and use an attractive title and design.
Simultaneously with the mailing of the questionnaires, a covering letter is sent in the same envelope, where, addressing the respondent by name and patronymic or surname, they repeat the request to participate in the postal survey, detail the goals of the study, emphasize its practical orientation, and provide the address and telephone number of the research organization. An envelope with a return address printed on it is also sent along with the questionnaire, in which the respondent will return the completed questionnaire to the researcher.
Reminders are sent approximately 2-3 weeks after submitting the questionnaires.
1.3PRESS SURVEY
A type of postal survey is a press survey. In this case, the questionnaire is printed in a newspaper or magazine. Let us indicate two types of such a survey. One is when the editors turn to a survey in order to obtain data about their readers and their opinions about the work of this publication. The second is when opinions on some current issue are studied through a printed publication.
Due to the passivity of the procedure for involving potential respondents in a press survey, the return of questionnaires is low.
The decisive factors in the formation of the final sample population, that is, the array of respondents with which the sociologist deals, are the topic of research, the design and design of the press questionnaire, and the specifics of the time of publication.
1.4INTERVIEW
Another type of survey method is interviews.
When interviewing, contact between the researcher and the respondent is carried out with the help of an interviewer, who asks questions provided by the researcher, organizes and directs the conversation with each individual and records the answers received according to the instructions.
To obtain the same amount of information when researching the interview method, the researcher must spend more time and money than when using a questionnaire.
In applied sociology, there are three types of interviews:
· formalized;
In this case, communication between the interviewer and the respondent is strictly regulated by the developed questionnaire and instructions intended for the interviewer. Closed questions usually predominate. In interviews with open-ended questions, there is a slightly lesser degree of standardization of the behavior of the respondent and the interviewer.
· focused;
Its purpose is to collect opinions and assessments about a specific situation, phenomenon, consequences, causes. Respondents are introduced to the subject of the conversation in advance.
· free.
It is used in cases where the researcher is just beginning to define the research problem and clarifies its specific content. A free interview is conducted without a pre-prepared questionnaire or a developed conversation plan. Groups of respondents are usually small, and their answers are recorded with maximum accuracy.
CHAPTER 2. OBSERVATION METHOD
If data about the process under study, about the activities of individuals, groups, and collectives must be “cleaned” as much as possible from the rational, emotional and other properties of the respondent, then they resort to such information as observation.
The most important advantage of observation is that it is carried out simultaneously with the development of the phenomena and processes being studied. It becomes possible to directly perceive people's behavior in specific conditions and in real time.
The disadvantages of the method can be reduced to two groups:
· objective (independent of the observer);
This includes, first of all, the limited, fundamentally private nature of each observed situation. Therefore, the findings can only be generalized and extended to broader situations with caution and with many requirements. We also note the high complexity of the method. Observation often involves the participation of a large number of fairly highly qualified people in the collection of primary information.
· subjective (related to the personal and professional characteristics of the observer).
The quality of primary information may be influenced by the difference in the social status of the observer and the observed, the dissimilarity of their interests, value orientations, behavioral stereotypes, and so on. The quality of information is also affected by the attitudes of the observed and the observer. If the observed know that they are the object of study, they can artificially change the nature of their actions, adapting to what, in their opinion, the observer would like to see. In turn, the observer’s having a certain expectation regarding the behavior of those being observed can form a specific point of view on what is happening.
There is an approximate list of significant elements characteristic of all observed situations. Based on them, the program and scientific and organizational plan of observation are specified. This list includes:
a) observable - the number of people participating in the situation, the socio-demographic structure of the group, the nature of the relationships in it, the distribution of roles between the participants in the situation;
b) setting - the location of the observed situation, typical social behavior for this place, possible deviations in the behavior of participants in the observed group;
c) the purpose of the group’s activity - the observed situation is random or natural, the presence of certain formal or informal goals for which the group gathered; the goals of various participants in the situation are compatible or opposite;
d) social behavior - the nature of the activity of the observed group, the incentives for the activity, to whom (what) the activity is directed, the psychological atmosphere in the group;
e) frequency and duration - time, duration and repeatability of the observed situation, its uniqueness or typicality.
Categories Post navigation2. Observation.
3. Experiment.
4. Analysis of documents.
When collecting primary sociological information, 4 main methods are used: survey, observation, sociological experiment, document analysis.
Survey– a method of collecting sociological information, which consists in obtaining information about the attitude of respondents (respondents) to certain vital phenomena and events of social life. Survey methods are implemented in a question-answer system with subsequent qualitative and quantitative processing of the data obtained.
Advantages of the survey method:
1) organizational advantages - a survey is always easier to organize than other methods of sociological research;
3) the ability to make maximum use of technical means for processing the received data.
Disadvantages of the method:
The quality of information obtained by survey method is influenced by 2 groups of factors:
1) factors related to the personality of the respondent - level of education, culture, memory properties, attitude to the problem under study, etc.;
2) factors related to the activities of the researcher himself - level of professionalism, ability to work with the respondent, etc.
Types of survey:
1) According to the method of communication between the sociologist and the respondent:
a) face-to-face survey - the surveyor personally hands the questionnaire to the respondent and personally receives the completed questionnaire;
b) correspondence survey - the questionnaire, with prior consent, is sent via mail (postal survey) or offered through a printed publication (press survey).
2) According to the depth of knowledge of the problem:
a) mass survey - the opinion of non-specialists on a particular topic or problem;
b) expert survey - a survey of experts on the problem.
3) According to the scope of coverage of carriers of the problem under study:
a) continuous survey – covers the entire population that makes up the group or community under study (for example, a census of a city or country);
b) sample survey - a small part of the group or community being studied is surveyed.
4) According to the procedure:
a) individual survey;
b) group survey.
5) By frequency:
a) disposable;
b) reusable.
6) The main types of survey are: questionnaires and sociological interviews.
A questionnaire survey is a type of sociological survey, the essence of which is that respondents respond in writing to questions presented to them in the form of questionnaires (questionnaires). The interaction between the researcher and the respondent is carried out through a questionnaire.
A sociological interview is a type of sociological survey that involves conducting a conversation (according to a specific plan) based on direct, personal contact between the sociologist and the respondent.
Types of interviews:
1) According to the degree of formalization:
a) standardized, or formalized - a conversation according to a strictly fixed questionnaire;
b) non-standardized, or non-formalized - lack of strict detailing of the behavior of the sociologist and the respondent;
c) semi-standardized – combining elements of formalized and informal interviews.
2) According to the procedure:
a) individual;
b) group;
c) one-time;
d) multiple.
Observation is a method of collecting primary sociological information based on visual and auditory perception of information relating to the object being studied.
Advantages of sociological observation:
1) the absence of mediating links between the researcher and the subjects, i.e. the unconditional presence of direct contact, this makes it possible to obtain not only objective, but also operational information;
2) helps to more accurately and broadly understand the meaning of actions and behavior observed in certain situations, to understand the essence of their reactions to ongoing events; such information is not available to obtain by other methods.
Disadvantages of sociological observation:
1) the inextricable connection between the observer and the object of observation leaves an imprint on scientists’ interpretation of the observed phenomena;
2) the observer’s perception of social phenomena and their interpretation are always emotionally charged, which may cause distortion of observation data;
3) observation is local, it is limited in nature, it allows you to record facts only at a given point in time;
4) not all social facts are observable;
5) the sociologist-observer always experiences difficulties associated with recording the results of observation.
It is for these reasons that observation is used in conjunction with other sociological methods.
Types of observation:
1) According to the degree of formalization:
a) standardized observation - the researcher determines in advance which elements of the situation being studied are of greatest importance and focuses attention on them;
b) non-standardized observation - the researcher does not determine in advance the elements to be studied, but during the observation he determines and records them.
2) According to the observer's position:
a) non-participant observation - a sociologist studies the object of research from the outside, without participating in the activities of the group and without entering into direct contact with its members;
b) participant observation - the sociologist is directly involved in the observed object, enters the social environment and characterizes processes and phenomena from the inside.
Participant observation is divided into:
Open – group members know the purpose of the study;
Hidden - group members do not know that their behavior and actions are being observed.
3) According to the conditions for organizing observation:
a) laboratory - carried out in conditions artificially created for the observed group and controlled by the researcher;
b) field - carried out in a natural setting, in a real life situation.
4) According to the regularity of the event:
a) systematic;
b) episodic;
c) random.
To record the results of observation, a diary is used, in which a description of the observed phenomenon, the reaction of members of the observed group, and notes from the observer are entered.
Sociological experiment– a method of collecting and analyzing empirical data, with the help of which, through systematic management of conditions, hypotheses about the causal relationships of phenomena are scientifically tested.
Of the many methods, experiment is the most active and most effective in terms of the researcher’s ability to penetrate into the area of reality of interest.
Types of experiment:
1) By the nature of research procedures:
a) real – when testing hypotheses is carried out through systematic management of the conditions of social reality;
b) mental - it is not real phenomena that are tested, but information about them.
2) According to the specifics of the task:
a) scientific - a hypothesis is tested that contains new information of a scientific nature that has not yet found its sufficient confirmation or has not yet been proven at all;
b) applied – aimed at obtaining a practical effect.
3) By the nature of the experimental situation:
a) field – research in the natural environment, i.e. the objects under study retain their usual connections;
b) laboratory – research in an artificial environment, i.e. the object of observation is moved from its natural environment to an environment that allows for a high degree of accuracy in observing its behavior.
In an experiment, there are usually 2 types of groups - control and experimental groups.
An experimental group is a group that is influenced by an experimental factor.
Control group is a group identical to the experimental group in terms of specified parameters, but not exposed to the influence of the experimental factor.
An experimental factor is a condition or system of conditions that are introduced by a sociologist. The experimental factor will be controllable if its direction and intensity of action are in accordance with the program settings.
An experimental situation is a situation that is created in accordance with the research program for conducting an experiment.
According to the logical structure of the proof of hypotheses, they are distinguished:
1) parallel experiment - a study in which there is both an experimental and a control group, and in which the proof of the hypothesis is based on a comparison of the state of two objects of observation - experimental and control - at the same time;
2) sequential experiment - a study in which the same group acts as a control group before the introduction of an experimental factor and as an experimental group after the experimental factor has had its effect.
Stages of the experiment:
1. Formulation of the research problem, definition of the subject and object, experimental tasks and research hypothesis.
2. Development of an experiment program.
3. Implementation of the experimental program: direct implementation of the experimental situation.
4. Analysis and evaluation of the results obtained during the experiment. As a result of this analysis, it is determined whether the goal has been achieved and whether the research hypothesis has been confirmed.
Document analysis– a method of obtaining empirical information, which consists in evaluating various documents.
A document is a specially created human object designed to transmit and store information.
Types of documents:
1) by type of information recording:
a) written (verbal - books, letters, press; statistical - census data, social survey data);
b) phonetic (designed for auditory perception - laser discs, tape recordings, radio broadcasts, etc.);
c) iconographic (visually perceived: video recordings, photographs, etc.).
2) By source status:
a) unofficial (personal letters, family albums, i.e. what is created by private individuals on their own initiative);
b) official (documents of various organizations: reports, certificates, statements, etc.).
3) According to the degree of indirectness:
a) primary – created on the basis of the author’s direct experience;
b) secondary – created on the basis of a generalization of primary documents.
In research practice, two main methods of document analysis are used: informal (qualitative) and formalized (quantitative) methods.
Informalized (traditional) method - This is a method of qualitative analysis, which refers to mental operations to interpret and understand the information contained in documents. This method allows you to determine the deep content of the document. The main disadvantage of the non-formalized method of analysis is the possibility of subjective interpretation of the material.
Formalized method (content analysis)– this is the translation of qualitative information into quantitative indicators with its subsequent statistical processing.
The content analysis procedure includes:
1. Identification of a category of analysis in textual information - a semantic unit of analysis, which can be: concepts expressed in words and individual terms; topic expressed in semantic paragraphs, parts of text, articles; names of historical figures, politicians, production organizers, names of institutions, etc.; social events, facts, cases, etc.
Units of analysis are allocated based on the content of the research hypotheses.
Unit of account- this is a quantitative characteristic of a unit of analysis, recording the regularity with which one or another semantic unit occurs in the text (number of lines, paragraphs, characters, columns, length of film, duration of sound, etc.)
2. Counting the number of uses of the category of analysis. Collecting information and entering it into tables.
Advantages of the content analysis method:
1) ensures a high degree of reliability of the information received; 2) allows you to exclude the influence of the researcher on the object being studied; 3) allows you to explore the problems of past years.
The main disadvantage is the cumbersome nature of the research procedures and techniques.
Literature
1. Aitov N.A., Biekenov K.U. Sociology. – Almaty, 2002.
- Boroknoev A and others. On the subject of sociology as a general science of society. // Socis, 1991, No. 5.
3. Giddens E. Sociology. M., 1999.
4. Kasyanov V. Sociology. Rostov-on-Don. 2003.
5. Kozyrev G.I. Sociology: Textbook for universities. – M.: Academic Project: Triksta, 2005.
- w.w.w. soc. pu. ru
Introduction
Social processes and phenomena are complex, multivariate, and have various forms of manifestation. Every sociologist faces the problem of how to objectively study this or that social phenomenon, how to collect reliable information about it.
What is this information? It is usually understood as a body of knowledge, messages, information, data obtained by a sociologist from various sources of both an objective and subjective nature. In a concise, concise form, the main requirements for primary sociological information can be reduced to its completeness, representativeness (representativeness), reliability, validity, and validity. Obtaining such information is one of the reliable guarantees of truthfulness, evidence, and validity of sociological conclusions. All this is important because a sociologist deals with people’s opinions, their assessments, personal perception of phenomena and processes, i.e. something that is subjective in nature. Moreover, people's opinions are often based on rumors, prejudices, and stereotypes. In such conditions, it is especially important to use methods that lead to the receipt of truthful, undistorted, reliable primary information.
To do this, you need to study each method of obtaining primary information, identify its main advantages and disadvantages compared to others, and determine the scope of their application. These aspects will be the main goals of this work. The role of nonverbal behavior during a group focused interview will also be determined, and what significance sociologists themselves attach to this behavior.
1. Basic methods of collecting sociological information
Each science that studies human behavior has developed its own scientific traditions and accumulated its own empirical experience. And each of them, being one of the branches of social science, can be defined in terms of the method that it primarily uses.
A method in sociology is a system of principles and methods for constructing sociological (empirical and theoretical) knowledge that provides knowledge about society and the social behavior of individuals.
Based on this definition, we can clearly formulate what the methods of collecting primary sociological information are. Methods for collecting primary sociological information are special procedures and operations that are repeated when conducting sociological research with different goals and objectives and aimed at establishing specific social facts.
In sociology, when collecting primary data, four main methods are used, and each of them has two main varieties:
Survey (questioning and interviewing);
Analysis of documents (qualitative and quantitative (content analysis));
Observation (uninvolved and included);
Experiment (controlled and uncontrolled).
1.1 Survey
One of the main ones in sociology is the survey method. Many people's idea of sociology is based on the use of this particular method. However, it is not an invention of sociologists. Much earlier, it was used by doctors, teachers, and lawyers. The “classical” division of the lesson into questioning and explanation of new material has still been preserved. However, sociology gave the survey method a new breath, a second life. And she did it so convincingly that now no one has any doubt about the true “sociological” nature of the described method.
A sociological survey is a method of obtaining primary sociological information, based on direct or indirect communication between the researcher and the respondent in order to obtain from the latter the necessary data in the form of answers to the questions posed. Thanks to the survey, you can obtain information both about social facts, events, and about the opinions and assessments of people. In other words, this is information about objective phenomena and processes, on the one hand, and about the subjective state of people, on the other.
A survey is a form of socio-psychological communication between a sociologist (researcher) and a subject (respondent), thanks to which it becomes possible to quickly obtain significant information from many people on a wide range of issues of interest to the researcher. This is the essential advantage of the survey method. Moreover, it can be used in relation to almost any segment of the population. To use a survey as a research method effectively, it is important to know what to ask, how to ask it, and to be sure that the answers you receive can be trusted. Compliance with these three basic conditions distinguishes professional sociologists from amateurs who are big fans of conducting surveys, the number of which has grown sharply in inverse proportion to the trust in their results.
The survey results depend on a number of circumstances:
The psychological state of the respondent at the time of the survey;
Interview situations (conditions that should be favorable for communication);
There are many types of surveys, the main ones being written (questioning) and oral (interviewing).
Let's start with a survey. Questioning is a written form of survey, usually carried out in absentia, i.e. without direct and immediate contact between the interviewer and the respondent. The questionnaires are filled out either in the presence of the questionnaire or without it. In terms of the form it can be carried out, it can be group or individual. Group questionnaire surveys are widely used at places of study and work, that is, where it is necessary to interview a significant number of people in a short time. Typically one surveyor works with a group of 15-20 people. This ensures complete (or almost complete) returnability of questionnaires, which cannot be said about individual questionnaires. This method of conducting a survey involves the respondent completing the questionnaire one-on-one with the questionnaire. A person has the opportunity to calmly think about the questions without feeling the “closeness” of his friends and the questionnaire (the case when questionnaires are distributed in advance and the respondent fills them out at home and returns them after a while). The main disadvantage of individual questionnaires is that not all respondents return the questionnaires. Questioning can also be done in person or in absentia. The most common forms of the latter are postal surveys and newspaper surveys.
The written survey is carried out using questionnaires. A questionnaire is a system of questions, united by a single concept, and aimed at identifying the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the object and subject of analysis. It includes an ordered list of questions, which the respondent independently answers in accordance with the specified rules. The questionnaire has a certain structure, i.e. composition, structure. It consists of an introductory part, a main part and a conclusion, i.e. from the preamble-instructional section, questionnaire, “passport”, respectively. In the conditions of correspondence communication with the respondent, the preamble is the only means of motivating the respondent to fill out the questionnaire, forming his attitude towards the sincerity of the answers. In addition, the preamble states who is conducting the survey and why, and provides the necessary comments and instructions for the respondent’s work with the questionnaire.
A type of survey, which is a focused conversation between a researcher (interviewer) and a respondent (interviewee) in order to obtain the necessary information, is called an interview. A form of face-to-face survey, in which the researcher is in direct contact with the respondent, is interviewing.
Interviews are usually used, firstly, at an early stage of research to clarify the problem and draw up a program; secondly, when interviewing experts, specialists deeply versed in a particular issue; thirdly, as the most flexible method that allows taking into account the personality characteristics of the interviewee.
An interview is, first of all, an interaction between two people bound by special norms of behavior: the interviewer should not make any judgments about the answers and is obliged to ensure their confidentiality; respondents, in turn, must answer questions truthfully and thoughtfully. In normal conversation, we may ignore difficult questions or give ambiguous, irrelevant answers, or answer a question with a question. However, when interviewing, it is more difficult to avoid the question in these ways. An experienced interviewer will either repeat the question or try to guide the respondent to a clear and appropriate answer.
The interview can be conducted at the place of work (study) or at home - depending on the nature of the problems and the goal. At the place of study or work, it is better to discuss issues of an educational or production nature. But such a situation is not conducive to frankness and trust. They are achieved more successfully in a homely atmosphere.
Based on the interview technique, interviews are divided into free, standardized and semi-standardized. A free interview is a rather long conversation without strictly detailing the questions, according to a general program. Here only the topic is indicated and offered to the respondent for discussion. The direction of the conversation is already formed during the survey. The interviewer freely determines the form and method of conducting the conversation, what problems he will touch on, what questions to ask, taking into account the capabilities of the respondent himself. The respondent is free to choose the form of the answer.
A standardized interview involves a detailed development of the entire interview procedure, i.e. includes a general outline of the conversation, a sequence of questions, and options for possible answers. The interviewer cannot change the form of the questions or their sequence. This type of interview is used in mass surveys, the purpose of which is to obtain the same type of information suitable for subsequent statistical processing. A standardized interview is often resorted to when it is physically difficult for a person to fill out a questionnaire (he is standing at a machine or a conveyor belt).
