NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Sociology Chapter 5 Doing Sociology : Research Methods

Ans : The question of scientific method is important because it helps sociologists to acquire knowledge. Sociologist deals with different societies whose culture may be similar or different. They have to conduct research and field work in which they need to take opinions and feelings of people or respondent in that area. Hence, sociologists try to adopt an objective point of view which is neutral and not based on one's own perception. Some sociologists like Emile Durkhiem believed that in order to study the society with objectivity, it is important to have a scientific approach. Therefore a need for scientific method was felt. He even carried out a scientific study on the phenomenon of 'suicide' by giving various rules in sociological method. 

Ans : Objectivity means being unbiased, neutral or based on facts alone. 
(i) In case of social science, especially sociology, objectivity becomes more complicated because, like every human, there are some notions perceived by sociologists which make it difficult for him/her to study the culture and norms of a different society in a neutral manner. This can lead to incorrect research.
(ii) The sociologist who is conducting a research can also get biased if the issues are related to his/her society and can imply his/her personal notions to that study. Hence, despite of being reflexive there are chances of unconscious bias. 
(iii) There are many versions of truth in the social world. A boy and an old person would have different notions on a particular thing. A shopkeeper and a customer would have different ideas regarding the 'good price' of a product. Thus, there is no universal truth in social sciences, making them difficult to arrive at a conclusion. 
(iv) Sociology is a 'multi-paradigmatic' science. There are different schools of thought that sometimes contradict each other. As a result, 'objectivity' becomes complicated in social sciences, especially sociology. 

Ans : To deal with the problem of objectivity sociologists use the technique of 'self-reflexivity' or 'reflexivity'. The sociologist views opinions, norms or behavioural patterns of different societies from all the perspectives. The sociologist continuously subjects her own attitudes and opinions to self-examination. Also, emphasis is laid on proper documentation of the research. This helps others to retrace the steps taken by the sociologist and scrutinise the study that has been conducted. It also helps the sociologist to check and recheck his/her work. The sociologist then tries to judge different conceptions of people. 
Thus, the sociologists take objectivity as a goal of a continuous ongoing process rather than an already achieved end result. 

Ans : 'Self-reflexivity' or 'reflexivity' is a technique to deal with the problem related to objectivity in social science and is closely related to empathy. In this, the social scientist views different opinions of the people in an unbiased or a neutral manner. Attaining objectivity is a difficult and complicated task in social science therefore, reflexivity becomes very important to carry out social research. 
There are different schools of thought within the subject of sociology that study issues from different perceptions and ideologies. At these places the sociologist uses reflexivity. 

Ans : Participant observation is a method to study societies. Ethnographers and sociologists use this method when they have to conduct field work that may last for months and years. Some of the things that ethnographers and sociologists do during participant observation are:
(i) They either live or spend most of their time with the community people upon which the research is to be carried out. 
(ii) The sociologist or the ethnographer almost becomes like a part of the community. 
(iii) They participate with the communities in their rituals and customs, and record the observations on a regular basis. 
(iv) The sociologists and ethnographers have limited people from the community on whom they depend for the information. These people are called informants or principal informants.
(v) Although the sociologist's goal is to study a specific area of interest, but the overall goal of the participant observation is to learn about the entire life of community.