Research Method of Sociology
According to Soerjono Soekanto, there are two kinds of methods or techniques of sociology; Qualitative and Quantitative Methods.
a. Qualitative Method
It is a method which prioritizes the observation result that difficult to measure with numbers or mathematical measures, although the events are real in the community.
The followings include in qualitative methods:
1) Comparative Method
It is an observation method by comparing various community and the fields.
2) Historical Methods
It is the observation method that analyzes events in the past to formulate general principles (macro).
3) Case Study Method
It is the observation method of a state, groups, local communities, institutions and individuals.
The tools used in the case study are:
a) Interview, b) questionnaire, c) participant observer technique, in which the observers take part in public life observed.
b. Quantitative Method
It is a method that prioritizes information materials with numbers so that the phenomena observed can be measured using scale, indexes, tables, and formulas.
Besides the methods above, there are several other methods:
a. empirical method. it is a method that prioritizes real circumstances in the community.
b. Rational method is a method that prioritizes reasoning and common sense logic to achieve an understanding of social issues.
c. Deductive method is a method that started from the common things to draw specific conclusions.
d. Inductive method is a method that studies a specific symptom to obtain general conclusions.
e. Functional method is the method used to assess the usefulness of social institutions and social structure.
Source:
Soejono Soekanto. 1995. An Introduction to Sociology. Publisher PT. Raja Grafindo.
