Student Resources - Chapter 5
Internet Activity 5.1
Using the Internet for Sociological Research
Go to the Internet Sociologist site (www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/sociologist). This link will take you to an online tutorial. This aims to develop or improve your internet skills in relation to researching sociological issues, and sharpen your critical awareness of resources you come across on the internet. The tutorial is self-explanatory and you can work at your own pace and focus on sections of the tour that are most relevant for you. The topics given in the examples in the tutorial are to do with globalization and global inequalities. You might like to replace these with some sociological area, concept or topic with which you are more familiar. It’ll probably be more fun and rewarding if you work in pairs and discuss options as you go along. www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/sociologist
Your task
- Work through the tutorial, selecting parts that seem most relevant to you (the site is really aimed at university staff and students, so be prepared to be a bit selective). You should keep a record as you go along of any findings.
- You should aim to find five websites which you judge to be reliable in relation to your chosen topic. Explain in each case why you think the information there might be valid and reliable for use by sociologists. The JUDGE section of the tutorial will help you to do this, particularly the ‘three W’s - who, where and when’ part of this section.
Multiple Choice Quiz 5
Click here to access the Multiple Choice Quiz for this Chapter.
Matching Exercise 5
Click here to access the Matching Exercise for this Chapter.
Worksheets
Click here to download the Worksheet on Sociological Methods. You’ll find these in two formats: as an ordinary handout, and also as a version with spaces left for your answers. You can type the answers directly into the worksheet and print it off to hand in, if your teacher is happy for you to complete the worksheet electronically.
Internet links - 5 Sociological Methods
- www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims - the Home Office ‘crime and policing’ website.
- www.statistics.gov.uk - the site of the Office for National Statistics, which contains a huge range of contemporary data on all the topics covered in this book.
- www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/sociologist - the site of the Internet Sociologist. A useful tutorial for using the internet for sociological research. It is used in the internet activity for this chapter.
- www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/bcs1.html - for the latest British Crime Survey and problems with official crime statistics.
- www.data-archive.ac.uk - the largest collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities in the UK
- www.ipsos-mori.com - MORI opinion poll database
