Practical, Ethical and Theoretical methods and problems.

Practical
Different methods present different practical problems.
These include:
Time and money: Different methods require different amounts of time and money and this may influence the sociologist’s choice.
For example, large-scale surveys may employ dozens of interviewers and data inputting staff and cost a great deal of money. By contrast, a small-scale project involving a lone researcher using participant observation may be cheaper to carry out, but it can take several years to complete.
The researcher’s access to resources can be a major factor in determining which methods they employ. A well-known professor will probably have access to more research funds than a young student, for example.
Requirements of funding bodies: Research institutes, businesses and other organisations that provide the funding for research may require the results to be in a particular form. For example, a government department funding research into educational achievement may have targets for apss rates and so require quantitative data to see whether these targets are being achieved. This means the sociologist will have to use a method capable of producing such data, such as questionnaires or structured interviews.
Personal skills and characteristics: Each sociologist possesses different personal skills, and this may affect their ability to use different methods. For example, participant observation usually requires the ability to mix easily with others as well as good powers of observation and recall, while depth interviews call for an ability to establish a rapport (relationship of empathy and trust) with the interviewee. Not all sociologists have these qualities and so some may have difficulty using these methods.
Subject matter: It may be much harder to study a particular group or subject by one method than another.