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Ch. 2
Social Research
What is a Valid Sociological Topic?
• Macro - Broad Matters – large scale features of
social structure.
• Micro - Individualistic Matters – places emphasis
on social interaction, or what people do when
they come together.
Sources of Knowledge About Society
• Four major nonscientific sources of knowledge
– Intuition – quick and ready insight not based on rational
thought
– Common sense – refers to opinions widely held because
they seem so obviously correct; what everyone knows may
not be true
– Authority – someone who supposedly has special
knowledge that not everyone has
– Tradition – knowledge because that is what those older than
us state as fact
Sources of Knowledge About Society
• Nonscientific knowledge often provides false or
misleading information, therefore we need to
question what we think we know.
• We need to seek an understanding of where and
how the information was gathered.
• Application of the scientific method when doing and
accepting research is very helpful.
The Scientific Approach
• The Scientific Method is a procedure for acquiring
knowledge that emphasizes collecting data through
observation and experiment.
• Objectivity – scientists are expected to prevent their
personal biases from influencing the interpretation of their
results (Weber’s concept verstehen). Data is to be
interpreted on the basis of merit.
• Verifiability – a study can be repeated by others. This
exposes one work to critical analysis, retesting, and revision
by colleagues.
The Scientific Approach
• The scientific method helps to determine and
distinguish between correlation, causation,
and spurious causation.
– Correlation: a relationship between two variables
– Causation: a relationship in which one variable
causes another variable to change
– Spurious correlation: a relationship that seems to
exist between two variables, but is actually caused
by some external, or intervening, variable.
Overview of Research Methods
• Quantitative research: translates the social world
into numbers that can be studied mathematically
– Emphasis on Precise Measurement
– Uses Statistics and Numbers
• Qualitative research: uses nonnumerical data like
texts, interviews, photos, and recordings to help
us understand social life
– Emphasis on Observing, Describing, and Interpreting
Behavior
Steps of the Scientific Method/Research Model
1. Define a Problem
2. Review the Literature
3. Formulate a Hypothesis
4. Choose a Research Method
5. Collect Data
6. Analyzing Results
7. Sharing Results/Writing up and Publishing
1. Defining the Problem
• Selecting a topic is guided by sociological curiosity,
interest in a particular topic, research funding from a
governmental or private source, and pressing social
issues.
• Questions addressed here in the development of
stating the problem include:
– What is the topic for investigation?
– In what is the researcher interested in learning more
information?
– How will society and research be enriched from the
information to be gathered?
2. Reviewing the Literature
• Involves specifying what the researcher wants to
learn about the topic.
• Examine the existing literature for relevant theories
and previous research methods and findings.
• How does previous research inform your topic?
• Research can lead to what Thomas Kuhn called a
paradigm shift, or a change in the way we think
about some aspect of life
3. Formulating Hypotheses
• Hypothesis – tentative, testable statements of
relationship among variables.
• Operationalization – defining simple, observable
procedures.
• Conceptualization – clearly stating what variables
mean.
4. Choose a Research Method
• There are different ways to collect information about a topic, but
each method has benefits and limitations.
• When beginning a research project, it is important to consider which
method will work best.
– Mixed Methods Approach
• Population – all those people with the characteristics a researcher
wants to study.
• Sample – a limited number of cases drawn from the larger
population.
• It is important to select a random sample in order for the researcher
to make sound generalizations from the data
– Random Sample – a sample of the population where every member of
the population has equal opportunity of being selected.
Research Methods
Surveys
– people are asked to respond to a series of questions by
mail, email, face-to-face, and/or by telephone
– self administered
– low cost
– ideal for large number of people
– relatively precise
Research Methods
Interviews
–
–
–
–
Involve direct, face to face contact
More Researcher Control
Time Consuming
Interviewer Bias
• Structured Interviews
• Close-ended Questions – limited, predetermined set of answers are
provided (i.e., multiple choice). May fail to elicit the participants
underlying attitudes and opinions (usually found in surveys)
• Unstructured Interviews
• Open-ended Questions – asks the respondent to answer in his or her
own words. Not always easy to quantify (usually found in interviews)
• Establishing Rapport
Research Methods
Ethnography/Participant Observation
• Researcher Participates
• Done for Exploratory Work
• Generates Hypotheses
• Ethnography—studying people in their own
environments in order to understand the meanings they
give to their activities.
• Participant Observation—the researcher both observes
and becomes a member in a social setting.
• Unobtrusive Measures—observing people without
them knowing; question of ethics
Research Methods
Secondary Analysis
•
•
•
•
the use of previously collected information
Permits high quality research.
Low cost.
Reveals changes in variables over an extended period
of time.
• Sources include government reports, company records,
voting records, prison records, police reports, books,
newspapers, and reports from research done by
others.
Research Methods
Experiments
•
•
•
•
Experimental Group
Control Group
Independent Variables
Dependent Variables
5. Collecting Data
• Three basic ways of gathering
data in sociological research:
– Asking people questions –
Survey
– Observing behavior –
Participant Observation
– Analyzing existing materials and
records – Secondary Analysis
and Document Analysis
– Validity and Reliability
6. Analyzing Data
• Before analyzing the
data and after it is
collected, it must also
be classified or coded.
– Quantitative or
Qualitative
• When looking over the
data collected, the
researcher is looking to
see whether or not the
identified hypotheses
are supported.
7. Writing up and Publishing
• Regardless of whether the sample was of a large size
or the hypotheses were supported, the findings of the
research should be written up and reported.
• The researcher will reflect on whether the methods
used were adequate, were there limitations in the study,
and in what ways were the hypotheses accepted,
rejected, or modified.
• By making the information public, it makes it possible
for others to:
– Duplicate/replicate the research
– conduct a slightly different study
– or proceed in a very different direction.
Ethics in Sociological Research
• Sociologists are committed to:
– Objectivity
– Openness, Honesty, and Truthfulness
– Highest technical research standards
– Accurate reporting of methods and findings
• Forbids Falsifying Results
• Condemns Plagiarism
– Subjects’ Informed Consent
– Subjects’ Anonymity
• Protection of the rights, privacy, confidentiality, integrity, and
dignity.