Download Chp. 2 * Sociological Research

 Sociologists
obtain their knowledge of human
behaviour through research:
 results in a body of information that helps us
move beyond guesswork and commonsense in
understanding society
 “hows” and “whys” of human social
interaction
 Sociologists
typically use two types of
empirical studies:
 1) descriptive – attempt to describe social
reality or provide facts about some group,
practice or event (i.e. %)
 2) explanatory – attempt to explain
relationships and to provide information on
why certain events do or do not occur
 Deductive
approach – the
researcher begins with a theory and
uses research to test the theory
 Inductive approach – the researcher
collects information or data (facts or
evidence) and then generates
theories from the analysis of that
data
 Quantitative
– data can be
measured numerically
 Qualitative – interpretive
description (words) rather than
statistics (#’s)
 1)
Experiment – a carefully designed
situation in which the researcher studies the
impact of certain variables on subjects’
attitudes or behaviours
 Divided into two groups:
 a) experimental group – contains the
subjects who are exposed to an independent
variable to study its effects on them
 b) control group – contains the subjects who
are not exposed to the independent variable
 Laboratory
experiment – subjects are
studied in a closed setting, such as an
animal’s cage or a room in a university
building
 Natural experiment – real-life occurrences
such as floods
 Researchers might stage events in a natural
setting by conducting a field experiment
 Researchers
control over environment and
the ability to isolate the experimental
variable
 Little time and $ - can replicate an
experiment several times by using different
groups of participants – strengthens validity
 Artificial
– participation in a lab – they know
they are participating and may react to what
they think the experiment is about:
 Reactivity – the tendency of participants to
change their behaviour in response to the
presence of the researchers or to the fact
that they know they are being studied
 Frequently rely on volunteers or captive
audiences such as students – may not be
representative of a larger population and the
findings cannot be generalized to other
groups
 2)
Surveys Research
 most associated with sociology
 A number of respondents are asked
identical questions through a systematic
questionnaire or interview
 Usually select a representative sample
(small group from a larger population) to
answer questions about their attitudes,
opinions or behaviours
 i.e. gallop poll – one of the most widely
known lg. scale surveys
 i.e. gov’t agencies i.e. Stats Canadacensus (all people in Canada)
a) Questionnaires – series of items to which
subjects respond
 Strengths – simple, cheap, rapid data collection
& analysis, anonymous
 Weakness – low response rate
 i.e. mailed – only 10% response

b) Interviews – interviewer asks the respondent
questions and records the answer
 Advantage – more effective for complicated
issues and face to face communication
 Disadvantage - cost and time

 c)
Telephone – very popular today
 Advantages – saves time and $, may be more
honest than when they are facing an
interviewer, higher response rate than those
mailed
 Disadvantages – answering machines, caller
id- some people are now less accessible to
researchers
 Surveys
usually involves sampling
 Sample – the people who are selected from
the population (those people about whom we
want to be able to draw conclusions) to be
studied
 Random sample – chosen by chance
 “The
Gift of Blood” – pg. 50
 Strength
of Surveys – useful in describing
the characteristics of a lg. population
without having to everyone
 Weaknesses – may not be honest, especially
on emotional issues
 - may be unwilling to provide information on
sensitive issues and may simply forget
relevant information
 (Table 2.1 pg. 54 – reasons for error)
 Researchers
use existing material and
analyze data originally collected by others
 Strengths:
 data are readily available and often
inexpensive
 bias may be reduced because researcher is
not collecting data
 Weaknesses :
 data may be incomplete or inaccurate
 categories may not reflect variables of
interest to researcher
 The
study of social life in its natural
setting : observing and interviewing
people where they live, work, and play
 Good for QUALITATIVE data


A) Observation
i) complete observation – researcher
observes a social process but does not take part
in it (i.e. sitting in on a university lecture)
ii) participant observation – collecting
observations while being part of the activities of
the group they are studying (generates more
“inside” information than simply asking
questions or observing from the outside) (pg. 56
– Red River Floods observation about altruism)
(“Exposing the colour of racism article”)
 B)
Case Study – most participant observation
takes this form
 an in-depth investigation of a single event,
person, or social grouping
 often involves more than one method of
research
 C)
Unstructured Interview – an extended,
open-ended interaction between an
interviewer and an interviewee
 The interviewer has a general plan of inquiry
but not a specific set of questions that must
be asked
 Strength
of field research – provides
opportunities for researchers to view from
the inside what may not be obvious to an
outside observer
 Weakness – cannot be generalized to a larger
population
 now
required by professional code of ethics
to weigh societal benefits of research against
the potential physical and emotional costs to
participate
 Required to obtain written “informed
consent” statements from the persons they
study
 The
Canadian Sociology and Anthropology
Association’s basic standards:
 often involves intrusions into people’s lives,
therefore:
 1) participation must be voluntary
 2) must not harm the subjects in any way
 3) anonymity and confidentiality
 Sociologists must adhere to ethical
considerations (this is difficult, often
ambiguous, and disagreements among
researchers)
 (Pg. 61 and 62 – Humphreys and Ogden cases)