Download Ch. 2 – Sociologists Doing Research

Ch. 2 – Sociologists
Doing Research
Research Methods • Goal is to test common sense assumptions &
replace false ideas w/ fact & evidence
• Limited Ability to set up lab experiments to
replicate real-life conditions
– Therefore the world is a Sociologist lab
• Quantitative Research – uses numerical data
– Surveys, precollected data
• Qualitative Research – rests on narrative &
descriptive data
Surveys • Make up about 90% of published research
• Most widely used method
• If sample is not representative then results can
not generalize the population
– Most common way to get a representative sample
is by picking at random
• Can be in either questionnaire or interview
format
• U.S. Census, Gallop Poll, and Harris Poll are all
nationally recognized surveys in the U.S.
Close ended questions
Results can be measured
more precisely
Expensive to produce and
distribute
Easily comparible
Responses are limited to
preset answers
Statistic techniques can be
used to put order to data
People don’t respond, leading
to low cost effectivness
Large number of responces
can be collected
Phrasing can influence
answers
Open ended questions are answered in
participants own words
Secondary Analysis
• Using precollected data for research
• Census Bureau – total population every 10
years, and specific surveys every year
• U.S. Department of Labor – income and
unemployment
• U.S. Department of Commerce – monthly
reports on various aspects of the economy
• Emile Durkheim relied on precollected data
for his research on suicide
Advantages
Inexpensive, high
quality data
Disadvantages
May not be exactly
suited for the
researchers purposes
Existing info. Allows for Can be out dated
studies over a long
period of time
Researchers can not
influence the
participants or data
Don’t know the exact
methods of collection
Field Research
• Looks closely at aspects of social life that can’t be
measured quantitatively, & are best understood in
natural settings
– High school cliques
• Case Studies – a thorough investigation of a single
group, incident, or community
• Participant observation – researcher becomes a
member of the group being studied, & might or
might not tell the group he is studying
– Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin (1961), the author
died his skin to study African American life in the South
Causation in Science
• Causation – events occur in a predictable,
nonrandom way; one event leads to another
• Multiple causation – an event occurs as a result
of several factors working in combination
– Causes of crime – Cesare Lombroso, 19th century,
Italian criminologist believed the tendency to
commit crime was inherited
– Therefore criminals could be identified by certain
traits, large jaws, or receding foreheads
– Modern criminologists – peer pressure, drugs,
poverty, poor parenting
• Quantitative variables – can be measured & given
a numerical value
• Qualitative variables – are identified by
membership to a category
– Either / or, yes / no
• Sex, marital status, group membership
• Independent variables – cause something to
occur
• Dependant variables – result from a change in the
independent variable
– How does the time spent studying change the grade
earned?
• Intervening variable – influences the relationship
b/w independent variable and dependent
variable
Correlation
• How things are related to one another
• Positive correlation – both ind. and dep.
variables change in the same way
• Negative correlation – variables change in
opposite directions
• Spurious correlation – apparent relationship
b/w 2 variables is actually caused by a 3rd
variable
– Church attendance and delinquency
• Just because there is correlation does not
guarantee causation
• Standards for showing causation
1. 2 variables must be correlated
2. All other possible factors must be taken into
account
3. A change in the independent variable must
occur before a change in the dependent variable
can occur
Procedures and Ethics in Research
• Scientific Method
1. Identify the Problem
2. Review the literature
3. Formulate hypotheses – testable statement of
relationships among well-defined variables
4. Develop a research design
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data
7. State findings & conclusions
• Many Sociologists do not follow these steps to
the letter.
–
Exploratory research, changing hypotheses during
the study
• Ethics - a system of moral principles
– Showing objectivity
– using superior research standards
– reporting findings and method truthfully
– Protecting rights, privacy, integrity, dignity, and
freedom of research subjects
Mean – the average of a series of numbers
Median – the middle number in a series of numbers
•If series has and odd number of numbers it is the
middle number
•If series is ever you add the 2 middle numbers and
divide by 2
Mode – the number in the series that reoccurs most
frequently
1, 5, 3, 8, 1, 6, 4, 1, 5
Mean – 3.77
Median – 4
Mode - 1