Download DOING SOCIOLOGY Chapter 2 pgs. 29-55

Food for thought (and discussion)…
• Scene in the movie “Sweet November”…
• Keanu Reeves’ character is
out to dinner with another
businessman to discuss a
proposal. Other man is very
demanding and demeaning
to the waitress… thinks this
is socially acceptable, even
funny. When Keanu’s
character declines the offer,
businessman says “What
don’t you like about the
proposal?” Keanu says… “It’s
you I don’t like”.
•Shows that how you treat
others socially is noticed by
others and does have a big
effect on how others view
you.
• Has your opinion ever negatively
changed about someone based on
how they treat another person”?
USING
SOCIOLOGY
Sometimes…
• Things…
• Are…
• Not…
• As they…
• Seem!!!
With Sociological Research
we need to use Lateral
Thinking…
We have to
“think outside of
the box” and
always dig
deeper for
hidden meanings
in what we
observe.
Scientific Perspective
• Aim of science is to understand world better…an
extension of common sense.
• In Sociology, science allows us to examine highly
charged social issues and produce proven answers
• Two approaches…
1. Objective Approach… evidence be evaluated in a
fair manner without personal bias (class, sex, etc
2. Critical Approach… research is carefully
examined. Asks the researcher to be critical of the
results and that results meet strict standards
(often have to be repeated over and over)
Research in Sociology
•
•
•
•
Question: Who employs sociologists?
Government, Business, Universities/Schools, etc.
What do they do?
Research and make recommendations.
A sociologist from the U.of Va does field research for gender studies in a
tribal village in Nepal.
Four Steps to Sociological Research
1.Gather data.
Example:
employment rates
by race.
• 2. Find Patterns
– Example: Stats
show higher
unemployment
in minority
sector.
• 3. Generate a
Theory.
– A theory is a set of
assumptions that attempts
to explain observed
patterns. It looks beyond
facts to explain evidence.
– Example:
• “I believe that
unemployment rates are
higher for minorities
because many grew up in
a time when racial
difference in education
was greater than today”
• 4. Form a
hypothesis.
– A statement about the
relationship we expect
to observe if our theory
is correct.
– Example: “My
hypothesis is that
minorities and whites of
equal education will
have equal or similar
unemployment rates”.
Principles of Research
• Sociological research focuses upon variables… the
measured characteristics that vary from one
individual to the next.
• Race, education, class, gender, etc are variables.
• Two types of variables:
1. Independent variable= the cause.
2. Dependent variable= the effect.
Example:
We hypothesize that females earn less than men b/c of less education.
Education is the cause and less income is the effect. (*** FYI…Actually
56% of college graduates last year were women…)
Finding a Sample
• A Sample is the systematic selection of a small
# of people from society that represent the
larger group as a whole.
• Sample judged on 3 criteria…
1. where taken from
2. was it random (eliminates bias)
3. how big was it.
(The bigger the sample the more unbiased the
sample will be.)
Three Strategies for
Gathering Data
1.Experiment.
2.Survey Research.
3.Participant Observation
(a.k.a. field research).
School Ethics Survey
Please put your name on your paper and answer each question… you will
hand your answers in.
• 1. In the last year, how many times have you
looked at someone else’s answers on a test?
– Often
Sometimes
Never
• 2. In the last year, how many times have you
used someone else’s work (book or internet)
and not given them credit… plagiarized?
– Never
1-5 times
6-10 times
11+
• 3. How would you rate yourself ethically as a
student?
– Not ethical
Mostly ethical
Always ethical
Who answered
the survey
100%
honestly????
“I cannot tell a lie”
Survey Research
•
Takes a large sample and asks same set of
questions
•
Good for observing trends and incidence
•
Most widely used.
Two types of survey
1. Cross-sectional: takes sample of population at
one time only.
2. Panel design: follows sample over a longer
period of time to detect change.
Problems:
1. Those who are illiterate often left out.
2. People are often uncooperative… no time, etc.
3. Expensive.
4. Social Desirability Bias… not always accurate,
as subjects answer how they think society
wants them to.
Open Ended vs. Closed Ended Questions
• Open ended allow the respondent to
come up with his/her own answer.
• Closed Ended allow the respondent
to choose from a number of choices.
• Let’s survey favorite types of ice cream…
– Give an example of an open ended
question.
– Give an example of a closed ended
question.
• Which would theoretically be the best to
use in sociological research?
• Why might it be difficult to do so?
This has
nothing to do
with
sociology… just
want to see if
you are paying
attention…
Now, we want to look into school
ethics using the experiment
method. The next time Ms.
Thielen’s class takes a test, we
will go over to her room, let
them know we will be observing
them, and we will go from there
with the experiment.
• What would be better about this than the survey
method?
• What would be a problem we might have?
Experiment
• Tests ideas of cause and effect.
• Experimental group is the group who the
experiment is being tested on .
• Control group is left the same from start to
finish…no change.
• At the end of the experiment, the 2 are compared
Three Limitations
1. Difficult to manipulate human behavior.
2. Guinea Pig (Hawthorne Effect)…people act
differently when they know they’re studied.
3. Setting for experiment is often artificial and not
the “real world.
Continuing with school ethics… now
you will secretly observe your
classmates next time you are in class
and you are taking a test… you will
also listen to other students in the
Media Center as they talk about the
paper they have just written.
• When looking at cheating in schools and school
ethics, why might this method work best???
Participant Observation
(a.k.a field research)
• Designed to see group behavior in context… you
see first hand what is going on.
• Three parts…observe, interview, then analyze
• Useful when studying
– undesirable/bad behavior,
– behavior rather than attitudes (how groups act, not
how they think/feel),
– uncooperative populations (ex: prisoners).
• Problems:
– not randomly selected, so biased.
– Can be time consuming for researcher.