Sociologists Doing Research

Chapter 2

Research Methods

Sociologists attempt to ask the “why” and “how” questions and gather evidence which will help form a hypothesis or form a hypothesis and then test it.

Types of Research Methods

Quantitative: uses numerical data and statistics.

Qualitative: Gather narrative and descriptive data

Survey Research

Survey: research method in which people are asked to answer a series of questions. Good for studying large groups of people.

Things you need for a survey

Population: group that the sociologists want to study

Sample: a limited number of cases drawn from the larger population

Types of Research

Representative Sample: selected carefully to have the same characteristics as the general populations. Ex. Gallop-Harris, Election polls.

Types of Research

Random Sample: assign everyone in the population a number then draw numbers after the numbers have been scrambledQuestionnaire: written set of questions that survey participants answer by themselves

Types of Research

Interview: interviewer asks participants questions

Open-ended ?’s: person is free to answer questions in their own words

Closed-ended ?’s: person is limited to a predetermined set of responses

Types of Research

Secondary Analysis: collecting information that someone else has already gathered. Ex. Gov’t Reports, U.S. census.

Types of ResearchField Research: Looks closely at aspects of social life that cannot be measured quantitatively. It is qualitative research using a descriptive narrative.

Tools of Field Research Case Study: a thorough look at a single group, incident, or community. Assume that findings can be generalized to other similar situations.

Participant Observation: the researcher becomes a member of the group being studied. STOP

Statistical Terms

Mean: the average score of a response.

Median: the score that is in the middle when counting scores from top to bottom.

Mode: the single score that is recorded most often.

Causation in ScienceCausation: a scientific assumption that an event has a reason why it happened.

Multiple Causation: an event occurs because of several factors in combination

Variable: a single cause or factor

Types of Variables

Quantitative Variable

Qualitative Variable

Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Intervening Variable

Causation in Science

Correlation: a measure of how things are related to each other. Exists when the independent variable is tied to a change in the dependent variable

Types of Correlations

Positive Correlation: both variable change in the same direction

Negative Correlation: both variables move in opposite directions

Standards for Showing Causation

Two variables must be correlated.

All other possible factors must be taken into account. Spurious Correlation

A change in the independent variable must occur before a change in the dependent variable

Scientific MethodsIdentify the Problem

Review the Literature

Formulate Hypothesis

Develop a Research Design

Collect the Data

Analyze the Data

State Findings and Conclusions

Ethics in Social ResearchSociological Code of Ethics: getting the greatest amount of information possible but doing the least amount of harm to the individuals or groups you are studying

Media Reporting- tend to oversimplify and news may be slanted depending on sponsor