How Have Conditions Changed 1900-2000

1. ____ times as many adults are getting high school degrees.

2. ____ percent of all American homes have telephones, electricity, and a flush toilet.

3. Accidental deaths have decreased by ____ percent.

4. Wages in the manufacturing sector are ____ times greater.

How Have Conditions Changed 1900-2000

5. Average household assets are ____ times greater.

6. The average workweek is ____ percent shorter.

7. More than ____ percent of Americans have at least one automobile, VCR, microwave, AC, cable TV, washer and dryer.

How Have Conditions Changed 1900-2000

• The overall health, welfare and safety of Americans has increased/made positive progress.

• Statistics and data are critical to the science of sociology.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

• Identify the problem

• Review the literature (that already exists)

• Formulate hypothesis

• Develop a research design

• Collect data

• Analyze data

• State findings and conclusions

ETHICS OF SOCIOLOGISTS

• Show objectivity (not bias information)

• Use approved research standards

• Report findings and methods truthfully

• Protect the rights and privacy of participants

1. SURVEY

• Questionnaires and interviews that require direct communication with people

• GOAL = REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE: – A small group who represent a

larger whole– PROBLEM = _______________________– People who volunteer may offer different

opinions than those who don’t.

PERSONAL SURVEY

WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

2. CASE STUDY

• A ___________ ______________

of a particular group being studied or treated.

• Examples:

- Kitty Genovese

- Stanford Prison

Experiment

3. FIELD RESEARCH

• Research that takes place in a natural, non-laboratory setting– How are natural results different from laboratory

results?

– Example:Justin Timberlake

4. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

► A case study where the researcher becomes a member of the group being studied.

He/she may inform the group of his/her role as a sociologist or may keep that confidential.Examples:

- Lars Eighner- Ray Sprigle – White man posed as

Black in the South in the 1950s