Quick Introductions

● Name● PGP● Year at Wooster● Major or possible major

Dalton Conley - Methods

Research MethodsFriday

1/20/12

Introduction

Conley opens with the story of Sudhir Venkatesh's doctoral research in Chicago. What is Conley trying to illustrate with this story?

Research Methods Defined

"tools we use to describe, explore, and explain various social phenomena in an ethical fashion" (42)

Two Categories of Methods

● Quantitative Methods● Qualitative Methods

Two Kinds of Reasoning

● Deductive approaches to research● Inductive approaches to research Discuss the flow chart on page 44

Correlation versus Causation

What does correlation mean? What does causation mean?

Requirements for Causality

● Correlation● TIme order● Ruling out other explanations What is a "spurious relationship"? (page 47)

Variables

● Dependent● Independent What is a hypothesis in social science research?

Operationalization

What do we mean by this?

Operationalization

What do we mean by this?● "The process of assigning a precise method for

measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study" (48).

Operationalization

What do we mean by this?● "The process of assigning a precise method for

measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study" (48).

Discuss the example of the concept of "poverty" that Conley uses (page 49). What does he mean by "positive relationship" in the alternative hypothesis example?

A Successful Operationalization

● Valid● Reliable● Generalizable

Researcher Effects

What does he mean by this? What does the example of Mitchell Duneier's research on sidewalk vendors illustrate for us?

Population and Sample

How do we define population? What are examples Conley provides? (page 52) So then what's a sample?

Power and Feminist Methods

Why does Conley address feminist methods in his section on power?

Data Collection

● Participant observation● Interviews

○ open-ended, semi-structured, and structured● Survey research

○ GSS and panel study● Historical● Comparative● Experimentation● Content analysis

○ manifest and latent content

page 56

Ethics of Social Research

What are the three key principles of ethics in research?

Ethics of Social Research

● Do no harm● Informed consent● Voluntary participation