The Sociological Perspective and Research Process Chapter 1 The Sociological Perspective and Research Process

The Sociological Research Process Research Model Question or Problem Review Prior research Formulate hypothesis Test the hypothesis (data collection & analysis) Draw conclusions & report the findings

Primary & Secondary Data Primary Data the Truth

Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches . . . is typically used to answer questions about the complex nature of phenomena, often with the purpose of describing and understanding the phenomena from the participants’ points of view. . . . is used to answer questions about relationships among measured variable with the purpose of explaining, predicting, and controlling phenomena.

Four Scales of Measurement One object is different from another – nominal One object is bigger or better or more of anything than another – ordinal One object is so many more units (degrees, inches) than another – interval One object is so many times as big or bright or tall or heavy - ratio

Validity and Reliability of Measurement measures what it is supposed to measure. Consistency of results

Inductive Reasoning Deductive Logic A conclusion is generalized and applied to the understanding of other phenomenon. Observations about various phenomenon help people draw conclusions.

Research Methods The Phenomenon Survey Field Research Questionnaire Observation Ethnography Questionnaire Interview Experiments Causation versus Correlation Ethical issues in research

Why Study Sociology?

Lingo/terminology Sociology Society “The Sociological Imagination” (C. Wright Mills) Personal Troubles or Public Issues Is suicide a personal trouble or a public issue? Homelessness? Violence?

High-income countries Middle-Income countries Low-Income countries Societies differ economically and socially High-income countries Middle-Income countries Low-Income countries How might these differences affect individuals lives??

Sociology and Other Social Sciences Anthropology Economics SOCIOLOGY Psychology Political Science

Industrialization Urbanization The Development of Sociological Thinking Industrialization Agriculture to manufacturing Urbanization Living in cities Shift from producers to consumers “Significant Events That Changed Society”

Positivism Racial & Gender Equality Comte Martineau Spencer Durkheim Marx Weber Simmel Social Darwinsm “Social Facts”; anomie Conflict “Value Free”; verstehen Microlevel analysis

Hull House; underpriveleged Urbanization Symbolic Interaction University of Chicago Park Mead Addams Atlanta University Dubois Hull House; underpriveleged “The Philadephia Negro” “Souls of Black Folks” NAACP Double Consciousness

Major Sociological Perspectives: Theory  Perspective Major Sociological Perspectives: Functionalist (a.k.a. structural functionalist) Conflict Symbolic Interactionist Postmodern Macrolevel – large; institutions; society Microlevel – small, interactions between people; groups

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Functionalist Macrolevel Based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system societal consensus Robert K. Merton Manifest Functions Latent Functions

Conflict Macrolevel Social Inequality Scarce Resources Some have, some have not

Symbolic Interactionist Microlevel Society is the sum of interaction of people and groups Definition of situation the way we respond to a situation determines our perception of the situation

Postmodern Macrolevel/microlevel Changing society changing reality Instablity/uncertainty Information (overload) Globalization Consumerism

Questions? Comments?