Warm-up review Who was founder of sociology who divided it into two areas of study: social order and social change. What is the theory that focuses on small scale individual relationships sociologist who developed Social Darwinism Theory that looks at all different parts of society and how they relate/work together He was a conflict theorist; believed imbalance in power would inevitably lead to conflict

Research; how and when to use it effectively Sometimes… USING SOCIOLOGY Research; how and when to use it effectively

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… Objective Approach… evidence be evaluated in a fair manner without personal bias (class, sex, etc 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 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: Independent variable= the cause. 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…boom)

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 was it 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. Survey Research. 2. Experiment 3. Participant Observation (a.k.a. field research).

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 Cross-sectional: takes sample of population at one time only. Panel design: follows sample over a longer period of time to detect change. Problems: Those who are illiterate often left out. People are often uncooperative… no time, etc. Expensive. 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. Great way to collect qualitative data. Closed Ended allow the respondent to choose from a number of choices. Best way to obtain quantitative data. 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?

School Ethics Survey 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”

Now, we want to look into school ethics using the experiment method Now, we want to look into school ethics using the experiment method. The next time Ms. Harper 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 Difficult to manipulate human behavior. Guinea Pig (Hawthorne Effect)…people act differently when they know they’re studied. Setting for experiment is often artificial and not the “real world.

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.

Has Sociology research ever gone wrong? YES!! In the early 1970s, a group of social scientists at Stanford University, led by Philip Zimbardo, decided to create a mock prison in the basement of the university’s psychology building…. Seems legit right? Wrong!

The purpose of the experiment was to try to find out why prisons are such nasty places.  Was it because prisons are fully of nasty people, or was it because prisons are such nasty environments that they make people nasty? Zimbardo had originally intended to have the experiment run for two weeks. So why did he call it off after just six days….

Let’s find out…