Sociological Research Chapter Two

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Outline  Why is Sociological Research Necessary?  The Sociological Research Process  Research Methods  Ethical Issues in Sociological Research

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Why is Sociological Research Necessary?  Five ways of Knowing the World 1. Personal Experience 2. Tradition 3. Authority 4. Religion 5. Science  Elements of Science –Empirical: knowledge by direct, systematic observation

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Why is Sociological Research Necessary?  Elements of Science –Scientific knowledge is systematic and public –Self-correction by creating hypotheses and then testing them –Objective: that biases and values do not affect their research

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Why is Sociological Research Necessary?  Descriptive and Explanatory Studies –Descriptive: to describe social reality –Explanatory: the attempt to explain relationships and to provide information on why certain events do or do not occur  The Theory and Research Cycle –Theory: a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and predict social events

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Why is Sociological Research Necessary?  The Theory and Research Cycle –Two approaches:  Deductive: Start with theory and then test it 1. theories generate hypotheses 2. hypotheses lead to observations 3. observations lead to generalizations 4. generalizations are used to support, modify, or to refute the theory  Inductive: Start with observations and then generate theory

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The Sociological Research Process  The Quantitative Research Model –Select and define the research problem –Review previous research –Formulate hypotheses  Key terms: independent and dependent variables  Operational definition –Develop the research design –Collect and analyze the data –Draw conclusions and report the findings

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The Qualitative Research Model  Process 1. The researcher begins with a general approach rather than a highly detailed plan 2. The researcher has to decide when the literature review and theory application should take place 3. The study presents a detailed view of the topic: fewer cases (maybe only one) and many variables

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Research Methods I. Experiments II. Surveys III. Secondary Analysis of Existing Data IV. Field Research V. Feminist Research Methods

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Experiments  Defined: a carefully designed situation in which the researcher studies the impact of certain variables on subjects’ attitudes or behaviour.  Key terms: experimental group; control group  Process: After persons with similar characteristics are selected and assigned groups, then: 1. Both groups are pre-tested 2. Exposed to a stimulus representing the independent variable 3. Post-tested: to see if the independent variable had an effect on the dependent variable

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Experiments  Strengths and Weaknesses: –Strengths:  The researcher has control and can identify the key independent variable  Experiments require little time and money –Weaknesses:  Problem of reactivity: The tendency of participants to change their behaviour in response to the presence of the researcher  Not representative of others not in the experiment  Too much control by the researcher…does not allow input by the participants

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Surveys  Survey: a number of respondents are asked identical questions through a systematic questionnaire or interview  Respondents: people who provide data for analysis through interviews or questionnaires  Questionnaire: a research instrument containing a series of items to which subjects respond

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Types of Surveys Telephone More honest and less threatening Greater control over the data Problems: Some people not accessible to researchers Self - Administered Questionnaires Simple and inexpensive Respondents are anonymous Problems: low response rates Interview Personal and direct contact Face to face Respondents Problems: Major cost and time

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Surveys  Sampling Considerations:  Survey research involves some type of sampling  From a population (those persons we want to find out about)  Sample: People selected from that population  Representative Sample: A sample that is like the population  Random Sample: Persons are selected by chance or randomly

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Secondary Analysis  Using data that has already been gathered by someone else  Example in the text (Sorokin’s study): –Records from a radio show that collected stories of “good neighbours” and found that women were more altruistic then men –Records of Saints of the Catholic Church from about 3090 sources: here, men were more likely to be saints than women

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Secondary Analysis  Strengths: –Inexpensive –Opens the doors to history –Can look at longitudinal data –Rich and deep  Weaknesses: –Restricted to what is recorded –May be inaccurate

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Field Research  Field research is the study of social life in its natural setting: observing and interviewing people where they live, work, and play  Use of qualitative data  Varieties of observation: –Complete: observes but does not participate –Participant: collecting information while participating in the life of the people  Most participant observation is done in a “Case Study”: an in- depth, multifaceted investigation of a single person, event, or social group

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Field Research  Unstructured Interviews:  “An extended, open-ended interaction between an interviewer and an interviewee”  From this kind of inductive research, one may create a theory  Strengths: –Very in-depth beyond surface data  Weaknesses: –Cannot generalize beyond this one case study

Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Feminist Research Methods  Much of the research has been “andocentric”  Sexist language  More likely to use qualitative methods  Uniqueness: 1. Women’s experiences are different from men’s 2. Explanations in order to change 3. Not a “value-free” methodology

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Ethical Issues  A long history of the development of guidelines to protect the integrity, privacy, and honour of the people being studied  Elements of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association: –Participation must be voluntary –No harm to them –To protect confidentiality and anonymity –Issues: the Humphreys and Ogden research