The Process for Doing Social Science Research

 Social science research looks for patterns in human behaviour as well as connections among those behaviours  Social researchers ask two fundamental types of research questions:  What is going on? (descriptive research)  Why is it going on? (explanatory research)

 Good description is fundamental to the research  Includes:  Definition of terms  Explanatory/expository information  Background information  General knowledge about a topic or issue

 Focuses on why questions.  For example:  it is one thing to describe the crime rate in a country, to examine trends over time or to compare the rates in different countries (descriptive)  It is quite a different thing to develop explanations about why the crime rate is as high as it is, why some types of crime are increasing or why the rate is higher in some countries than in others (explanatory)

 Begin with the topic or issue you want to study.  This issue may be because of a social issue that affects many people – (significance)

 This forms the basis for your investigation. A good research question states exactly what you want to learn and will suggest how you will conduct the research.  Developing a hypothesis – a statement of a possible answer to the question which the researcher will attempt to prove or disprove using research.

 Gather the data/information to answer your question by using:  Secondary Research  Journal articles, university studies, government statistics, credible research from an organization  Primary Research  surveys, questionnaires, interviews, experiments and/or observations.  It is important to distinguish between fact and opinion  Facts are supported with evidence that everyone can observe.  Opinions are based on individual observations or experiences (not credible without facts)

 Organize the data so you can compare, analyze and summarize the information.  Look for relationships between the data – these relationships between evidence will help your answer your research question.

 Form the conclusions that state how your data answers your question or hypothesis and also how they answer the question ‘Why?’.  Sometimes your hypothesis will not be answered – WHY? Explain your results either written, orally or in a research report.

Durkheim’s Suicide Study

 Durkheim wanted to look at suicide, a known occurrence in society, and do it scientifically.  He wanted to break the social causes of suicide, back them up with research, and present them to the greater world via this book.

 Durkheim's Suicide, is of great importance because it is his first serious effort to establish the application of observation and experiment in sociology that would provide a sociological explanation for suicide which was traditionally though of as psychological and individual experience.

 Durkheim proposed this definition of suicide: "the term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result" (1982, p. 110 [excerpt from Suicide]).  Durkheim used this definition to separate true suicides from accidental deaths. He then collected several European nations' suicide rate statistics, which proved to be relatively constant. Thus, a common trend towards suicide was discovered.

 Suicide is not an individual act, as was previously thought by leading scientists of his time.  Accordingly, his theory was that suicide was a social fact that was tied to social structures.  He defined suicide as a social fact because it was something that happened driven by social causes, however hidden they were.

 He proposed different types of suicide, based on the degrees of social integration – how a person is connected to society - too much integration vs. not enough integration  Research Question -  Independent Variable(s) –  Dependant Variable(s) –

 Positive correlation -- an increase/decrease in one variable is matched by and increase/decrease in the other variable. Positive Correlation - both variables move in same direction

 Negative correlation -- an increase in one variable is matched by a decrease in the other or vise versa Negative Correlation - variables move in opposite directions

 Null hypothesis -- no relationship exists.  Spurious correlation -- correlations that are not based on causal connections.

 In order to test his theory he studied suicide rates across time and place (throughout Europe, spanning many years).  Once he had completed his preliminary research and analyses, he came to the conclusion that, despite major differences in suicide rates between individual societies, rates within a society remained stable over time.

CountriesYears Strangulation and Hanging Drowning Fire- arms Leaping from a High Spot PoisonAsphyxiation France France France France Prussia Prussia Prussia Prussia England … England … England … England …97… Italy Italy Italy Italy

 By looking at this table from page 291 of "Suicide" we can see that over the years, each type of suicide has a relatively stable rate in each place. The numbers may vary across the places, but for each locale, there is consistency.  Durkheim then proceeded to theorize three different types of suicide that are found in all societies.

 Attempts to answer the `why' questions in social science are theories.  2 ways – creating a new theory based on research OR testing an existing theory by examining research

Creation of a Theory Testing a Theory

The process in which research begins with observations and uses inductive reasoning to derive a theory from these observations. These theories attempt to make sense of observations. The theory is produced after observations are made. i.e. – Durkheim’s suicide

 A theory testing approach begins with a theory and uses specific points and themes from that theory to guide which observations to make.  This is the format you will be using for this course and your ISU  We have done this using Milgram, Zimbardo and Asch experiments

 Remember the main point of his research –  suicide rates will depend on how a person is connected to society - too much integration vs. not enough integration

 “Egoistic suicide, which results from lack of integration of the individual into society.” (Durkheim, Suicide, Page 14)  ~This means that a person is not included in many things that happen in society, they feel unattached, helpless and useless. Due to these feelings of inadequacy, the person takes his of her own life.

 Altruistic suicide “... it results from the individual’s taking his own life because of higher commandments.” (Durkheim, Suicide, Page 15)  ~This means that the individual feels that something larger than himself is causing him to take his own life, such as religious Martyrs or suicide bombers.

 Anomic suicide “... which results from lack of regulation of the individual by society.” (Durkheim, Suicide, Page 15)  ~This means that the society is going through some sort of change, where the rules of the society are not as clear as they were. The individual feels confused and does not know how to handle the major changes occurring around him/herself, and thus commits suicide.

 Suicide: A Study in Sociology by Emile Durkheim, translated by John A. Spaulding and George Simpson, and edited with an introduction by George Simpson. Copyright 1951 by The Free Press

 Consider the following, and apply Durkheim’s Theory:  Suicide Bombers - _a_school_for_suicide_bombers.html Suicide Bombers - _a_school_for_suicide_bombers.html  Homeless Youth - Homeless Youth -  Natural Disasters - Natural Disasters -