Methods The Tools of Science

Coming Up  This week:  Methods  Slave Families in the Mountain South  Next week:  Inequality in Health Care  Begin Our Look at Education

Methods  Methods allow scientists to distinguish evidence from opinion.  Sociology covers issues that many people think they know about, so methods are important to add scientific understanding to popular subjects.

The Scientific Method  Theory  Hypotheses  Testing  Analysis of Results

Theory  Overarching view of the subject of study.  Theory of gravity  Every particle in the universe is attracted to each other in proportion to their mass and inversely proportional to their distance from each other.

Hypotheses  Hypotheses are testable statements based on your theory.  Theory of gravity:  Hypothesis: An object dropped will fall to the ground.  Hypothesis: A comet coming too close to the earth will be captured by its gravity and fall to the earth.

More Examples  Theory: Alienation under Capitalism  Hypothesis: Workers with little creative control over their work will be dissatisfied with their jobs.  Theory: Filters of Propaganda in Media  Hypothesis: Victims that support US interests will by “worthy” victims.

Filters of Propaganda  “Content analysis”  Four different media sources.  Analyzed articles for 18 months after event.

“Bias” by Bernard Goldberg  Bias: a CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News  Based on anecdotes (stories), not actual scientific analysis.

Generalizing in Sociology  Proper techniques can tell you all lot about large numbers of people, just by surveying a properly studied smaller group.  Opinion polls and election exit polls are based on this principle.

Limits to Generalizing  Bernard Goldberg tries to say the media is biased, but he is only looking at anecdotes from CBS news.  At best, he may be able to tell us a little about how CBS news operates, but he still has problems because of how he collected his information.

Survey Evidence of “Bias”  Journalists’ Political Self-Identification  61% liberal or moderate to liberal  9% conservative or moderate to conservative  Journalists’ Social Views  81% support affirmative action  82% pro-choice  25% support prayer in public schools

What Is Left Out Range of Debate in the Mainstream Media RevolutionaryRadicalLiberalConservativeReactionary Demand-Side Economics Neoliberal Economics The Political Spectrum in the US LeftRight

What about the stories?  Journalists may be socially liberal, but Goldberg does not address the stories!  “Journalists tend to be more pro-business and conservative than the bulk of the population on the economy, militarism, and regulation of business in the public interest.”  (Robert McChesney, The Problem of the Media)

Science or Opinion?  “I didn’t want this to be written from a social scientist point of view. I have total confidence that the point here is accurate.”  Bernard Goldberg at 2002 bookstore appearance.

Liberal Bias?  What Goldberg tells us:  Journalists vote democratic.  Journalists support social liberal causes like Affirmative Action and gay rights.  He’s heard a few stories about how editors and others control news content.  What Goldberg leaves out:  Journalists support conservative economic issues.  So, what can we conclude from Goldberg?  Nothing scientific really!

Types of Methods Unobtrusive and Obtrusive Qualitative and Quantitative

Unobtrusive and Obtrusive  Unobtrusive methods:  study already existing data.  do not study people directly, but study various existing pieces of evidence.  Obtrusive Methods:  involves interacting with the subjects of your study.  Interviews  observing them in the process of their activity  researchers may participate in the activity

Qualitative and Quantitative  Qualitative research attempts to more deeply understand the object of the study.  focuses on the meaning the subjects place on the issue  less able to “generalize” our findings  Quantitative research tends to use numbers to get a bigger picture.  the researcher can make generalizations about large groups

Diaspora, Death and Sexual Exploitation Slave Families at Risk in the Mountain South Wilma Dunaway

Engaging the Debates about US Slavery  Previous research  Slave families were generally stable with two parents.  Economically “rational” to keep slave families intact.

Why Should We Study Slavery in the Mountain South?  There is very little existing research on the Upper South.  Previous research focused on large plantations of 50 slaves or more.  Dunaway’s Research  Based on Qualitative and Quantitative data  Census data and tax lists  Journals from slaves and Civil War veterans  Other manuscripts

Forced Labor Migration Strategies  Economy of Upper South shrank, while economy of Lower South grew.  Forced Labor Migration Strategies of Upper South  Selling surplus slaves  Shifting laborers to needed sites  Hiring out slaves to others

Disruption of Slave Families  ¾ of slave narratives report disruptions in families.  ¾ of family disruptions were permanent.  ¼ of family disruptions were temporary.

Threats to Survival  Poor sanitation  Poor housing and clothing  Dangerous work  Malnutrition and Hunger

Sexual Exploitation  Manipulation and control of marriage  Early childbearing  Sexual abuse  Exploitative child nursing practices

What Does Dunaway Tell Us?  Dunaway’s research is significantly different than previous researchers.  More family separation  Poorer conditions  More sexual exploitation

Dunaway vs. Goldberg  Goldberg  Avoided social science methods  Tells us absolutely NOTHING regarding bias in the media.  Dunaway  Combines methods to develop a picture of life for slave families in the Mountain South  Provides a different, possibly more accurate, picture of slave families because of the use of social science methods.