SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH Importance of social research Help solve social problems by understanding how they come about, and why they persist. Makes clear an aspect of the social world that has been muddled by commonsense arguments

SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC APPROACH answers questions about the social world. relies on logical and systematic methods to answer questions. For any scientific enterprise—it must a) make sense b) correspond to what we observe

Science is therefore an objective, logical, and systematic method of analyzing phenomena, devised to permit the accumulation of reliable knowledge..

ELEMENTS OF SCIENCE Concepts -- mental constructs representing part of the world. Variables --- dependent and Independent Measurement-- determining the value of a variable. Use of statistics statistics in research a) Mode b) Mean c) Median

Reliability -- consistent measurement Validity -- measure what you intended to. Cause and Effect demonstrates relationship between variables

Fulfil following conditions for causality a) Association between the variables b) Time order c) Non spurious

Methods of Social Research Research method -- systematic way of conducting research. Can be quantitative or qualitative Experiments Highly controlled environment. Very ideal for establishing cause and effect Very good for explanatory purposes

Hawthorne effect Hypothesis Survey Quantitative in nature Use questionnaires Both descriptive and explanatory Sample vs Population

Participant Observation Observe people in their everyday routine undertakings. Qualitative -- based on subjective impression of the researcher. Secondary Analysis Use existing data collected by others

Theory and Methods a) Deductive research b) Inductive research

Main Goals of Social Research: Identifying general patterns and relationships Testing and refining theories Making predictions Interpreting culturally or historically significant phenomena Exploring diversity Giving voice Advancing new theories