Sociology: Your Compass for a New World Robert J. Brym and John Lie Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning © 2003

Research Methods Chapter 2

Science and Objectivity WThe Aim Of Science Is To Arrive At Knowledge That Is Less Subjective Than Other Ways Of Knowing. WObjectivity Is Achieved By Testing Ideas Against Systematically Collected Data And Leaving Research Open To Public Scrutiny.

Science and Subjectivity WCreativity And The Motivation To Study New Problems From New Perspectives Arise From Individual Passions And Interests.

How Research Filters Perception Values Theories Previous Research Methods“Reality”

The Research Cycle

Methodological Issues WReliability: WConsistency In Measurement WValidity: WPrecision In Measurement WGeneralizability: WAssessing The Relevance Of Findings Beyond The Case Studied WCausality: WAssessing Cause-And-Effect Relations Among Variables

Measurement as Target Practice x xx x xx 1.Not Valid, Not Reliable 2. Not Valid, Reliable 3. Valid, Not Reliable 4. Valid, Reliable 5. Valid, Reliable, Generalizable (Target 2)

Variables WVariables Are Concepts That Can Assume More Than One Value. WIn a Cause-and-effect Relationship WThe Independent Variable Is the Cause WThe Dependent Variable Is the Effect WThe Influence of the Control Variable Is Removed From the Relationship Between the Independent and Dependent Variables

Participant Observation WInvolves Observing People’s Face-to-face Interactions and Participating in Their Lives WIs Useful for Exploratory Research, Constructing Grounded Theory, and Validating Measures on the Basis of Internal Criteria WIssues of External Validity, Reliability, Generalizability, and Causality Make It Less Useful for Other Purposes

Experiments WIsolate Hypothesized Causes and Measure Their Effects by WRandomizing the Allocation of Subjects to Experimental and Control Groups and WExposing Only the Experimental Group to an Independent Variable. WThey Rank High on Reliability and the Analysis of Causality but in Sociology They Have Validity and Generalizability Problems.

Surveys WAsk People Questions About Their Knowledge, Attitudes or Behavior WIn a Face-to-face or Telephone Interview WIn a Paper-and-pencil Format. WThey Rank High on Reliability and Validity. WGeneralizability Is Achieved by Probability Sampling, Statistical Control, and the Analysis of Causality by Data Manipulation.

more than 10 hours TV per week and no act of physical violence per year 10 or fewer hours TV per week and at least 1 act of physical violence per year 10 or fewer hours TV per week and no act of physical violence per year Turning a Classroom into a Contingency Table more than 10 hours TV per week and at least 1 act of physical violence per year BACK LEFT RIGHT FRONT

Testing an Association for Spuriousness (1) We believe there is a causal relationship between TV viewing & aggressiveness: TV viewing Aggressiveness (independent variable)(dependent variable) (2) By controlling for gender we can see whether gender has created a spurious association between TV viewing and aggressiveness: TV viewing (independent variable) Respondent’s gender (control variable) aggressiveness (dependent variable) (association) (no association)

Existing Documents and Official Statistics WInexpensive and Convenient Sources of High-quality Data Must Be Used Cautiously WThey Often Reflect the Biases of the Individuals and Organizations That Create Them Rather Than the Interests of the Researcher

Correlation r =.85 r = -.92 r = 0 Dependent variable Dependent variable Dependent variable Independent Variable Independent Variable Independent Variable Positive Correlation Negative Correlation No Correlation