1. How do we answer our research questions? Chapter 2, Unit 1

2. Interpretive sociology The study of society that focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world Symbolic-interaction paradigm Critical sociology The study of society that focuses on the need for change Social-conflict paradigm Scientific sociology The study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior Empirical evidence – information we can verify with our senses Structural-functional paradigm

4.  Odd numbers = False  Even numbers = True

5. “Poor people are far more likely than rich people to break the law.” “The United States is a middle-class society in which most people are more or less equal.” Most poor people don’t want to work.” “Differences in the behavior of females and males are just ‘human nature.’ ” “People change as they grow old, losing many interests as they focus on their health.” “Most people marry because they are in love.” All false

6.  Apply sociological perspective  Be curious and ask questions  Good research is both…  Valid – measures what the researcher intended to measure  accurate  Reliable – consistency in measurement  could be replicated  Objectivity – personal neutrality in conducting research

7.  Process by which subjects are selected  Population – the ppl who are the focus of research  Sample – part of a population that represents the whole  Goal is to have sample be representative of the population  Can increase this chance with random sampling  Definition of random

8.  A relationship in which two variables change together  Enable prediction  Do not ascribe cause  Spurious correlation – apparent but false relationship btwn two variables that is caused by some other variable  Crowded housing/delinquency, Ice Cream and Drowning, Race and Dropping out of high school

9.  Existing sources – to explore, describe, or explain whenever suitable data is available + makes historical research possible, Saves time and money - no control over biases in data, may only partially fit  Participant observation – to explore and describe ppl in their natural setting, generates qualitative data + allows study of natural behavior, usually inexpensive - time-consuming, replication difficult, balance participating and observing

10.  Survey – to describe self-reported items such as attitudes and values that can’t be directly observed, generates quantitative or qualitative  Questionnaires + large populations- careful prep, low response rate  Interviews + in-depth responses- expensive, time-consuming  Experiment – to explain relationships btwn variables, generates quantitative data + cause and effect, relatively easy replication - labs artificial, bias if not well controlled

11.  Variable – concept whose value changes from case to case  Exs - price, social class  Independent variable – variable that causes the change  manipulated  Dependent variable – variable that changes  measured  Operationalize variables – specify exactly what is to be measured before assigning a value to a variable  Juvenile delinquency/arrests, crowded housing/square footage

12.  Process by which participants are put into groups  Random assignment – equal chance for being put in any group  Experimental vs Control group  Experimental – participants exposed to version of the independent (manipulated) variable  Control – serves as comparison for evaluating effect of the treatment or manipulation

13.  A change in a subject’s behavior caused simply by the awareness of being studied  Late 1930s Western Electric Company  Worker productivity and increased lighting  productivity = dependent  increased lighting = independent  Exs – parent/guardian walks in, teacher/administrator, boss/interview, police car

15.  On your own, read the Controversy and Debate section on p50-51  In groups no larger than three, come up with your own examples that fit each of the three ways ppl can mislead with statistics (draw if helpful, but must explain) and record your answers on the ch2 classwork sheet  1. People select their data  2. People interpret their data  3. People use graphs to spin the truth

16.  Ethics board / Institutional Review Board (IRB)  Reviews, gives permission  Humans  Informed consent  Coercion  Anonymity/Confidentiality  Risk  Debriefing procedures  implied informed consent form for psych.rtf implied informed consent form for psych.rtf  Stanford Prison Experiment  http://youtu.be/sZwfNs1pqG0 http://youtu.be/sZwfNs1pqG0