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Module 6: Major Research Designs
Sociology in Modules Richard T. Schaefer 3rd edition
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Major Research Designs
Research design: detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically Surveys Ethnography Experiments Existing sources
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Surveys Survey: study that provides sociologists with information about how people act or think Interview: researcher obtains information through face-to-face or telephone questioning Questionnaire: researcher uses printed or written form to obtain information from respondent
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Surveys Quantitative research: collects and reports data primarily in numerical form Qualitative research: relies on what is seen in field and naturalistic settings; often focuses on small groups and communities
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Table 6-1: Top Reasons Why Men and Women Had Sex
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Ethnography Collecting information through direct participation and/or by closely watching a group or community Ethnography: efforts to describe an entire social setting through extended systematic observation Observation: sociologist joins group to get accurate sense of how it operates; the basic technique of ethnography
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Experiments Experiment: artificially created situation that allows researcher(s) to manipulate variables Experimental group: exposed to independent variable Control group: not exposed to independent variable Hawthorne effect: unintended influence of observers or experiments on subjects
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Use of Existing Sources
Secondary analysis: research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data Content analysis: systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale
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Table 6-2: Existing Sources Used In Sociological Research
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Table 6-3: Major Research Designs
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Our Wired World 6-1: Surveying Cell Phone Users
Are you a cell phone-only user? If so, do you generally accept calls from unknown numbers? What problems might result from excluding cell phone-only users from survey research? Which of the problems that arise during telephone surveys might also arise during Internet surveys? Might Internet surveys involve some unique problems?
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Research Today 6-2: Gender Messages in Scouting
Did you participate in scouting as a child? If so, were you aware of the gender messages you were receiving as part of the scouting experience? How did you react? If you were a Scout leader yourself, what kind of gender model would you attempt to be? How would you become that kind of model?
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