1. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing

11. Observational Research Naturalistic: advantages & disadvantages Participant

12. Case Studies Advantages: much info.; new hypotheses Disadvantage: can’t always generalize results to other people

13. Ethnographic Research Study and entire culture or subculture Close observation of sociological phenomena Understand cultures from an insider’s perspective; then translate that understanding to outsiders Interpret social world by rational analyses

14. Survey Research Questionnaires: adv. Fast & cheap Disadvantages: bias; wording Interviews: can explain questions; still must guard against bias

15. Correlational Research Correlation: Not a cause Study how two variables are related Positive correlation=direct relationship Negative correlation=inverse relationship +1=perfect positive correlation -1=perfect negative correlation 0=no relationship

16. Experimental Research Experimental group: gets exposed to an independent variable Control group: no independent variable; used for comparison Dependent variable: measured Advantage: most control Dis.: artificial

17. Reliability/Validity Reliability: repeated observations yield similar results Validity: extent to which observations actually yield measures of what they are supposed to measure

18. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing

19. Data Collection Stratified sampling: divide pop into groups/then choose at random from within those groups

20. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing

27. Introducti© 2012 BVT Publishing

28. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing

35. MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Laboratory observation Natural field observation Participant observation Case studies Group behaviors Community activities Other cultures Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Generates qualitative data Generates new insights and hypotheses Can take place in natural setting Generalization difficult Observer (researcher) may influence outcome Roles of participant and researcher may be difficult to separate May be very time consuming Continued…

36. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Questionnaire s Interview schedules Study of the nonobservable (opinions, attitudes, values) Public opinion polls Market research Census taking Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Generates easily quantifiable data Can be used on large populations Permits standardized questioning Easily administered Requires only a short time frame for gathering data Sampling difficulties Exclusion of non­respondents Honesty of responses too personal/sensitive questions not known Difficulty of question construction: clear, unambiguous, unloaded Omission of relevant questions Continued…

37. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Experimental and control groups Laboratory or field setting Comparison of two groups of workers, students, or children Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Controls the specific conditions Often permits replication of experiment Specifies cause-effect relationships Artificiality of laboratory, “unnatural” setting Cannot always control all variables Hawthorne effect Continued…

38. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Historical records Official data Public records Mass media Data banks Historical study Permits the analysis of the content of communications Allows observation of trends and changes Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Data already gathered or available Inexpensive Sources from past or otherwise not available Desired variables or materials missing or omitted Out-of-date or incomplete data Hawthorne effect Nonsystematic, inaccurate records No control over possible bias in data