1. Methods The Tools of Science

2. Coming Up  This week:  Methods  Slave Families in the Mountain South  Next week:  Inequality in Health Care  Begin Our Look at Education

3. Methods  Methods allow scientists to distinguish evidence from opinion.  Sociology covers issues that many people think they know about, so methods are important to add scientific understanding to popular subjects.

4. The Scientific Method  Theory  Hypotheses  Testing  Analysis of Results

5. Theory  Overarching view of the subject of study.  Theory of gravity  Every particle in the universe is attracted to each other in proportion to their mass and inversely proportional to their distance from each other.

6. Hypotheses  Hypotheses are testable statements based on your theory.  Theory of gravity:  Hypothesis: An object dropped will fall to the ground.  Hypothesis: A comet coming too close to the earth will be captured by its gravity and fall to the earth.

7. More Examples  Theory: Alienation under Capitalism  Hypothesis: Workers with little creative control over their work will be dissatisfied with their jobs.  Theory: Filters of Propaganda in Media  Hypothesis: Victims that support US interests will by “worthy” victims.

8. Filters of Propaganda  “Content analysis”  Four different media sources.  Analyzed articles for 18 months after event.

9. “Bias” by Bernard Goldberg  Bias: a CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News  Based on anecdotes (stories), not actual scientific analysis.

10. Generalizing in Sociology  Proper techniques can tell you all lot about large numbers of people, just by surveying a properly studied smaller group.  Opinion polls and election exit polls are based on this principle.

11. Limits to Generalizing  Bernard Goldberg tries to say the media is biased, but he is only looking at anecdotes from CBS news.  At best, he may be able to tell us a little about how CBS news operates, but he still has problems because of how he collected his information.

12. Survey Evidence of “Bias”  Journalists’ Political Self-Identification  61% liberal or moderate to liberal  9% conservative or moderate to conservative  Journalists’ Social Views  81% support affirmative action  82% pro-choice  25% support prayer in public schools

13. What Is Left Out Range of Debate in the Mainstream Media RevolutionaryRadicalLiberalConservativeReactionary Demand-Side Economics Neoliberal Economics The Political Spectrum in the US LeftRight

14. What about the stories?  Journalists may be socially liberal, but Goldberg does not address the stories!  “Journalists tend to be more pro-business and conservative than the bulk of the population on the economy, militarism, and regulation of business in the public interest.”  (Robert McChesney, The Problem of the Media)

15. Science or Opinion?  “I didn’t want this to be written from a social scientist point of view. I have total confidence that the point here is accurate.”  Bernard Goldberg at 2002 bookstore appearance.

16. Liberal Bias?  What Goldberg tells us:  Journalists vote democratic.  Journalists support social liberal causes like Affirmative Action and gay rights.  He’s heard a few stories about how editors and others control news content.  What Goldberg leaves out:  Journalists support conservative economic issues.  So, what can we conclude from Goldberg?  Nothing scientific really!

17. Types of Methods Unobtrusive and Obtrusive Qualitative and Quantitative

18. Unobtrusive and Obtrusive  Unobtrusive methods:  study already existing data.  do not study people directly, but study various existing pieces of evidence.  Obtrusive Methods:  involves interacting with the subjects of your study.  Interviews  observing them in the process of their activity  researchers may participate in the activity

19. Qualitative and Quantitative  Qualitative research attempts to more deeply understand the object of the study.  focuses on the meaning the subjects place on the issue  less able to “generalize” our findings  Quantitative research tends to use numbers to get a bigger picture.  the researcher can make generalizations about large groups

20. Diaspora, Death and Sexual Exploitation Slave Families at Risk in the Mountain South Wilma Dunaway

21. Engaging the Debates about US Slavery  Previous research  Slave families were generally stable with two parents.  Economically “rational” to keep slave families intact.

22. Why Should We Study Slavery in the Mountain South?  There is very little existing research on the Upper South.  Previous research focused on large plantations of 50 slaves or more.  Dunaway’s Research  Based on Qualitative and Quantitative data  Census data and tax lists  Journals from slaves and Civil War veterans  Other manuscripts

23. Forced Labor Migration Strategies  Economy of Upper South shrank, while economy of Lower South grew.  Forced Labor Migration Strategies of Upper South  Selling surplus slaves  Shifting laborers to needed sites  Hiring out slaves to others

24. Disruption of Slave Families  ¾ of slave narratives report disruptions in families.  ¾ of family disruptions were permanent.  ¼ of family disruptions were temporary.

25. Threats to Survival  Poor sanitation  Poor housing and clothing  Dangerous work  Malnutrition and Hunger

26. Sexual Exploitation  Manipulation and control of marriage  Early childbearing  Sexual abuse  Exploitative child nursing practices

27. What Does Dunaway Tell Us?  Dunaway’s research is significantly different than previous researchers.  More family separation  Poorer conditions  More sexual exploitation

28. Dunaway vs. Goldberg  Goldberg  Avoided social science methods  Tells us absolutely NOTHING regarding bias in the media.  Dunaway  Combines methods to develop a picture of life for slave families in the Mountain South  Provides a different, possibly more accurate, picture of slave families because of the use of social science methods.