1. Methods The Tools of Science

2. Coming Up  This week:  Methods  Inequality in Health Care  Go to D2L and take the “Gender Quiz”  Next week:  Gender

3. Things to focus on:  Why is Goldberg’s argument that the media is liberal not supported?  What is Generalizability?  Explain the differences in social science methods (and relationship to generalizability).

4. 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.

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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

10. Testable  Science requires that our hypotheses be testable.  People must be able to repeat your study.  Methods provide structure to study an issue.  Social science covers many contemporary issues.  May attempt to contrast commonly held views.

11. The Methods Must Allow You To Be Wrong  Researchers must avoid conducting research that intentionally supports their points.

12. Types of Methods Unobtrusive and Obtrusive Qualitative and Quantitative

13. 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

14. 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

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

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

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

20. 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)

21. 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.

22. 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!