James Henslin, How Sociologists Do Research
The article is a great introduction to the “science” of sociology because it explains the
process by which socialists produce results that can be trusted. You should use the
following questions to guide your understanding of this article.
1. How is common sense useful? How is common sense flawed?
2. Henslin talks about “reviewing the literature on page 38. What does he mean by
this and why is it a useful for sociological research?
3. If you choose to investigate a question using a survey, what kind of sample is best
and why?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages to interview rather than
questionnaires?
5. In what ways are closed-ended questions advantages and it what ways are they
disadvantageous?
6. Why might a sociologist choose secondary analysis over the other 5 methods
available?
7. According to the author, “sociologists seldom use experiments” (pg. 44). Why?
Can you think of a situation worth investigating that could not be studied using an
experiment?
8. What is participant observation? According to Henslin, what are its strength and
weaknesses?
9. Armed with a basic understanding of some different scientific approaches, how
would you use a survey and a participant observation study to answer the
following question:
Do greetings vary among cultures? How so?
10. Jot down a question that interests you and bring it to class for us to find a research
methods useful for answering it.