Unit 1 - Research and Ethics
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Research & Ethics in Sociology
Sociology as a Scientific Study
Remember…
Sociology is a type of science
Knowledge is based on direct, systematic observation
Knowledge is based on empirical evidence
Information verified by the human senses through the gathering of data
Sociologists strive for objectivity
Evidence must be collected/evaluated in a fair manner without bias
State of personal neutrality
Research Method
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Choose a topic/Identify a problem
Review literature
Form a hypothesis
Choose a research method
Collect data
Analyze results
Make conclusion/Share your research
Select a Topic
Social construct
Preindustrial, Industrial,
Postindustrial
Culture & Components
Pop culture, Folk culture, &
Subcultures
Globalization
Social structure
Status, role, in-group, outgroup
Social institutions
Religion, Government, Economy
Socialization and
Development
Deviant behavior
Social control
Crime
Social inequality
Race, Class, Gender, Age
Can Stringent Laws Force Morality?
Example Topics
Causes and Impact of Emotional, Financial, and Physical Abuse of the Elderly
Teenage Suicide: Why it Happens and What to do About it
An Analysis of Harsh and/or Capital Punishment for Sex Offenders
How Does Over-Crowding Affect Human Beings?
Should School Uniforms be Banned?
List of Phobias and their Effect on Personality
The Rise of Divorces in Society - an Analysis
Solitary Confinement and its Emotional Effects
Gay Adoption and its Legal and Ethical Aspects
The Impact of Hate Crimes on Victims and Communities
Select a topic/Identify a problem
What do you want to know about?
Narrow your topic
Review the literature
What is already known about the problem?
Does the topic warrant further study?
Examples:
How does the existence of welfare impact individuals of lower socioeconomic status?
Do women truly make less money than men?
Researchers are constantly testing reliability of research
Does their research generate the same findings?
How does the presence of alcohol impact its usage by young people?
Form a hypothesis
Statement of what you expect to find
Predicts relationship between variables (factors that change)
Examples:
Students who use marijuana will do worse in school than those that do not use marijuana.
Teachers who teach freshmen will lose more hair over a 5 year period than those teachers that teach upperclassmen.
Choose a research method
Experiment
Survey
Observation
Which form of research suits your study?
Example:
Researcher wants to determine the impact of spousal abuse on women
Which research method should he/she use?
Collecting Data
Is your data valid?
Did you actually measure what you intended to measure?
Analyzing the results
What correlations exist?
Patterns, connections, relationships
If conducting an experiment, was your hypothesis confirmed?
Sharing the results
Share with the scientific community
How did your research compare with the literature you have reviewed?
Choosing a Research Method
Participant Observation
Systematic observations made while joining in routine activities
Involves
Interviewing
Participating
Observing
Ethical Concerns :
• Deceiving respondents about reason for your presence
Examples:
How does abuse affect dating patterns?
How does gang membership impact socioeconomic status?
Naturalistic Observation
Examples :
Recording racial differences in student’s selfseating patterns in the lunchroom
Researcher sitting in McDonalds observing eating habits of men vs. women
Previous study revealed:
We humans laugh 30 times more often in social situations than in solitary situations
Choosing a Research Method
Surveys
Series of questions via questionnaire or interview
Select a sample population
Who will take your survey?
Random sampling
Open-ended vs. Close-ended questions
Open-ended : Allows subjects to answer in their own words
Close-ended : Select from a response list
Neutral questions to avoid bias
Biased question: “Many people have said that there is a need for stricter laws on dangerous weapons. Do you agree?”
Survey Examples
Open-ended
Close-ended
Advantages :
Quick administration
& analysis (closeended questions)
Disadvantages :
Difficult to construct questions without bias
Open-ended questions create opportunity to answer in own words
Close-ended
Difficult to get indepth info.
Interviews allow researcher to further control situation
Open-ended questions
Can make it difficult to compare answers
Surveys
Question of honesty
Survey/Questionnaire
Introductions
What type of information is included in the example introductory statements used for surveys/questionnaires?
Survey/Questionnaire
Introductions
Purpose of research
Voluntary participation
Confidentiality
Information kept in confidence, in secret
Anonymity
Participation remains anonymous, or unknown
Obtaining detailed information about an individual or group to develop general principles about behavior
Can be combined with diaries, tests, interviews
Example:
Studies on chimpanzees revealed their capacity for learning language
Case Study
Advantages :
Useful in studying rare disorders or circumstances
Can generate new questions/topics
Disadvantages :
Requires a lot of time, effort, attention to detail
Choosing a Research Method
Experiment
Independent variable
Something that causes a change in another variable
Dependent variable
Variable that is changed
Experimental group
Exposed to independent variable
Control group
Group not exposed to independent variable
Often given placebo
1 st measure of dependent variable
Experimental
Group
Exposure to independent variable
2 nd measure of dependent variable
Experimental group
Human subjects
Random
Assignment
(Allows for controlling of other variables
Control
Group
No exposure to independent variable
Control group
Other Forms of Research
Documents
Books
Newspapers
Bank records
Government documents
Unobtrusive Measures
Observations made unknowingly
Taping calls
One-way mirror
Secondary Analysis
Reviewing data that has already been collected
Issues:
Ethical observations
Advantage – no change in behavior of subjects
Conducting Research
Examples
Researcher wants to determine:
How many student athletes at a college failed one or more courses and how were they able to make up the course credit.
Survey
Whether involvement in karate leads to more violent behavior.
Case Study or Experiment
The extent of cheating in high school age students.
Survey
The impact of a presidential campaign on campaign workers.
Naturalistic Observation
Ethics in Research
Sociologists must be committed to:
Openness
Honesty
Truth
Protecting subjects from harm
American Sociological
Association (A.S.A.)
Code of Ethics
Subjects entitled to biographical anonymity
Sociologists must get consent to avoid invasion of privacy
Max Weber:
Social research should be “value free”
Set aside personal beliefs
Be objective in research
Replication is stressed for comparison of results
Do no harm
Embarrassment
Mental trauma
Job loss
Legal penalty
Simple Rules :
• Consider reliability of subjects
• Keep subjects best interests in mind
Auguste Comte
Founder & Positivism
Unit 1 Review
Sociology – study of society and human behavior
Emile Durkheim
Suicide rates
Sociology as academic discipline
Perspectives
Structural-functionalist
Symbolic- interactionist
Conflict
Max Weber
Conflict theorist – religion
Ideal type
Function vs. Dysfunction
Positive vs. Negative
Karl Marx
Conflict theorist – economics
Manifest vs. Latent function
Intended vs. Unintended
Jane Addams
Social reformer
Worked with immigrants & women
W.E.B DuBois
Social reformer
Relations between black & white
Research methods
Observation
Survey/Interview
Case Studies
Experimentation
Hypothesis vs. Theory
C. Wright Mills
Sociological imagination
ASA’s Code of Ethics
Do no harm; Privacy;
Confidentiality
