• Sociology is:
– (a) a pseudoscience.
– (b) a science like the natural sciences.
– (c) a science unlike the natural sciences

ASKING AND ANSWERING SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS

• Basic Concepts
– Learn the steps of the research process and be able to complete the process yourself
– Name the different types of questions sociologists address in their research—factual, theoretical, comparative, and developmental
– Major Research Processes/Design
◦ Advantage and disadvantage
• Unanswered Questions
– See how research methods generate controversies and ethical dilemmas for sociologists

• ( Eight) steps/stages in the research process

Defining the Research Problem/ Ask a Question
– What are the gaps in our understanding about the topic?
– What puzzles haven’t been solved?
– Problem should be researchable

(graph collected)

Based on available literature you might gain a good notion of how to approach/ speculate
◦ Variables( Dependent/Independent)
◦ An independent variable is the presumed cause, whereas the dependent variable is the presumed effect. Or, An independent variable is the variable you have control over, what you can choose and manipulate. It is usually what you think will affect.

– Deciding what method (surveys, interviews, participant observation, etc.) works best

– Carrying out the research
– Gathering facts and data according to the research design
– Dealing with unanticipated problems
collecting data means putting your design for collecting information

Analyzing Data/ Interpreting the results
– Answering initial questions
– Evaluating hypotheses
Analysis of data is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions

Developing the Conclusion/ Reporting the Finding
The conclusion of a research paper reaffirms the thesis sentence, discusses the issues, and reaches a final judgment. It is not only a summary.
Research reports, articles, books

• Sociologists explore four types of questions:
• Factual or empirical
• Comparative
• Developmental
• Theoretical
AND, should not be biased by the researcher’s values.

• Sociology at the University of Chicago, beginning in the 1920s, was extremely influential in shaping the discipline.
• Robert Park focused on interviews and firsthand observations.
• William Ogburn suggested that sociology should be more scientific and rely on statistics.

◦
Major Research Process/Design

◦ (A method of sociological research in which questionnaire are administered to the population being studied. )
– Generate a lot of data from large numbers of people
– Appropriate for statistical analysis
– Random sampling of the population to generate a sample, thus improving ability to generalize

• Surveys
– Can be superficial
– May lead to inaccurate results

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBHHhEncs88
Funny One
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDTpxvV8nHg

◦ Firsthand studies
◦ Observation
◦ ( Participant/ Non-participant)
◦ Studying the setting/context or Entire social setting
– Generates rich, deep data
– Typically not generalizable

◦
◦ Experimental groups
◦ Control groups
◦ Example:
◦ Whether or not violent television programming caused aggressive behavior in children
◦ Children who watch the violent movies are more aggressive afterward than those who watch a movie containing no violence .

Use of Existing Resources/ Secondary
Resources
◦
Census data, Crime Statistics, Newspapers etc.

• Comparative Research
– Comparison of behaviors, attitudes, or other aspects of social life across time, place, or group
– Use any of the other research methods to gather data for making comparisons

SHAHBAG, DHAKA ARAB SPRING

• Understanding Cause and Effect of
Social Context
– Correlation is not the same as causation
– Variables may be related to each other but not responsible for change in another
– Ex- ?

Reliability is the degree to which an assessment tool produces stable and consistent/repeated results.
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it is purported to measure.
Ex-?

• Human Subjects and Ethical
Dilemmas
– Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
– Research must conform to ethical guidelines
– Acquire informed consent
– Minimize invasions of privacy
– Minimize risks to participants
– Ensure confidentiality
– Avoid deception
29

ASA’s Code of Ethics
◦ Objectivity and integrity
◦ subject’s right to privacy
◦ Protect subjects from personal harm
◦ Preserve confidentiality
◦ Informed consent when data are collected
◦ Disclose all sources of financial support

He measured the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzTuz0mNlwU&index=2&list=PL0E7
E96C460850EFE
Experiments were also controversial and considered by some scientists to be unethical and physically or psychologically abusive.

Education and alternative lifestyle

What is one major difference between natural sciences and social sciences like sociology?
(a) The natural sciences do not include humans as the subject of their studies.
(b) The findings in social science are never certain, whereas natural scientists are able to discover indisputable facts.
(c) Social sciences require a more careful negotiation of the issues of influence, power, and subjectivity than do most natural sciences.
33

Which of the following research methods is most suitable to the way that Robert Park envisioned sociology?
(a) experiments
(b) surveys
(c) interviews
(d) ethnography

A study of the influence of family income on educational achievement finds a correlation coefficient of 0.4 between income and number of years of higher education achieved. What is one possible conclusion of this study?
(a) Family income is not a significant factor in educational achievement.
(b) While a low income adversely affects the likelihood of achieving a higher education, other factors might as well.
.
(c) Having a low income is the single most important factor in why poor people are unable to acquire higher education.

Suppose the dropout rate in your local high school increased dramatically. Faced with such a serious problem, the school board offers you a $500,000 grant to study the sudden increase.
Following the recommended procedures outlined in the text, explain how you would conduct your research. What hypotheses might you test? How would you prove or disprove them?

If you are planning to do research on human sexuality
◦ How would you step your research?
◦ Which one of the four research designs would you select?
◦ How would you attempt to ensure/prevent ethical issues?