The Real World
An Introduction to Sociology
Third Edition
Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein
Chapter 2: Studying Social Life:
Sociological Research Methods
Overview of Research
Methods
• Quantitative research: translates the social
world into numbers that can be studied
mathematically
• Qualitative research: uses nonnumerical data
like texts, interviews, photos, and recordings
to help understand social life
The Scientific Approach
• The scientific method—a procedure for
acquiring knowledge that emphasizes
collecting data through observation and
experiment.
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The Scientific Method
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Literature review
Hypothesis
Variables
Operational definitions
• Helps determine:
The Scientific Method (con’t.)
• Correlation: a relationship between two
variables
• Causation: a relationship where one variable
causes another variable to change
• Spurious correlation: a relationship that
seems to appear between two variables, but
is actually caused by some external, or
intervening, variable.
Paradigm Shifts
• Research can lead to what Thomas Kuhn
called a paradigm shift, or a change in the
way we think about some aspect of life.
Methods: How Do We Gather
Data?
• There are different ways to collect
information about a topic, but each method
has benefits and limitations.
• When beginning a research project, it is
important to consider which method will work
best.
Ethnographic Methods
• One way to collect to data is through
ethnography—studying people in
their own environments in order to
understand the meanings they give
to their activities.
Ethnographic Methods
(con’t.)
• Ethnography usually happens in two steps:
• The researcher participates in and observes a
setting.
• Then the researcher makes a written account
(field notes) of what goes on there.
Ethnographic Methods
(con’t.)
• In participant observation the researcher
both observes and becomes a member in a
social setting.
Interviews
• Interviews involve direct, face-to-face
contact with respondents.
• Can generate large amounts of qualitative
data
• Researcher identifies the target population
of interest, then selects a sample of people
to be interviewed from that population
Interviews (con’t.)
• Interviews can use open-ended questions or
closed-ended questions.
• Open-ended questions let respondents talk
as much as they’d like about the question
you asked, whereas closed-ended questions
give respondents a choice of answers.
Surveys
• Surveys are questionnaires that are
administered to a sample of respondents
selected from a target population. Survey
research tends to look at large-scale social
patterns and employs statistics and other
mathematical means of analysis.
Existing Sources
• Existing sources refer to any data that has
already been collected by earlier researchers
and is available for future research.
Experimental Methods
• Experiments are formal tests of specific
variables and effects that are performed in a
setting where all aspects of the situation can
be controlled.
Experimental Methods
(con’t.)
• Many experiments involve:
• An experimental group—participants that
receive the experimental treatment
• A control group—participants that continue
without intervention so they can be compared
with the experimental group
Sociological Research
Methods
• The research methods described in this
chapter are often applied outside the field of
sociology.
The Scientific Approach
• Most sociologists believe that they should not
allow their personal beliefs to influence their
research.
• Max Weber coined the phrase value-free
sociology, stating that researchers should
identify facts without allowing their own
personal beliefs or biases to interfere.
Conducting Sociological
Research
• The American Sociological Association has
developed its own code of ethics to help
researchers avoid bias and adhere to
professional standards and to protect
respondents from harm.
Conducting Sociological
Research (con’t.)
• Most universities where research is
conducted also have an institutional review
board, a group of scholars within a university
who meet regularly to review and approve
the research proposals of their colleagues
and make recommendations for how to
protect human subjects.
Sociological Research Methods—
Concept Quiz
If researchers wanted to do a study that required
them to analyze income per household and
average age of people living in the house, they
would likely do what kind of research?
a. quantitative
b. qualitative
c. interviews
d. participant observation
e. ethnography
Sociological Research Methods—
Concept Quiz
If researchers wanted to do a study
that required them to determine the
quality of life in a residential campus
dorm, they would likely do what kind
of research?
a. quantitative
b. qualitative
Sociological Research Methods—
Concept Quiz
You’re doing interview research and you
ask the following question: “So, will you tell
me about your childhood?” What kind of
question did you ask?
a. closed-ended question
b. open-ended question
Sociological Research Methods—
Concept Quiz
You’re doing interview research and you
ask the following question: “So, what year
did you get your first car?” What kind of
question did you ask?
a. closed-ended question
b. open-ended question
This concludes the Lecture
PowerPoint presentation for
Chapter 2
The Real World
AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
3rd Edition
Kerry Ferris
and
Jill Stein
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