Asking and Answering
Sociological Questions
Introduction to Sociology
Ninth Edition
Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier,
Richard P. Appelbaum, & Deborah Carr
Chapter 2
Learning Objectives
• 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
• Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions: Historical Context
– Contrast Park’s and Ogburn’s visions of sociology as a
science
– Understand their influence on contemporary sociological
research
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Learning Objectives
• Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
– Familiarize yourself with the methods available to
sociological researchers and know the advantages and
disadvantages of each
• Unanswered Questions
– See how research methods generate controversies and
ethical dilemmas for sociologists
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Basic Concepts
• Eight stages in the research process
– 1. Defining the research process
– What are the gaps in our understanding
about the topic?
– What puzzles haven’t been solved?
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Basic Concepts
• Eight stages in the research process
– 2. Reviewing the evidence
– What questions have been raised?
– How have others approached the problem?
– 3. Making the problem precise
– Formulating hypothesis that are testable
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Basic Concepts
• Eight stages in the research process
– 4. Working out a design
– Deciding what method (surveys, interviews,
participant observation, etc.) works best
– 5. Carrying out the research
– Gathering facts and data according to the
research design
– Dealing with unanticipated problems
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Basic Concepts
• Eight stages in the research process
– 6. Interpreting the results
– Answering initial questions
– Evaluating hypotheses
– 7. Reporting the findings
– Research reports, articles, books
– 8. Repeat
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Basic Concepts
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions: Historical Context
• Sociologists explore four types of
questions:
• Factual or empirical
• Comparative
• Developmental
• Theoretical
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions: Historical Context
• 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.
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
• Ethnography
– Participant observation, interviews
– Generates rich, deep data
– Typically not generalizable
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
• Surveys
– 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
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
• Surveys
– Can be superficial
– May lead to inaccurate results
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
• Experiments
– Control conditions to establish cause and
effect
– Hard to replicate findings from controlled
settings in natural settings
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
• 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
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Asking and Answering Sociological
Questions Today: The Research Process
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Unanswered Questions
• 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
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Unanswered Questions
• Can We Really Study Human Social
Life in a Scientific Way?
– Sociology is a science guided by a
theoretical approach and based on
empirical investigation
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Unanswered Questions
• 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
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Concept Quiz
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.
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Concept Quiz
What is the definition of a hypothesis?
(a) a conclusion regarding a given state of affairs that
is informed by the results of the scientific process
(b) an idea or guess about a given state of affairs put
forward as the basis for empirical testing
(c) a secondary argument put forth in a scientific
report that supports the main argument being made
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Concept Quiz
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
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Concept Quiz
In survey research, ___ is one of the best ways
to ensure conclusions can be generalized to
the whole ___ .
(a) random sampling; population
(b) a pilot study; scientific community
(c) statistics; sample
(d) a questionnaire; country
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