Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1Research Methods
• Goal is to test common sense
assumptions and replace false ideas with
facts and evidence
• Focus on why and how
• No actual laboratory to conduct research
(need real life situations)
Quantitative research
• Numerical data
– Surveys
– Precollected data- ex: census
– 90 percent of their research is by survey
Survey research
• Good for studying a large number of
people
• Two groups: population and sample
– Population: Those with characteristics a
researcher wants to study
– Sample: is a limited number of cases drawn
from the larger population
Sample
• Representative sample
– Must have the same basic characteristics as
the general population
– How do you get a sample
• Randomization- unbiased
Gathering information
• Questionnaire
• Interview
• closed ended questions- Ex: multiple
choice or scale
• Open ended questions- very difficult to
analyze, opens the door for opinions and
biased responses, Question might be
interpreted incorrectly
Secondary analysis
• Using precollected information
– The United States Census
– US department of Labor
– US department of Commerce
Qualitative research
• Use of narrative or descriptive data
• Field research
– Looks closely at aspects of life that can not be
measured with numbers and are best
understood with in a natural setting
– Use of obervation: ex “cliques” with in a
school environment
Case study
• A thorough investigation of a single group,
incident, or community
• Generalize this information to similar
situations
– Ex: a case study of gangs in New York city
can be applied to other large cities
– The researcher also needs to point out in
his/her case study things that might be unique
to that particular city
Participant observation
• The researcher becomes a member of the
group being studied
– EX: if a researcher is studying recovering
alcoholics and decided to become part an AA
group
Section 2 Causation in Science
• Events occur in predictable nonrandom
ways
• Multiple causation
– An event occurs as a result of several factors
working in combination
• Ex WWI-powder keg
Variable
• Characteristic: age, gender, education,
occupation etc.
• Variables can be quantitative or
qualitative, independent or dependent
• Quantitative variable- numeric
• Qualitative variable- categories ex:
male/female, yes/no, marital status etc
Variables
• Independent variable
– A variable that causes something to occur
• Time spent studying for a test
• Dependent variable
– The result from the change in the independent
variable
• The final grade on the test
Intervening Variables
• Influence the relationship between an
independent and dependent variable
– Government intervention to help end a
situation
– Ex: program designed to end hunger
correlation
• Measure of how things are related to one
another
• A correlation DOES NOT MEAN causation
• Can be positive or negative
• Positive
– Longer time spent studying increase the
grade
• Negative
– Longer time spent watching TV the grade
goes down
Standards for showing causation
• Open books to page 53
Section 3 procedures and Ethics in
research
• Research procedures
– Identify the problem
– Review literature
– Formulate hypothesis
– Develop research design
– Collect data
– Analyze data
– State findings and conclusion
Ethics in research
• Strict codes that must be followed when
conducting research
– Unfortunately not all research believe or
follow these codes
• Nuremburg trials- 24 doctors convicted of
conducting sadistic experiments on inmates
• 1932-1972 US intentionally did not treat 400
syphilitic Africans Americans so they could tract the
evolution of the disease