chapter 3 researching the social world copyright 2012, sage publications, inc
TRANSCRIPT
Copyright 2012, SAGE Publications, Inc.
Chapter 3
Researching the Social World
Copyright 2012, SAGE Publications, Inc.
The Scientific Method
• Sociologists practice empiricism, which means they gather information using their senses.
• The scientific method is a way to find answers to questions about the world.
• The scientific method is a systematic search for a thorough understanding of the world.
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The Scientific Method
• The scientific method uses steps.• Uncover questions in need of answers.• Review the relevant literature.• Develop hypotheses (tentative statements
about the relationship between two or more variables).
• Choose a research method.• Collect data.• Analyze the data.
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The Development of Scientific Knowledge
• The scientific method implies that science develops gradually and cumulatively.
• Confidence in findings grows as they are confirmed by additional research.
• All sciences are built on such facts.
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The Development of Scientific Knowledge
• Thomas Kuhn (1962) proposed a different model of scientific development in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
• A paradigm (general model) is accepted by most practitioners in a field.
• However, scientific revolutions occur when one paradigm replaces another after a scientific breakthrough.
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Sociological Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Research• A scientific method that does not require
statistical methods for collecting and reporting data
• Observation and open-ended questions are two examples.
• Capture descriptive information.
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Sociological Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• Quantitative Research• Involves the analysis of numerical data
• Surveys and experiments are two examples.
• Can help us describe and understand social realities
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Sociological Research: Observational Research
• Involves systematic watching, listening to, and recording what takes place in a natural setting over time
• The most common observational methods used by sociologists are participant and nonparticipant.
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Sociological Research: Observational Research
• Dimensions to any type of observation in sociology• Degree to which those being observed are
aware that they are being observed
• Degree to which the presence of the observer may affect those being observed
• Degree to which the process is structured
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Observational Research
• Participant and nonparticipant observation• In participant observation the researcher
plays a role in the group or setting being observed.
• In nonparticipant observation the researcher plays little or no role in what is being observed.
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Observational Research
• Ethnography• The creation of an account of what a group of
people do and the way they live
• Entails much more intensive and lengthy periods of observation
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Sociological Research: Interviews• Information is sought from participants
who are asked a series of questions.
• Types of interviews:• Prestructured
• Unstructured
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Sociological Research: Surveys
• Questionnaires are self-administered, written sets of questions.
• Types of surveys• Descriptive• Explanatory
• Sampling• Random• Stratified• Convenience
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Sociological Research: Experiments• Involves the manipulation of one or more
characteristics of an independent variable in order to examine the effect of that manipulation
• Types of experiments• Laboratory• Natural• Field
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Secondary Data Analysis
• Historical-Comparative Analysis• Goal is to contrast how different historical
events and conditions in various societies led to different societal outcomes
• Content Analysis• The systematic and objective analysis of the
content of cultural artifacts
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Issues in Social Research: Reliability and Validity
• Reliability• Involves the degree to which a given measure
produces the same results time after time• Concern is with consistency
• Validity• Involves whether a researcher is measuring
what he/she claims to be• Concern is with accuracy
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Issues in Social Research: Research Ethics
• Ethics is concerned with issues of right and wrong, the choices that people make, and how they justify them.
• Research ethics is a balance of potential knowledge (the goal is to increase knowledge) and potential harm (the goal is to minimize or eliminate harm).
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Issues in Social Research: Research Ethics
• Physical and Psychological Harm• Physical harm can be an unintended
consequence of sociological research.• Psychological harm can be caused merely by
asking people about sensitive issues.
• Illegal Acts• A researcher might witness or even become
entangled in illegal acts during the course of his/her research.
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Issues in Social Research: Research Ethics
• Violation of Trust• Possibility of inadvertently divulging the
identity of respondents even though they were promised anonymity or confidentiality
• Informed Consent and IRBs• Institutional review boards are designed to
deal with issues of deception in social research and potential harm.
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Issues in Social Research: Objectivity or Value-Free Sociology
• Have researchers been, or can they be, objective?
• Many argue that value-laden research jeopardizes sociology as it could destroy its credibility.
• Others argue that it is appropriate for researchers to be guided by their values or the values that predominate their society.