GOAL OF SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY

-The basic goalof sociological inquiry is to obtain a better understanding of society and the interactions, social relations, social phenomena, social behavior and social processes taking place within it.

Fundamental Procedures In Sociological Inquiry

-Sociological inquiry follows the step in the scientific method as follow by Donald Light and Suzanne Keller – 1985

a. Defining the Problem b. Reviewing the Literature  c. Forming a Hypothesis

d. Choosing a Research Design  e. Collecting the Data

f. Analyzing the Data  g. Drawing Conclusionsh. Communicating the Results of the Study 

METHOD, TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS IN SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY 

a. EXPERIMENT

A research method that exposes subjects to a specially designed situation. By systematically recordings subjects’ reactions, the researcher can assess the effects to different variables.

b. SURVEY A method of research using either questionnaires or interview, or both, to learn how people think, feel, or act. Good surveys use random samples and pre-tested questions to ensure high reliability and validity. 

c. CASE STUDY

Intensive study and examination of a person or a specific group, organization or institution is carried out.

d. FIELD OBSERVATION OR PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

A research method in which researchers deliberately involve themselves in the activity, group, or community they are studying in order to get an insider’s view.

i. INTERVIEWER

The researcher may interview subjects face-to face or by telephone. It can be:

1.Structured or Detective - It is a procedure in which carefully phased standard questions or schedule often with multiple choice answers - are asked in a fixed order to provide systematic and comparable data and hence facilities analysis.

2.Unstructured or Nondirective

-It is a procedure in which neither the questions nor the answer are predetermined, instead, the researcher let the interviewee or respondent guide of flow of the interview. 

f. HISTORICAL APPROACH

The aim is to gain insight and understanding of present social realities in the context of what took place in the past.

The following are the techniques and tools used in sociological inquiry:

a. Qualitative technique – involves the examinantions of the data from observations, interviews and publications which are not statistical in nature.

b. Quantitative technique – involves the use of statistics which deal with a mass of data and permit more precise statements of their relationships. It involves the classification and enumeration of data, analysis of the quantitative relationships involved, and assignment of numerical values of their relationships.