Researching Sex and Gender

Chapter 2

Chapter Overview

I. Quiz

II. Researching Sex and GenderA. Caution: Women Seething

B. How Science Developed

C. Approaches to Research

D. Gender Bias in Research

E. Considering Diversity

I. Quiz

1. Psychology is not a science.

False

2. Psychology is a value-free science that studies groups without preconception or bias.

Only in your dreams.

3. “Intrinsic aptitude” explains why women don’t rise to prominence in mathematics and the sciences.

False

A. Caution: Women Seething

Vanity Fair, June, 2005 1. Harvard president Lawrence

Summers’ statement2. The role of discrimination 3. Evidence about women’s

abilities

Dramatic Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers

B. How Science Developed

1. The 16th and 17th centuries: science v. religion

2. Assumption: empirical observation allows researchers to discover the lawful principles by which the world works.

3. Objectivity is not necessarily obtained.

C. Approaches to Research

1. Quantitative 2. Qualitative

Descriptive Case Studies

Interviews

Ethnography

Focus Groups

Surveys

Ex Post Facto

Experimental

1. Quantitative Research Methodsa. turning observations into numbers

b. narrowing observations to one aspect

c. narrowing studies to one or two variables

d. types • descriptive research (example)• experimental research

• Experimental Designs involve experiments, which must include the manipulation of an independent variable and the measurement of a dependent variable while holding all other factors constant. The need for such control usually requires a laboratory situation. Properly conducted experiments allow researchers to make conclusion concerning causal relationships between independent and dependent variables.

Huh?• Definitions

• Hypothesis• Population• Sample• Random sample• Experimental group• Control group• Variable• Independent variable• Dependant variable• Experimenter bias

• The Experimental Method is the most natural thing in the world.

• A class experiment

Decide on a topic.

Collect the Data

Research the topic.

Run the experiment

Record the results

H: Form a hypothesis

This generates more research questions

Choose a research method

b. Ex Post Facto Studies • Pro: they allow researchers to study

variables that they cannot manipulate, for either ethical or practical reasons.

• Subject variables—characteristics of participants that can be used to place participants into contrast groups.

• Con: no variable is manipulated so causality may not be inferred.

c. Surveys: asking people questions

• Adv: careful, quick and kind.• Dis:

• test construction may be poor• Self-reports may be inaccurate• Target population may not be surveyed • Causation cannot be inferred

d. Correlational Studies

• Correlation = discovering if variables vary together and the strength of the relationship and the direction of their relationship. • operational definition

• Correlation is NOT causation

Height and success

Personal Observations:

Saloons and Churches

Self-esteem and achievement

2. Qualitative Research Methodsa. an alternative to quantitative research.

b. includes more complex data and less statistical analysis

a. Case Studies • involves the intensive study of one

case • Adv: allows a full examination of

one case. • Dis: prevents generalization

b. Interviews: allows the exploration of the topic through the exchange of information between interviewer and participant.

c. Ethnography

d. Focus groups: a group of usually 6 to 8 people who participate in an intensive discussion on a topic.

3. Researchers’ Choices:

Which to use?

Quantitative (most common)

or

Qualitative (gaining popularity, but often used to supplement quantitative)

(Tell story abt. Tutorial Center and students taking Calculus here.)

1. A common criticism.

2. Constructionists => science is the process of invention rather than discovery.

D. GENDER BIAS IN RESEARCH

1. Sources of Bias a. Masculine researchers b. Choice of topicsc. Choice of variablesd. Choice of hypothesis e. Collection and analysis of dataf. Interpretation of results. g. Statistical significance:

• a finding probably not occurring by chance• However, it may not be large or of practical

significance. • Confusion between these two concepts can

lead to erroneous conclusions about gender differences.

2. Minimizing Bias

a. Feminist Standpoint Epistemologies =>Transformation

• Reject traditional science as hopelessly biased

• Problem: this would promote women-centered research.

• Conclusion: It can enhance research, but will probably not replace it.

b. Feminist Empiricists => Decrease Bias• keep traditional scientific methods

but guard against bias • the use of meta-analysis • the evaluation of research from many

studies to understand the magnitude of the effects

• Ex: meta-analysis of mathematical abilities shows statistical significance in gender differences but not practical significance

E. CONSIDERING DIVERSITY1. Science is one way to understand the

world. Other cultures believe that the natural world is integrated with humanity into a harmonious whole.

2. All cultures have developed technology, some have used science to do it.

3. Science is the product of European thought which fuels “science wars.”