Sociologists Doing Research Chapter 2
Jun 15, 2015
Sociologists Doing Research
Chapter 2
Research Methods
Sociologists attempt to ask the “why” and “how” questions and gather evidence which will help form a hypothesis or form a hypothesis and then test it.
Types of Research Methods
Quantitative: uses numerical data and statistics.
Qualitative: Gather narrative and descriptive data
Survey Research
Survey: research method in which people are asked to answer a series of questions. Good for studying large groups of people.
Things you need for a survey
Population: group that the sociologists want to study
Sample: a limited number of cases drawn from the larger population
Types of Research
Representative Sample: selected carefully to have the same characteristics as the general populations. Ex. Gallop-Harris, Election polls.
Types of Research
Random Sample: assign everyone in the population a number then draw numbers after the numbers have been scrambledQuestionnaire: written set of questions that survey participants answer by themselves
Types of Research
Interview: interviewer asks participants questions
Open-ended ?’s: person is free to answer questions in their own words
Closed-ended ?’s: person is limited to a predetermined set of responses
Types of Research
Secondary Analysis: collecting information that someone else has already gathered. Ex. Gov’t Reports, U.S. census.
Types of ResearchField Research: Looks closely at aspects of social life that cannot be measured quantitatively. It is qualitative research using a descriptive narrative.
Tools of Field Research Case Study: a thorough look at a single group, incident, or community. Assume that findings can be generalized to other similar situations.
Participant Observation: the researcher becomes a member of the group being studied. STOP
Statistical Terms
Mean: the average score of a response.
Median: the score that is in the middle when counting scores from top to bottom.
Mode: the single score that is recorded most often.
Causation in ScienceCausation: a scientific assumption that an event has a reason why it happened.
Multiple Causation: an event occurs because of several factors in combination
Variable: a single cause or factor
Types of Variables
Quantitative Variable
Qualitative Variable
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Intervening Variable
Causation in Science
Correlation: a measure of how things are related to each other. Exists when the independent variable is tied to a change in the dependent variable
Types of Correlations
Positive Correlation: both variable change in the same direction
Negative Correlation: both variables move in opposite directions
Standards for Showing Causation
Two variables must be correlated.
All other possible factors must be taken into account. Spurious Correlation
A change in the independent variable must occur before a change in the dependent variable
Scientific MethodsIdentify the Problem
Review the Literature
Formulate Hypothesis
Develop a Research Design
Collect the Data
Analyze the Data
State Findings and Conclusions
Ethics in Social ResearchSociological Code of Ethics: getting the greatest amount of information possible but doing the least amount of harm to the individuals or groups you are studying
Media Reporting- tend to oversimplify and news may be slanted depending on sponsor