Transcript Sociologists Doing Research

Sociologists Doing Research
Chapter 2
Research Methods
Ch. 2.1
Doing Research in the Social Sciences
A.
B.
C.
Sociologists gain knowledge by doing
research.
Ask “why” and “how” questions then
form hypotheses
Use quantitative or qualitative methods:
quantitative- using numerical data
2. qualitative- surveys and precollected data
1.
Survey
A.
B.
C.
D.
People responding to questions
Most widely used method in sociology
Ideal for studying large #s of people
Population- a group of people w/certain
specified characteristics that researchers
want to study.
Population
1.
2.
Most populations are too large; use a
sample- group of people that represent a
larger population.
Must be a representative sample- a
sample that accurately reflects the
characteristics of the population as a
whole.
Survey
E.
F.
Questionnaire- a written set of
questions to be answered by a research
participant.
Interview- a trained researchers asks Q
and records A
close-ended: limited set of responses
2. Open-ended: person answers as pleases
1.
Secondary Analysis
A.
Using precollected info. For data
collection and research purposes
B. Gov’t reports, company records, voting
lists…
Field Research
A.
Takes place in a natural setting.
B.
Most commonly used is a case studyintensive study of a single group,
incident or community
1. Findings can be generalized to similar
situations.
Nature of Causation
Ch. 2.2
Nature of Causation
1. The belief that events occur in
predictable ways and that one event
leads to another.
2. Social scientist look for the factors that
cause social events to happen.
3. Multiple causation- belief that an event
occurs as a result of several factors
working in combination.
Steps in Research
Ch. 2.3
Steps in Research
Identify the problemchoose an object or topic to
study.
2. Review the literature- check
all previous research on
topic.
3. Formulate hypotheses- a
testable statement
1.
Continue steps
4.
Develop a research designthe procedures that will be
followed for collecting and
analyzing the data.
5. Collect data- asking
questions, observation and
analyzing existing materials.
Continue Steps
6.
Analyze the data- does it
support the hypothesis?
7.
State findings and
conclusions- write the
report
Measures of Central Tendency
Mode: The most frequently occurring score
in a distribution.
Mean: The arithmetic average of scores in a
distribution obtained by adding the scores
and then dividing by the number of scores
that were added together.
Median: The middle score in a rank-ordered
distribution.
Ethics
A. Show objectivity
B. Report findings truthfully
C. Protect the rights, privacy,
integrity, dignity and freedom of
the subjects.
Research Methods in
Sociology
Research Methods- Chapter 2.1
Type
Survey
Research
Secondary
Analysis
Field
Research
Case Study
Participant
Observation
Experiment
Description
How is info.
gathered?
Advantages
Disadvantages