Methods of Social Science

John Bradford, Ph.D.

Three Simple Steps to Social Science(easier said than done)

STEP 1: Select some concepts of interest (variables)

STEP 2: Posit (suggest) some relationship between these concepts (Hypothesis)

STEP 3: Test these suggestions empirically to see if they are right.

Quantitative and Qualitative Research

1. Quantitative Research– Gathers data that are easily expressed in numbers– Emile Durkheim felt that the goal of sociology was to

discover the laws that govern social behavior

2. Qualitative Research– Focuses not only on objective nature of behavior but

also on its meaning– Max Weber thought that sociology had to be an

interpretive science- it must take into account the social meanings/reasons attached to behaviors.

Concepts and Constructs

• Concept: a label that is applied to things with similar characteristics or attributes; a generalization, or category.

• Constructs: an abstract concept; words used to describe things that exist analytically (in our minds) but are not directly observable or perceivable. – Examples: Racism, love, economic depression,

loyalty, etc.

Research Methods

• All research begins with a ‘Literature Review’! – A ‘lit review’ is a review of the existing literature on

the topic• Types of Research 1. Surveys (including questionnaires and interviews)

2. Secondary Data Analysis (aka statistical or correlational analysis)

3. Field Research (aka Observation)

4. Experiments

I. Survey Examples

Close-ended Survey Questions: respondents are provided with list of possible answers– Examples.

1. Are you: _______ male _______ female?2. What is your present marital status?

– ______ _never married– _______married– _______ separated– _______ divorced– _______ widowed

3. Are you presently employed? ______ no ______ yes

Survey Examples

Open-ended Survey Questions: Respondents answer questions in their own words.Examples:– What is the most important thing you have

learned so far in this class?– What is the thing that you like most about your

sociology class? The thing you like least?

Surveys

6 Guidelines for Crafting Survey Questions1. Adapt phrasing of questions to the educational level of

your respondents.2. Avoid double negatives in a question3. Avoid ‘marathon’ questions.4. Don’t ask ‘double-barreled’ questions: ask only one

question at a time!5. Don’t ask ‘leading’ or ‘loaded’ questions6. Don’t ask questions that your respondent cannot answer– Inaccessible information, or illogical questions.

II. Secondary Data Analysis

• What is it? Researchers use existing material and analyze data that were collected by others. – Usually involves statistical or correlational

analysis. – Also includes content analysis:

Secondary Data Analysis

WARNING:Correlation does not prove causation!

Directionality

• Variables that vary in the same direction have a positive relationship.

• Variables that vary in the opposite direction have a negative relationship.

Directionality

• Example: a decrease in employment is associated with a decrease in income:– Even though both variables go

down, they vary in the same direction. This is a positive relationship! (-1 * -1 = + 1)

What are Variables?

• Variable: something of interest to a social researcher.

• Variables have two characteristics:1. It is thought to influence or be influenced by

another thing.2. A variable is some attribute of a category of things

that has more than one possible ‘value’ – A ‘variable’ is not a constant! Not all observed cases

are identical with respect to this value.– Variables imply differences and hence comparability.

Variables:Independent (X) vs Dependent (Y)

• Independent variable (X) = the cause. Variable that influences.

• Dependent variable (Y) = the effect. Variable that is influenced by the cause; it is dependent on the cause.

• INCA: the INdependent variable is the CAuse.

Variables: Cause and Effect• Below are some examples of how two variables may relate

causally. We usually designate with an ‘X’ the variable we think is ‘causing’ (‘influencing’, ‘effecting’ etc.) the other variable, which we designate as Y.

• X Y • Examples:

– Gender (X) is thought to influence occupation (Y)– Religious affiliation (Y) is thought to be influenced by income. – Educational attainment (X) is thought to influence income (Y). – Age (X) is thought to influence attitudes towards using

computers (Y)– Income (Y) is thought to be influenced by race (X)

Sampling

• A Sample is a portion of the larger population that you will study to make inferences about the larger population.

• General rule: the more diverse a population is, the larger the sample needs to be!

• Samples should be random: every element in the population has the same probability of being in the sample.

III. Field Research

• What is it? Observing people and carefully recording measurements of their behavior.

• This includes:– Ethnography: method of attempting to

understand a group from the inside (i.e. from their point of view)

– Case Studies– Unstructured Interviews

Field Research

• Strategies of Field Research:– Complete participant– Complete observer– Participant Observer

Hawthorne Effect: observation by a researcher can influence the subjects who are being observed.

NOPARTICIPATION

TOTALPARTICIPATION

Completeparticipant

CompleteObserver

ParticipantObserver

IV. Experiment

• An experiment involves manipulating the independent variable (X) and observing the effect on the dependent variable (Y)

• Experiments are the only means by which we can explore causal relationships; only way we can know for sure if changes to X cause changes in Y.

• Experimenter needs two dependent variable (Y) groups of Y:

1. Experimental group- receives ‘treatment’ of independent variable (X)

2. Control group- does not receive treatment; is left alone.

Experiment

• Imagine a scientist testing the effect that some drug, X, has on growth of rats, Y.

• To see how the drug effects rat growth, the experimenter will compare growth in two groups of rats: Y₁ , the group of rats that gets the drug (X) and a group of rates Y₂ that will not.

• Y₁ is the experimental group, and Y₂ is the control group.

Experiment

• One assumes separation or isolation between the setting where X is applied and the control, where X isn’t applied.

• It is important that rats which receive the drug and rats which do not be alike in all relevant characteristics and conditions, so that any observed differences between rats which receive the drug (the experimental group) and those that do not (the control group) can be attributed only to the drug (X), and not to something else.

Experiment

• Random Assignment to condition- is the process whereby all participants have an equal chance of taking part in any condition of the experiment.

• The purpose is to ensure that any potentially relevant differences between the experimental and control groups are distributed evenly and therefore won’t affect the outcome (i.e. will cancel each other out)

Experiment• A counter-factual refers to something that did

not happen, but could have or would have occurred.

• We use the ‘control group’ to make a counterfactual argument, which says that: “in the absence of X, this is how Y₁ would have behaved.” We assume that Y₁ would have behaved like Y₂, the control.

• Why? Because they are alike in all relevant characteristics so any difference we observe must be a result of the independent variable, X.

Experiment

5 Rules for Doing True Experiments1. Have at least two groups (control and experiment)2. Randomly assign people to groups3. Treat the experimental group by manipulating the

independent variable4. Observe the effect of the treatment on the

dependent variable in the experimental group5. Compare the dependent variable differences (the

outcome of treatment) in the experimental and control groups