Sociological Research

Methods

Pages: S18-S27

What is Sociology?

• Sociology is the science that studies human society and human behavior.

• In order to study these things, Sociologist look to build and study

Empirical Research

• Empirical Research: Relies on the use of experience, observation, and

experimentation to collect facts which = data

How do we research?

• We use the Scientific Method. Why?

• 1) To try and prevent our own notions, values and biases from interfering

• 2) To use careful and correct reasoning in drawing conclusions

• 3) The research is organized and completed in a methodical manner

Characteristics of Social Research

• Issues of Interest: The main one lies in examining the structure and function

of various features of society

• ex. How are groups organized and the consequences of actions on society

• Rates of Behavior: How often does the behavior occur in a specific condition

• Stability and Change: Why do things or stay the same?

Variables

• Variable= a characteristic that can differ from one individual, group or

situation to another in a measureable way.

• Examples- Age, Race, Income, Education

• Control- Used to exclude the possibility that outside variables affect the

relationship of two variables

Causation

• What causes an event to occur?

• We study Cause and Effect by examining the relationship among variables.

• A causal relationship exists when a change in one variables causes a change

in another.

Correlation

• The change in one variable is regularly associated with a change in another

variable

• This may or may not be causal and it can be a + or a –

• + Example- The higher the rate of cigarettes smoked, the higher the rate

of lung cancer.

• – Example- As you get older, you need fewer hours of sleep

Spurious

• This correlation exists when variables appear to be related are affected by a

third variable

• Example- Hospitalization and death appear highly correlated but instead

a third variable, serious illness is responsible

Basic Research Methods

• Historical- Use materials from the past (documents etc.)

• Content Analysis-# of times something appears in a context (easy and cheap)

• Ex- TV, radio, movies, photos, periodicals

• Surveys- Questionnaires and Interviews

• Public Opinion Polls (lots of responses) able to get clarification, expressions

• Rely only on response, do they get ? Time consuming and expensive

Basic Research Methods• People who participate are responders

• Sampling- Representative of Population

• Random Sampling- every member has a chance of being selected

• Observation- Two types Detached or Participant

• Detached so you observe from a distance, people don’t know, they act normal

• Participant- you take part so you don’t miss information

• Case Study- Intensive focus of the investigation. It is in-depth

• Ex. Riots, Natural Disasters but don’t generalize the results based on one case

The Math Section

• When looking at information in Sociology,

think about the following math terms