L. #2 Sociological Research
Empirical Observation F One word that is critical for understanding the essence of a scientific approach is empiricism, which is the act of experiencing something with one's senses.
Objectivity and Sociological Research F Objectivity in science means, in general terms, that scientists conduct their research in such a way that their personal, subjective views do not influence the results of their research.
Objectivity as an Attitude F All scientists have personal views, attitudes, and values that could potentially affect the selection of particular problems for study, the conduct of the research, and the interpretation of the result.
Attitudinal objectivity Frequires scientists to maintain an attitude of fairness and honesty when planning and conducting their research.
Objectivity as a Procedure. F Procedural objectivity refers to the performing and reporting of all research tasks in such a way that any interested person will know exactly how the research was conducted.
Steps in the Research Process All research starts with a question, but the questions may come from very different sources. F One often used way of finding research questions is to turn to earlier studies on the same general subject, which is referred to as "reviewing the literature. “
Formulating Hypotheses FA hypothesis is a statement about how various phenomena are expected to be related to each other.
Theoretical Concepts and Research Variables FA concept is a word or phrase that summarizes some meaningful part of the social world. An important part of social research consists of translating key concepts into observable phenomena. F Concepts are measured by indicators that can be empirically observed. F Variables are defined as objects or phenomena that can change from one size, state, or degree to another.
Major Sociological Research Methods FExperiments are typically set up in such a way that the independent variable is under the control of the researcher and its impact on a dependent variable can be observed directly.
Major Sociological Research Methods F Participant observation is a research method in which researchers interact with and observe the behavior of those whom they are studying. F Social surveys often involve random samples of populations. The people selected in samples are questioned, either with questionnaires or through interviews.
Major Sociological Research Methods F Secondary analysis is the use of data collected by other researchers for new and often very different kinds of research questions. Data collected by the government (e. g. , the census) are often used for secondary analysis.
Major Sociological Research Methods F Historical comparative method examines the events and histories of whole societies, or the events and his tories of major components of societies (e. g. , religious systems, economic systems, governmental systems). F Often the goal is to understand how historical events and conditions in different societies have led to different societal outcomes.
Major Sociological Research Methods F Cross national research is the collecting of similar kinds of data in two or more nations for comparison. F These studies showed that, in each country, the people who were higher in the social stratification system (more education, better jobs, higher incomes) were more likely to value self direction.
Statistics and Sociological Research F Statistics are techniques used to process the numbers produced by research and measurement. Statistics should always help us in some way: if they do not explain or clarify, they are of no use. F Basically, statistics will do one of two things: (1) make the communication of information easier or simpler; (2) help us to make certain kinds of decisions.
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