research
the search of information to analyse & evaluate it
quantitative data
numerical data
qualitative data
descriptive data
positivism
the scientific study of social patterns and of the ways in which society influences the behaviour of individuals
augustus combe
hawthorne effect
a change in a subjects behaviour because they know they're being observed
correlation
two variables change together but no confirmed relationship
cause & effect
one variable causes the other
controlled conditions
factors kept constant within an experiment
primary data
information collected from the researcher through research
secondary data
data previously collected by someone other than the researcher
interpretivism
a research perspective in which understanding and interpretation of the social world is derived from one's personal intuition and perspective
longitudinal studies
research that follows and retests the same people over time
macro-sociology
study of society as a whole
micro-sociology
study of individuals within society
structuralism
society shapes individuals
social action
individuals create society as they act and interact in socially meaningful ways
max weber
phenomenology
the study of how things seem to the conscious person
symbolic interactionism
a micro-level theory in which
ethnomethodology
the study of how people use background assumptions to make sense out of life