Doing Social Science

Week 2 Vocab

society

concept that describes the structured social relations and institutions among a large community of people

social scientists get data from…

quantitative, mixed and qualitative methods

main research techniques

• surveys/stats

• in-depth interviews

• focus groups

• participatory methodologies (invite for analysis, collaborative)

• visual sociology/anthropology

• mapping methodologies

• ethnography, auto-ethnography and participant observation

• internet research methods

ethnography

qualitative research method based on first-hand observations and in-depth interviews

• requires complete immersion of researcher in culture/society of everyday life of people (subject they study)

• long-term fieldwork

• rite of passage

• genre as well, written account resulting from the study

key features of ethnography

• participant observation: a research method where the researcher immerses themselves in a culture or community to study it by living with and participating in its day-to-day activities

• holistic approach (social practices, live experiences, cultural beliefs, individual and group behaviors)

• qualitative data

• challenges “going native” = getting too involved and forgetting research 

• reflexivity: critical self-awareness practice where researchers examine their own biases, values and experiences to understand their potential influence on the research process

participant observation

main ethnography technique

• observe people’s actions and relationships directly

• talking to people

• actively engaging in social situations to learn to see the world as those people do

• to register (field notes + diary)

interviews

conversations between a research and respondent about a certain topic of interest 

structured interviews

face to face from a list of standardized questions

semi-structured interviews

face to face, some standardized questions w/ability to ask follow-up questions

unstructured interviews

fae to face, less formal setting

• discuss themes, not set of questions

• flexible

group interview/focus group

can be structured, semi-structured or unstructured

consider pre-interview

• SPACE (private or public) AND ATMOSPHERE

• TIME-DURATION

• RECORDING VS. TAKING NOTES (or other ways of collecting responses)

• CONSENT, ANONYMITY, ETHICS

• TRUST, EMPATHY, ATTENTIVENES (emotional and affective component

ethnographic mindset

• EMPATHY

• HUMILITY

• OPENNESS

• CURIOSITY

• THE ABILITY TO SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR OWN CULTURAL NORMS

sensory ethnography

focus on observation and all senses (not just observing and chat)

• what we feel as researchers

• what people we are investigating are feeling

• 5 senses to perceive the world 

auto-ethnography

researcher uses personal experience/their own narrative

• places “I” within a cultural-social context

• describes cultural + social dynamics an individual confronts 

• asks readers to become co-participants emotionally + intelligentally

field notes

created by researcher to remember + record behaviors, activities, events and other features of an observation

• intended to be read by the researcher as evidence to produce meaning and understanding of culture, social situation or phenomenon being studied 

limitations of fieldwork

• evaluative position of researcher and objectivity: self-reflection and recognition of one’s position and responsibility

• influence of the observer on behavior 

sensory models

ways we have learned to perceive the world sensorily

sensory communities

acquisition of certain type of sensory knowledge is possible through the socialization within the group 

affective sociologies

sociology of emotions

• study of emotions using sociological concepts and theories 

sociology with emotions

• willingness to incorporate the affect component into sociological studies of other social phenomena 

understanding emotions from sociological perspective

• pay attention to emotional reality of social beings and in societies

• emotions participate in action, interaction and interpretation of the world

• social actor is conscious and sentient (feeling-thinking body)

sensory learning processes

we learn, relearn and unlearn ways of feeling the world through practices, discourses and artifacts

feeling rules of inner emotion

defines what we should feel in certain circumstances

• indicate the intensity, direction and duration of the emotion

expression rules of emotions

indicate to actor what emotions and the degree they can be expressed 

field diary notes

• prioritize experiences related to your position and the people around you

• conversations, quotes

• emotions you are experiencing

• interesting questions that arise after being exposed to particular social context

• comparisons of cultures

• drawings, diagrams