Chp. 2: Sociological research methods.

Qualitative research:

interpretive description (words) rather than statics (numbers) used to analyze underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships.

Quantitative research:

numerical analysis or manipulation of observations with the aim to explain or describe the topic of inquiry.

Survey:

asking many people the same set of questions to gather information about opinions or behaviors.

Questionnaire:

a written set of questions people answer, often used in surveys. 

Interview:

a conversation where a researcher asks someone questions to get detailed information. 

Secondary analysis:

using data that other researchers have already collected, instead of gathering new data. 

Content analysis:

studying media, books, or documents to find patterns or themes. 

Field research:

collecting information by going out into real-life settings to observe or interact with people. 

Participant observation:

when a researcher joins a group and observes their behavior from the inside. 

Case study:

a detailed study of one person, group, or situation.

Ethnography:

a deep study of a culture or community by living with or closely observing them. 

Experiment:

a test researchers do to see how one thing causes changes in another. 

Correlation:

a relationship between two things, showing they change together (but not always meaning one causes the other). 

Hawthorne effect:

when people change their behavior because they know they are being studied.

Probability sample:

sample selection that follows probability theory and involves random selection techniques, so every member of the entire population being studied has the same chance of selection.

Non-probability sample:

sample selection that is not rooted in probability theory and involves selection of participants based on specific characteristics possibly including age, sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attachment.

Survey:

asking many people the same set of questions to gather information about opinions or behaviors.

Longitude study:

concerned with what is happening over a period of time or at several different points in time.

Cross sectional study:

observations that take place at a single point in time; these studies focus on behavior or responses at a specific moment.