Recording-2025-01-31T03_47_51.346Z

Levels of Social Research

• Macro vs. Micro

  • Macro: Focuses on larger scale phenomena such as crime rates; examines overarching patterns and societal trends.

  • Micro: Concentrates on individual experiences or smaller groups, like team dynamics on a swim team; explores personal meanings and interpretations.

Ethical Considerations in Social Research

• Conforming to ethical guidelines is crucial and will be emphasized in Chapter 3.

• Importance of Ethics:

  • Respect for Human Life: Subjects of research are human beings, necessitating ethical treatment.

  • Trust and Cooperation: Respondents must feel confident in researchers to ensure they are willing to participate and provide genuine insights.

Defining Social Research Questions

• A social research question is essentially:

  • A query about the social world aimed to be answered through factual evidence.

  • Emphasizes the application of the scientific method to derive conclusions.