Comprehensive Notes on Sociological Research Methods

Epistemology

  • How do we know what we know about the world?
  • What are some different ways that we produce knowledge about the social world?
  • Class poll (conceptual, not the poll results)

Sources of Knowledge (Ways of Knowing)

  • Authority: “my dad or teacher told me so”
  • Tradition: “That’s the way it has always been”
  • Religion: “because its written in the Bible”
  • Media: “I heard it on NPR”
  • Common Sense: “how could it be otherwise?”
  • Personal Experience: “been there, done that”
  • Personal Observation: “I saw it with my own eyes”
  • SCIENCE (as a mode of knowing)

What makes some knowledge Scientific?

  • Essential characteristics of science (summary):
    • Empirical (testable)
    • Systematic (uses specific rules and procedures)
    • Theoretical (inductive versus deductive)
    • Public / Subject to peer review
    • Self-reflective
    • Open-ended process; not the final word
  • Beware of scientific reification!!! Science is not absolute!

What is the Purpose of Sociological Research?

  • 🔍 Explore – Understand what is happening in social settings and uncover new patterns of social life.
  • 📋 Describe – Define and understand social phenomena while challenging myths and “common sense” assumptions.
  • 📊 Explain – Identify causes and effects of social behaviors to test and build theories.
  • ⚙️ Evaluate / Apply – Assess interventions or solutions, promote positive social change, question the status quo.

The Scientific Method (Overview)

  • The scientific method allows sociologists to objectively and logically evaluate the data they collect.
  • Findings can suggest ideas for further sociological research.

Defining the Problem

  • Step 1 in a research project: define the problem as clearly as possible.
  • Example: Causes of adult violent behavior, prevention, and role of parenting/child discipline.
  • Operational definition: a clear explanation of an abstract concept that allows measurement or evaluation.
  • Examples (operational definitions in research):
    • Violent behavior: defined as some specific behaviors (e.g., bar fights, domestic violence) for research purposes.
    • Corporal punishment of children: defined as being spanked as a child (illustrative definitions).

Reviewing the Literature

  • A literature review involves examining relevant scholarly studies and information.
  • Allows researchers to:
    • Refine the problem under study.
    • Clarify possible techniques to collect data (research design).
    • Eliminate or reduce avoidable mistakes.

Formulating the Hypothesis

  • Hypothesis: a speculative statement about the relationship between two or more factors (variables).
  • Variable: a measurable trait or characteristic subject to change under different conditions.
  • Independent variable (X): the variable hypothesized to cause or influence another.
  • Dependent variable (Y): the variable whose action depends on the influence of the independent variable.
  • Example: Spanking children as a form of discipline causes children to be more violent towards others as adults (DV: Violent Behavior).

Formulating the Hypothesis (Variables)

  • Independent variable (X): Spanking children as a form of discipline.
  • Dependent variable (Y): Violent behavior in adulthood.

Causal Logic and Correlation

  • Causal logic: involves the relationship between a condition/variable (X) and a consequence (Y), with one leading to the other.
  • Correlation: exists when a change in one variable coincides with a change in the other.
  • Key cautions:
    • Correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.
    • Sociologists seek to identify the causal link between variables.
  • HOW DO WE ASSESS CAUSE? (conceptual): Spanked Children → Adult Violence (correlation observed; other factors may exist)

Assessing Causation

  • Causation requires:
    • Correlation (association between X and Y)
    • Time order (X occurs before Y)
    • Alternative explanations ruled out (no spuriousness)
  • Spanked → Adult Violence is a hypothesized causal link, but other factors must be considered.

Other Possible Causes (Confounding Variables)

  • Family Social Class: Lower class kids more likely to be spanked and more likely to have aggressive kids.
  • Parental Education: parallels class effects.
  • Gender of Victim: males more likely to be spanked and more likely to be aggressive.
  • Parental Affection: affection reduces spanking and reduces likelihood of aggression.

Research Design: Collecting and Analyzing Data

  • Sample: a selection from a larger population that is representative of that population.
  • Random sample: every member of the entire population has the same probability of being selected.
  • Convenience sample: participants recruited through word of mouth or notices (e.g., Internet postings).
  • Research design: a detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically, considering sample, measurements, and data collection techniques.

Validity and Reliability

  • Validity: the degree to which a measure truly reflects the phenomenon being studied.
  • Reliability: the extent to which a measure produces consistent results.
  • Example to illustrate challenges: correlating Corporal Punishment with Violent Behavior may face validity/reliability issues.

Major Research Designs (Table 6-3)

  • Four major designs (summary table):
    • Method: Survey | Examples: Questionnaires; Interviews | Advantages: Yields information about specific issues | Limitations: Can be expensive and time-consuming
    • Method: Ethnography | Examples: Observation | Advantages: Yields detailed information about specific groups or organizations | Limitations: Months to years, labor-intensive
    • Method: Experiment | Examples: Deliberate manipulation of people’s behavior | Advantages: Yields direct measures of behavior | Limitations: Ethical limitations on manipulation
    • Method: Existing sources / Secondary analysis | Examples: Analysis of census or health data | Advantages: Cost-efficiency | Limitations: Limited to data collected for some other purpose
  • Note: Researchers must pay attention to changes in society (e.g., family, marriage, race, class, gender).

Research Methods: Qualitative vs Quantitative

  • Qualitative methods:
    • Purpose: collect information about the social world that cannot be easily converted to numeric form.
    • Micro-sociology (inductive): study of everyday life, complex processes, meaning.
    • Seeks exploration, description, understanding.
    • Asks how? What is happening?
    • Assumes research subjectivity.
    • Examples of data collection methods are not exhaustively listed in the transcript.
  • Quantitative methods:
    • Purpose: obtain information about the social world that is in, or can be converted to, numeric form.
    • Macro-sociology (deductive): study of large-scale patterns and causal relationships.
    • Seeks to explain, predict, and control.
    • Asks how many? To what extent?
    • Assumes research objectivity.
    • Examples of data collection methods are not exhaustively listed in the transcript.

Developing the Conclusion

  • The conclusion represents both an end and a beginning.
  • Additional research questions or ideas should be generated from conclusions.
  • Sociological studies do not always support the original hypothesis.
  • Control variable: a factor held constant to test the relative impact of the independent variable.

In Summary: The Scientific Method (Key Steps)

  • 1) Defining the problem
  • 2) Reviewing the literature
  • 3) Formulating a hypothesis
  • 4) Collecting and analyzing data (design)
  • 5) Developing the conclusion
  • Can be inductive or deductive

The Scientific Method: An Example Problem

  • Does corporal punishment of children lead to more violent adults?
  • Need Operational definitions for CP of Children and Violence.
  • Literature review of related studies.
  • Hypothesis: Children who get spanked as a form of punishment are more likely to engage in aggressive behavior (e.g., domestic violence) as adults.
  • Data collection and analysis: obtain a representative sample, ensure data validity and reliability; collect a random sample of adults and survey childhood discipline and history of aggression toward a family member.
  • Conclusion: data appear to support or not support the hypothesis.

Objectivity and Reflexivity

  • Objectivity: Judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices (definition from dictionary.com).
  • In action: seek personal neutrality in research, teaching, and classroom participation.
  • Question: Can sociologists really be objective?
  • Reflexivity: the researcher's role in the subjects and data; awareness of life experiences and perceptions; how identity influences data.

The Hawthorne Effect

  • Definition: Individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.
  • Illustrative: “The unintended influence that observers of human behavior can have on their subjects.”

Uses of Social Science Research

  • Finding out information about the world.
  • Adds to knowledge about how you know things and how others know things.
  • Helps construct and evaluate theories by which we live our lives.
  • Informs policies and laws affecting our lives.
  • Offers skills for employment.
  • Enables problem-solving and advocacy for more just social policies.
  • Reference: YouTube video link (provided in slide): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTRjAqC61s

Thursday: Research Ethics – The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

  • Location and period: USA (Alabama), 1932 - 1973.
  • Conducted by: US Public Health Service.
  • Participants: 600 low income African-American males.
  • Ethical issues:
    • Subjects were not told about their condition, even after penicillin became a cure.
    • Subjects were denied or coerced into not receiving external treatment.
  • Outcome: Study ended only when exposed by national media.
  • Accountability: Clinton apologized to survivors in 1997.
  • Location note on the slide: DAVISVILLE (context unclear from transcript)