Sociology
The four main research methods
Experiment, survey, participant observation, and use of available data
E. Digby Baltzell
Puritan Boston Quaker Philly (both fleeing for religious beliefs)
Ten Steps in Sociological Investigation
Topic? Others? Questions? What you need to carry out research? Ethical concerns? What method? Recording the data? What does the data tell you? Conclusions? How can you share what you've learned?
Hawthrone Effect
a change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness of being studied
participant observation
a method by which researchers systematically observe people while joining in their routine activities
sample
a part of the population that represents the whole
secondary analysis
a research method in which a researcher collects data by others
interview
a serious of questions a researcher administers in person to respondents
Puritan
achievement at meetings
Lie within Statistics
data selection, data interpretation
random sample
draw a sample randomly so that every element in the population has the same chance of being selected
quantitative research
investigation in which a researcher collects numerical data
qualitative research
investigation in which a researcher gathers impressionistic, not numerical data
Quaker
less achievement, more relaxed
self-administered survey
mailing questionnaires to respondents and asking that they complete the form and mail it back (saves $)
use graphs to spin the truth
manipulating time frames on graphs and using scale to inflate or deflate a trend
Doc
person who was the key informant in Whyte's investigation
Political surveys
polls, familiar part of national life
Zimbardo's Stanford County Prison
prison setting as independent variable and violence as dependent variable
deductive logical thought
reasoning that transforms general theory to specific observations, deduction or decreases from general to specific
inductive logical thought
reasoning that transforms specific observations to general theory, induction or increases from specific to general
survey
research method in which subjects respond to a series of items in a questionnaire of interview
questionnaire
series of written questions that a researcher presents to subjects
key informant
someone who introduces a researcher to a community and often remains a source of information and help
snowball sampling
started out with people she knew and asking them to suggest others (the # of individuals included grows rapidly over time)
population
the people who are the focus of research
open-ended format
type of questionnaire that allows subjects to respond freely
closed-ended format
type of questionnaire that makes the task of analyzing the results easier and narrows the range of responses in a way that might distort the findings
Lois Benjamin
"African American Elite Study" (interviews on racism and to see if others feared that their racial identity would undermine their success
William Foote Whyte
"Cornerville" and book, Street Corner Society