Sociology Chapter 3

What is the difference between qualitative research & quantitative research?

"Qualitative research" is research that is relatively unstructured, does not rely heavily upon statistics, & is closely focused on a question being asked. "Quantitative research" is research that uses statistical methods. Both kinds of research are used in sociology.

William Foote Whyte

"Street Corner Society," a classic work by sociologist Whyte, documents one of the first qualitative participant observation studies ever done. -Whyte studied the "Cornerville Gang," a group of Italian American men whose territory was a street corner in Boston in the late 1930s & early 1940s. -although not Italian, Whyte learned to speak the language, lived with an Italian family, & then infiltrated the gang by befriending the gang's leader, called "Doc."

Whyte found that the Cornerville Gang...

& by implications other urban street corner gangs as well, was a highly organized minisociety with its own social hierarchy (social stratification), morals, practices, & punishments (sanctions) for deviating from the norms of the gang. -most social scientists of the 1940s & 1950s thought gangs were socially disorganized, random deviant groups, but Whyte's study showed otherwise- as have participant observation studies since then, notably those of Anderson & Goffman, as examples.

Heisenberg Principle of Indeterminacy

In the natural sciences, such as physics, the effect of studying or observing something upon that which is being studied, named after the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who first noted it: -by studying an object, you change it & thus cannot know its exact state before it was studied. (note: that in sociology, participant observation of the convert type, for example, is designed to get around this problem.)

Beverly Tatum (1997)

found that seating patterns in a college dining room depended heavily upon race & also gender.

Random sample

gives everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected.

Some sociological studies are...

highly "quantitative" & statistically sophisticated, others are "qualitatively" based, that is, based on more interpretive observations, not statistical analysis.

Overt participant observatin

if the group is told that they are being studied & that they are the research subjects.

Convert Participant Observation

in which the members of the group being studied do not know that they are being research. -Doc was the only gang member who knew that Whyte was doing research on his gang. -this is one means of trying to reduce the Hawthorne effect.

Science is "empirical"

meaning it is based on careful & systematic observation, not just on conjecture. -Both quantitative & qualitative studies are empirical.

intervening variable

variables that fall between the independent & dependent variables.

Sociological research is an organized practice that can be described in a series of steps.

-General theory 1. Research question 2. Research design 3. Data collection 4.Data analysis 5. Conclusions (& circles back to general theory)

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

British philosopher originally defined "scientific method."

Gathering Data (3 out of 5 "sociological research")

During this stage of the research process, researchers interview people, observe behaviors, or collect facts that throw light on the research question. -when sociologists gather original material, the product is known as "primary." ex. include the answers to questionnaires or notes made while observing group behavior. -sociologists often rely on "secondary data," namely data that some other party has already gathered & organized.

Scientific knowledge is not the same as philosophy or personal belief...

Philosophy, theology, & personal experience can deliver insights into human behavior, but at the heart of the scientific method is the notion that a theory must be "testable."

Survey Research (1 out of 6 "tools of sociological research")

Questionnaire, interview, or telephone poll, surveys are among the most commonly used tools of sociological research. -as a research tool, surveys make it possible to ask specific questions about a large number of topics & then to perform sophisticated analyses to find patterns & relationships among variables. -"closed-ended" questions, people must reply from a list of possible answers, like a multiple choice test, & are generally (though not always) analyzed quantitatively. -"open-ended" questions, the respondent is allowed to elaborate on her or his answer, & are generally (though not always) analyzed qualitatively.

Is sociological research scientific?

Sociological research is derived from the "scientific method," meaning that it relies on empirical observation &, sometimes, the testing of "hypotheses." The research process involves several steps: developing a research question, designing the research, collecting data, analyzing data, & developing conclusions. Different research designs are appropriate to different research questions, but sociologists have to be concerned with the "validity," the "reliability," & the "generalization" of their results. Applying one's results obtained from a sample to a broader population is an example of generalization.

What is sociological research?

Sociological research is used by sociologists to answer questions &, in many cases, to test "hypotheses." The research method one uses depends upon the question that is asked.

What different tools of research do sociologists use?

The most common tools of sociological research are surveys & interviews, "participant observation," controlled experiments, "content analysis," comparative & historical research, & "evaluation research." Each method has its own strengths & weaknesses. You can better generalize from surveys, for example, than "participant observation," but "participant observation" is better for capturing subtle nuances & depth in social behavior.

How is it possible to draw accurate conclusions about a population by studying only part of it?

The secret lies in making sure that the sample is "representative" of the population as a whole. -the sample should have the same mix of people as the larger population & in the same proportions. -is the sample is representative, then researcher can "generalize" what she finds from the sample to the entire population. -a "biased" (non-representative) sample can lead to grossly inaccurate conclusions. -the best way to ensure representative sample is to make certain that the sample population is selected randomly.

Participant observation

a sociological research technique in which a researcher actually becomes simultaneously both participant in & observer of that which she or he studies.

What are some of the statistical concepts in sociology?

Through research, sociologists are able to make statements of "probability," or likelihood. Sociologists use "percentages" & "rates." The "mean" is the same as an average. The "median" represents the midpoint in an array of values or scores. The "mode" is the most common value or score. "Correlation" & "cross-tabulation" are statistical procedures that allow sociologists to see how two (or more) different variables are associated. There have been instances of misuse of statistics in the behavioral & social sciences, including sociology, & these have resulted in incorrect conclusions.

Informant

a person with whom the participant observer works closely to learn about the group. -Doc was Whyte's informant.

Data

all research does include a plan for how "data" will be gathered. -can be qualitative or quantitative

Inductive reasoning

another source of sociological insight-reverses this logic: This is, it arrives at general conclusions from specific observations. -Ex. if you observe that most of the demonstrators protesting abortion in front of a family planning clinic are evangelical Christians, you might infer that strongly held religious beliefs are important in determining human behavior.

Peter Moskos

as research for his doctoral dissertation, actually went through a police academy & spent two years as a beat policeman in a major American city, thus subjecting himself to both the rigid discipline of the police force as well as the dangers of the street in this role. (example of participant observation)

Mitch Duneier & Alice Goffman

examined several questions about a group by living with them. (example of participant observation)

Scientific method

involves several steps in a research process, including observation, hypothesis testing, analysis of data, & drawing conclusions.

Hypothesis

is a prediction or a hunch, a tentative assumptions that one intends to test.

Population

is a relatively large collection of people (or group or categories) that a researcher studies & about which generalizations are made.

Sample

is any subset of people (or groups or categories) of a population.

Dependent variable

is one on which there is a presumed effect. -changes, the result of what happens after the experiment.

Independent variable

is one that a researcher wants to test as the presumed cause of something else. -does not change, it is what is controlled.

Qualitative research

is somewhat less structured than quantitative research, yet still focuses on a central research question. -allows for more interpretation & nuance in what people say & do & thus can provide an in-depth look at a particular social behavior.

Quantitative research

is that which uses the data into numbers, for example, the percentage of teenage mothers in California.

Generalization

is the ability to draw conclusions from specific data & to apply them to a broader population. -researchers ask: Do my results apply only to those people who were studied, or do they also apply to the broader population beyond?

Research design (2 out of 5 "sociological research")

is the overall logic & strategy underlying a research project. -research design consists of choosing the observational technique best suited to a particular research question. -Ex. Which athletes would you study? How will you study them?

Data analysis (4 out of 5 "sociological research")

is the process by which sociologists organize collected data to discover the patterns & uniformities that the data reveal.

Hawthorne effect

knowing that they are being studied might cause people to change their behavior, a phenomenon in research known as the "Hawthorne effect," an effect first discovered while observing work groups.

Validity

of a measurement (an indicator) is the degree to which it accurately measures or reflects a concept. -if two or more chosen measures of a concept give similar results, it is likely that the measurements are giving an accurate-that is, valid-depiction of the concept.

Replication study

research that is repeated exactly, but on a different group of people or in a different time or place. -a replication study can tell you what changes have occurred since the original study & may also refine the results of the earlier work.

Sociological research derives from what is called the...

scientific method, originally defined & elaborated by the British philosopher "Sir Francis Bacon" (1561-1626).

Concepts

sociological research proceeds through the study of concepts. -a concept is any abstract characteristic or attribute that can potentially be measured. -social class & social power are concepts, cannot be directly seen, but important to sociology. -when sociologists want to study concepts, they must develop ways of "seeing" them.

Variable

sociologist frequently design research to test the influence of one variable on another. -a "variable" is a characteristic of a person or group that can have more than one value or score. -Ex. age, income, or social class -variables are analyzed to understand how they influence each other. -two variables: "independent variable" & "dependent variable"

Reliability

sociologists also must be concerned with the "reliability" of their research results. -a measurement is reliable if repeating the measurement under the same circumstances gives the same result. -sometimes sociologists want to gather data that would almost certainly be unreliable if the subjects (the people in the study) knew they were being studied.

Indicators

something that points to or reflects an abstract concept. -an "indicator" is a way of "seeing" a concept. -ex. human development index is composed of several "indicators," including life expectancy & educational attainment, combine to show levels of well-being. -"levels of well-being" is the "concept."

Serendipity

sometimes while pursuing one question, a research will stumble across an unexpected finding, referred to by researchers as "serendipity." -a serendipitous finding is something that emerges from a study that was not anticipated, perhaps the discovery of an association between two variables that the research was not looking for or some pattern of behavior that was outside the scope of research design. -can lead to major new discoveries.

Reaching conclusions (5 out of 5 "sociological research")

the final stage is developing conclusions, relating findings to sociological theory & past research, & reporting the findings. -an important question researchers will ask at this stage is whether their findings can be "generalized."

The tools of sociological research

there are several tools or techniques sociologists use to gather data. 1. survey research 2. participant observation 3. controlled experiment 4. content analysis 5. historical research 6. evaluation research

Participant Observation (2 out of 6 "tools of sociological research")

this method is a unique & interesting way for sociologists to collect data & study society is to actually become part of the group they are studying. -two roles are played at the same time: subjective participant & objective observer. (sometimes people will now they are being studied & others may not) -participant observation is sometimes called "field research" -participant observation combines subjective knowledge gained through personal involvement & objective knowledge acquired by disciplined recording of what one has seen.

Sociological research question.. (1 out of 5 "sociological research")

typically involved reviewing existing studies on the subject, such as past research reports or articles. -this process is often called "literature review." -sociological research questions can also come from casual observation of human behavior.

Deductive reasoning

when a sociologist uses deductive reasoning, he or she creates a specific research question about a focused point that is based on a more general or universal principle. -ex. one might reason that b/c Catholic doctrine forbids abortion, Catholics would then be less likely than other religions to support abortion rights. -this notion is "deduced" from a general principle (Catholic doctrine). -you could test this notion (the research question) through a survey. -Surveys show that Catholics as a group are on average more likely to support abortion rights than are other groups.