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SOCIAL RESEARCH

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Take off the 'social blinders' that stops one from being curious ... The study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: SOCIAL RESEARCH


1
SOCIAL RESEARCH
2
TO BEGIN WITH, THERE ARE JUST TWO SIMPLE
REQUIREMENTS
  • Look at the world using the sociological
    perspective
  • Be curious and ask questions
  • Take off the social blinders that stops one
    from being curious

3
3 Frameworks for Sociological Investigation
  • Scientific sociology
  • The study of society based on systematic
    observation of social behavior
  • Empirical evidence information we can verify
    with our senses
  • Interpretive sociology
  • The study of society that focuses on the meanings
    people attach to their social world
  • Critical sociology
  • The study of society that focuses on the need for
    change

4
Ways of knowing Kinds of Truth
  • Belief or faith
  • Knowing without empirical evidence
  • Expert testimony
  • Simple agreement
  • Science
  • Logical system based on direct, systematic
    observation

5
COMMON SENSE VS. SCIENCE
  • POOR PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY THAN RICH PEOPLE TO
    BREAK THE LAW
  • YES, BUT WE TEND TO PROSECUTE THE POOR MORE, AND
    WE CREATE LAWS THAT SEEM TO ENSURE WE WILL
    PROSECUTE THE POOR MORE OFTEN
  • THE UNITED STATES IS A MIDDLE-CLASS SOCIETY IN
    WHICH MOST PEOPLE ARE MORE OR LESS EQUAL
  • THE RICHEST 5 PERCENT OF PEOPLE CONTROL HALF OF
    THE COUNTRYS WEALTH
  • MOST POOR PEOPLE IGNORE OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK
  • IT IS TRUE FOR SOME, BUT NOT ALL POOR PEOPLE, AND
    KEEP IN MIND THAT HALF OF THOSE CLASSIFIED AS
    POOR ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE WORKING (E.G.,
    CHILDREN, THE ELDERLY, ETC.)
  • WORLDWIDE, MOST PEOPLE MARRY BECAUSE THEY ARE IN
    LOVE
  • IN MOST SOCIETIES, ROMANTIC LOVE HAS LITTLE TO DO
    WITH GETTING MARRIED TO SOMEONE

6
Scientific Sociology Terminology
  • Concepts
  • A mental construct that represent some part of
    the world in a simplified form
  • Variables
  • Concepts whose values change from case to case
  • Measurement
  • A procedure for determining the value of a
    variable in a specific case
  • Operationalizing a variable
  • Specifying exactly what is to be measured before
    assigning a value to a variable

7
Scientific Sociology Terminology
  • Reliability consistency in measurement
  • Does an instrument provide for a consistent
    measure of the subject matter?
  • Validity precision in measuring exactly what
    one intends to measure
  • Does an instrument actually measure what it sets
    out to measure?

8
Causation
  • Cause and effect
  • A relationship in which change in one variable
    causes change in another
  • Types of variables
  • Independent the variable that causes the change
  • Dependent the variable that changes (its value
    depends upon the independent variable)
  • Correlation
  • A relationship by which two or more variables
    change together
  • Spurious correlation
  • An apparent, though false, relationship between
    two or more variables caused by some other
    variable

9
Correlation Does Not Mean Causation
  • Conditions for cause and effect to be considered
  • Existence of a correlation
  • The independent (causal) variable precedes the
    dependent variable in time
  • No evidence suggests that a third variable is
    responsible for a spurious correlation between
    the two original variables

10
Correlation and Cause Example
11
Correlation and Cause Example
12
Correlation and Cause Example
13
SOWHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
14
Measures of Central Tendency
  • Mean arithmetic average
  • Data set 13, 8, 22, 54, 13 Mean 22
  • Median middle number
  • Data set 8,13, 13, 22, 54 Median 13
  • Mode number with the highest frequency (count)
  • Data set 13, 8, 22, 54, 13 Mode 13

15
Research Methods
  • Experiment a research method for investigating
    cause and effect under highly controlled
    conditions
  • Specify the dependent and independent variables
  • Measure the dependent variable
  • Expose dependent variable to independent variable
  • Re-measure dependent variable to see if predicted
    change took place

16
Research Methods
  • Survey Research - Subjects Respond to a Series of
    Statements or Questions in a Questionnaire or
    Interview
  • Population
  • The people who are the focus of the research
  • Sample
  • The part of the population that represents the
    whole
  • Random Sample
  • Drawing a sample from a population so that every
    element of the population has an equal chance of
    being selected

17
Questionnaire Series of Written Questions a
Researcher Presents to Subjects
  • Closed-ended
  • A series of fixed responses easy to analyze but
    narrows range of responses
  • Open-ended
  • Free response broadens range of responses but
    harder to analyze
  • Most surveys are self-administered

18
  • Form 1
  • Which of the following best describes your
    overall political views
  • I believe the federal government is a necessary
    power and should be strong enough to check and
    balance the power of big business and corporate
    America.
  • I think the federal government is too big and
    should give large corporations more power to do
    what theyd like.
  • I favor something in between these two.
  • Form 2
  • Which of the following best describes your
    overall political views
  • I favor big government and higher taxes
  • I favor smaller government, more individual
    freedom and choice, and lower taxes
  • I favor something in between these two

19
  • Form 1
  • Do you believe that women should have the same
    rights as men, that they should be paid equally
    if they do the same amount of work as men, and
    should be free of being discriminated against
    simply because they are women?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Form 2
  • Would you consider yourself a so-called
    feminist?
  • Yes
  • No

20
  • Form 1
  • The Cold War is over, yet the United States
    continues to spend 13 times as much as the seven
    countries combined that the State Department
    have identified as our potential enemies. Do you
    feel it makes sense to take a small fraction of
    the money out of the military budget and use it
    to help schools that are failing children?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Form 2
  • Do you think that throwing more money into the
    education budget is the solution to solving
    problems in inner city schools?
  • Yes
  • No

21
Research Methods
  • Interviews
  • A series of questions a researcher administers in
    person to respondents
  • Participant observation
  • A research method in which investigators
    systematically observe people while joining in
    their routine activities
  • Secondary analysis
  • A research method in which a researcher used data
    collected by others

22
OBJECTIVITY
  • Ideal versus Reality
  • Objectivity is always more of an ideal than a
    reality for scientists
  • Total impartiality is impossible for the
    researcher to achieve
  • Think in terms of selecting the topic of interest
    and how the questions are formed
  • Max Webers thoughts
  • Social research is value-relevant
  • Consider the topics/issues under study
  • RESEARCHERS SIMPLY NEED TO TRY THEIR BEST TO
    ACHIEVE A VALUE-FREE POSITION IN PURSUIT OF THEIR
    CONCLUSIONS.
  • REPLICATION BY OTHERS IS ONE KEY!

23
Subjectivity
  • Creative thinking is important for at least 3
    reasons
  • Much insight comes from creative thinking
    processes
  • Science cannot take into account the range of
    human feelings and
  • IN THE END, SCIENTIFIC DATA ALWAYS CALLS FOR A
    SUBJECTIVE INTERPRETATION

24
Ethical Guidelines for Research
  • Must strive to be technically competent
    fair-minded
  • Must disclose findings in full without omitting
    significant data be willing to share their data
  • Must protect the safety, rights and privacy of
    subjects
  • Must obtain informed consent-- subjects are
    aware of of risks and responsibilities and agree
  • Must disclose all sources of funding avoid
    conflicts of interest
  • Must demonstrate cultural sensitivity

25
How People Lie With Statistics
  • People select their data
  • Data may not be the whole truth
  • People interpret their data
  • As if numbers can only mean one thing
  • People use graphs to spin the truth
  • Manipulating timeframes on graphs
  • Using scale to inflate or deflate a trend

26
10 Steps In Sociological Investigation
  • Select and define topic
  • Review the literature
  • Develop key questions to ask
  • Assess requirements for study
  • Consider ethical issues
  • Select a research methodology
  • Collect the data
  • Interpret the findings
  • State conclusions
  • Publish the findings

27
Interplay Between Theory Method
  • Inductive logic
  • Reasoning that transforms specific observations
    into general theory
  • Induction increases from specific to general
  • Deductive logic
  • Reasoning that transforms general theory into
    specific hypotheses suitable for testing
  • Deduction decreases from general to specific

28
Deductive and Inductive Logical Thought
29
Gender And Research
  • Androcentricity
  • Approaching the topic from a male-only
    perspective
  • Gynocentricity
  • Approaching the topic from a female-only
    perspective (less common than Androcentricity)
  • Overgeneralizing
  • Using data collected from one sex and applying
    the findings to both sexes
  • Gender blindness
  • The failure to consider the impact of gender at
    all
  • Double standards
  • Using different standards to judge males and
    females
  • Interference
  • This occurs when a subject under study reacts to
    the sex of the researcher and thereby interferes
    with the research operation

30
Limitations of Scientific Sociology
  • Human behavior is too complex to predict
    precisely any individuals actions
  • The mere presence of the researcher may affect
    the behavior being studied
  • Hawthorne Effect
  • Social patterns change
  • Sociologists are part of the world they study
    making value-free research difficult
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