Chapter 2 Doing Sociological Research

1
Chapter 2Doing Sociological Research

• The Research Process
• The Tools of Sociological Research
• Prediction, Sampling, and Statistical Analysis
• Is Sociology Value-free?

2
The Research Process

• Sociology is empirical and uses the scientific
  method.
• Sociological studies may be quantitative and
  statistically sophisticated or qualitatively
  based.  

3
Steps in Sociological Research

• Developing a Research Question
• Creating a Research Design
• Gathering Data
• Analyzing the Data
• Reaching Conclusions and Reporting Results

4
Sources of Research Questions

• Past research
• Casual observation of human behavior
• Social policy
• Sociological theory

5
Creating a Research Design

• Will the research be qualitative or quantitative?
• Will the research test a hypothesis or involve
  exploratory research?
• How will the data be gathered?

6
Tools of Sociological Research

• Survey Research
• Participant Observation
• Controlled Experiments
• Content Analysis
• Comparative and Historical Research
• Evaluation Research

7
Prediction and Probability

• Sociology analyzes, explains, and predicts human
  social behavior in terms of trends and
  probabilities.
• Researchers can predict patterns of behavior but
  they cannot predict specific incidents of
  behavior.

8
Statistical Mistakes

• Citing a correlation as a cause
• Over-generalizing
• Building in bias
• Faking data
• Using data selectively

9
Research Ethics

• Should researchers collect data without letting
  research subjects know they are being studied?
• Do researchers have the right to hold data in
  confidence from public officials?