Chapter 2:

Studying Social Life: Sociological Research Methods

LECTURE SLIDES

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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
Christopher researches the changes in
rates of homeownership in the state of
Washington over the past 10 years to
better understand the state-wide impact of
the recent economic downturn. What type
of research methods is Christopher using?
a. qualitative
b. quantitative
c. independent
d. correlated

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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
To better understand the experiences of the
homeless community near her office, Lydia
visited the local homeless shelter over the
course of a month and spoke with the
people who stayed there nightly. What type
of research method did Lydia use?
a. ethnography
b. survey
c. experiment
d. existing sources

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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
The _____ is the factor that is predicted
to cause change in behavior being
researched.
a. dependent variable
b. present variable
c. absent variable
d. independent variable

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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
A closed-ended question allows for a
wide variety of responses.
a. true
b. false

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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
It can be argued that reality television
cannot be real or authentic because the
people being watched are aware of the
cameras and camera crews that are
routinely present to capture. What term do
sociologists use to explain this?
a. objectivity
b. sincerity
c. viewer awareness
d. reactivity

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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
When a researcher opts to use data
originally collected by a different
researcher, most often for a different
research question, the researcher is
using
a. existing sources.
b. pilot studies.
c. connected analysis.
d. reliable data.
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Getting Warmed Up!
Lecture Launcher Questions
Survey research is a method to gather
large amounts of data on large groups
of people.
a. true
b. false

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Overview of Research Methods

• Quantitative research: translates

the social world into numbers that
can be studied mathematically

• Qualitative research: uses

nonnumerical data like texts,
interviews, photos, and recordings to
help us understand social life

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The Scientific Approach

• The scientific method is a

procedure for acquiring knowledge
that emphasizes collecting data
through observation and experiment.

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Steps of the Scientific Method

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The Scientific Method
• Includes:
• Literature review
• Hypothesis
• Variables
• Operational definitions

• Research can lead to what Thomas

Kuhn called a paradigm shift, or a
change in the way we think about
some aspect of life.
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The Scientific Method (cont’d.)

• The scientific method helps to determine

and distinguish between correlation,
causation, and spurious causation.
• Correlation: a relationship between two
variables
• Causation: a relationship in which one
variable causes another variable to change
• Spurious correlation: a relationship that
seems to exist between two variables, but is
actually caused by some external, or
intervening, variable.
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Which Method to Use?

• There are different ways to collect

information about a topic, but each
method has benefits and limitations.

• When beginning a research project, it

is important to consider which
method will work best.

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Ethnography/Participant
Observation
• One way to collect to data is through
ethnography—studying people in
their own environments in order to
understand the meanings they give
to their activities.
• In participant observation the
researcher both observes and
becomes a member in a
social setting.
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Ethnography/Participant
Observation (cont'd.)
• Ethnography usually happens in
two steps:
• The researcher participates in and
observes a setting.
• Then the researcher makes a written
account (field notes) of what goes on
there.
• Ethnographers aim to provide a
thick description of the setting
they observe
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Interviews
• Interviews involve direct, face-to-
face contact with respondents.
• They can generate large amounts of
qualitative data.
• A researcher identifies the target
population of interest, then selects
a sample of people to be
interviewed from that population.

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Interviews (cont'd.)
• Interviews can use open-ended
questions or closed-ended
questions.
• Open-ended questions let
respondents talk as much as they’d
like about the question you asked,
whereas closed-ended questions
give respondents a choice of
answers.
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Surveys
• Surveys are questionnaires that are
administered to a sample of respondents
selected from a target population.
• Sociologists often use probability
sampling to obtain a sample that
reflects the characteristics of members
of the target population.
• Survey research tends to look at large-
scale social patterns and employs
statistics and other mathematical means
of analysis.
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Existing Sources
• Existing sources refer to any data
that has already been collected by
earlier researchers and is available
for future research.
• Utilizing existing sources is an
unobtrusive measure that does
not disturb the setting or subjects
under study.

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Experimental Methods
• Experiments are formal tests of
specific variables and effects that
are performed in a setting where all
aspects of the situation can be
controlled.

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Experimental Methods (cont'd.)
• Many experiments involve:
• An experimental group—participants
that receive the experimental
“treatment” or “intervention”
• A control group—participants that
continue without intervention so they
can be compared with the experimental
group

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Nonacademic Uses of Research
Methods
• The research methods described in
this chapter are often applied outside
the field of sociology.
• E.g., U.S. census, political campaign
offices, business, and market research.

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Value-Free Sociology
• Most sociologists believe that they
should not allow their personal
beliefs to influence their research.
• Max Weber coined the phrase
value-free sociology, stating that
researchers should identify facts
without allowing their own personal
beliefs or biases to interfere.

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Conducting Sociological
Research
• The American Sociological
Association has developed its own
code of ethics to help researchers
avoid bias and adhere to professional
standards and to protect respondents
from harm.

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Conducting Sociological
Research (cont'd.)
• Most universities where research is
conducted also have an
institutional review board (IRB).
• An IRB is a group of scholars within
a university that reviews and
approves their colleagues’ research
proposals and makes
recommendations for how to protect
human subjects.
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 This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint
presentation for Chapter 2

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