Research

Methods

Philosophical Origins
! Epistemology: how do we know what we know
! Ontology: what is real
! Common Sense vs. Social Science
! Ideology vs. Social Science

Common Sense

Social Science

Deference to tradition or authority

Rules govern observations, ndings,

conclusion

Limited in scope

Design and sampling

Unsystematic

Tactics for observation

Illogical reasoning

Problems, goals, plans, hypotheses,

criticism

Ideology

Social Science

Absolute, xed, closed

Negotiated certainty, open

Avoids tests, blind to evidence

Welcomes tests, changes with evidence

Contradictions, inconsistencies

Logical consistency

Locked into specic moral position

Detached, transcendent

Highly partial

neutral

Dialectics of Research
Idiographic vs. Nomothetic
! Explaining one case in great detail vs. explaining a set of
cases using a handful of factors

Inductive vs. Deductive

! Thinking moves from particular observations to the general
vs. thinking moves from general to specic

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

! Generalization and prediction vs. context and depth

Pure vs. Applied

! Interest in understanding vs. interest in application

Research Cycle
! Formulate question
! Review existing literature
! Select method
! Collect data
! Analyse data
! Report results

Methodological Strategies

Qualitative

Assumptions

Reality is socially constructed; primacy of subject

matter; variables are complex, interwoven, dicult
to measure; insiders POV

Purpose

Contextualization; interpretation; understanding

actors perspective

Approach

Ends with hypothesis/grounded theory; emergence

and portrayal; researcher as instrument; naturalistic;
inductive; search for patterns; minor use of
numerical indices; descriptive write-up

Researcher Role

Personally involved and partial; empathic

understanding

Advantages

Depth, detail, complexity, exibility, adaptability,

creativity, theory building

Disadvantages

Not generalizable, skills, rigor, time, expense,

Hawthorne eect

Quantitative

Assumptions

Social facts have objective reality; primacy of

method; variables can be identied and relationships
measured; outsiders POV

Purpose

Generalizability; prediction; causal explanations

Approach

Begins with hypothesis/theory; manipulation and

control; uses formal instruments; deductive; reduced
data to numerical indices; abstract language in write-
up

Researcher Role

Detached and impartial; objective portrayal

Advantages

Scale, generalization, validity and reliability,

objectivity

Disadvantages

Lack depth and context, overly controlled and

inaccurate, structural bias in questions, accuracy of
data

Methodologies

Field Research
! Classifying and counting
! Develop deep, sympathetic understanding of social
world
! Immersion
! Eg. gang research

Survey/Interview
! Ask people about their knowledge, attitudes,
behaviour
! Closed-ended, semi-structured, unstructured
! Eg. YCVS, identity thieves interview

Analysis of Existing or
Ocial Sources
! Documents created by others for purposes other
than sociological research
! Newspapers, diaries, books
! Census data, crime statistics
! Eg. content analysis of childrens books
! Eg. crime rates and severity index

Experiments
! Carefully controlled articial situations
! Allows researchers to isolate causes and measure
their eects
! Eg. Stanford prison experiment

Scientic Sociology

Denitions
Concept
! Mental construct representing some part of the world
in simplied form

Variable
! Concept whose value changes from case to case

Operationalization
! Specify exactly what is to be measured before
assigning a value to the variable

Relationships
Cause and Eect
!

Change in one variable causes change in another

Independent Variable
!

Variable that causes change

Dependent Variable
!

Variable that changes

Correlation
!

Relationship in which two or more variables change together

Reliability
!

Consistency in measurement (dependability)

Validity
!

Measuring what you intend to measure (credibility)

Crime
Crime

Sexual Assault
in summer

Male to female
From touching
to rape

As more women wear bathing suits, the rate of sexual assault increases

Wearing bathing suits CAUSES sexual assault

Results?
Statistically signicant!