Sociology Investigation

The Sociological Investigation These notes argon taken and adapted from Macionis, John J. (2012). Sociology (14th Edition). capital of Massachusetts Pearson Education Inc. There argon two basic requirements for sociological investigationKnow how to apply the sociological perspective or paradigms or what C. Wright Mills termed as the sociological imagination. Be curious and ready to call for questions about the world around you. There are three ways to do Sociology. These three ways are considered as query orientationsA. Positivist Sociology Positivist sociology studies corporation by systematically observing affectionate behaviour.Also known as scientific sociology.It includes introducing terms like independent variable, dependent variables, correlation, spurious correlation, control, replication, measurement, cause and effect, as well as operationalizing a variable1.Positivist sociology requires that enquiryer carefully operationalize variables and ensuring that measurement i s both reliable and valid.It observes how variables are connect and tries to establish cause-and-effect relationships. It sees an objective reality out there. Favours quantitative information (e. g. data in numbers data from surveys).Positivist sociology is well-suited to look into in a laboratory.It demands that researchers be objective2 and suspend their personal values and biases as they conduct research.There are at least FOUR limitations to scientific / positivist sociology.Positivist sociology is loosely linked to the structural-functional approach / paradigm / perspective.B. censorious Sociology Critical sociology uses research to bring about fond change. It asks moral and political questions.It focal pointes on inequality.Specifying exactly what is to be measured before assigning a value to a variable (Macionis 2012, p. 50).Personal neutrality in conducting research (Macionis 2012, p. 50)It rejects the principle of objectivity, claiming that ALL researches are politic al. Critical sociology corresponds to the social-conflict approach / paradigm / perspective.C. Interpretive Sociology Interpretive sociology focuses on the meanings that lot attach to their behaviour. It sees reality as constructed by flock in the course of their everyday lives.It favours qualitative data (e. g. data acquired through hearings).It is well-suited to research in a cancel setting.Interpretive sociology is related to the symbolic-interaction approach / paradigm / perspective. sex and Research Gender3, involving both researcher and subjects, can affect research in five waysAndrocentricity (literally, focus on the male)OvergeneralisingGender blindnessDouble standardsInterference Research EthicsResearchers moldiness consider and do the following things when conducting researchProtect the concealing of subjects / respondents.Obtain the informed consent of subjects / respondents.Indicate all sources of funding.Submit research to an institutional review board to ensure it does NOT conk out ethical standards.There are global dimensions to research ethics.Before beginning research in another country, an investigator must become familiar enough with that society to understand what people there are likely to witness as a violation of privacy or a source of personal danger.Research and the Hawthorne Effect Researchers contend to be aware that subjects or respondents behaviour whitethorn change simply because they are getting special(prenominal) attention, as one classic experiment revealed. Refer to Elton Mayos investigation into worker productivity in a factory in Hawthorne, near Chicago. 3 The personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male (Macionis 2012, p. 50).The term Hawthorne Effect is defined as a change in a subjects behaviour caused simply by the awareness that s/he is being studied. Methods Strategies for Doing Sociological ResearchThere are the basic FOUR systemsA. Experiment This research method allows researchers to training cause-and-effect relationships between two or more variables in a controlled setting.Researchers conduct an experiment to test a hypothesis, a statement of a possible relationship between two (or more variables).This research method collects mostly quantitative data.Example of an experiment Philip Zimbardos Stanford County Prison. o Advantages Provides the greatest opportunity to specify cause-and-effect relationships. Replication of research is relatively / quite easy. Limitations Laboratory settings have an artificial quality to it. Unless the lab environment is carefully controlled, results may be biased too.B. Survey and/or Interview This research method uses questionnaires or interviews to gather subjects / respondents responses to a series of questions.Surveys usually yield or produce descriptive findings, painting a picture of peoples views on some issues.This research method collects mostly qualitative data.Example of a survey Lois ben jamins research on the effects of racism on African American men and women.She chose to interview subjects / respondents rather than distribute a questionnaire. o Advantages Sampling, using questionnaires, allows researchers to conduct surveys of double populations or a large number of people. Interviews provide in-depth responses. o Limitations Questionnaires must be carefully prepared so that the questions and instructions are clear and not confusing. Questionnaires may yield low response / return rate from the target respondents. Interviews are expensive and time-consuming.C. Participant observation Through participant observation, researchers join with people in a social setting for an extended period of time.Researchers likewise play two roles, as a participant ( everyplacet role) and as an observer (covert role).This method allows researchers an inside look at a social setting.This research method is too called fieldwork.Since researchers are not attempting to test a specif ic hypothesis, their research is exploratory and descriptive.This participant observation research method collects qualitative data.Example of participant observation William Foote Whytes Street Corner Society. o Advantages It allows for the study of natural behaviour. Usually inexpensive. o Limitations Time-consuming. Replication of research is difficult. Researcher must balance role of participant and observer.D. existing or Secondary sources Researchers analyse existing sources, data which had been collected by others.This research method is also called library research or archive research.By using existing or secondary sources, especially the astray available data by government agencies, researchers can save time and money.Existing sources are the basis of historic research. Example of using existing sourcesE. Digby Baltzells award-winning study Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia. How could it be, Baltzell wondered, during a chance visit to Bowdein College in Maine, USA, that this small college had graduated more famous people in a single year than his own, much bigger University of Pennsylvania had graduated in its entire history? o Advantages Saves time, money and effort of data collection. Makes historical research possible. o Limitations Researcher has no control over possible biases in data. Data may only partially fit current research needs.