Theoretical Perspectives

Lecture Notes

Learning Objectives:

3-1: Why do sociologists do research?

3-2: What are some of the different ways that sociologists collect data?

3-3: How do sociologists analyze data?

3-4: Think of a topic you might like to study. What would be the first steps in developing a research project on that topic?

3-5: Think of a hypothesis you’d like to test. What are the variables you would use to test it, and what type of sample would you use?

3-6: How do sociologists evaluate the quality of research?

Outline:

1. What is research?

0. Research is the systematic process of data collection for the purposes of producing knowledge.

0. Researchers try to learn new things about the world.

0. Research focuses on empirical statements, which are statements that can be proven true or false.

0. Research does not focus on normative statements, which are just opinions.

0. Sociological research focuses on groups, societies, and/or social interactions.

0. Why do we do research?

5. Research helps us determine if our expectations about how the world works are accurate or not.

5. The book Academically Adrift examined how much students are learning in college and what increases the likelihood of learning.

5. Students who studied the most tend to learn the most.

5. The average amount of time students study per week has decreased since the mid-1900s.

5. Thirty-seven percent of students spend less than 5 hr per week studying and preparing for classes.

5. Such findings can be used to develop strategies to get students to spend more time studying.

0. Using research skills outside the classroom.

6. Understanding how to conduct and use research is considered a marketable skill.

6. Understanding research allows citizens to make more informed decisions in the political process.

6. Using research allows consumers to make better decisions when buying products or services.

0. Using research.

7. Basic research is used to gain knowledge.

7. Applied research is done to help solve real-world problems.

7. Understanding the relationship between poverty and school grades is basic research.

7. Evaluating methods to improve grades in disadvantaged schools is applied research.

7. Basic research is rarely profitable and typically conducted by academic researchers.

7. Applied research is found in academic, government, and business settings.

1. What is data and where do we get it?

1. Data are pieces of information.

1. Asking questions.

1. This is the most common form of collecting data.

1. Questions can be asked using surveys or interviews.

1. Surveys consist of prewritten questions that usually have multiple-choice responses.

1. Surveys can be conducted in person, over the telephone, by mail, or digitally (such as a website).

1. Interviews allow researchers to collect more detailed information from respondents.

1. Interviews also consist of a list of questions, which are asked by the researcher in person, over the phone, or by using video chats.

1. Questions are open-ended, so respondents can provide as much detail as they want.

1. Researchers can ask follow-up questions to better understand a respondent’s answers.

1. Observing and interacting.

2. Researchers can engage in observation by simply watching people or social situations.

2. Often researchers engage in participant-observation, where they act as both an observer and participant in the social setting.

2. Ethnography is research that systematically studies how groups of people live and make meaning by understanding the group from its own perspective.

2. Experiments can also be conducted in sociological research, but they are less common.

2. Some experiments are conducted in a laboratory setting, where this is an experimental and control group.

2. The experimental group receives some sort of treatment, while the control group does not.

2. Field experiments are conducted outside of the laboratory setting, and the researcher manipulates a condition to see what happens.

1. Looking at documents.

3. Studying documents can be useful when it is difficult to talk with people or when the subjects of study are the documents themselves.

3. Comparative-historical research is done when researchers analyze documents from the past to develop an understanding of events, context, and people.

3. Content analysis is a method by which researchers analyze text to answer research questions.

1. Research ethics.

4. There are ethical duties to prevent subjects from being harmed.

4. Research subjects need to provide informed consent, indicating they understand the nature of the research and possible risks involved.

4. Institutional Review Boards review proposed research to make sure subjects are properly protected.

1. What do we do with data?

2. Data analysis is the process of taking the information collected and drawing conclusions from it.

2. Data analysis can be quantitative (numbers driven, statistics) or qualitative (words, images, not numbers driven) in nature.

2. Qualitative data analysis

2. Thick description involves researcher writing up a detailed narrative of the social context they studied.

2. Thick description allows the readers to evaluate whether the researchers’ conclusions are accurate or not.

2. Qualitative coding is a process by which information is classified into categories, themes, or other representations of the data.

2. Quantitative data analysis

3. Data are represented using numbers.

3. Spreadsheets and statistical software are used to analyze numerical data.

3. Descriptive statistics are used to describe the data (mean), such as the average, middle value (median), most common answer (mode).

3. Explanatory statistics are used to see whether relationships exist between elements (variables) of the data.

1. Getting started doing research.

3. Researchers need to decide what to study, what type of data they need to collect, and how to go about collecting that data.

3. If people are being studied, a researcher needs to determine who to study and how to find people that are willing to participate in the study.

3. Researchers follow a scientific method, which is a systematic process for conducting research.

3. Researchers need to find out what is already known about their subject, which involves a literature review.

3. Hypotheses are also developed, which are predictions about what they expect to find in their study.

3. Research findings are shared with others when the researcher writes up the findings and submits them for publication in an academic journal.

3. Deductive and inductive research.

6. Deductive research begins with ideas or predictions, and data are then collected to test those ideas or predictions.

6. Inductive research starts with the gathering of data, and data are then used to develop new ideas, theories, and understandings.

6. Figure 3.2 visually illustrates the differences between the inductive and deductive approaches.

6. With inductive research, a researcher may have a broad question that guides the data collection. However, the data collection and analysis then guide the development of new ideas and conclusions.

6. Research is always guided by the research questions asked.

3. Researching theories.

7. Theory is used to help sociologists notice and understand patterns in society.

7. Theories help researchers interpret the findings of their data.

7. Research can also be done to test the accuracy of theories.

7. Theories can be used to develop research hypotheses.

7. Hypotheses must be testable.

7. Researchers can collect cross-sectional or longitudinal data to test their hypotheses.

7. Cross-sectional data are collected at one point in time.

7. Longitudinal data are collected at multiple points in time, such as once a year for several years.

1. Sampling and measurement.

4. Sampling is the process of selecting respondents for a research project.

4. In a random sample, everyone who meets the study criteria has an equal chance of being selected for the study.

4. In a nonrandom sample, people do not have an equal chance of being selected for the study.

4. Nonrandom samples are used when it is impossible or impractical to use a random sample.

4. Researchers have to decide what concepts (abstract ideas, such as “intelligence”) they want to focus on in their study.

4. Once concepts are chosen, the researcher has to figure out a way to operationalize, or measure them.

4. By measuring concepts, the researcher can create variables or constants.

4. Variables are concepts that can have different values for different people, such as age or religious affiliation.

4. Constants are factors that are the same for everyone. In a study of only women, being “female” would be a constant.

4. It is important for researchers to document exactly how each concept is measured so others understand what was done.

4. In qualitative research where answers are often open-ended, the ending point for operationalization is typically the questions being asked.

4. In quantitative research, the researcher has to be specific and identify all potential answers for each variable.

4. In quantitative research, subjects often select from multiple choice answers for each question. Each possible answer is called an attribute.

1. What makes research good?

5. Research results and findings are evaluated on their generalizability, reliability, and validity.

5. Generalizability refers to whether the findings of the study would hold true for the larger population.

5. For results to be generalizable, a random sample of participants from the population is needed.

5. Findings can only be generalized to the population from which the sample was selected.

5. In nonrandom samples, researchers can try to make sure their participants are representative of the larger population, meaning they have the same characteristics typically found in the broader population.

5. Reliability refers to the extent that research results are consistent.

5. Reliable measures will produce the same results each time.

5. In studies where multiple people are collecting data, interrater reliability is used to make sure the data are being collected in the same way.

5. Validity refers to whether the research findings accurately reflect the phenomena being studied.

5. Various factors can affect validity, such as biased samples, poorly developed measures, and errors in the research process.

5. Roosevelt, Landon, and Literary Digest.

10. Literary Digest magazine predicted that Alfred Landon would beat President Roosevelt in the 1936 election.

10. Errors in their sampling process produced a biased sample.

10. This resulted in an inaccurate prediction, as President Roosevelt easily won reelection.

5. Causation.

11. Causation occurs when a change in one variable causes a change in another variable.

11. Three conditions must be met for causation to be demonstrated:

1. The supposed cause has to be associated with the supposed effect.

1. The cause must come before the effect.

1. Other alternative explanations for the effect must be eliminated.

11. Controlled, laboratory experiments are needed to demonstrate causation.