1. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing

27. MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Laboratory observation Natural field observation Participant observation Case studies Group behaviors Community activities Other cultures Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Generates qualitative data Generates new insights and hypotheses Can take place in natural setting Generalization difficult Observer (researcher) may influence outcome Roles of participant and researcher may be difficult to separate May be very time consuming Continued…

28. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Questionnaire s Interview schedules Study of the nonobservable (opinions, attitudes, values) Public opinion polls Market research Census taking Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Generates easily quantifiable data Can be used on large populations Permits standardized questioning Easily administered Requires only a short time frame for gathering data Sampling difficulties Exclusion of non­respondents Honesty of responses too personal/sensitive questions not known Difficulty of question construction: clear, unambiguous, unloaded Omission of relevant questions Continued…

29. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Experimental and control groups Laboratory or field setting Comparison of two groups of workers, students, or children Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Controls the specific conditions Often permits replication of experiment Specifies cause-effect relationships Artificiality of laboratory, “unnatural” setting Cannot always control all variables Hawthorne effect Continued…

30. Introduction to Sociology, 5/e © 2012 BVT Publishing MethodApplicationAdvantagesDisadvantages Historical records Official data Public records Mass media Data banks Historical study Permits the analysis of the content of communications Allows observation of trends and changes Explanatory, descriptive, and evaluative Data already gathered or available Inexpensive Sources from past or otherwise not available Desired variables or materials missing or omitted Out-of-date or incomplete data Hawthorne effect Nonsystematic, inaccurate records No control over possible bias in data