RESEARCHING THE SOCIAL WORLD George Ritzer Prepared by Rolande D. Dathis

What is the scientific method? The scientific method is an organized way of finding responses to questions on the world.

1- Discover a question in need of a response. 2- Review the appropriate literature. 3- Formulate hypotheses in attempt to describe how phenomena relate to one another. 4- Identify the most appropriate method for answering the research question

5- Data collection. 6- Analysis of data.

The scientific method involves a gradual development of one set of empirical findings builds on another. According to Thomas Kuhn ([1962] 1970) science is a “ paradigm of a general model of the world that is accepted by most practitioners in a field” (Ritzer 2015).

“Qualitative research is any scientific research that does not need statistical methods for collecting and reporting data” (Ritzer 2015p77). “Quantitative research is any research method that involves the analysis of numerical data derived usually from surveys and experiments”(Ritzer2015p77).

Statistics is the mathematical method utilized to examine numerical data (Ritzer 2015). Descriptive statistics are numbers that help researchers to contrast differences among groups in order to explain different sets of data that is based on a phenomenon in the real world (Ritzer 2015).

“Inferential statistics are numerical data that allow researchers to use data from a small group to speculate with some level of certainty about a larger group” (Ritzer 2015p 79).

1-Observation “A research method that involves systematically watching, listening, and recording what takes place in a natural social setting being observed “ (Ritzer 2015 p.79).  Participant observation- “ A research method in which the researcher actually plays a role, usually a minor one, in the group or setting being observed” (Ritzer 2015p.79).

 Nonparticipant observation-“A research method in which the sociologist plays little or no role in what is being observed”(Ritzer 2015 p80). 2- Ethnography “Observational research, often intensive and over lengthy periods, that leads to an account of what people do and how they live.”(Ritzer 2015p81).

 Global ethnography-“A type of ethnography that is “grounded” in various parts of the world and that seeks to understand globalization as it exists in people’s social lives”(Ritzer2015p81).

3-Interview “ Collection of data via a series of questions, often asked face to face but sometimes by phone or online, may be prestructured or unstructured”(Ritzer 2015p90).  Netnography- “An ethnographic method in which the internet becomes the research site and what transpires there is the sociologist’s research interest”(Ritzer 2015p.83).

 Interviews- “ A research method in which information is sought from participants( respondents) who are asked a series of questions that have been spelled out, at least to some degree, before the research is conducted”(Ritzer 2015p83).

4-Survey “Collection of information from a sample of the population through interviews and questionnaires”(Ritzer 2015p.90).  Questionnaires- “A self-administered, written set of questions”(Ritzer 2015p.86).  Descriptive survey- “ A questionnaire or interview used to gather accurate information about those in a group, people in a given geographic area, or members of organizations”(Ritzer 2015p. 86).

5- Experiment “Manipulation of one or more variables to examine their effect, may be a natural, laboratory, or field experiment”(Ritzer 2015p90).  Independent variable - “In an experiment, a condition that can be independently manipulated by the researcher with the goal of producing a change in some other variable”(Ritzer 2015p89).

 Dependent variable- “A characteristic or measurement that is the result of manipulating an independent variable”(Ritzer 2015p89).  Laboratory experiment-“Research that occurs in a laboratory, giving the researcher great control over both the selection of the participants to be studied and the conditions to which they are exposed”(Ritzer 2015p89).

 Natural experiment-“An experiment that occurs when researchers take advantage of a naturally occurring event to study its effect on one or more dependent variables”(Ritzer 2015p89).  Field experiment- “ Research that occurs in natural situations but allows researchers to exert at least some control over who participates and what happens during the experiment”(Ritzer 2015p89).

1. “Reliability -The degree to which a given question produces the same result time after time”(Ritzer 2015p95). 2. “Validity- The degree to which a question (or another kind of measure) gets an accurate response, or measures what it is supposed to measure”(Ritzer 2015 p95). 3. “Ethics- Standards by which we judge right or wrong”(Ritzer 2015p102). 4. “Objectivity-The absence of personal preferences and judgments that bias research”(Ritzer 2015p102).