Slide 1 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Slide 1 Chapter Two SOCIOLOGY Diversity, Conflict, and Change Research Methods Kenneth J. Neubeck University of Connecticut Davita Silfen Glasberg University of Connecticut

Slide 2 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill The Research Process –Open-ended research questions — exploratory queries that leave the sociologist flexibility in deciding what should be considered relevant data –Closed (objective type) questions; answers already given you just choose among them, or yes or no type questions

Slide 3 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill The Research Process in Brief 1. Interest 2. Reviewing existing scholarly literature to learn more about the phenomenon. 3. Framing hypotheses or research question that, if addressed, will generate valuable new knowledge and understandings. 4. Selecting an appropriate research method (or methods). 5. Gathering data that will address the hypotheses or research questions 6. Analyzing the data gathered 7. reaching conclusions based on the findings 8. Write report or present findings using other media.

Slide 4 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods Experimental Research –Research conducted to determine how a particular organism or object is affected by different types of treatment selected by the researcher

Slide 5 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods –Establishing Experimental and Control Groups Experimental group —group of subjects that receives special treatment designed by the researcher so that effects of that treatment may be studied Control group —subjects that do not receive special treatment designed for an experimental group. The control group serves as a baseline of comparison for the experimental group

Slide 6 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods Bias — Unwanted influences that can produce research results which are invalid or without foundation Sample — Set of subjects representative of the total population of subjects Random — System of sample selection in which every individual in the total population has an equal chance of being selected

Slide 7 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods –Research Example: Teacher Expectations and Student Performance Hypothesis: “Within a given classroom those children from whom the teacher expected greater intellectual growth would show such growth.”

Slide 8 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Advantages and Disadvantages of Experimental Research AdvantagesDisadvantages Demonstrate causal links Provide high degree of control over independent and dependent variables Sometimes experimental settings are artificial People aware of their involvement in an experiment may adjust their behavior. Hawthorne effect Practical limits to the size of samples for many experiments, can’t be generalized much

Slide 9 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods Field Research –Research conducted through first-hand observation

Slide 10 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods –Making Field Observations Passive observations —researcher observes the group and records the events for later analysis and interpretation Participant observation —researcher plays an active role in the group to the point where he or she becomes an active participant

Slide 11 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods –Research Example: Manufacturing Classroom Failure Explored ways in which schools may actually nurture class inequalities Teacher had access to pre-enrollment information that had nothing to do with ability but placed students seating arrangements based on that information.

Slide 12 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Advantages and Disadvantages of Field Research AdvantagesDisadvantages Ability of researchers to observe behavior as it occurs Ability to be flexible in determining what to consider as data i.e data flexibility In depth and not artificial like an experiment Difficulty in gaining entry to and cooperation from a group Personal limitations or prejudices may affect researcher’s observations very costly and labor intensive.

Slide 13 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods Survey Research –Survey — research in which questions are administered to a sample of participants, either written or in the form of an interview.

Slide 14 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods –Research Example: Gatekeeping in High Schools Tracking —ability grouping of students, either academic or vocational. Gatekeepers — Schools that open different doors of opportunity for different student populations through such policies as tracking

Slide 15 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys AdvantagesDisadvantages Lower costs Reaches a population that is widely dispersed geographically Sampling and data analysis accomplished quickly and efficiently with computer technology and wide generalization possible. Limited to a given point in time Quality and dependability of results hinge on representativeness of sample and questions

Slide 16 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods Historical Research Historical research —concerned with establishing facts about the past Primary sources — Sources that are original documents, like diaries, notes etc that have not been interpreted by others. Secondary sources — Sources that have been interpreted, evaluated, or analyzed by others, for example, publications of scholars

Slide 17 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods –Research Example: The Origins of School Tracking Practices- schooling originally established in the US to serve the needs of a hierarchical workplace. –Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical Research Possibility of inaccuracy and bias in the sources Useful in understanding the present as well as the past

Slide 18 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Types of Research Methods Analyses of Existing Data –Secondary Data Analysis —analysis of data already gathered by others, often for totally different purposes e.g. population data collected by the census bureau. –Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Existing Data Saves a great deal of time and money Data not always the best fit with the research questions All data might not be available for public use.

Slide 19 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill Research Ethics and Politics The Ethics of Research –American Sociological Association Code of Ethics Informed consent Confidentiality/anonymity No harm to the subject No deception of subject Reveal funding sources The Politics of Research –Understand the interest of the sponsor –Know the implication of the research questions –Be true to the humanistic part of your field, i.e no harm direct or indirect to the subject. –E.g.: Project Camelot- sociologists hired by the government to help keep the powerful in Latin American countries in power, i.e. friendly dictators to exploit the resources of those countries. (one question on project Camelot on your exam).