1. SOCIOLOGY: A Brief Introduction
Richard T. Schaefer
SOCIOLOGY: A Brief Introduction
Sixth Edition
McGraw-Hill
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH2
SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
What is the Scientific Method?
Major Research Designs
Ethics of Research
Technology and Sociological Research
Social Policy and Sociological Research: Studying Human Sexuality

3. What is the Scientific Method?
Systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem

4. What is the Scientific Method?
Figure 2.1:
The Scientific Method

5. What is the Scientific Method?
Defining the Problem
State as clearly as possible what you hope to investigate
Operational Definition: explanation of abstract concept that is specific enough to allow a researcher to assess the concept

6. What is the Scientific Method?
Figure 2.2: Educational Level and Household Income in the United States
Continued…

7. What is the Scientific Method?
Figure 2.2: Educational Level and Household Income in the United States
Continued…

8. What is the Scientific Method?
Reviewing the Literature
Literature: relevant scholarly studies and information that pertain to subject you are researching
Refines the problem under study, clarifies possible techniques to be used in collecting data, and eliminates or reduces avoidable mistakes

9. What is the Scientific Method?
Formulating the Hypothesis
Hypothesis: speculative statement about relationship between two or more factors known as variables
Variable: measurable trait or characteristic subject to change under different conditions

10. What is the Scientific Method?
Formulating the Hypothesis
Types of Variables:
Independent variable: variable that is hypothesized to cause or influence another
Dependent variable: variable that depends on the influence of the independent variable to affect its action

11. What is the Scientific Method?
Formulating the Hypothesis
Causal Logic: Involves relationships between a condition or variable and a particular consequence
Correlations: Exist when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another
Correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.

12. What is the Scientific Method?
Figure 2.3:
Causal Logic

13. What is the Scientific Method?
Collecting and Analyzing Data
Selecting the Sample
Samples: selection from a larger population that is statistically typical of that population
Random Samples: when every member of an entire population has the same chance of being selected

14. What is the Scientific Method?
Collecting and Analyzing Data
Ensuring Validity and Reliability
Validity: degree to which a measure truly reflects the phenomenon being studied
Reliability: extent to which a measure provides consistent results

15. What is the Scientific Method?
Developing the Conclusion
Supporting the Hypothesis
Sociological studies do not always generate data that support the original hypothesis.
Controlling for Other Factors
Control Variable: factor that is held constant to test the impact of the independent variable

16. What is the Scientific Method?

17. Major Research Designs
Detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically
Surveys
Studies, generally in form of an interview or questionnaire, that provide sociologists with information about how people act or think

18. What is the Scientific Method?
Figure 2.4: Impact of a College Education on Income

19. Major Research Designs
Surveys
Interviews
Researcher obtains information through face-to-face or telephone questioning
High response rate
Researcher can probe beyond questionnaire

20. Major Research Designs
Surveys
Questionnaires
Researcher uses printed or written form to obtain information from a respondent
Inexpensive
Good for large samples

21. Major Research Designs
Surveys
Quantitative Research
Collecting and reporting data primarily in numerical form
Qualitative Research
Relying on what is seen in field and naturalistic settings
Often focusing on small groups and communities

22. Major Research Designs
Observation
Collecting information through direct participation and/or observation of a group
Most common form of quantitative research, which collects and reports data primarily in numerical form
Ethnography: Efforts to describe an entire social setting through extended systematic observation

23. Major Research Designs
Observation
Participant Observation: researcher “joins” a group for a period of time to get a sense of how it operates
If research is to be successful, observer cannot allow the close association or friendships that inevitably develop to influence subjects’ behavior or conclusion of study

24. Major Research Designs
Experiments
Artificially created situations that allow researcher to manipulate variables
Experimental Group: exposed to independent variable
Control Group: not exposed to independent variable
Hawthorne Effect: unintended influence that observers of experiments can have on subjects

25. Major Research Designs
Use of Existing Sources
Secondary Analysis: research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data
Content Analysis: systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale

26. Major Research Designs

27. Major Research Designs

28. Ethics of Research Code of Ethics
Maintain objectivity and integrity in research.
Respect the subject’s right to privacy and dignity.
Protect subjects from personal harm.
Preserve confidentiality.
Seek informed consent.
Acknowledge research collaboration and assistance.
Disclose all sources of financial support (ASA 1997)

29. Ethics of Research
Confidentiality
Research Funding
Value Neutrality

30. Technology and Sociological Research
Computers
Allow large amounts of information to be stored and analyzed
Used for quantitative and qualitative research
Internet affords excellent opportunity to communicate with fellow researchers

31. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Studying Human Sexuality
The Issue
Difficult topic to research because of preconceptions, myths, and beliefs people bring to the subject

32. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Studying Human Sexuality
The Setting
Few reliable national data on patterns of sexual behavior in the United States
Difficult to obtain accurate information about a sensitive subject
Government funding for sexual studies is controversial

33. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Studying Human Sexuality
Sociological Insights
Government major source of funding for sociological research
“Value neutrality” suggests that sociological researchers should remain autonomous and not bound to any one segment of society, including the government

34. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Studying Human Sexuality
Sociological Insights
Maintaining objectivity may be difficult if sociologists fear their findings will jeopardize their chances of obtaining federal support for new research projects

35. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Studying Human Sexuality
Policy Initiative
In 1991, U.S. Senate forbade funding a national survey of sexual behavior by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Researchers acquired private funding to complete survey

36. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Figure 2.5: Percent of Television Shows that Contain Sexual Content
(Source: Kaiser Family Foundation 2001/02)

37. Social Policy and Sociological Research
Figure 2.6: Views on Sex before Marriage