2- Sociological research

8/7/2019 2- Sociological research

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UNIT-2: Sociological Research The logic of cause and effect: Variables;

Correlations; Controls

Difficulties in Sociological research

Basic Research Methods: Experiment;Surveys; Observational Studies; ExistingSources

A Research Model

Research Ethics


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The logic of cause and effect: There are two sides to the sociological

enterprise: theoryand research. Both

are essential, and each thrives on theother.

Facts without theory are utterly

meaningless, for they lack a frameworkin which they can be understood.


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Theories without facts are unprovedspeculations of little practical use, because

there is no way to tell whether they arecorrect.

A theory inspires research that can be usedto verify or disprove it, and the findings ofresearch are used to confirm, reject, ormodify the theory, or even to provide thebasis of new theories.


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Guesswork, intuition, and commonsense all have an important part to playin sociological research, but on theirown they cannot produce reliableevidence.

A Methodologyis a system of rules,principles, and procedures that guidesscientific investigation.


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Research methodologyprovides guidelinesfor collecting evidence about what takes

place, for explaining why it takes place, andfor doing so in such a way that the findingscan be checked by other researchers.

The methods of sociology can be applied onlyto questions that can be answered byreference to observable, verifiable facts.


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To explain any aspect of society orsocial behavior, the sociologist mustunderstand relationship of cause andeffect.

One basic assumption of science is that

all events have causes whether theevent is ball rolling down a hill or anuclear bomb exploding.


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A second basic assumption is that underthe identical circumstances, the samecause will repeatedlyproduce the sameeffect.

The problem facing the sociologist is to

sort out cause from effect in thecomplexities of social life, and todetermine which of several possible

causes, is producing a particular effect.


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Like all scientists, the sociologist analyzescause and effect in terms of the influence of

variables on one another. A Variable is any characteristic that can

change or differ e.g. from time to time,fromplace to place, or from one individual orgroup to another.


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Differences in age, sex, race, and social classare variables. So are the rates of homicide,

divorce, and narcotics addiction. Causationoccurs when one variable such as

quantity of alcohol a driver consumes,influences another variable, such as thelikelihood of the driver being involved in atraffic accident.


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A theorysimply attempts to generalize aboutthe influence of one variable on another:

Drunken driving contributes to trafficaccidents.

An independent variable is one thatinfluences another variable in other words it

acts as a cause. A dependent variable is one that is

influenced by another variable in otherwords, it is affected.


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Determining cause and effect, then,involves tracing the effects of variablesupon one another. But how does itwork?

The basic method is to establish

whether there is a correlation i.e. arelationship between variables thatoccurs regularly.


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By analyzing the statistics, thesociologist can easily establish whetherthere is a correlation between drunkdriving and traffic accidents. In thiscase the correlation is very high.

In fact, not only are drunk driving andtraffic accidents closely associated, butthe more alcohol drivers consume, the

more likely they are to have traffic


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All events have causes, and the task ofscience is to trace these causes in the form of

the influence of variables upon one another. Generalizationsare statements ofprobability about relationships betweenparticular variables.

Cause and effectcan be traced byestablishing correlations betweenindependent and dependent variables.


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It is necessary, however, to applycontrolsto exclude the possibility thatsome variable other than the one beingstudied is influencing the relationshipunder investigation.

Logical analysis is also necessary toestablish that a relationship is causal,not spurious (merely coincidental).


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Difficulties in Sociological

research Sociological research presents several

difficulties that derive from the nature of the

subject matter:1. the act of investigating behavior may

change the respondents behavior;

2. people may behave in unpredictableways;

3. the origins of social behavior areextremely complex;


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4. certain kinds of experiments cannot beperformed on human beings; and

5. the sociologists personal involvementwith the subjects can introduce bias intoresearch.

Some of these problems can be resolved by

combining a rigorous scientific methodologywith subjective interpretation, whichWeber called Verstehen, the German wordfor empathetic understanding.


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Weber asserted that sociology mustmodel itself as far as possible on thenatural sciences but that its subjectmatter, being so different, sometimesalso calls for an interpretative,

subjective approach.


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Basic Research Methods There are four basic methods of

sociological research:

1. Ex periments

2. Surveys

3. Observational Studies

4. Use of Existing Sources


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Experiments An experiment is a method for studying

the relationship between two variables

under carefully controlled conditions. Experiments can be conducted in the

laboratory or in the field.


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In a laboratory experiment the subjects andany necessary materials are brought into an

artificial environment that can be carefullyregulated by the researcher.

A field experiment takes place outside thelaboratory under less artificial conditions,

perhaps in a prison, hospital, or even astreet.


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The laboratory experiment is moreappropriate when the researcher wantsto control the situation in minute detail.

The field experiment is more suitablewhen the researcher wants to study

people in their normal settings.


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In the typical Experimental Method,an independent variable is introducedinto a carefully designed situation andits influence on a dependable variable isrecorded. But it requires the use of

experimentaland control groupsforvalid conclusions to be drawn.


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Surveys A survey is a method for systematically

obtaining standardized information about the

attitudes, behavior, or other characteristics ofa population.

Surveys are frequently used in sociologicalresearch, either simply to get facts (such as

political opinion of university students) or tofind the relationships between facts (such ashow social class or cultural backgroundinfluence studentspolitical opinion).


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Surveys are perhaps the form ofsociological research best known to thegeneral public, e.g. political opinionpolls.

The populationin any survey is

simply the total group ofpeople thesociologist is interested in, e.g. collegestudents, mothers with twin children, or

even the entire nation.


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In most cases it is necessary to survey asample, a small number of individuals drawn

from a larger population. The sample must accurately represent thepopulation in question. If it does not, thenany conclusions are valid only for the

respondents not the actual subjects of asurvey and cannot be applied to the entirepopulation.


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Whether a sample is representative has verylittle to do with its size. Representative ness

can be ensured by using a random sample one chosen in such a way that everymember of the population in question has thesame chance of being selected.

A survey may use questionnaires,interviews, or a combination of the two.


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If the questionnaire is self-administeredwithout an interview, the respondents

are asked to complete it and often toreturn it by themselves.

If the interview technique is used, the

researcher asks the questions directly. The interview may be structuredor

unstructured.


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In a structured interview theresearcher has a checklist of questions

and asks them in the same form andexactly the same order with eachrespondent.

It is inflexible, but it enables theresearcher to make careful tabulationsand comparisons of the answers.


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The unstructured interview is muchmore flexible and open-ended. The

researcher puts more general questionsto the respondents, allows them toanswer freely, and follows up on their

comments.


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This approach allows the researcher to getinsights that a structured interview may

overlook, but it has some disadvantages. Theanswers are often extremely difficult tocompare.

To be useful, survey questions must be put in

straightforward, unemotional language andmust be phrased so that all respondents willunderstand them in the same way.


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Observational Studies An observational study is an intensive

examination of a particular group,

event, or social process.

The researcher does not attempt toinfluence what happens in any way, but

aims instead at an accurate descriptionand analysis of what takes place.


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The analysis usually traces cause &effect relationships, but some

sociologists are content by giving aprecise account of their observations.

This information often provides rich

insights into social behavior and for thatreason alone adds to the sum ofsociological knowledge.


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Like the experiment, an observationalstudy can be conducted in the

laboratory or in the field.

In a laboratory observation, e.g. thesociologist mightpresent a group of

subjects with a problem in order toobserve how leaders emerge anddecisions are made.


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The researcher may choose to tape recordthe interaction and to watch and film it

through a two way mirror rather thaninfluencing the course of events by joiningthe group and taking notes on the spot.

In field observation the sociologist studiessomething that is happening or has happenedwithout attempting to structure the conditionsof observation.


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Most observational studies take place inthe field.

The most common form of fieldobservation is the case study acomplete and detailed record of anevent, group, or social process.

Some case studies deal with events thathave already taken place.


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The sociologist reconstructs theseevents through extensive interviews

with the participants and by referring toother sources of data, ranging frompolice records to newspaper files.


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This method is often used for theanalysis of infrequent, temporary

events such as riots.

Other case studies are conducted at thetime the action is taking place.

These eyewitness studies are a richsource of sociological information andinsights.


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The sociologist in a case study maychoose to be either a detachedor a

participantobserver. Detached observationis a method in

which the researcher remains as aloofas possible, and the subjects may noteven know they are being studied.


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Participant observationis a methodin which the researcher becomes

directly involved in the social behaviorunder study.

Sometimes the P.O. makes it clear to

the group that he/she is a sociologist;at other times the sociologistpretendsto be an ordinary member of the group.


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The latter approach has the advantagethatpeople will behave in more typical

ways if they do not know they are beingobserved, and it also enables thesociologist to gain access to groups

such as some religious sects thatwould not normally allow them to bestudied.


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Observational studies of this kind placea heavy obligation on the sociologist.

The identities of informants must beprotected.

Systematic notes must be kept each

day while memory is fresh. The observer must be careful not to influence

the behavior he/she is studying.


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The assumption behind participantobservation is that some things can be

fully understood only by intimateexperience of them, but the methodrelies heavily on the skills andsubjective interpretations of the

observer.


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Observational studies have theadvantage that they come to grips with

real-life situations, thereby offeringinsights those years of experimentingand surveying might overlook.


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It has the disadvantage, however, ofsacrificing scientific precision to some extent.

The observer may misinterpret events, mayignore things that are relevant and focus onthings that are trivial.

Another disadvantage is that the case studied

may have been exceptional, so the findings ofa single observational study cannot begeneralized to all apparently similar cases.


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Use ofExisting Sources Sometimes the sociologist does not

have to generate new information

through experiments, surveys, orobservational studies. The relevant datamay already exist and may merely have

to be collected and analyzed.


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A great deal of useful information isavailable in published or unpublished

form in the form of government record,newsreels, diaries, letters, works of art& literature, historical records, or the

research findings of other socialscientists.


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Another important source of existinginformation is the accumulated body of

sociological research. Information from this source can be collected

and reinterpreted;

Findings ofpreviously isolated reports can berelated to one another in new and revealingways;


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The data that one sociologist collectedto answer one question can sometimes

be used by another sociologist toanswer a different question.


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A Research Model1 Define the problem: Choose a suitable

topic for a research project. The generalarea selected will usually be one in whichthe sociologist takes a personal interest.

2 Review the literature: The existingresearch on the problem must be trackeddown and reviewed.


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Knowledge of the relevant literature isessential. Itprovides background

information, suggests theoreticalapproaches, indicates which areas ofthe topic have already been covered

and saves the sociologist the labor &embarrassment of duplicating researchthat has already been done.


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3. Formulate a hypothesis: Theresearch problem must be stated in

such away that it can actually betested. This is achieved by formulatinga hypothesis, a tentative statementthatpredicts a relationship between

variables.


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For each idea in the hypothesis, the researchermust create an operational definition one thatstates a concept, for the purposes of research, in

terms that can be measured.4 Choose a research design: Select one ormore research methods: experiment, survey,observational study, or use of existing sources.

5Collect the data: Collect and recordinformation in accordance with the researchdesign.


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6 . Analyze the Results: Arrange theinformation in orderly form and

interpret the findings. Confirm,reject,ormodify the hypothesis.

7 .Draw a Conclusion: Discuss thesignificance of the findings,relating

them to existing theory andresearchanddefiningproblemsforfutureresearch.


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Research Ethics The American Sociological Association has

developed a code of ethics for researchers,

which specifies that the researchers shouldmaintain:

a) objectivity and integrity;

b) respect the privacy & dignity of subjects;


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c)protect subjects from harm;

d)preserve confidentiality ofpersonaldata collected during research; and

e) acknowledge sources of assistance,collaboration, and funding;


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Ethical dilemma There are five basic types of dilemma:

Harm to participants: Research should not

risk physical, psychological, or moral harm tothe participants.

Invasion ofprivacy: Any research intopeoples lives risks invading their privacy. Theproblem arises particularly when thesociologist uses unobtrusive measures i.e.ways of studying people without their consent


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Informed consent: A basic respectforonessubjectssuggeststhatthe

researchershould notonly make themaware thatthey are being studied butshould alsoobtaintheirpermission.


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Applicationofresearch: Socialscienceresearchdoesnotoccurinvacuum; its

findingscanbe puttoavarietyofuses. Sociologicalresearchonpropagandatechniques, forexample,mightbe used byadvertiserstosellworthlessgoods.

Deception:Afinalsensitive issue isthe use ofdeceptioninordertogaininformationinthe course ofresearch.

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