Chapter 2 – Asking and Answering Sociological Questions

• 1. Asking and Answering Chapter 2 Sociological Questions

Introduction to Sociology Ninth Edition Anthony Giddens,

Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum, & Deborah Carr

• 2. Asking and Answering Sociological • Sociology is: – (a) a

pseudoscience. – (b) a science like the natural sciences. – (c)

a science unlike the natural sciences.

• 3. Learning Objectives • Basic Concepts – Learn the steps of the

research process and be able to complete the process

yourself – Name the different types of questions sociologists

address in their research—factual, theoretical, comparative,

and developmental • Asking and Answering Sociological

Questions: Historical Context – Contrast Park’s and Ogburn’s

visions of sociology as a science – Understand their influence

on contemporary sociological research

• 4. Learning Objectives • Asking and Answering Sociological

Questions Today: The Research Process – Familiarize yourself

with the methods available to sociological researchers and

know the advantages and disadvantages of each •

Unanswered Questions – See how research methods

generate controversies and ethical dilemmas for sociologists

• 5. Basic Concepts • Eight stages in the research process – 1.

Defining the research process –What are the gaps in our

understanding about the topic? –What puzzles haven’t been

solved?

• 6. Basic Concepts • Eight stages in the research process – 2.

Reviewing the evidence –What questions have been raised? –

How have others approached the problem? – 3. Making the

problem precise – Formulating hypothesis that are testable

• 7. Basic Concepts • Eight stages in the research process – 4.

Working out a design – Deciding what method (surveys,

interviews, participant observation, etc.) works best – 5.

Carrying out the research –Gathering facts and data

according to the research design – Dealing with

unanticipated problems

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• 8. Basic Concepts • Eight stages in the research process – 6.

Interpreting the results – Answering initial questions –

Evaluating hypotheses – 7. Reporting the findings – Research

reports, articles, books – 8. Repeat

• 9. Basic Concepts

• 10. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions: Historical

Context • Sociologists explore four types of questions: •

Factual or empirical • Comparative • Developmental •

Theoretical

• 11. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions: Historical •

Sociology at the University of Chicago, beginning in the

1920s, was extremely influential in shaping the discipline. •

Robert Park focused on interviews and firsthand observations.

• William Ogburn suggested that sociology should be more

scientific and rely on statistics.

• 12. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process • Ethnography – Participant observation,

interviews – Generates rich, deep data – Typically not

generalizable

• 13. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process

• 14. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process • Surveys – Generate a lot of data from

large numbers of people – Appropriate for statistical analysis

– Random sampling of the population to generate a sample,

thus improving ability to generalize

• 15. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process • Surveys – Can be superficial – May lead

to inaccurate results

• 16. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process • Experiments – Control conditions to

establish cause and effect – Hard to replicate findings from

controlled settings in natural settings

• 17. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process

• 18. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process • Comparative Research – Comparison of

behaviors, attitudes, or other aspects of social life across

time, place, or group – Use any of the other research

methods to gather data for making comparisons

• 19. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions Today: The

Research Process

• 20. Unanswered Questions • Understanding Cause and Effect of

Social Context – Correlation is not the same as causation –

Variables may be related to each other but not responsible

for change in another

• 21. Unanswered Questions • Human Subjects and Ethical

Dilemmas – Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) – Research

must conform to ethical guidelines – Acquire informed

consent – Minimize invasions of privacy – Minimize risks to

participants – Ensure confidentiality – Avoid deception

• 22. Unanswered Questions • Can We Really Study Human Social

Life in a Scientific Way? – Sociology is a science guided by a

theoretical approach and based on empirical investigation

• 23. Concept Quiz - What is one major difference between natural

sciences and social sciences like sociology? (a) The natural

sciences do not include humans as the subject of their

studies. (b) The findings in social science are never certain,

whereas natural scientists are able to discover indisputable

facts. (c) Social sciences require a more careful negotiation of

the issues of influence, power, and subjectivity than do most

natural sciences.

• 24. Concept Quiz - What is the definition of a hypothesis? (a) a

conclusion regarding a given state of affairs that is informed

by the results of the scientific process (b) an idea or guess

about a given state of affairs put forward as the basis for

empirical testing (c) a secondary argument put forth in a

scientific report that supports the main argument being

made

• 25. Concept Quiz - Which of the following research methods is

most suitable to the way that Robert Park envisioned

sociology? (a) experiments (b) surveys (c) interviews (d)

ethnography

• 26. Concept Quiz - In survey research, ___ is one of the best ways

to ensure conclusions can be generalized to the whole ___ .

(a) random sampling; population (b) a pilot study; scientific

community (c) statistics; sample (d) a questionnaire; country

• 27. Concept Quiz - A study of the influence of family income on

educational achievement finds a correlation coefficient of 0.4

between income and number of years of higher education

achieved. What is one possible conclusion of this study? (a)

Family income is not a significant factor in educational

achievement. (b) While a low income adversely affects the

likelihood of achieving a higher education, other factors

might as well. (c) Having a low income is the single most

important factor in why poor people are unable to acquire

higher education. .

• 28. Concept Quiz - What is the primary role of theory in scientific

research? (a) It helps to explain empirical observations. (b) It

helps differentiate between real facts and opinions. (c) It

helps to disprove hypotheses. (d) It allows researchers to

make conclusions about the world even when empirical data

is not available.

• 29. Discussion Question: - Suppose the dropout rate in your local

high school increased dramatically. Faced with such a serious

problem, the school board offers you a $500,000 grant to

study the sudden increase. Following the recommended

procedures outlined in the text, explain how you would

conduct your research. What hypotheses might you test?

How would you prove or disprove them?

• 30. Discussion Question: Thinking Sociologically Explain the

advantages and disadvantages of documentary research.

What will it yield that will be better than experimentation,

surveys, and ethnographic fieldwork? What are its limitations

compared with those approaches?

• 31. This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for

Chapter 2