RESEARCH…RESEARCH…RESEARCH · · 2016-08-18• For example, one study examined the behavior called “social loafing” under laboratory conditions. This is the tendency for

RESEARCH…RESEARCH…RESEARCH Answering the Questions of Society

Utilizing the Sociological Research Methodology

Marshall High School

Sociology Mr. Cline

Unit Two AC

* Choosing a Research Design and Collecting Data

• Research Methods

• For both qualitative and quantitative research, there are many different methods of gathering data

• Surveys

• The choice of questioning, whether closed or open, can also affect responses. For example, if a sociologist is interested in what people most prefer in a job, he could asked the closed question, “Look at this card and tell me which thing on this list you would most prefer in a job?”

• The card then lists five choices: 1) High income 2) No danger of being fired 3) Short working hours 4) Chances for advancement 5) Satisfying work that gives a feeling of accomplishment




• Surveys

• The question can also be asked in an open form as well, “People look for different things in a job. What would you most prefer in a job?”

• When people were actually asked these questions, the answers differed with the form of presentation. 17.2% of the respondents chose “chances for advancement” when they saw it among the responses, but only 1.8% volunteered this answer when asked in an open form.




• Interviewing

• When researchers need more information than a short questionnaire allows, they may interview people by phone, or in person, but it has to be done with immediate contact, where response from the interviewee is immediately made to the interviewer. It cannot be done via e-mail or text, because immediate response cannot be made to the interviewer, and the response evaluated as a part of the total response.

• An interview is a conversation in which a researcher asks a series of questions or discusses a topic with another person. If they use open ended questions, they can determine when to probe for more information, and when to move to the next question.

• Good interviewers also know that the validity and reliability of interviews depends on the interaction between the two.




• Interviewing

• Sociologist Harriet Zuckerman was interested in investigating the careers of scientists who had won a Nobel Prize. She wanted to interview them about their family histories, education, relationships with other scientists, organizational affiliations, and the changes in their lives since winning the prize.

• She interviewed 44 of the 55 living in America in 1963. She prepared for these by constructing the set of questions she would ask in advance, and researching each scientists background.

• She interviewed 44 of the 55 living in America in 1963. She prepared for these by constructing the set of questions she would ask in advance, and researching each scientists background.




• Interviewing

• She made sure to establish rapport during the interview, avoiding sensitive topics, using scientific language, and framing questions to establish continuity within the interview (i.e. phrases such as, “You said earlier that…”)

• These types of interviews are semi structured interviews, meaning that the general and specific issues to be covered were worked out in advance but those being interviewed were free to talk about each topic in the terms most meaningful to them.

• A structured interview is one in which the wording and sequence of questions are carefully planned in advance

• An unstructured interview by contrast is one where the questions and precise topics are not predetermined, and the interviewer and interviewee are free to engage in a free flowing conversation




• Experiments

• The experiment offers scientists the most effective technique for establishing a cause and effect relationship.

• In an experiment social scientists can test a hypothesis that one variable (x) casually influences another variable (y) by exposing subjects to a specially designed situation that allows researchers to control the factors that may affect the variables.

• For example, sociologists may want to test the hypothesis that people who undergo a severe initiation to gain admission to a group (variable x) develop a strong attachment to the group (variable y)




• Experiments

• In choosing to perform an experiment to test their hypothesis, the sociologist is thinking about the problem in these terms: • If you change one variable (x) and another variable (y) also

changes, and if all other factors have been held constant, the change in Y must have been caused by the change in X

• So, in order to test a hypothesis, researchers 1) Systematically manipulate one variable (X), and 2) Observe the effect of the manipulation on the other variable (Y)

• The factor that is systematically varied is the independent variable, it is assumed to be the casual factor in the relationship being studied.




• Experiments

• The factor being studied is the dependent variable, it is the variable being affected by the manipulation of the independent variable

• In our example, the initiation condition was the independent variable, and the intensity of the subject’s attachment to the group would be the dependent variable.




• Experiments

• There are two kinds of experiments, laboratory and field

• Laboratory Experiments

• In laboratory experiments, sociologists bring subjects into artificial conditions that can be regulated carefully by the investigator.

• In other words, the person doing the research can control for the effects of some factors while isolating the factor or factors that are of experimental importance




• Experiments



• For example, one study examined the behavior called “social loafing” under laboratory conditions. This is the tendency for people to work less hard when they are in a group than when they are not. This was particularly important given the relatively low productivity of American factory workers at the time.

• The experiment itself consisted of bringing in groups of people who were asked to cheer and clap alone, and in groups of 2,4, and 6 people. When they measured the sound of the cheering and clapping, they found that the amount of sound from each person diminished as the size of the group increased




• Experiments



• The experiment showed that an increase in group size (the independent variable) caused people to participate less in the task (dependent variable), or the larger the group, the more social loafing.

• This was true even when the researchers tried to control for any annoyance the noise may have caused participants. Since they only studied Americans, however, they did not control for cultural differences (for example, the Japanese are much more group oriented, and may behave differently in the same situation)




• Experiments



• In order to collect this data, the researchers had to deceive the volunteers. They told them that they were studying how well people in crowds could judge sound levels. Had the volunteers been told the truth, they might have behaved differently and invalidated the results of the experiment.

• This “deceptive methodology” has been fairly common in laboratory social experiments, but in the last few decades the issue of protecting people from harm in research has raised some new and disturbing questions.




• Experiments



• Do researchers have the right to deceive people or cause them anxiety or humiliation in the name of scientific inquiry?

• In response to these concerns, the federal government has tightened regulations on human research, and universities have set up review boards to approve experiments involving people




• Experiments



• Current guidelines on this type of research are clear: 1) Explain the experiment or procedure to the subject 2) Do not lie 3) Warn the subject about any hazards 4) Describe how the data are to be used 5) Ensure the subject’s confidentiality 6) Make sure that before the subject gives their consent, they

are fully informed about the experiment

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RESEARCH…RESEARCH…RESEARCH · · 2016-08-18• For example, one study examined the behavior called “social loafing” under laboratory conditions. This is the tendency for