Sociology Research: Topic Selection & Literature

Criteria for selecting a research topic

• Personal interest in the topic is a significant factor.
• Topics should be sociologically relevant, addressing social phenomena or processes.
• Research should expand upon current academic works.
• One's interest should align with existing research in the field

Searching Literature

• Use peer-reviewed books and academic articles.
• Use academic publication databases and Google Scholar to create a list of relevant sources.

Boolean Operators

• AND yields results containing all search terms.
• OR yields results containing any of the search terms.
• NOT excludes search results not relevant to the search topic.
• Brackets assist in complex searches using combined operators.
• "*" captures variations on a search term.

Guidelines for Reviewing Sources

• Carefully examine the abstract, introduction, discussion and conclusion.
• Consult the references cited section for additional sources.
• Assess a source's value by citation frequency.

Annotated Bibliography

• Concise summaries with research questions and topics.
• Includes methodology, key findings, and arguments on the resources.
• Topic relevance and the author's arguments and findings.
• Include varied sources for different perspectives on the topic.

Formulating Research Qs

• Questions should be precise.
• They should be verified empirically.
• They should be practical to answer ethically with collectable data.
• Answers should contribute to the knowledge of a social phenomenon or practice.

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

• IRBs review studies to ensure minimal risks to human subjects.
• Publishing or funding requires Institutional Review Board approval.

Ethical Principles

• Voluntary participation means no manipulation or coercion.
• Preventing harm includes avoiding participant distress or endangering them.
• Reduce harm as much as possible.
• IRBs determine the ability to approve studies based on potential risks.
• Participants must fully understand research risks with informed consent.
• Explain risks both verbally and written.
• Adults must give consent, and children assent with parental consent.
• Confidentiality means researcher won't publicly share participant's identity.
• Remove identification from data for confidentiality.
• Use pseudonyms to maintain confidentiality in qualitative studies.
• Anonymity ensures no one can identify subjects.
• Honesty ensures integrity in data analysis, design, and findings.
• Researchers should admit shortcomings.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972)

• Black men with syphilis were studied to observe the disease's progression, without treatment.
• Participants were not told about the study or given the option to refuse to participate.
• They were told they were being treated for "bad blood".
• Participants were denied access to penicillin after it became a standard treatment in 1947.
• The study extended to 40 years despite initial intent for six months.
• Many died from syphilis, infected others and had kids with congenital syphilis.
• 28 men died from syphilis
• 100 from syphilis complications
• 40 wives were infected
• 19 kids had congenital syphilis

Milgram Obedience Experiments (1961-1962)

• Participants believed they were administering shocks to a "learner" (a confederate).
• Authority figures told subjects to continue even when the learner expressed pain.
• The study showed a high percentage of participants administered maximum voltage.
• Participants were deceived in learning and punishment
• Participants had the role of a "teacher" administering electric shocks.
• "Learner" reactions involved screams and scripted pleas, shocks were claimed to be not real.
• 65% of participants gave maximum 450 volt shocks, despite visible pain.
• Ordinary participants were willing to obey authority figures and harm others.
• The experience caused significant participant stress and deception.

Asch Line Experiment

• Participants were asked to judge line lengths.
• Participants often conformed with the majority incorrect opinion, showing social pressure.
• Participants compared the target line and others, comparing which lines match.
• Approximately 75% conformed at least towards the incorrect majority.
• Participants conformed about 1/3 of the time.
• Some admitted they were wrong in response, but conformed to fit in with the group.
• Participants conformed to avoid ridicule through normative influence.
• Some participants believed confederates were correct, distorting judgment differences.

Research Deception

• Deception can include concealing researcher identity and goals.
• Deception may be justified for science and admin concerns.
• The debriefing can reduce the potential for harmful effects if deception is involved.

Research Politics

• Politics deal with research's social implications.
• There are no formal codes of accepted political conduct.
• Be aware of potential political implications and objectivity.

Qualitative Sampling

• The research focuses on in-depth info of population.
• Quantitative focuses on the generalization.
• Qualitative research uses small sample sizes and information-rich cases.
• Qualitative research takes time.
• The sample size can change as research continuous.
• Saturation in the sample size when additional info is unlikely

Convenience Sampling

• Relies on whoever is available as a sample.
• Results can not be generalized to the general public.
• It is non-purposive that limits analytic generalizability.

Purposive Sampling Techniques

• Sets of qualitative samples
• Participants from researcher knowledge and study process.
• Determine selection criteria before selecting participant.

Typical Case

• Cases are ordinary or typical cases of the characteristics being studies.

Deviant Case

• Cases deviate from a pattern other cases follow, with specification of boundaries.

Critical Case

• Cases significant or dramatic.

Heterogenous Sampling

• Cases that represent full range of population.

Homogenous Sampling

• Similar individuals that are selected.

Theoretical Sampling

• Revising sample questions and focus as the study goes on.

Grounded Theory

• Theories from pattern analysis, themes, and data.
• Rooted in the data
• Combining the deduction and induction to come to a conclusion.

Snowball Sampling

• Additional participants with initial participants.
• The sample grows as more participants are added.
• Used to sample people who are hard to find.
• Blee did interviews with women who were racist movement.
• Why did the women join the movement that devalued them.
• Blee found that the women rejected certain part of the white supreme idea, while committing to the idea.

Quota Sampling

• Decide proportions of characteristics in advanced.
• Sample won't be representative, but shows variants within the full population.
• To know what the proportion needs to be to share with a sample.

Ethnography

• Method of participation through observation that understands society.
• Aims for emic understanding.
• Rich understanding with different levels of immersion.
• Reactivity can influence acts on the topic, aims as description is explanation.

Emic vs Etic

• Understanding insider group to see terms.

Informants

• In Whyte's study Doc was an informant.
• Someone well-versed in life to tell you.
• The subjects can act as a gatekeeper.

Street Corner Society and Sidewalk

• Duneier studied homeless vendors in Greenwich village, NYC.
• Hakim was the main informant that helped with the vending.
• Diunere embedded himself in the community.

Case Selection

• The subjects address research Q to add depth for types of research study
• The cases should have empirical theoretical issues.
• The ethnographers enter the field with revised understanding during the research.

Within-Case Sampling

• Duniere created study provides generalization about the homeless.
• The people are nested inside the research.
• Interact and have cases that has within-cases
• Within cases can create a complexity within the study of individuals.

Between-Case Sampling

• Compare 2 or 3 cases
• Compared in the significance of the cases.
• Can compare communities on differences demographics and socio-economic to compare.
• Compare different schools to document learned outcomes.

Field Notes / Open Coding

• Great point is observe and think.
• Document with writing called field notes.
• Must obtain consent if needed to publish.
• Code as needed and know to identify pattern with the field notes.

Validity / Reliability

• Member checks can verify with participant that should interpret the accurences
• Back to the field to triple check.
• Triangulation to give use of several sources

Strengths / Limitations

• The researcher has direct access to update the data.
• Has direct access to participants.
• The researcher has access of to the field study that validates its ability to get more precise.
• Less strength but as research things differ they cannot show similarities.

Qualitative interviews

• Goal is to find someones attitude belief points.
• Learning history how the make sense of everything.
• Experts knowledge and practice through interviews.
• Flexible to give to each inter.

Quantitive vs Qualitative.

• Guided interview can be modified.
• Interviewing methods aim to have stand.
• Questions are in order and way for a response.
• They are there to observe and be a response.
• Be design to have stand interviews.
• Collaborative interviews with the inter to commentate to parents.
• How a role affects a person from subject position
• Main objective is detailed to achieve a detailed answer an experience
• Guide your view through a certain view of what interview is to be.

Writing Interview

• In open-ended questions you need to to receive to a certain direction you would intend to go.
• How questions asked certain ways can elicit the possible contradictory within them.
• Questions will promote a summative view and reflect.

• Learner is a part of the role be incompetent to them to have them relax as much as possible.
• Let the participant control the setting as possible.
• Stories provoke prompts to new stories for each of them.

Guild Writing

• Propose candidate to understand to avoid to have the don't questions.
• To consider the idea and see if it's to certain degree.
• Avoid questions and subject category.
• Be mindful of what the categories relate to.
• The race the gender can all affect the different interaction.
• What each one shares with you is just something as personal to each other.

Play of fallacies

• Don't categories what is very important.
• Ex: Male-Pro, all of them may be relevant.
• A categorical identity can may take it's role depending on situations

Reliabiliy and Validity

• Have to value what has been respected through that inter
• Interviewers have better strength but they are weaker on reality.
  • Given the difference to get responses from each other.

Limitations of Qualitative Interview Questions

• Non- probability samples is not able to population
  • Has certain process on depression.
• Researcher can say something is report they is

Analysis on Conversations

• Is from how actions are being seen.
• Documents analysis that are social interactions that have been documents.
• The method of how the language and practice helps the human world
  • All key 3 concepts related to each other the focus being indexical
• This indexability is important the way something is said can make it key. Actions are shared within the norms in which you violate.
• With social action you must get the respond back and fourth to each other.

Sampling

• Put action under the microscope.
• No watching but to find an vernacular action.
• To see how interactions work you may look for questions like these to get the samples. Is that samples gives you access with everything to know the context of use.
• Overreaching to get activity that goes on.
• To understand it whether from business research.
• Actions helps you understand smaller actions.
• Core five features to interact Analyze each one to connect
• Some statements perform some actions and get you fired.

Action Analysis

• Allow decisions to see to have a connection.
• Proof of procedure analysis of any action you show by interacting.
• Show a conversation that is interacted within an social organization.
• Looking back into the topic of organization.
• Analyze conversation systematically to get a better idea or people.

CA and EM

• Maintain and look the same by look interaction
• Validity is something look transcript with audio
• Through time different times it'll yield its best ability.

Limitations and Strength

• Cannot reveal all thoughts and feeling with action when recordings is the topic.
• Analyst will insert the knowledge into what one has just said.

Surveys

• Aims to describe characteristics and questionnaire that get all data back.
• To to get the best for the sample

Sample Analysis

• Through the amount should be the best to observe directly
• So the results give can generalize through that sample.

How you design

• Give someone their ideas for response
  • Ex: what do you fell is the worst for the us?
• Should get what is best back through the analysis

Closed end questions

• Ask and find to listen what they believe back.

Close and Design

• The reason to do so is exhaustive which what is not for a valid reason.
• Questions should clear so people should understand.
• Keep the question as easy to understand what you may get something incorrect.
• Have great understanding in with one has an view.
• Be precise to not get a double question what may not get something correct.

Directing questions

People must be able to say something of to know what they have.

• Must do something honest.
• To get to find what issue should work for both.
• To people or to know what is to understand. Is to get great thing to understand
• Get questions shorts and simple
• The lengthy questions makes it get complicated

To not use negative words since that can cause questions.

• Be the thing to encourage the others.

Look for the format

• Spac the questions so they aren