Bargeboe Sociological Research

• Sociological research helps us move beyond guesswork and common sense in understanding society.
• Commonsense beliefs about society are often wrong.
• The sociological perspective incorporates theory and research to arrive at an informed understanding of the "hows” and “whys” of human social interaction.

Five Ways of Understanding the World

• Personal experience allows us to discover things independently, like the pain of touching a frozen doorknob.

• Tradition involves accepting beliefs as true because "everyone knows it," rather than finding answers independently.

• Authority relies on experts to tell us what is true, such as accepting space scientists' judgment on the Moon's composition.

• Religion provides truths based on scriptures, influencing beliefs about morality, diet, dress, and hairstyles.

• Science involves controlled and systematic observation, insisting that all statements be tested and procedures be open to public inspection.

• Personal experience, tradition, authority, and religion are valid sources of understanding

• Scientific explanations differ fundamentally by allowing scientists to resolve differences in their understanding of the world.

• Science is empirical, relying on direct, systematic observation.

• Scientific knowledge is systematic, public, and recognized by other scientists, requiring public verification.

• Science has a self-correction mechanism, presenting hypotheses as tentative statements subject to verification.

How Much Do You Know About Altruism?

• Altruistic behavior does have an impact on the nature of society
• People who behave altruistically often had parents who often helped others.
• Canadians are not required by law to help those in danger.
• Helping others recover from disaster can be a way of helping oneself recover from trauma

Descriptive and Exploratory Studies

• Sociological studies can be descriptive or explanatory.
• Descriptive studies describe social reality, providing facts about a group, practice, or event, such as census data.
• Explanatory studies explain relationships and causes, like asking why some people are more likely to offer help or why countries vary in blood donation systems.

Theory and Research Cycle

• The relationship between theory and research involves both deductive and inductive approaches.
• Researchers typically move back and forth from theory to research throughout their inquiry.
• Theory gives meaning to research; research helps support theory.

Deductive Approach

• Researchers begin with a theory and use research to test it.
• Theories generate the hypotheses, lead to observations, generalizations then either support the hypothesis or refute it.

Inductive Approach

• Researchers collect data and then generate theories from the analysis of those data.
• Specific observations lead to generalizations, creating a tentative theory, it's tested through hypotheses, and may give suggestions for more observations.

Sociological Research Process

• Some researchers mainly do quantitative research, while others focus one qualitative research.
• Quantitative focuses on data that can be measured numerically.
• Qualitative uses words rather than statistics to analyze meanings and social relationships.

Quantitative Research Model

• In the first step you must select a research topic.
• Then select a research topic and ask, “What do I want to know about this topic?".

Formulating Hypotheses

• Formulate a hypothesis — a statement of the relationship between two or more concepts.
• Concepts and variables are abstract.
• Variables are concepts with measurable traits or characteristics that vary.
• Whether a variable is dependent or independent depends on its context.
• The independent variable is assumed to cause or determine a dependent variable.
• A dependent variable is assumed ro depend on the independent variable.

Operational Definitions and Variables

• Operational definition is an explanation of an abstract concept using observable features to measure it.

Research Design Models

• Sociologists use experiments, surveys, field research, and secondary data analysis.
• It’s important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Collecting and Analyzing Data

• Sociologists collect and analyze their data while considering reliability and validity.

Reliability

• The extent to which a research instrument yields consistent results.

Validity

• The extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure.

Analysis and Conclusions

• Analysis is how data are organized so comparisons can be made. Then conclusions are drawn.
• Then you relate the data to your hypotheses, available for replication.

Qualitative Research

• It is used when the research question does not easily lend itself to numbers and statistical methods.
• It involves research questions and fewer cases, providing a detailed view of a social issue.
• Researchers usually do not initially define their research problem in as much detail as quantitative researchers.

Qualitative Research Features

• Research should begin with a flexible, general approach.
• Researchers to decide when the literature review and theory application should take place.
• The study should present a detailed view of the topic, involving fewer cases and more variables.

Research Methods

• Specific strategies or techniques for conducting research.
• Qualitative researchers frequently use field observation studies.
• Quantitative researchers generally use experimental designs, surveys, and secondary analysis of existing data.

Experiments

• An experiment is a test under controlled conditions where a hypothesis is tested by changing an independent variable and watching its impact on a dependent variable.

Experimental Groups/Control Groups

• Experiments require dividing subjects into an experimental group and a control group.
• Experimental group subjects exposed to an independent variable.
• The control group are not exposed.

Sociological research enhances societal understanding, moving past assumptions. It integrates theory and research, addressing the 'hows' and 'whys' of human interaction. Ways of understanding the world include personal experience, tradition, authority, religion and science.