Chapter 1: The Uses of Social Research CHAPTER OBJECTIVES This chapter is designed to help students: • Recognize the advantages of knowledge based on research over knowledge from authorities and knowledge from personal inquiry. • Appreciate the importance of both care and community in science. • Distinguish between basic and applied research. • Learn about the four purposes of scientific research: exploration, description, explanation and evaluation. KEY TERMS – (page references from text in parentheses) Applied Research (11) Authorities (4) Basic Research (11) Descriptive Study (14) Evaluation Research (16) Explanatory Research (15) Exploratory Research (13) Factually testable (9) Intersubjectivity (7) Objectivity (7) Personal Inquiry (5) Positivist View of Science (6) Post-Positivist View of Science (7) Premature Closure (6) Qualitative Data Analysis (14) Quantitative Data Analysis (15) Research Question (2) Scientific Method (6) Theory (10) Unit of Analysis (3)
CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Introduction a. What is a research question? • A question about one or more topics or concepts that can be answered through research. II. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing a. Knowledge from Authorities • Examples: Mom, Census Bureau, Social Institutions (Religion, School, Media) Problems: may be inappropriate, misleading and/or incorrect b. Knowledge from Personal Inquiry • Inquiry that employs the senses’ evidence for arriving at knowledge Problems: Overgeneralize from a limited number of cases Perceive Selectivity Premature Closure-tendency to stop searching once we think we have an answer c. Strengths of the Scientific Method . Positivist View of Science . Post-positivist view of Science . Objectivity- the ability to see the world as it really is. . Intersubjectivity-agreements about reality that result from comparing the observations of more than one observer. • The Promotion of Skepticism and Intersubjectivity • The Extensive Use of Communication • Testing Ideas Factually • The Use of Logic • Theoretical Explanation Theory-an explanation of how and why something is as it is
III. The Uses and Purpose of Social Research a. Uses of Social Research . Basic Research-designed to add to our knowledge about the social world . Applied Research-designed to have practical results and used in the immediate future b. Purpose of Social Research • Exploratory Research 1. Inductive research on a relatively unstudied topic in a new area 2. Qualitative data analysis • Descriptive Research 1. Research designed to describe groups, activities, situations, or events. Provides detailed and precise idea of the way things are, perhaps even how they have changed over time. 2. Quantitative data analysis • Explanatory Research 1. Research designed to explain why subjects vary in one way or another
IV. Evaluation Research a. Evaluation Research-research designed to assess the impacts of programs, policies, or legal changes.
TEACHING TIPS In Class Assignments 1. Bring in, or have students bring in, some articles from the newspaper about topics of interest to social science researchers. Discuss the sources of data and what these reports might mean to the public and to interest groups. Discuss why it is so difficult to get "final answers" on questions that are essentially tied to values, e.g. the death penalty, abortion and others. 2. Have students spend a few minutes writing about why many people spend a lot of time and money on consulting psychics and horoscopes. Why are so many individuals willing to trust the advice of sources, whose basis in evidence is somewhat suspect (from a scientific point of view)? 3. The media is another authoritative source from which we get information. Have students discuss sources of media, those of which are more trustable authoritative sources and those which may be more biased. Have students discuss ways in which the media may collect and present information in ways that may be biased. 4.
Create a survey with items that collects basic descriptive data about students as well responses to questions about political opinions and attitudes. Students should generate a code name for themselves. This survey should be collected and then distributed to students for analysis throughout the semester. (See Chapters 6, 9, and 15 in this manual for exercises that use information gathered in this survey). This survey should include different types of questions (closed-ended and open ended), with allowance for data analysis with nominal, ordinal and other levels of measurement. The instrument should include questions that are clearly worded, as well as those that are likely to be misunderstood by students.
5. Have students spend a class time in a student union, or place on campus heavily populated by students on campus. To demonstrate the example of knowledge by personal inquiry, have students do a one hour observational research of campus students. Students can be observing whether or not students are studying, socializing, attending or skipping class. Are certain types of students more likely to engage in certain types of activities? What do they conclude about the student body after these observations? How does this activity coincide with the example and issues that go along with knowledge by personal inquiry? 6. Have students discuss how they see themselves using social science research in their future careers.
Videos There are many films that can be used to begin a discussion of research methods in social science. 1. Research Methods for the Social Sciences This video provides an overview of the research process and the challenges of applying the scientific method in the social sciences. Advantages and disadvantages of using various methodologies are also discussed along with research ethics. Discussion questions: 1. What are the steps to the scientific method? 2. What ethical issues are discussed in the film? This film is commonly found in library catalogues. If your specific university library does not hold the title, request an interlibrary loan. You can also request the title from ProMedion productions. 2. Hitch This film provides an example of using knowledge from personal experience. You can show the film trailer to start a discussion about sources of knowledge. The trailer to film can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp--Un6fNro. Discussion questions: 1. Identify sources of knowledge. 2. What happens when personal experience challenges what is “agreed upon”?
Homework Assignments 1. In Exercise 1.1, Ways of Knowing about Social Behavior in the text, students are asked to compare different ways of knowing about the world. This could serve as a good introductory exercise where students compare their taken-for-granted views of the world with information gathered through data collection. Have students use authoritative sources for data sources, such as information found on the Census Website, or General Social Survey Website. 2. To spark student interest in social research, have students access the Sociological Tour of Cyberspace web site listed below. Ask students to investigate one of the links provided by Kearl and be prepared to discuss what the site holds in class. 3. Have students access social science journal articles, or you can provide students with a sample of articles for analysis. With each article have students identify whether the research question is exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory. Also have students identify whether or not the analysis is qualitative or quantitative. 4. Have students bring in two or three Census Reports they find and print out online. With the Census Reports have students identify the research question addressed, units of analysis, and any relevant findings. Do the findings coincide with any knowledge previously found by personal inquiry? 5. Have students complete exercise 1.3, but about a more relevant social science research question, such as crime or drug use. For crime, students can focus on their neighborhood, campus housing, or apartment complex as a place where crime occurs or does not occur. 6. Have students identify three social issues that they feel should addressed. Next, students should write a research question addressing each social issue. Have students identify the unit of analysis for each question.
Internet Resources http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/ A Sociological Tour of Cyberspace This site managed by Mike Kearl at Trinity University in Texas is a very comprehensive site for sociologists teaching a variety of courses. A good exercise for week one is to direct students to locate this site and identify areas of interest. There are links to resources for data analysis, methods and statistics, subject-based inquiries and other topics. Kearl also provides a guide to writing a research paper, resources for evaluating the credibility of resources on the web and ways for students to locate data to examine hypotheses. http://www.census.gov/ US Census Bureau website On the main front page students can access short fact sheets. Under people and households students can click on a more specific topic, such as households or poverty to get more specific short fact sheets. Also on the main page students can access the data finder where they can put in their specific county or city and get demographic specifics. These can be used as authoritative data sources for class discussion. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml American Fact Finder – US Census Bureau Students can use the website to locate community facts such as population and income. The fact sheets provide an example of authoritative data source for class discussion. Students can view their community fact sheet and then discuss if the information is what they thought they would find.
http://publicsociology.com/ Homepage for Public Sociology This website is a social reform movement to conduct a new type of sociology. When discussing basic research, applied research, and evaluation research, have students also look at a different type of research which is often debated and discussed; public research. Sociologists engaging in public research utilize sociology to express and demonstrate human rights through scholarship and sociological imagination. After looking at the website, what types of research questions and projects are public sociologists engaging in? How is it different than other types of sociological research?
Chapter 2: Theory and Research CHAPTER OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 2, students should be able to do the following: • Know what concepts, variables and hypotheses are. • Distinguish between independent and dependent variables. • Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship. • Identify antecedent, intervening and extraneous variables. • Understand the ways in which research informs theory, particularly: 1. To test theory, through a process of deduction and observation 2. To build theory, through a process of induction from observation
KEY TERMS – (page references from text in parentheses) Antecedent Variable (26) Concepts (20) Conceptualization (20) Condition of Empirical Association (27) Deductive Reasoning (31) Dependent Variable (23) Elimination of alternative explanations (27) Empirical Generalization (31) Extraneous Variable (28) Grounded Theory (32) Hypothesis (23) Independent Variable (23) Inductive Reasoning (32) Intervening Variable (28) Measurement (30) Spurious (27) Temporal Precedence or Time Order (27) Theory (20) Variable (21)
CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Introduction a. Concepts, Variables, and Hypotheses • Concepts - words or signs that refer to phenomena that share common characteristics • Conceptualization - the process of clarifying what we mean by a concept • Variable – a concept that varies o Dependent Variable – a variable that is affected by another variable o Independent Variable – a variable that affects another variable • Hypothesis – a testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to related to one another b. Social Science and Causality: A Word of Caution • How do we establish causality? o Causality is difficult to show . Antecedent Variable – a variable that comes before both an independent and dependent variable . Spurious – non-causal . Empirical Association . Temporal Precedence or Time Order - elimination of alternative explanations . Intervening Variable . Extraneous Variable II. The Relationship between Theory and Research a. Excerpt from “Moving On? Continuity and Change after Retirement” by Emily Stier Adler and Roger Clark. b. Excerpt from “The Terrible Towel and Fair-Weather Fans: Steelers Nation as a Quasi-Religion” by Marci D. Cottingham. c. Measurement- the process of devising strategies for classifying subjects by categories to represent variable concepts d. Deductive Reasoning- reasoning that moves from more general to less general statements e. Empirical Generalization- a statement that summarizes a set of individual observations f. Inductive Reasoning- reasoning that moves from less general to more general statements h. Grounded Theory- theory derived from data in the course of a study i. Wallace’s Cyclical Model of Science Theories - Theory testing or theory building?
TEACHING TIPS In Class Assignments 1. Have students respond in writing to this question to spur the "sociological imagination." a. "It is generally believed that Americans have more choices than ever in finding a partner. There is increased marriage along religious lines and well as across race and ethnicity. We are more mobile than previously and are taking a longer time to get married. Given these indicators that we seem to have more choice in our partners than ever, why is the divorce rate so high? Wouldn't it be logical to hypothesize that the greater the number of choices and the longer the time individuals have to select a partner, the higher the marital satisfaction and the lower the divorce rate?" 2. Have students think about how research might address his question. Also have them consider independent variables, dependent variables, and intervening variables. Would this be an example of inductive or deductive reasoning? 3. Exercise 2.1, Hypotheses and Variables, is designed to get students thinking about the relationships among independent and dependent variables and hypothesis making. Assign students this exercise as an in-class writing project. Allow time for class discussion and processing, making clear distinctions between these concepts. 4. Bring in or have students bring in some articles from the newspaper about topics of interest to sociologists. Compare journalistic coverage to social science research. Discuss the sources of data and what these findings might mean to the public and interest groups. Discuss why it is so difficult to get "final answers" on questions that are essentially tied to values, e.g. death penalty, abortion and others. 5. Exercise 2.2, The Relationship Between Theory and Research, is designed to help students recognize independent and dependent variables, hypotheses and theory as they are used in research. Sample articles from the journals selected can be placed on reserve so that students locate an article that they are able to read at this point in the semester. 6. Students require a lot of practice in identifying dependent and independent variables. Using excerpts from journal articles ask students to identify the dependent and independent variables in published research; below is an example. Have students work individually in identifying the dependent and independent variables. Give them a few minutes to do this. Next, ask them to pair up in groups of two and share their answers. Ask them to not only identify the Dependent Variable (DV) and the Independent Variable (IV), but explain to their partners how they reached their answers. Talking about how they are able to identify DV and IV is an extremely useful exercise for students. a. “The continuing absence of a father leads to low educational attainment among offspring in single-parent families. This view is derived from socialization theory which stresses the importance of male role model to the cognitive and emotional development of children.”
7. Have students identify the independent and dependent variables in the research questions they wrote in Homework Assignment 1.6. Videos 1. Social Theory and Methods This multi-section program addresses classical social theory, examining the origins of sociology through the efforts of Marx and Comte to build a holistic science of society; positivism, through a case study of students using surveys to do research on education; interpretivism, through a parallel case study in which students use interviews to carry out their research; and realism, comparing it to classical, positivist, and interpretivist approaches. The video also draws upon a case study of suicide to illustrate how positivist and interpretivist approaches lead researchers to ask very different questions about this key sociological topic. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. This film is found at Films for the Humanities and Sciences at www.films.com. Discussion questions: 1. How is theory, classical and contemporary, used to guide sociological research questions? 2. Is research used to develop theory or test theory? 3. In the case of suicide, how did different theories lead to the development of different research questions? How might that happen in a different situation, such as crime or poverty?
2. Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning: Differences & Examples The video provides a comparison of inductive and deductive reasoning. The video includes examples of how each type of reasoning is applied. This video is found at Education Portal at http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/inductive-vsdeductive-reasoning-differences-examples.html#lesson Discussion questions: 1. What are the differences between inductive and deductive reasoning? 2. Provide an example of how you could use each type of reasoning in research.
Why or why not?; and 3) What changes (if any) would you make that would improve the protection of subjects while maintaining the quality of the science of the study? Internet Resources http://www.asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm ASA Code of Ethics This website allows you to look at the ASA Code of Ethics by Section or you can access a separate link to get a full text. Have students read the code of ethics and then summarize the code of ethics and summarize how they might deal with the code of ethics in a questionable research situation. www.prisonexp.org Official website for the Stanford Prison Experiment. Includes links to order documentary DVD, discussion questions, slide show, and website for Philip Zimbardo. If students watch the video in class, have students go online and answer discussion questions. Most Universities have their own website for their individual Institutional Review Board. Search online for your university’s IRB website and there you should find links to forms. Have students either fill out or review the form to go through an expedited and full review process. An example of a University’s IRB website with links to form resources can be found at: http://sites01.lsu.edu/wp/ored/institutional-reviewboard/consent-form-samples-and-helpful-links/ http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ethics.php Ethics in Research This website can be used to reinforce ethic concepts and provide additional examples.
Chapter 4: Planning a Research Project CHAPTER OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 4, students should be able to do the following: • Develop the ability to create research questions. • Identify the sources of research questions. • Consider the relationship between values and science. • Understand the sources and impacts of research funding. • Learn to do a literature review. • Distinguish the parts of a research article. • Estimate feasibility (access, time, and costs) in planning a study.
KEY TERMS – (page references from text in parentheses) Access (88) Feasibility (88) Hypothesis (70) Keywords (85) Literature Review (85) Research Costs (92) Research Question (70) Researchable Question (84) Time Expenditures (92)
CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Sources and Examples of Research Questions a. Research Question b. Hypothesis- a testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to be related to one another II. Focal Research a. Focal Research: “Career and Family: From College Expectations to Late-Thirties Outcomes” by Michele Hoffnung. III. The Impact of Values on Science • Values and Science o “Value Free?” o Science products are socially created (McCorkel and Myers 2003) IV. Personal Experiences a. Personal interests and experiences can influence the selection of a specific research topic or question. V. Research and the Social, Political, and Economic World • Change in society influences amount of research on topics o E.g., Gender, Sexual Orientation • Current events focus attention; e.g., tsunamis, hurricanes VI. Sources and Impacts of Research Funding • It is always difficult to raise money for social science research • Many research projects funded through private foundations, government agencies, local and state institutions, corporate sponsors • Funding since mid 20th century • NSF; NIH; National Institute of Aging; National Institute of Justice • Funding research expresses a value choice VII. Practical Matters a. Researchable question-a question that can be answered through research that is feasible. b. Reviewing the literature • The process of searching for, reading, summarizing, and synthesizing existing work on a topic or the resulting written summary of a search. o Parts of a Research Article • Academic Sources o Key Words • Using the Literature in a Study o Examine what previous researchers have used • Feasibility-Is it practical? c. Access • Will you be able to get access to this data? d. Time and Money . Time - Do you have time to do this research? . Money - Do you have the money to do this research?
TEACHING TIPS In Class Assignments 1. Students are often intimidated by the prospect of doing a term paper in a research methods class and often have trouble narrowing the focus of their investigations. Have the class brainstorm a number of broad topics and then break them down into small groups to narrow these a bit. In lieu of topics, have students create “researchable questions” and discuss these in class. If students are writing their own research proposals, have students brainstorm their proposals with peers to get feedback on their research questions. 2. A number of media-based efforts have been directed to anti-drug messages. Have students think about examining the impact of these messages on the targeted population. Have students discuss how we could measure this impact by developing a series of "researchable questions." 3. Students really do not grasp the entire research process until they see examples of it first-hand. If you are able, bring along 15-20 journals to class. Divide students into small groups of 1-2 students and ask them to skim through an issue. Have them find an article that is interesting to them and ask them to skim through the article, looking for the following: abstract, literature review, methods section. Once all the groups have finished this task, call everyone together having each group report back to the class what they have learned. They should be able to briefly describe the research project, identify a few key sources from the literature review, and discuss briefly how the research project was designed (which methods were used, were they qualitative or quantitative?) etc. This hands-on exercise helps students see what a final product looks like, and helps them get a better sense of the many steps in the research process. 4. Have students discuss groups that would be difficult to access. If you wanted to study those groups, how might you gain access? How have others gained access in the past? Specifically, one group that is surprisingly difficult to gain access to is children and youth. Have a class discussion on why it might be difficult to gain access to this group. Researchers typically have to go through schools to gain access to this group and have to get parental permission. How might this affect the outcome of research? Does this make the research more or less feasible? 5. Have students put together a grant proposal to the dean of students in order to research drinking on campus. In order to get the study approved, the students need to address all aspects of feasibility on their grant proposal. How are they going to gain access to gain access to the student body? How are they doing to complete their study in a timely fashion? Is this a practical study for their campus? In order to gain funds (the last aspect of feasibility) have students convince the dean of students of a realistic method to study this social problem.
6. Ask the Librarian to discuss library resources for conducting literature reviews including helpful tips for searching key words.