Chapter 2: Social Research Methods Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is: The system of methods a researcher uses to gather data on a particular question?
Research Methodology
Sociology is a _____ _____, and it must be held to scientific standards of evidence, or it loses credibility.
Social science
What is the Scientific Method?
A series of steps leading to proof.
What are the steps in the scientific method?
- Identify question of interest
- Gather Information and form hypothesis
- Test Hypothesis by conducting research
- Analyze, Interpret, and Report data
- Build knowledge body
Who was known for Positivism?
Auguste Comte
What is Positivism?
Objective, scientific methods used to study the natural sciences could be used to study the social sciences. Positivism is based on experiment, quantitative measurements, and systematic observations all based on sensory experiences.
What is the basic assumption built into positivism?
Researchers do NOT have a bias.
In Comte’s view, what was the outside perspective?
The “experts” that occupied a privileged position over the subject of study.
What does the insider perspective provide?
The insider voice of the subject being studied provides information that comes from their subjective experiences.
Which two sociologist argued FOR the insider perspective?
Dorothy Smith and Michel Foucault
This research method describes and explains the behaviour, values, beliefs, and practises of participants in a given cultural setting.
Qualitative Research
What is Fieldwork?
A way to study groups. Fieldwork allows a “naturalistic” feel and you become a member.
What is Participation Observation?
Entails both observing and participating in various activities in the studied group’s lives.
Define Enthography
The scientific description of individual peoples and cultures.
This type of Ethnography is based on the theories of Dorothy Smith.
Institutional Ethnography
What is Institutional Ethnogrpahy?
recognizing that any organization can be seen as having 2 sides, each associated with a different kind of data.
- One side represents the RULING INTERESTS: interests of the organization/ those who hold power in society.
- the other side are people who follow and practise the rules of the institutions, RULING RELATIONS.
what is experiential data and who does it come from?
data that comes from anyone who works for the organization, outside of management.
What is the Case Study Approach?
Often used to investigate or compare situations that are considered either really typical or very different from the norm. This approach is a key tool in policy sociology.
What are Narratives?
the stories people tell about themselves, their situation, and others around them.
What does narrative research do?
It gives a voice (viewpoint) to people who do not usually get to speak directly in research.
_____ _____ involves studying a set of cultural artifacts or events and interpreting the themes they reflect.
Content Analysis
What is Discourse Analysis
An approach to analyzing conversation, speech, text, and symbolic events.
What is Quantitative Research?
Social elements that can be counted or measured; and therefore, used to generate statistics
Define Statistics
The use of numbers, we use to map social behaviour and beliefs.
