module 2 Flashcards
(39 cards)
why is sociology research important?
- Sociological research is important to the discipline of sociology because it helps us to understand social life
- Common sense is too simple to be relied on for sociology, and stereotypes make common sense unreliable
define sociological research?
- Research is formal data collection to produce verifiable findings
- sociological research is a “rigorous means of developing new knowledge through various [research] approaches”
five kinds of sociological research?
exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, evaluation. Empowerment
goals of exploratory research?
aims to gain understanding about an area or group of people not well understood.
goals of descriptive research?
• Descriptive researchaims to provide description of a group, event, activity, or situation.
goal of explanatory research?
ims to clarify aspects of a social phenomenon to better understand its effects.
goals is evaluation research?
• Evaluation researchaims to provide a needs assessment for the program or social phenomenon in question.
goals of empowerment research?
aims to improve conditions in a particular social setting and/or for a particular group of people in that social setting.
what is inductive research? qualitative or quantitative?
research is known as a “bottom-up” approach because it begins with research observations
• moves from these specific observations to broader, theory-based applications.
• Relevant patterns may be noticed, and from these observations form a tentative hypothesis. Finally, they would link this hypothesis to broader theories.
qualitative
what is deductive research? qualitative or quantitative?
- Deductive research in contrast is known as a “top-down” approach because it begins with a theory and moves towards specific observations.
- deductive approach would research the existing literature on excellent teachers and form a hypothesis with which to proceed (e.g., extroverts make better teachers). Once they’ve formulated a hypothesis, they would go into classrooms and observe whether or not their hypothesis holds true.
quantitative
what is qualitative research? small or large sample sizes?
quality over quantity.
• Smaller sample sizes to gain a deeper understanding
• Relies on an inductive approach
research methods (detailed later in this module)
3 research methods of qualitative research?
interview and focus groups, discourse analysis, and ethnographies.
what is the goal of qualitative research?
The aim of qualitative research is to understand other people’s subjective realities and the societal forces that shape and affect their subjective realities. the goal here is not to test any specific hypothesis but to try and capture in the subjects ’ own words their notions of instructional excellence.
what is quantitative research?
, as its name suggests, is concerned more with the quantity of information than with in-depth understanding.
• uses large sample sizes in an attempt to accurately predict and generalize human behaviour.
3 methods of quantitative research? goal?
- research relies on a deductive approach. Common quantitative methods include experiments, surveys, and content analysis (some forms of content analysis can also use aspects of qualitative research)
- The aim of quantitative research is to predict, generalize, and make causal explanations.(try and pinpoint an objective cause)
what is an interview? a focus group?
nterview is a verbal question-and-answer technique used to gather in-depth information about the phenomenon under question
A focus group is simply a group interview, usually involving 6–10 participants (p. 38
goals of interviews and focus groups? formats?
The goal in using interviews as a research method is to understand a phenomenon from the respondent’s perspective.
• can follow a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured format.
• A standardized or highly structured interview follows a set of predetermined questions
• A semi-structured interview has a series of pre-formulated questions, but the interviewer can ask follow-up questions based on what is raised in an interview
• an unstandardized interview has no (or very few) pre-established questions, allowing organic themes to emerge through the interview
strengths of interviews?
- High response rate
* Better reflect respondent’s views
* Clarification can be given if needed
weaknesses of interviews?
- Relies on interviewer skills
* Good rapport necessary
* Order of questions can affect quality
what is ethnography? assumption?
• Ethnography is the “broad term for various forms of fieldwork designed to describe everyday behaviour in natural settings”
• The assumption behind ethnography is that behaviour is best studied in its natural environment
Ethnography can take the form of both participant and non-participant observation.
what are the strengths of ethnography?
- Studies areas of interest in a natural setting
* Degree of closeness with topic in question
weaknesses of ethnography?
- Changed group dynamics because of presence of researcher
* Entering and exiting a research setting
what is discourse analysis? assumption?
- sometimes classified as a secondary data analysis because it analyzes already existing data on the topic in question.
* The assumption behind discourse analysis is that ideas on any particular subject already exist through a range of textual sources
goal of discourse analysis?
• The aim of discourse analysis is to understand how the language we use to talk about a particular phenomenon actually creates assumptions about that topic, “language is not seen as a simple or neutral medium for communicating information, but rather as a domain in and through which our knowledge about the world is actively shaped”
