Chapter 2

Question 1

What are the series of steps in the scientific method?

Answer 1

-Observation
-Identify a research method
-Conduct background research
-Formulate a hypothesis
-Select a research design
-Gather data
-Analyze data
-Revise hypothesis or present results

Question 2

Who was August Comte and what was he known for?

Answer 2

-French philosopher who coined the term “sociology” which was rooted in positivism
-Viewed the outsider as the as the “expert” who occupied a privelaged over the insider “subjects of study”

Question 3

What is positivism?

Answer 3

-Belief that the social sciences could be studied using the natural science methodology (experiment, measurement, systematic observation)
-Assumes that the researchers are objective

Question 4

What is the insider voice?

Answer 4

-Voice of the subject being studied that provides information from their subjective experience

Question 5

What is an objective outsider?

Answer 5

-The experts who use their privilege to decide the authenticity of the insider perspective, often where vital information can get lost

Question 6

What is quantitative research?

Answer 6

-Focuses on social elements that can be counted or measured, which can therefore be used to generate statistics (macrosociology)
-Includes surveys, polls, questionnaires

Question 7

What is qualitative research?

Answer 7

-The close examination of characteristics that cannot be counted or measured (microsociologist approach)
-permits subjectivity on the part of both researcher and reserach subject
-Includes ethnograhphy, institutional ethnography, case study approach, narratives, content analysis, discourse analysis, genealogy

Question 8

What is the triangulation (mixed-methods) approach?

Answer 8

-When researchers combine qualitative and quantitative research to create highly specific results

Question 9

What is ethnography?

Answer 9

-Seeks to uncover the symbols and categories members of a given culture use to interpret their world
-Includes participant observation to obtain an insider’s perspective
-Entails semi-structured interviews that are informal, face-to-face
-Help is included from informants who help the researcher become accepted into the community and assist with the interpretation of information and behaviour

Question 10

What is institutional ethnography?

Developed by Dorothy Smith

Answer 10

-Recognizes that every institution has two sides associated with different kinds of data
1. Ruling interests - Interests of the organization or those who hold power, ruling relations are activated when workers follow these rules and practices to serve the need of the organization
2. Experiential data - Comes from informants: anyone who works for the organization outside of management

Question 11

What is the case study approach?

Answer 11

-Research design that is often used to investigate or compare situations that are very typical or very different from the norm
-Key tool of policy sociology, used to identify and describe best practices within a subject or social entity (community, family, roles, relationships)
-Looks at the pros and cons in order to adopt best practices that align with organization ideals/goals while maintaining awareness of member (employee) wants/needs

Question 12

What are best practices?

Answer 12

-Strategies with a proven history of achieving desired results
-The adoption of best practices should align with organization ideals and goals while maintaining employee wants/needs
-Only looks at positives and ideals
-Main focus of the case study approach

Question 13

What are narratives?

Answer 13

-Stories that people tell about themselves, their situations and others around them
-Can be spoken, written, painted
-Give voice to people who do not usually get to speak directly in research

Question 14

What is voice?

Answer 14

-The expression of a unique viewpoint from a particular social location
-Influenced by gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, etc.

Question 15

What is content analysis and its two distinct properties?

Answer 15

-Studying a set of cultural artifacts (newspaper, artwork, billboards, books, social media) or events and interpreting the themes they reflect
1. They are not created specifically to be studied
2. Data are pre-existing and non-interactive

Question 16

What are the two types of discourse analysis used by sociologists?

Answer 16

1. Analyzing discourse as the term commonly understood (as a conversation, speech or written text)
2. Considering a broader definition of “text,” going beyond individual works and authors to include larger fields of information over a period of time

Question 17

What is genealogy?

Answer 17

-Method of discourse analysis that examines larger fields of work to trace the origins and histories of modern discourses such as mental illness, the penal system and sexuality (Foucault)

Question 18

What is statistics?

Answer 18

-Science in sociology that involves the use of numbers to map social behaviour and beliefs
-Only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions
-Many topics such as poverty, abuse and social class are theoretical in nature and difficult to define

Question 19

What is absolute poverty?

Answer 19

-Anything below the minimum income level needed to secure basic necessities that is defined by the poverty line
-Measure by: Market Basket Measure (MBM)

Question 20

What is relative poverty?

Answer 20

-Defines poverty relative to median or mean household incomes
-Low-income cutoff based on calculations of the percentage a household spends on food, clothing, and shelter

Question 21

What are the data generation methods?

Answer 21

-Poll: quantitative survey designed to measure respondents’ views of a particular topic or set of topics
-Close-ended questionnaire: used to capture respondents’ answers to a set of questions with set answer options
-Open-ended questionnaires: used to capture respondents’ answers to each question without having to select a predetermined answer from a list

Question 22

What is research ethics?

Answer 22

-Demonstrates respect for the research subjects (I.e. their privacy, understanding of the research and their capacity to choose to be researched or not)

Question 23

What is informed consent

Answer 23

-It is given when the participants indicate their understanding and acceptance of the research conditions

Question 24

What are operational definitions?

Answer 24

-Take abstract or theoretical concepts such as “poverty”, “abuse”, or “middle class” and attempt to transform them into concrete, observable, and measurable entities

Question 25

How does the Market Basket Measure (MBM) system determine an absolute poverty line?

Answer 25

-Estimates the cost of a specific basket of goods and services
-Includes food, clothing/footwear, shelter, transportation, and “other” (school supplies, furniture, personal care products, phone and internet)
-Adjusted based on regional location, population, and number of family members

Question 26

What is the Basic Needs Poverty Line (BNL) and who developed it?

Answer 26

-A measure of absolute poverty line based on a household’s ability to purchase a certain set of necessities without the adjustment of regional location and average household income
-Developed by Christopher Sarlo

Question 27

What is spurious reasoning?

Answer 27

-Exists when someone sees a correlation and falsely assumes causation

Question 28

What is an independent variable?

Answer 28

-A variable whose values are independent of changes in the values of other variables

Question 29

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 29

-A variable whose value depends on the independent variable

Question 30

Define correlation and how positive and negative correlation exists.

Answer 30

-Exists when two variables are associated more frequently than could be expected by chance
-Positive: values of independent and dependent variables increase or decrease together
-Negative (inverse): when the two variables change in opposite directions

Question 31

What is a third variable and why is it important?

Answer 31

-An outside factor that influences both correlating variables and can be used to describe causation that is not resulted from the correlation of inside variables