Chapter 2 Flashcards
Three strikes law and manifest function
After three strikes jail for life with no parol, and manifest function is that crime goes down, the manifest dysfunction is that after the last crime, They evade police, violent murders against police officers has increased drastically
What is a valid sociological topic?
Any kind of human behavior and social interaction.
Macro-military, race, relations, multinational corporations.
Micro- how people interact on street corners, how people decorate their homes, family violence
Abstract concepts
Operational definition: required to describe exactly what the term defines. This is needed for abstract concepts, although it is difficult to obtain.
Common sense
“what everyone knows”
Sociological research, we must go further.
Know why, testing vs. assuming or guessing, need for specific research techniques
Participant observation
Not always viewed as objective, field work. 21 jump street.
Qualitative interviews
Structured conversation. Tape record interviewer and interviewee. Conversation among equals
Secondary analysis
Analyze data already collected by others. Data liberation initiative.
Documents
Examine film, books, newspapers, diaries, police reports, household accounts etc. usually best to utilize multiple sources or types of sources. Access to source material can be problematic.
Unobtrusive methods
Look through trash
Analyze graffiti
Graveyards- can provide data on mortality rates, areas ethnic breakup
Identity theft
The Hawthorne effect
The change in behavior that occurs when people know they are being study
8 basic steps of research model
1-Select a topic. 2-Define the problem 3-Review the literature 4-Formulating a hypothesis or research question (hypothesis, variables, operational definitions) 5-choosing a research method 6-collect data (validity, reliability) 7-analyzing the results 8-sharing the results
