Chapter 3

Question 1

Research methodology

Answer 1

-is a contested field in sociology
-system of methods a researcher uses

Question 2

scientific method steps:

Answer 2

-observation
-identify a research question
-conduct background research
-formulate hypothesis
-select a research design
-gather data
-analyze data
-revise hypothesis or present results

Question 3

outsider expert ideal is an example of ____

Answer 3

policy sociology

Question 4

insider vs outsider perspectives

Answer 4

outsider= expert who occupies a privileged position over the insider “subjects of study”

Question 5

smith’s standpoint theory

Answer 5

-the social location of sociologists impacts the questions they ask and the answers they receive
- insider voice of the subject comes from their subjective experience
-the objective outsider expert uses their privilege to decide the authenticity of the insider perspective (this is where information gets lost)

Question 6

opposition to smith’s standpoint

Answer 6

Critical sociologists ex: dorothy smith and michel foucault challenged the notion of the objective outsider and stressed the unique role of the insider perspective

Question 7

Triangulation

Answer 7

mixed approach of quantitative (numbers) and qualitative(ex. ethnography)

Question 8

Qualitative methods

Answer 8

-Ethnography
-Institutional ethnography
-Case study approach
-narratives
-content analysis
-discourse analysis
-genealogy

Question 9

ethnography

Answer 9

-seeks to uncover the symbols and categories members of the given culture use to interpret their world
-participant observation
-semi-structured interviews
-informants

Question 10

Institutional ethnography

Answer 10

-every institution has two sides
1. Ruling interest: interest of the organization
2.experiential data: from informants (people who work for organization outside of management)

Question 11

Case study approach

Answer 11

-often used to describe best practices

Question 12

Content Analysis

Answer 12

-studying a set of cultural artifacts or events and interpreting the themes they reflect
-the studied items must:
1. not have been created specifically to be studied
2. data and pre existence and non interactive

Question 13

discourse analysis

Answer 13

-analyzing discourse ( conversation, speech, written text)
- different type= broader definition of “text” going beyond individual works to include larger fields of information over time

Question 14

genealogy

Answer 14

-method of examining the history of discourse analysis
-traces the origin and histories of modern discourses

Question 15

measure of center and two examples

Answer 15

-a way of taking all of the data you have gathered on a particular subject and
-Median: the number in the number of all the other number ( seperates the lower half from the upper half)
Mean: average

Question 16

Operational definitions

Answer 16

-transform abstract or theoretical concepts like “poverty”(abstract poverty vs relative poverty leads to different poverty measures and different statistics), “middle class” “single parent” into concrete observable measurable entities

Question 17

Variable

Answer 17

-a concept with measurable traits that can change/ vary form one person/group to another

Question 18

Correlation

Answer 18

• when two variables are associated more frequently than could be expected by chance
  -positive (direct) correlation: variables increase or decrease together
  -negative (inverse) correlation two variables change in opposite directions
  -describes the relationship between two variables

Question 19

causation

Answer 19

-the linking of effects to causes

Question 20

spurious reasoning, spurious variable

Answer 20

-when someone sees correlation and falsely assume causation
-an outside factor that influences both correlating variables

Question 21

joel best, questions to ask when examining a statistic

Answer 21

-what are the sources
-who produced the number, what are their interests
-what are the different ways terms might be defined, which definition is being used