Chapter 3 Flashcards
What is Research methodology?
The system of methods a researcher uses to gather data about a particular research question.
What is a quaLITATIVE research method used for?
Used to study social data that CANNOT BE MEASURED; these methods often incorporate an INSIDER PERSPECTIVE and may be MORE SUBJECTIVE than quantitative research methods. They STUDY CASES that DO NOT FIT into LARGER MODELS.
Accused of being too soft, literary, subjective.
What is a quaNTITATIVE research method used for?
Methods used to gather MEASURABLE DATA on social issues; they are more likely than qualitative methods to FAVOR OUTSIDER PERSPECTIVE and OBJECTIVITY so can be counted and measured and used to GENERATE STATS.
Explicitly RECOGNIZES the SOCIAL LOCATION, including biases, OF the RESEARCHER within the research.
OFTEN USES QUESTIONNAIRES and POLLS, soulless number crunching maniacs.
State how quaLITATIVE research methods can be used on CASE STUDIES.
Qualitative research usually focuses on a SMALL NUMBER of individual cases. This type of research is often concerned with the SUBJECTIVE MEANINGS of people’s EXPERIENCES and their personal INTERPRETATIONS of the social world.
State some common quaLITATIVE research methods.
Ethnographies Institutional Ethnographies Case Studies Narratives ALTERNATE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Content analysis Discourse analysis Genealogy
Describe ETHNOGRAPHIES
Ethnographies are QUALITATIVE method typically carried out with the RESEARCH LIVES IN FIELD with STUDIED TEST SUBJECTS for an extended period of time in order to understand how people go about their DAILY LIVES and WORLDVIEW INTERPRETATIONS. Aims for a BROADER view by studying an entire culture.
eg. William Whyte and studying “Cornerville” through semi-structured (informal 1 on 1) interviews and participant observation (outsider view wrt insider view) with the help of informants (intemediataries with power who help sociologists get accepted into a culture).
Describe INSTITUTIONAL ETHNOGRAPHIES
Dorothy Smith
App: Feminist
Institutional ethnographies are QUALITATIVE method recognize that there are AT LEAST 2 TRUTH SETS operating within any given institution. One set of truths represents the RULING INTERESTS (e.g. those of the organization and its administrators) while the other set represents the INSIDER, EXPERIENTIAL perspectives of those who work within the institution, tasked with UPHOLDING RULING INTERESTS. There is OFTEN DISJUNCTURE (separation between knowledge held) between these sets of truths or interests.
It involves explicitly TAKING SIDES so is more scientific.
Ruling interests have participants activate RULING RELATIONS (help serve needs of the organization at everyone’s personal expense).
Government to school to teacher to parents to student doing homework!
Describe CASE STUDIES
Case studies are QUALITATIVE method typically involve the STUDY of SINGLE or a FEW selected CASES that MAKE UP ONE SOCIAL ENTITY.
Case studies are often used to IDENTIFY BEST PRACTISES (strategies with proven history of getting wanted results easier compared to alternatives) ie. reviewing a practise.
Used often in POLICY sociology.
Describe NARRATIVE
Narratives are literally the STORIES PEOPLE TELL, so QUALITATIVE method.
While this type of research played a minor role in sociology because of the prominence of positivism until the last two decades, it
represents an important contribution to sociological knowledge.
Narratives GIVE PEOPLE, especially marginalized people, A VOICE—the EXPRESSION of VIEWPOINT that comes from people occupying a SPECIFIC SOCIAL LOCATION.
TRIANGULATION is using at least 3 PERSPECTIVES to EXAMINE a social issue.
VERSTEHEN is Max Weber’s tool for an EMPATHETIC desire to LEARN the impacts of ISSUES from a DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE of the world.
Describe CONTENT ANALYSIS
Content analysis is QUALITATIVE method involves SYSTEMATICALLY COUNTING and INTERPRETING the THEMES encountered in CULTURAL ARTIFACTS, such as articles, advertisements, artwork, clothing, children’s books, and institutional records to determine the dominant ones. These artifacts have 2 properties:
- NATURAL/FOUND quality: they are NOT CREATED TO BE STUDIED.
- NON-INTERACTIVE: NO INTERVIEWS used to gather the interpretation data ie. its all up to the OUTSIDER VIEW.
Look at pg. 62 for more details.
Describe DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Discourse analysis is QUALITATIVE method carried out in one of two ways:
- Analysis of “TEXTS” such as conversations, texts, court transcripts or news stories,
ie. Foucault and Totalitarian Discourse or - Broad analysis of LARGE FIELDS of INFO/IDEAS over a PERIOD OF TIME, such as an analysis of the changes in the discourse of masculinity over the past hundred years.
Describe GENEALOGY
Genealogy is a QUALITATIVE method type of discourse analysis that EXAMINE the HISTORY of the BROAD FIELDS OF DISCLOSURE of discourse discussed above.
An example of genealogical research is EDWARD SAID’s study of ORENTALISM: the corporate institution for managing (ruling, describing, teaching) the Orient (something foreign wrt current location) ie. the way the Western world depicts the Middle East.
Describe quaNTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research focuses on social elements that can be MEASURED and used to GENERATE STATS. Must use operational definition.
Describe STATISTICS
Statistics, in sociology, is the SCIENCE of USE NUMBERS to MAP SOCIAL BEHAVIOR and BELIEFS. They are quite shoddy because they can prove virtually anything using objectivism and people have subjective objections to methods used.
Two common terms are used:
variables
correlations
Describe OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
Operationalizing a definition entails taking an ABSTRACT OR THEORTEICAL concept (e.g. “poverty,” “abuse”, working class) and TURN IT into a concrete and MEASURABLE ENTITY.
This is very difficult because there is little consistency between sociologists and you have very many variables to address to make a valid objective conclusion.
eg. to measure poverty you must establish poverty line and for that you need to take in some considerations, assumptions and exceptions for variables.
Describe all the VARIABLES
VARIABLES are CONCEPTS with MEASURABLE TRAITS or characteristics that can vary or CHANGE OVER TIME and ACROSS GROUPS or SCENARIOS.
Independent variables have influence on other variables.
Dependent variables are assumed to be influenced by independent variables.
Describe all the CORRELATIONS
Correlations occur when 2 VARIABLES are ASSOCIATED more frequently WITH EACH OTHER than could reasonably be expected BY CHANCE ALONE.
DIRECT (or positive) correlations exist when the independent and dependent variables IN/DECREASE TOGETHER.
INVERSE (or negative) correlations occur when variables change in OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS.
Describe what happens with bad reasoning.
While correlations are relatively simple to demonstrate, it is crucial to understand that CAUSATION is not as simple to determine. When it is assumed that a correlation demonstrates causation, spurious reasoning is present.
CORRELATION is EASIER TO PROVE than CAUSATION
SPURIOUS REASONING involves FALSE arriving at CONCLUSION without recognizing the possibility of the existence of a CRITICAL (third?) variable—an OUTSIDE FACTOR influencing both correlating variables that is, as yet, unknown.
For a good conclusion, a causation should lead to correlation for conclusion.
Describe the role of CRITICAL THINKING in STATS
Statistics should ALWAYS be approached with a critical mind.
As sociologist Joel Best notes, understand that all STATS ARE FLAWED to a certain EXTENT, but that SOME FLAWS ARE MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN OTHERS. Best emphasizes the importance of critical thinking when dealing with statistics and provides a number of questions to consider when statistics are encountered.
Describe why almost all research relationships are FUNDAMENTALLY UNEQUAL
Typically, RESEARCHER DECISIONS define the questions, determine who will be asked what questions, interpret the collected data, and decide what will be done with the results of the research.
This POWER IMBALANCE is even GREATER when the subjects of study are members of MARGINALIZED groups and the RESEARCHERS have MORE SOCIAL POWER.
Describe POSITIVISM
AUGUSTE COMTE
came up with POSITIVISM: Belief that METHODS used to study natural sciences CAN ALSO be used to STUDY SOCIAL SCIENCES with ABSOLUTELY NO ACCOMMODATION made for biases, social location or subjective aspects of scientist.
Not very popular anymore. There are 2 roles.
The OUTSIDER is an PRIVILEGED EXPERT who can study someone objectively.
The INSIDER perspective makes up viewpoints of the TEST SUBJECTS.
Describe APPS of POSITIVISM
POSITIVISM is common in POLICY SOCIOLOGY.
CRITICAL SOCIOLOGY OVERRATES the INSIDER view from
DOROTHY SMITH’S STANDPOINT THEORY because social characteristics
will affect the questions and answers the sociologist receives.
MICHEL FOUCAULT criticizes OUTSIDER approach from SEXUAL CONFESSION
because INSIDER PROVIDES INFO FROM SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE.
Also, because this info is only authentic iff interpreted by outsider, the subject does not have a voice and makes info useless.
