research methods Flashcards
Ethnocentrism
Using the values,
beliefs, behaviors, and practices of
your own culture to evaluate the
cultures of other people; your
culture/socialization as your base
comparison.
Cultural Relativism
The belief that
we should evaluate a person or
group’s beliefs and practices
through their culture, rather than our own.
ex. understanding and accepting the practice of arranged marriages in many cultures, where it is viewed as a way to strengthen family ties and ensure compatibility, rather than judging it by Western norms that emphasize romantic love as the basis for marriage. Instead of seeing it as outdated or oppressive, cultural relativism encourages viewing it from the perspective of the cultures where it is practiced, recognizing its value and meaning in that specific context.
Objectivity
- (Weber) “Value-Free” or “bias-free” research. In search
of objective answers with little room for interpretation. Highly
contentious
ex. when a researcher studies a controversial topic, such as the death penalty, and presents facts from both sides of the debate, avoiding personal bias or emotional language, and focusing on evidence and logical reasoning to allow readers to form their own conclusions.
Standpoint Theory
How Individuals view/understand/interpret
social phenomena based on their social positions, past
experiences, and/or status. (May occasionally be referred to as
positionality)
ex. a feminist perspective on gender inequality, where women, particularly those from marginalized groups, are seen as having a unique viewpoint due to their experiences with oppression. This standpoint allows for a more nuanced understanding of power dynamics, as women’s experiences in society may reveal inequalities that are overlooked by those in positions of privilege, such as men or individuals from dominant cultural groups.
Research Question
– A guiding, well-defined, question about a
behavior, event, or phenomena that will be answered through
research. Determines why type of methods you want to use
Qualitative
Interpretivist (multiple interpretations)
▪ “Quality” – Focuses on non-numerical
data, mainly people’s experiences,
opinions, and open-ended responses
▪ Often focuses on people’s experiences,
and or the deeper meaning of
interactions and day-to-day life. How
people create and give meaning to
things
▪ Methods: Interviews, Group Interviews,
Participatory Action Research,
Secondary data analysis, Historical
comparison, Observations,
Ethnography
Quantitative
▪ Positivist (Attempts Objectivity and
replicability)
▪ “Quantity” – Mainly focusing on
numbers, statistics; numerical values,
close-ended responses
▪ Often looks for some form of
correlation
▪ Correlation DOES NOT equal causation
▪ Methods: Surveys, Longitudinal
surveys (multiple surveys over a long
period of time), Secondary data
analysis of numerical data.
Ethics
▪ Anything dealing with human participants will need IRB (Institutional Review Board)
approval.
▪ You will have to present to them: How are you maintaining ethics? Through:
▪ Anonymity – Remove names, and unnecessary identifying information
▪ Confidentiality – Removing any record of participants participation
▪ Physical/Mental duress – You may bring up harmful memories, or study groups
with certain mental health issues (such as eating disorders, depression, etc)
CONSENT
How can you maintain ethics: Inform participants of potential risks (including stress
of interview), getting consent, providing resources to negate any harm (physically or
mentally)
Reflexivity
▪ The ability to reflect on your values, beliefs, and
experiences and how they shape your actions and points of
view
ex. when a sociologist studying racial inequality openly acknowledges their own position as a member of a privileged racial group and reflects on how this might influence their interpretation of data, interactions with participants, or analysis of findings. By doing so, they are transparent about their potential biases and the impact of their own background on the research process.
microsociology
: focuses on an examination of
small group interactions
macrosociology
involves an examination of
society as a whole and its institutions
theory
systematic explanations of empirically observed social patterns
social theory
is to articulate an understanding of
society and social world
THEORY: MISCONCEPTIONS
there is no complete theory
n theories have limits, scale, and scope; mind them
n there are tensions and exchanges between theories:
competing
n please don’t make a soup!
(STRUCTURAL)
FUNCTIONALISM
origins traced to Émile
Durkheim
n his focus on social
cohesion, integration,
normality, solidarity
just like how different
organs in the body work
together to keep the entire
system functioning, each
social structure has a
specific function (education,
health care, religion)
society as composed of different social structures that each
perform specific functions to maintain the operation of society
(macro-level sociology)
CONFLICT
THEORY
associated with and inspired by
Marx and Weber
n mainly concerned with modern
capitalism and its consequences for
power and inequality
macro structures
n society consist of social groups that struggle with
each other to dominate society and its institutions,
or at least, to achieve equal access (macro-level
sociology)
n concerned with power relations
n can be based on the lines of class, gender and
sexuality, (dis)ability
SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONISM
concerned with small-group or
scale interactions,
n interpretive sociology
n the symbolic interaction
approach looks at the meaning
(the symbolic part) of the daily
social interaction of individuals
interaction can be mundane (texting) or significant (choosing
your major), it can range from talking, gestures, attending this
class
SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIONISM
what and who makes the
social reality?
n what or who defines rules,
roles, meanings, scripts, and
beliefs that dominate all our
social interactions?
FEMINIST THEORY
addressing the issues of
systematic discrimination
against women and nonbinary
people
n you do not need to be a
woman to be a feminist or to
use feminist theory
n several approaches:
liberal feminism, Marxist
feminism, radical feminism,
ecofeminism
the private (or personal) is political
n both the private and the public are gendered
n despite differences, women’s and nonbinary social
experiences differ from men’s
n as a result of different experiences and differences in
power, women and nonbinary view the world
differently from men
STANDPOINT THEORY
social characteristics
such as gender, race,
ethnicity, indigeneity,
age, and sexual
orientation
n conditioning both
the questions a
sociologist asks and the
answers they will
receive
modernity’s classical
age:
contradictions in
emerging modern capitalist
society
breaking with
modernity:
what is
universal? what is real?
after modernity
fragmentation,
deconstruction, multiplicity
