Macionis c02 (1)

Chapter 2
Sociological Investigation

Common Sense vs. Scientific
Evidence
• “Poor people are far more likely than rich
people to break the law.”
• “The US is a middle-class society in which
most people are more or less equal.”
• “Most poor people don’t want to work.”
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Common Sense vs. Scientific
Evidence
• “Differences in the behavior of females
and males are just ‘human nature.’ ”
• “People change as they grow old, losing
interests as they focus on their health.”
• “Most people marry because they are in
love.”

Three Frameworks for Sociological
Investigation
• Scientific sociology
– The study of society based on systematic
observation of social behavior
– Empirical evidence–Information we can verify
with our senses

Three Frameworks for Sociological
Investigation
• Interpretive sociology
– The study of society that focuses on the
meanings people attach to their social world
• Critical sociology
– The study of society that focuses on the need
for change

Causation
• Cause and effect
– A relationship in which change in one variable
causes change in another
• Types of variables
– Independent: variable that causes the change
– Dependent: variable that changes (value
depends upon the independent variable)

Causation
• Correlation
– A relationship by which two or more variables
change together
• Spurious correlation
– An apparent, false, relationship between 2 or
more variables caused by some other variable

Scientific Sociology Terminology
• Concepts–Mental construct; represents
some part of the world in a simplified form
• Variables–Concepts whose values change
from case to case

• Measurement–Procedure for determining
the value of a variable in a specific case
• Operationalizing a variable
– Specifying what’s to be measured before
assigning a value to a variable

• Reliability–Consistency in measurement
– Does an instrument provide for a consistent
measure of the subject matter?
• Validity–Precision in measuring exactly
what one intends to measure
– Does an instrument actually measure what it
sets out to measure?

Correlation Does Not Mean
Causation
• Conditions for cause and effect to be
considered
– Existence of a correlation
– The independent (causal) variable precedes
the dependent variable in time.
– 3rd
variable is not necessarily responsible for a
correlation between 2 original variables

• Objectivity
– Personal neutrality in conducting research
• Value-free research
– Sociologists as dispassionate & detached
• Replication
– Repetition of research by other investigators
– Limit distortion caused by personal values

Limitations of Scientific Sociology
• Human behavior is too complex to predict
precisely any individual’s actions
• The mere presence of the researcher
might affect the behavior being studied
• Social patterns change
• Sociologists are part of the world they
study, making value-free research difficult

Gender and Research
• Androcentricity
– Approach topic from a male-only perspective
• Gynocentricity
– Approach topic from female-only perspective
• Overgeneralizing
– Using data collected from one sex and
applying the findings to both sexes

Gender and Research
• Gender blindness
– Failure to consider the effect of gender at all
• Double standards
– Different standards to judge males & females
• Interference
– Occurs when a subject reacts to the sex of the
researcher, interfering with research operation

Ethical Guidelines for Research
• Must strive to be technically competent &
fair-minded
• Must disclose findings in full without
omitting significant data
– And be willing to share their data
• Must protect the safety, rights, and privacy
of subjects

Ethical Guidelines for Research
• Obtain informed consent; subjects aware
of risks and responsibilities and agree
• Must disclose all sources of funding &
avoid conflicts of interest
• Must demonstrate cultural sensitivity

Sociological Research Methods
• Experiment–Research method for
investigating cause & effect
– Under highly controlled conditions
• Hypothesis–Unverified statement of a
relationship between variables
– An educated guess

Sociological Research Methods
• Placebo–A treatment that seems to be the
same but has no effect on the experiment
• Hawthorne effect–Change in subject's
behavior
– Caused by the awareness of being studied

Steps in the Ideal Experiment
• Specify dependent/independent variables
• Measure the dependent variable
• Expose dependent variable to
independent variable
• Re-measure dependent variable to see if
predicted change took place
– If no change, modify hypothesis & re-test

Control
• Be certain the change in the dependent
variable was due to the exposure to the
– Independent variable, the researcher must
keep constant other factors that might intrude
• Make experimental & control groups
– Experimental: exposed to independent
variable; Control: is exposed to a placebo

Survey Research
• Population
– The people who are the focus of the research
• Sample
– Part of the population represents the whole
• Random Sample
– Draw sample from population so every
element has an equal chance of selection

Questionnaire
• Closed-ended & Open ended:
– Closed: A series of fixed responses; easy to
analyze but narrows range of responses
– Open: Free response; broadens responses;
harder to analyze
• Most surveys are self-administered; pre-
testing can avoid costly problems.

Other Research Methods
• Interview
– A series of questions that a researcher
administers in person
• Participant observation
– Investigators systematically observe people
while joining in their routine activities

Interplay Between Theory and
Method
• Inductive logical thought
– Transforms specific observations into general
theory; “increases” from specific to general
• Deductive logical thought
– Reasoning that transforms general theory into
specific hypotheses suitable for testing
• Deduction “decreases” from general to specific

Ten Steps In Sociological
Investigation
• Select and define topic
• Review the literature
• Develop key questions to ask
• Assess requirements for study
• Consider ethical issues

Ten Steps In Sociological
Investigation
• Select a research methodology
• Collect the data
• Interpret the findings
• State conclusions
• Publish the findings

Macionis c02 (1)

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