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  An Introduction to   Methods: How the Social Sciences are Done
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  -  An Overview of Methods 
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  -  Supplement:  Modern Science Has a Publish-or-Perish Problem       Time Magazine    150820
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 -  Project:  Surveying 
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  For Macionis, there are 3 types of methods in the social sciences including scientific methods, critical methods, & interpretative methods; however in practice most social scientist employ many of these types simultaneously   
  THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS AN APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING BASED ON SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION & GENERALIZATION, WHICH IS USED TO GENERATE EXPLANATIONS & MAKE PREDICTIONS   
  Science is a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic observation   
  Scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence, meaning facts  we verify with our senses   
  Scientific methods of the social sciences are the most widely used & are what we are using when we speak of hypothesis, theories, statistics, validity, etc.   
  THE INTERPRETATIVE METHOD  IS AN APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING BASED ON SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION & GENERALIZATION, WHICH IS USED TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANINGS PEOPLE EXPERIENCE   
  For many social scientists, science as it is practiced today to study the natural world, misses a vital part of the social world: meaning   
  Human beings do not simply act; we engage in meaningful action   
  Weber, who pioneered this framework, argued that the focus of sociology is interpretation   
  See Also:  Weber   
  Interpretative sociology is the study of society that focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world   
  The interpretative sociologist's job is not just to observe what people do but to share in their world of meaning & come to appreciate why they act as they do   
  CRITICAL SOCIOLOGY FOCUSES ON WHAT IS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND & EXERCISE SOCIAL CHANGE   
  The importance of social change in & of itself became noteworthy by Marx who rejected the idea that society exists as  a "natural" system w/ a fixed order   
  Critical sociology is the study of society that focuses on the need for social change   
  As Marx believed the point of the social sciences are not merely to study the world as it is but to change it   
  W/in the practice of critical methods, the general public often confuses social science findings w/ politics & so scientific social scientists object to taking sides, charging that critical social science is political & gives up any claim to objectivity   
  Critical methodologists would refute the objections of the so called scientific social scientists by noting that not only is critical social science political, but ALL science, whether it be natural or social, is political   
  METHODOLOGICAL CONCEPTS ARE TOOLS FOR SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION   
  The deductive method of analysis begins w/ theory & builds a question ( hypothesis ) based on that theory   
  The hypothesis is usually tested using some form of the experimental method to test some part of the theory   
  The inductive method of analysis begins w/ gathering generalizations from data, & theory is then created to explain the generalizations   
  Research can be used to test a theory or generate a theory, but research cannot "find out the truth"   
  A theory is a set of interrelated statements about reality, usually involving one or more cause effect relationships   
  Theories are made up of verifiable statements about reality that, with the right information, can be tested   
  Theory refers to a set of interrelated statements about reality, usually involving one or more major cause effect relationships   
  Ideally, a theory can be tested through research   
  A law is a theory or part of a theory that is well established and therefore has greater acceptance by the scientific community   
  A hypothesis is a research question, that always takes the form of a statement that must be able to be disproved   
  A hypothesis is a testable statement   
  When social scientists use research for theory testing, they usually make use of a hypothesis   
  A hypothesis always takes the form of a statement   
  A hypothesis usually involves some kind of cause effect relationship between two or more variables   
  A hypothesis is used because a theory is usually too large and complex to test at one time   
  A correlation is a relationship by which two or more variables change together   
 
 A concept is an abstract idea that represents some element of the world   
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 A variable is a concept that can take on different values or that has two or more categories from case to case   
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 Independent variables influence or cause the dependent variable & are sometimes called the predictor variable   
  The independent variable is the variable that the researcher thinks is the cause   
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 Dependent variables should be the effect in the cause effect relationship   
  The value of the dependent variable depends on the value of the independent variable   
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 A positive correlation occurs when both variables change in the same direction   
  A negative correlation occurs when the variables change in opposite directions   
  A control variable is a variable that is held constant in order to observe the effect on two or more other variable   
  A spurious correlation is an apparent, although false, relationship btwn two or more variables caused by some other variable(s)   
  The control variable  is introduced to determine whether the relationship btwn the independent & dependent variables is spurious   
  MEASUREMENT IS THE PROCESS OF ASCERTAINING THE EXTENT, DIMENSIONS, 
QUANTITY, ETC. OF SOMETHING ESP BY COMPARISON TO A STANDARD 		  
  1.  An operational definition is a precise statement of the measuring of a variable or of the categories of a variable for purpose of measurement   
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 2.  Reliability is established when the researcher is using a method that demonstrates consistency of the measurement; the method produces the same results if it is used repeatedly or if a different investigator uses it   
  Professor Hairball has repeated his study on hair magazines every year for ten years.  He has always gotten the same results.  Therefore, Hairball believes his study is very reliable   
  Reliability is the consistency of the measurement   
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 3.  Validity indicates that the researcher is measuring the concept they intended to measure; that the methods utilized yield accurate info about the phenomenon being studied   
  Validity is established by  measuring the concept you intend to measure   
  The strong emphasis on valid & reliable methods is one important distinction btwn the social sciences & journalistic accounts in newspapers, magazines, on the TV news, the internet, etc.   
  The strong emphasis on valid & reliable methods is one important distinction btwn the social sciences & humanistic accounts of social phenomenon such as novels, an expose', videos, docudrama, etc.   
  Social scientists such as post modernists, et al, believe that if social science is to be effective, it must connect w/ the subject, i.e., the phenomenon being studied, & the object, i.e. the person or people examining the research   
  An emotion laden research project is not necessarily unreliable or invalid, but special care must be taken 
 
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 4.  Constructs are concepts that are abstract and at least to some extent must be formulated by the researcher   
  Constructs are created by researchers when they are attempting to measure abstract concepts such as intelligence 
 
  Examples of constructs include intelligence, happiness, power, satisfaction, quality of life, etc.   
  PROBLEMS IN RESEARCH STEM FROM THE FACT THAT PEOPLE REACT TO BEING STUDIED   
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 Reactivity is the tendency of people being studied to react to the researcher or to the fact that they are being studied   
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 The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity where people being studied attempt to please the researcher   
  The Placebo effect is a form of reactivity where people, as a result of being studied, behave differently, i.e. as the test subjects do, when in fact nothing has changed   
  Objectivity is a state of complete personal neutrality in conducting research   
  Bias is non objectivity in research; personal involvement in conducting research whether intentional or unintentional   
  THE USE OF EXISTING DATA SOURCES IS THE METHOD OF USING INFO THAT HAS BEEN COLLECTED BY OTHERS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH   
  Sometimes a social scientist need not collect original data to study an issue or a problem b/c the necessary data have already been collected   
  There are various public & private data archives such as the US Census, the National Opinion Research Ctr (NORC), Gallup, the Inter University Consortium for Political & Social Research (ICPSR), & thousands more   
  Professional orgs often conduct surveys of participants in their professions & sometimes make such data available to researchers w/ related interests   
  An example of the use of an existing source would be continuing a survey that was started 50 yrs ago, & using the data from the old survey as a comparison or bench mark from which to judge data info from the new survey   
  General library research, using books & journals to write a research paper or construct the research background for the present research is also a form of using existing sources 
 
  THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF PRIMARY RESEARCH METHOD IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IS THE SURVEY:  ASKING A POPULATION SET A SERIES OF QUESTIONS BY A RESEARCHER WHO THEN ANALYZES THE ANSWERS   
  A survey is the method of selecting a particular subject & compiling a series of questions that will best resolve any research objectives, ie questions or postulates, that will satisfy the query   
 
 An example of a survey is one that the military uses to evaluate the command climate of a unit of soldiers   
  The survey is the most widely used method in sociology   
  The kinds of surveys are the:
- closed end questionnaire 
- open end questionnaire 
- telephone interview 
- personal interview 		  
 
 DIFFERENT QUESTION TYPES MEASURE DIFFERENT SOCIAL MATERIAL 
 
  Fixed response questions in a survey are like multiple choice exam questions   
  The Likert scale form of surveying gives a clear range of choices on a 5 or 7 point scale 

Strongly Agree   Agree    Neutral / No Opinion    Disagree     Strongly Disagree 
     ______          _____                _____                    _____             ______ 
 

  
  In open ended questions the respondent states or writes an answer to the question in their own words.  (Similar to an interview)   
  There are FOUR types of questions typically used in surveys & interviews, including: 
- Background  (demographics) 
- Activities 
- Knowledge 
- Sentiments (opinions, values, attitudes, feelings, etc.) 		  
  When writing survey questions, 
- use short statements 
- begin w/ 'easy' questions 
- use 'hard' questions near the end of the survey 
- end w/ open ended questions 		  
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 Sampling is the random selection from a general population to establish a sample group, which should represent the entire population   
  AN EXPERIMENT IS A SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION IN A CONTROLLED / LIMITED SITUATION   
  Experiments are carried out in a situation that is under some control of the researcher, such as a lab or classroom   
  An example of an experiment is testing the integrity of a group of men against a group of women by placing money on a sidewalk & observing what % would pick the money up & keep it compared to who would turn it in, or ask who dropped the money in the first place   
  The steps in the experimental process include:
Sampling to determine the 
Control & experimental groups 
Pre-test 
Experimental manipulation 
Post-test 
Debriefing 
Analysis 		  
 
 The experimental group goes through an experience or manipulation 
 
  The control group does not experience a manipulation of an independent variable & receives the pre-test & post-test   
  Lab experiments are done in setting w/ almost total control by researcher   
  The TWO types of field experiments are natural experiments & social experiments   
  In natural experiments, the researcher gives pre- & post-tests around a natural event, or the tabulation data before & after a natural event   
  In social experiments, the researcher gives pre- & post-tests around a social policy   
  INTERVIEWS ARE ORAL SURVEYS   
  The strength of an interview over a survey is that researcher can follow leads to unplanned questions   
  In structured interviews, the questions are pre planned   
  In unstructured interviews, the unplanned questions follow the flow of the conversation   
  FIELD OBSERVATION IS ATTENTIVENESS TO SOCIAL MATERIAL TO MEASURE IT IN SOME MANNER   
  The FOUR qualities of field observation include obtrusiveness, unobtrusiveness, participant & non participant   
  In obtrusive field observation, the researcher is seen, recognized as a researcher;  open or overt   
  In unobtrusive observation, the researcher is hidden or not recognized as a researcher;  secret or covert   
  In participant observation, the researcher is, during the research, participating in the activities of the subjects   
  Participant observation allows the researchers to observe a person or a group of people in their everyday activities   
  An example of this would be going to a Baptist church on Sunday to see how people in that area worship   
  In non participatory observation, the researcher is not participating; remains separated, aloof   
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 Content analysis is an analysis of narrative data from open ended surveys, interviews, books, press, media, etc.) that looks for regularity   
  Statistical analysis is an analysis of existing data (census, govt records, etc.) or data you have collected (surveys, experiments, interviews, etc.) to determine correlations   
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 Multivariate analysis is the sorting out many factors to determine most important factors   

 
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Examples of Variables

  age                    religion                     education level            env concern
  gender              political party             race                           satisfaction in the workplace
  income             marital status             occupation                  effective decisions


 
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Examples of Independent & Dependent Variables

Abuse & stress
Lack of social integration & suicide
Number of autos & global warming
Education & environmental concern
Income & environmental concern
Openness & satisfaction in the workplace
Number of guidelines to follow & effective critical decision making


 
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Examples of Positive & Negative Correlation

Positive Correlation:  both variables change in same direction
Ed level is positively correlated w/ income
Negative Correlation:  a situation where one variable increases & the other decreases
Ed level is negatively correlated w/ poverty rates


 
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Example of Constructs

ideal type of bureaucrat
Weber:  rational, power in the office, tenure, salary, entrance exams & appointment from within


 
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Table on Variable Measurement Types
 
Difference
Rank Order
Equal Space
Zeroed
Examples
Nominal
Yes
      
Deviance Committed
Ordinal
Yes
Yes
    
Hi Lo SES
Interval
Yes
Yes
Yes
  
Temperature
Ratio
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Income
Scale
Yes
  
Yes
  
Race
Gender

 
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Example of Validity

IQ   Many people question the validity of IQ tests. 
 


 
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Example of Reactivity

Hawthorne effect:  form of reactivity:  people being studied attempt to please the researcher: 
From H Motor Wiring Room:  young women & young male researchers


 
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Sampling: the random selection from a general population to establish a Sample Group, which represents the entire population

Sample Group:  a subset of a population that is used to represent the entire population.

The basic way to obtain a representative sample is by a random draw from everyone in the population in question. 

No matter how small your population, you almost always need 50 people in order to have a scientifically valid sample.

1,100 is enough for most major survey firms to survey the US 

Thus if you divide your sample into different groups, you need even more people. 
If you want to compare men & women:  50 of each
If you want to compare lower income, middle income & upper income men and women, how many do you need? 
6 groups:
50 lo income men
50 lo income women
50 mid income men
50 mid income women
50 hi income men
50 hi income women
300 total


 
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Example of Content Analysis

Violence & TV:  perform content analysis on top 10 novels  & top 10 TV shows of each decade to determine amount of violence.  Is there a correlation? 


 
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Example of Multivariate Analysis

Divorce:  age at marriage; class, ed, race of spouses; income of each; expectations; children; urban/rural; love; sex; length of marriage; etc.

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