Rev IS 2 Methods

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Science Says 45: Evaluating the Impact of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on Teen Viewers’ Attitudes About Teen Pregnancy

Link

Oct, 2010

Retrieved on Jan 26, 2014.

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/SS/SS45_16andPregnant.pdf

Link

Indiana University at Bloomington (IUB): Study: Heavy viewers of 'Teen Mom' and '16 and Pregnant' have unrealistic views of teen pregnancy by Nicole Martins & Robin Jensen

Link

Jan 9, 2014. Study to be published in the Journal of Mass Communications & Society

Retrieved on Jan 26, 2014.

http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2014/01/16-and-pregnant-teen-mom-shows-encourage-teen-pregnancy.shtml

Link

CNN: Study: MTV's '16 and Pregnant' led to fewer teen births

Link

Jan 13, 2014

Retrieved on Jan 26, 2014.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/health/16-pregnant-teens-childbirth/

Link

Slate.com No, Teen Mom Is Not Helping to Lower Teen Birth Rates

Link

Jan 13, 2014

Retrieved on Jan 26, 2014.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/01/13/_16_and_pregnant_and_teen_mom_two_new_studies_on_how_the_mtv_shows_impact.html

Link

New York Times: MTV's ‘16 and Pregnant,’ Derided by Some, May Resonate as a Cautionary Tale by Annie Lowrey

Link

Jan 13, 2014

Retrieved on Jan 26, 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/business/media/mtvs-16-and-pregnant-derided-by-some-may-resonate-as-a-cautionary-tale.html?_r=0

Link

Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on Teen Childbearing

Link

Melissa S. Kearney
Department of Economics
University of Maryland
and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Phillip B. Levine
Department of Economics
Wellesley College
and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

University of Maryland, Wellsley College & the National Bureau of Economic Research

http://www.wellesley.edu/sites/default/files/assets/kearney-levine-16p-nber_submit.pdf

Link

	THE FINDING OF THE NBER & IUB STUDIES APPEAR TO CONTRADICT EACH OTHER BUT ACTUALLY DO NOT B/C 16 & PREGNANT DOES NOT GLAMORIZE TEEN PREGNANCY WHILE TEEN MOM DOES
	The NBER study found that there was a 5.7 % decline in teen pregnancies due to watching 16 & pregnant
	The IUB study found that "Students in the study attended schools that were chosen because demographically, the median annual household income and racial makeup of each school was consistent with the national average: $52,000 and 80 percent white. Participants ranged in age from 14 to 18. There were nearly even numbers of boys and girls."
	The NBER study focused on only the 16 & Pregnant show for it's 1st 18 mos while the IUB study included the spin off Teen Mom
	16 & Pregnant focuses on a different teen each week focusing on the teen for a few mos before & after the birth of the child
	Teen Mom focuses on only a few teen mothers, & the show itself has actually created celebrity & success for the moms, making their life not only successful, but glamorous

	METHODOLOGY FOR THE NBER STUDY USED DATA FROM NIELSON RATINGS (TV), BIRTH RECORDS, & MEGA DATA & CONTENT DATA FROM TWITTER & GOOGLE TRENDS
	The basic methodology used in the NBER study was to judge the impact of the show by looking at Nielson TV ratings, twitter, & Google trends, & then to judge the impact by looking at birth records & what teens said about the show's impact on their behavior
	Researchers tracked Nelson television ratings to determine how many people, esp teens, watched each episode over the 1st 18 mos of the show
	For each episode, the researchers tracked the number of tweets & Google searches about the shows, demonstrating the level exposure & interest in the show
	Then researchers analyzed the content of the tweets & the Google searches in relation to each show
	Finally the researchers tracked birth rates from data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) & other sources
	METHODOLOGY FOR THE IUB STUDY USED ONLY THE SURVEY METHOD
	The basic methodology used in the IUB study was to survey high school students
	The researchers of the IUB study surveyed 185 high school students about their perceptions of reality TV and teen pregnancy; they were not allowed to ask questions about the students' sexual behavior
	Students in the study attended schools that were chosen because demographically, the median annual household income & racial makeup of each school was consistent w/ the national average: $52,000 & 80 percent white
	Participants ranged in age from 14 to 18 & there were nearly even numbers of boys & girls

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on the Social Causes of Teen Pregnancy

External
Links

McLanahan, Sara, and Larry Bumpass. 1988. "Intergenerational Consequences of Family Disruption." American Journal of Sociology 94: 130-152.

McLanahan & Bumpass (M & B) asked what factors contribute to / cause teen parenthood

M & B verified many other researchers' findings that teenage girls from single parent homes are more likely than other girls to have babies

The hypothesis M & B want to test is
Single parent homes are correlated w/ a higher rate of teen pregnancy
Single parent homes :: Higher rate of teen pregnancy

But are single parent homes the primary cause, or even a cause at all?

M & B speculated that there are other possible factors influencing rates of teen pregnancy, such as: income level & education

M & B used education as a control variable & found the following relationships

Low education :: Single parent homes :: Higher rate of teen pregnancy

Low education :: Two parent homes :: Higher rate of teen pregnancy

Middle education :: Single parent homes :: Middle rate of teen pregnancy

Middle education :: Two parent homes :: Middle rate of teen pregnancy

High education :: Single parent homes :: Lower rate of teen pregnancy

High education :: Two parent homes :: Lower rate of teen pregnancy

Holding Education constant at a low level, M & B found that the rate of teen pregnancy was higher in both single & two parent families than in families w/ higher educational attainment rates

Holding Education constant at a high level, M & B found that the rate of teen pregnancy was lower in both single & two parent families than in families w/ lower educational attainment rates

The correlation btwn Single Parent Homes & rates of Teen Pregnancy is Spurious, that is, there is an apparent, although false, association btwn two or more variables caused by some other variable

M & B found that the education level of the teen & of the teen's parents was the most important factor in teen pregnancy

See Also: Out of Wedlock Births

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on the Social Causes of Juvenile Delinquency

External
Links

Social scientists of the Chicago School, circa 1900, were interested in urbanization & the social problems associated w/ it

Through years of research & hundreds of studies they eventually concluded that there is a correlation btwn population density & delinquency

Many Chicago theorists believed that crowding caused delinquency

And indeed even today we see that delinquency rates are high in densely populated neighborhoods

But as early as the 1930s, some social scientists began to question the correlation btwn delinquency & population density

In 1984, Fischer demonstrated that virtually all the correlation btwn crowding & delinquency disappears if income is controlled

Chicago School found that

Hi Crowding is correlated Hi Delinquency

Lo Crowding is correlated Lo Delinquency

Fischer found that

Lo Income :: Hi Crowding :: Hi Delinquency

Lo Income :: Lo Crowding :: Hi Delinquency

Hi Income :: Hi Crowding :: Lo Delinquency

Hi Income :: Lo Crowding :: Lo Delinquency

In other words, Fisher found that the Level of Income is correlated w/ the level of crowding, which is correlated w/ the level of delinquency

Fischer used a research technique called control, where he held constant all relevant variables except one in order to clearly see its effect

Fischer used Income as a control variable

Holding income constant at a low level, Fischer found that delinquency was high in both crowded & uncrowded areas

Holding income constant at a high level, Fischer found that delinquency was low in both crowded & uncrowded areas

The correlation btwn crowding & delinquency is spurious, that is, there is an apparent, although false, association btwn two or more variables caused by some other variable

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia

External
Links

The award winning study, Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia, by E. Digby Baltzell (1979) examined which regions in the US had produced more notable individuals, & why certain regions produced more notable individuals

Baltzell created his research topic through induction & serendipity

Baltzell happened to visit Bowdoin College in Maine & was surprised to see that in one year, 1825, Bowdoin had graduated three notables: Hawthorne, Longfellow, & Pierce

Baltzell wondered how such a small college in a relatively small state could produce so many famous people

Baltzell decided to do an analysis of the Dictionary of American Biography, which was comprised of records of more than 13,000 men & women in 20 volumes

The Dictionary gave Baltzell a broad measure of who was great

Baltzell also needed a measure that would help him judge levels of greatness

To do this, he counted the number of lines in each record, assuming, as did the editors of the Dictionary, that the greater the person, the longer their record

Thus, Baltzell chose to examine the 75 men & women w/ the longest record in the Dictionary

Baltzell found:

Massachusetts had the most famous people: 21

Pennsylvania had 2

New England States had 31

Mid Atlantic States had 12

The Boston area had the most famous people

Baltzell found that Weber's theory as delineated in the Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism explained the variations in the locations of famous people

Weber believed that a person's life chances were largely the result of their religious beliefs

Boston was a Puritan settlement, founded by people dedicated to the pursuit of public achievement

Puritans celebrated hard work as a means to glorify god, & looked upon public prominence as a sign that one was in god's grace

Philadelphia was settled by Quakers, who shunned elitism & displays of achievement

Quakers believe that all people are inherently good & so saw little need for strong social institutions to "save" individuals from sinfulness

While many Quakers became wealthy, their egalitarian way of life made everyone look upon everyone else as a social equal

Quakers discourage one another from standing out by seeking fame or pursuing public office

Baltzell describes Boston & Philadelphia as "social test tubes" into which two different cultures were poured: Puritanism & Quakerism

For centuries later, we can see that different "chemical reactions" occurred in the "social test tubes" of Boston & Philadelphia

The two different belief systems of personal achievement shaped the history of each region

Even today, cultures seem influential in determining life chances / success

The Kennedy's, who are Catholic, demonstrate the Puritan pursuit of fame & leadership

Suggestions for further research suggested by Baltzell's work on fame & culture include

a. a comparison of regions by religion & achievement

b. a utilization of the entire 13,000 famous people in the Dictionary to determine whether the religion :: achievement correlation holds

Internal
Links

Top

Emile Durkheim on Suicide:
The Cult of the Individual

External
Links

- Supplement: Suicide Risk Assessment

Link

- Supplement: Suicide Number One Killer of Students (& Soldiers) Highland Cavalier (Nov 11, 2011)

Link

- Project: Causes & Prevention of Suicide

Link

DURKHEIM STUDIED SUICIDE TO SHOW THAT 'THE MOST PERSONAL ACT' HAD A SOCIAL COMPONENT RELATED TO THE DEGREE OF CONNECTION ONE HAS IN SOCIETY & THE AMOUNT OF CONTROL ONE EXPERIENCES

Introduction: Durkheim is known for establishing the 1st sociology dept.
This was at the University of Paris
Durkheim is known for establishing sociology as a social science
He did this through applying the scientific method to social facts in his study of suicide

Suicide was written by Durkheim in 1897

Durkheim conducted the research on suicide in order to establish sociology as a social science on par w/ psychology

Durkheim was the first to carry out a study involving the large scale collection of data to test a social theory

For Durkheim, suicide is perhaps "the most personal act" any human can undertake

Durkheim believed that if he could show that the most individual of acts, which had previously been attributed to psychological causes, had social causes, then he would validate the power & worth of sociology

In writing Suicide, Durkheim reviewed the literature, examined appropriate theory, & employed common sense:

Durkheim believed a society had to accomplish two major functions to be successful

a. INTEGRATION IS THE DEGREE TO WHICH COLLECTIVE SENTIMENTS (KNOWLEDGE, BELIEFS, VALUES) ARE SHARED BY MEMBER IN SOCIETY

The opposite of social integration is isolation in a society

b. REGULATION IS THE DEGREE OF EXTERNAL CONSTRAINT ON PEOPLE
Regulation is the common norms people live under
Regulation vs Lack of Regulation in a society

The widespread failure of integration or regulation in society yields societal collapse
The occasional failure of integration or regulation in society yields an increased rate of suicide

What are some common causes of suicide?
Why do some people commit suicide & others don't?
What are some possible explanations?

Depression                   Terminal illness
Spouse leaves them      Picked on by peers
Lost job                        Loneliness

DURKHEIM'S HYPOTHESIS WAS THAT PEOPLE, AS A GROUP, WOULD BECOME MORE SUICIDAL TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY EXPERIENCED EXTREME INTEGRATION OR REGULATION

Durkheim then uses the deductive method to develop his thesis & hypotheses:

Durkheim's hypothesis is that suicide would be highest among single, Protestant, men because these groups are less integrated & less regulated

Other groups w/ a tendency toward suicide are those who are highly integrated or over regulated

Durkheim's method was to travel from parish (country) to parish & examine death certificates of suicides & record demographic info, & the circumstances surrounding the death

Durkheim rode from parish (county) to parish in France in the 1890s

Durkheim collected data on social background of suicide victims, e.g. demographic information including age, religion, class, job, work history, income, wealth, gender, etc.

Then Durkheim grouped people according to suicide rates & each social factor; & he did this by hand ( a computer would do this today )

Durkheim's types of suicide include altruistic, fatalistic, egoistic, & anomic

Link

Table on Durkheim's Four Types of Suicide

Link

1. ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE IS CORRELATED W/ HIGH INTEGRATION INTO SOCIETY

When social integration is too strong, the individual is literally forced into committing suicide

Hero suicide occurs when a parent dies while pushing their child out of the way of a car

With altruistic suicide, death is deliverance

Altruistic suicide springs from hope, for it depends on the belief in the beautiful afterlife

A suicidal person who dies for a cause is exhibiting characteristics of altruistic suicide

EXAMPLES OF ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE

Non Extreme Examples

- a soldier jumping on a grenade or charging a hill

- a policeman dying in the line of duty

- a parent pushing a child from path of a car

Extreme Examples:

- Kamikazes

- radical arab bombers

- in 1996, men emolating (burning) themselves to protest the Miss World pageant in India

- Supplement: The followers of Reverend Jim Jones at the People's Temple in Jonestown, Guyana

Link

- Supplement: Jonestown, Guyana Conspiracy

Link

- Supplement: The followers of David Koresh & his followers of the Branch Davidians in Texas

Link

- Supplement: Waco Investigation

Link

2. FATALISTIC SUICIDE IS CORRELATED W/ HIGH REGULATION BY SOCIETY

Persons w/ pitilessly blocked opportunities & passions, violently choked by oppressive discipline are more likely to commit fatalistic suicide

Fatalistic suicide was little mentioned by Durkheim

EXAMPLES OF FATALISTIC SUICIDE

Examples of someone more likely to commit fatalistic suicide include:

- slaves

- prisoners

- overworked college students

- American middle class working men

- American middle class house wives

- School age suicides/killers who cannot stand the harassment by the in crowd, because they are different

- over-worked Japanese employees

- over worked American executives

Link

3. EGOISTIC SUICIDE IS CORRELATED W/ LOW INTEGRATION INTO SOCIETY

Individuals who experience a sense of meaninglessness are more likely to commit egoistic suicide

Egoistic suicide is often found in societies where individuals are not well integrated into the society; i.e., modern, developed nations

The personal feeling or emotion often associated w/ low integration into society is depression, loneliness, & a sense of meaninglessness

For Durkheim, egoistic suicide stems from the social currents of incurable weariness & sad depression

Society is where we "learn," internalize via socialization, or imprint our norms & morals

Members of a society internalized norms & morals into the self & thus become integrated into the society by both the processes of socialization, as well as by the particular shared norms & morals

Therefore, w/ egoistic suicide, a person may also appear as if they are out of control

People prone to egoistic suicide lack an internal control of the self, an internal "locus of control"

Durkheim notes in his analysis of suicide that if people are left to pursue their private interests in whatever way they wish, they are likely to feel considerable personal dissatisfaction

For Durkheim, people are not satisfied even when the are left to pursue their private interests in whatever way they wish because all needs cannot be fulfilled by the individual, many needs can only be fulfilled by the group, collective, or society

For Durkheim, the self as constructed by society, is nearly insatiable

Needs that are satiable simply lead to the generation of more & more needs

EXAMPLES OF EGOISTIC SUICIDE

- People prone to egoistic suicide having a low level of integration into society can be seen in the fact that unmarried individuals have higher rates of suicide than married people

- People prone to egoistic suicide having a low level of integration into society can be seen in "lone wolf suicide," i.e. a higher rate of suicide, depression, etc., by loners

- Teens prone to egoistic suicide can be seen in the high rates of suicide in high school & college students

Lonely, troubled young men in high school or college are:

- generally isolated
- not popular
- harassed or teased by others

- Millionaire suicide occurs because of low integration into suicide because they feel lonely because they often believe that 'people only like me for my money'

The loneliness of wealth, & millionaire suicide can be seen in Richie Rich, the poor little rich kid

The loneliness of wealth, & millionaire suicide can be seen in the fact that people who gain sudden wealth often have a hard time adjusting socially & often lose spouses & friends

- Star egoistic suicide can be seen in the loneliness of fame that leads many stars to suicide

Examples of star egoistic suicide might include:

Marilyn Monroe

- Supplement:Janis Joplin of Big Brother & the Holding Co. d. 1970

Link

Jim Morrison of the Doors.

- Supplement:Kurt Cobain of Nirvanna b. 1967 d. 1994

Link

	For Durkheim, religion insulates one against suicide because it integrates people into society
	For Durkheim, religion insulates one against suicide because religion limits wants
	Two groups are the most prone to suicide, young men aged from 14 to 24, and middle age men aged 45 to 55
	Young men & middle age men may have high levels of suicide because they are likely to experience overwork or sense of failure
	Young men just finishing their education or starting their career are suddenly stratified into their position in life & that position may not be as high as they believed it would be
	Middle age men are just at the pinnacle of their career & they may not have risen as high as they expected or they may feel that it was all for naught
	Young & middle age men are often the most isolated in our society
	Young men may feel isolated because they have just left home & have not integrated into a new community
	Middle age men may feel isolated because their family is now grown & they are not integrated into their community
Link	4. ANOMIC SUICIDE IS CORRELATED W/ LOW REGULATION BY SOCIETY
	Anomie is the experience where culture ( common knowledge, beliefs, values, norms ) does not exist & / or has become ineffective
	For Durkheim, culture may be thought of as the collective unconsciousness
	In comparing anomie to alienation, alienation is the separation or isolation from existing culture whereas anomie is the condition where there is no culture, i.e., no culture to be separated from
	See: Anomie
	See: Alienation
	See: Culture
	Societal disintegration leads to currents of depression & disillusionment
	The moral disintegration of society predisposes the individual to commit suicide, but the currents of depression must be there to produce differences in rates of anomic suicide
	But even though social forces may be weak, an individual is never totally free of the collectivity
	Disruptions in regulative powers of society leaves people dissatisfied because they have little control over their passions
	So people are allowed to run wild in an insatiable race for gratification
	Success can significantly reduce the regulation that one experiences: The newly rich may quit their job, move to a new community, perhaps find a new spouse
	These changes disrupt regulatory effect of old structures & the person may not yet feel new regulatory effects
	EXAMPLES OF ANOMIC SUICIDE:
	- I am so weak, I have nothing left to lose
	- suicide from a great loss such as a lay off
	- a Bum who believes, 'I can do whatever I want because no one can hurt me' "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" Janis Joplin
	- the belief, 'I am so powerful, I cannot lose'
	- the college student away from home, family, friends, for the first time, becomes wild party animal, & dies of overdose, car wreck, etc. believing, at some level, that they cannot be hurt or controlled
	- the person moving to big city for first time who believes they are powerful, & becomes dangerously manic
	- the Millionaire who believes, 'I can do whatever I want because I am so powerful: No one can tell me what to do'
	- a suicide from great gain such as finally "making it big" career wise
	- a superstar, or anyone who dies "accidentally" in that they were not depressed, despondent, etc.
	People who die of anomic suicide, live the wild life, feel free, & feel little societal control or fear
	- Jimi Hendrix
	- Supplement: James Dean	Link
	- John Belusi?
	Social or natural crises reduce regulation & people feel they have nothing left to lose, no reason to live
	Periods of disruption unleash currents of anomie, moods of restlessness & normlessness
	Rates of anomic suicide may rise w/ almost any social crises such as a storm, a war, an economic boom, an economic depression, etc.
	Individuals experience the sensation of anomie as the fear or anxiety that society is breaking down, that the old rules no longer apply
	Either an econ boom or an econ depression make society incapable of exercising its authority over individuals
	For an anomic society, the old norms no longer apply, but new norms are not yet in place
	Losing a job can cut the individual off from the Regulation that the company, the job, the workplace friendships may have had
	Being cut off from the economic sector, or family, religion, the state, etc. leaves a person rootless

	FINDINGS: DURKHEIM CONSTRUCTED A PROFILE OF A SUICIDAL PERSON THAT IS STILL VALID TODAY: MALE, YOUNG OR MID AGED, PROTESTANT, VERY POOR OR RICH
	Men commit suicide more than women Women make more attempts at suicide, but men succeed more often
	The young, mid teens to mid twenties & the middle aged, late 40s & 50s are the most suicidal age groups
	Protestants are more likely than Catholics or Jews to commit suicide
	Durkheim theorized that Protestants would be more likely to commit suicide than Catholics or Jews because Protestant religions are more individualistic while the Jews & Catholics have a stronger community orientation
	People of all classes have about the same rates of suicide, except for the extreme rich & poor, which have a higher rate of suicide
	Those who have been recently laid off more likely to commit suicide
	If you are male, young, mobile/ in transition, & Protestant, you are at high risk for suicide
	If you are male, middle age, Protestant, & laid off, you are at high risk for suicide
	Durkheim's findings are still valid today & yet most of the focus is on psychological causes, not sociological causes of suicide
	Durkheim's study has been confirmed by many other researchers & its generalization is very widespread
	Similar patterns of suicide can be found today in the US as Durkheim found in nineteenth century Europe

Top

Table on Durkheim's Four Types of Suicide

High

Low

Integration

1. Altruistic suicide

3. Egoistic suicide

Regulation

2. Fatalistic suicide

4. Anomic suicide

Internal
Links

Top

An Introduction to Methods: How the Social Sciences are Done

External
Links

- Project: Surveying

Link

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

Lnk

Link

A variable is a concept that can take on different values or that has two or more categories from case to case

Link

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

Link

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

Link

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

Link

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

Link

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

Link

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

Link

Reactivity is the tendency of people being studied to react to the researcher or to the fact that they are being studied

Link

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
Link	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
Link	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
Link	Multivariate analysis is the sorting out many factors to determine most important factors

Top

Examples of Variables

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

Top

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

Top

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

Top

Example of Constructs

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

Top

Table on Variable Measurement Types

Difference

Rank Order

Equal Space

Zeroed

Examples

Nominal

Yes

Deviance Committed

Ordinal

Yes

Hi Lo SES

Interval

Yes

Temperature

Ratio

Yes

Income

Scale

Yes

Race
Gender

Top

Example of Validity

IQ Many people question the validity of IQ tests.

Top

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

Top

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

Top

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?

Top

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.

Internal
Links

An Overview of Research Design

External
Links

- Project: Brain Storming

Link

SUMMARY: THERE ARE SEVENTEEN STEPS IN RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Select a Topic 2. Formulate a Thesis Statement... 3. Choose the Types of Analyses 4. Research & Write a Literature Review & Refine the Thesis 5. Formulate the Research Objectives & Questions 6. Conceptualize a topic 7. Choose Research Method / the Research Instrument 8. Operationalize concepts / construct the instrument	9. Formulate the Data Collection Strategy 10. Obtain HIC Approval 11. Perform a Pilot Study 12. Collect Data 13. Prepare the Data for processing & analysis 14. Process & Analyze Data 15. Interpret & make Inferences about Data 16. Write the Research Paper 17. Write Final HIC Report

1. SELECTING A TOPIC is the first step in research design where the researcher's task is to pick the broad area of investigation, which will be narrowed down in successive steps

The most important step in any research project is to define clearly the problem the researcher wishes to study

See: Webbing & Brainstorming the Topic

2. THE FORMULATION OF THE THESIS narrows the topic so that a type of analysis can be applied to establish research objectives

See: Writing the Thesis

See: Refine the Thesis: add Types of Analysis

Review: The Types of Analysis

3. THE CHOICE OF THE TYPE OF ANALYSIS (TOA) determines the mode of inquiry (descriptive, correlation, comparison, etc.) which will be used to achieve the research objectives

4. RESEARCHING & WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW allows the researcher to refine the thesis

See: Scholastic Sources

Evaluation of the Literature Review

5. THE FORMULATION OF RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ( ROs ) from the types of analysis ( TOA ) is accomplished by utilizing the TOAs to formulate research questions, or hypotheses

6. THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE TOPIC is the process whereby specification & refinement of abstract concepts used in the research is accomplished

Common Factors & Concepts

Ideal Types

Units of Analysis

7. THE CHOICE OF METHODOLOGY / OF THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT is where the researcher chooses the data collection tool, such as a survey, experiment, etc. to achieve the research objectives

8. OPERATIONALIZATION is the development of specific research procedures (operations) such as survey questions, experimental protocol, interview schedules, observation protocol, etc., that result in empirical observation representing those concepts in real world

9. THE FORMULATION OF THE DATA COLLECTION STRATEGY determines the procedures by which the research instrument will be applied to suitable research participants; e.g. what are the procedures used for giving out a survey

Consent & Confidentiality in Research

Moral, Ethical & Privacy Issues in Social Research

Sampling issues should be contemplated throughout the research design process, but must be finalized during operationalization of the research instrument

10. OBTAINING THE HIC's APPROVAL ensures legal & ethical research responsibilities are met

11. THE PERFORMANCE OF A PILOT STUDY allows the researcher a trial run for the study so that any problems, omissions or other anomalies can be addressed

12. DATA COLLECTION utilizing efficient, effective & ethical methodological practices as delineated in the data collection strategy

13. THE PREPARATION OF DATA for processing & analysis is determined by the type of data collected by the research instruments in that data preparation is quite different for surveys & content analysis, etc.

14. PROCESSING & ANALYZING DATA is determined by the type of data collected by the research instruments in that data preparation is quite different for surveys & content analysis, etc.

15. THE INTERPRETATION & MAKING INFERENCES ABOUT DATA allows the researcher to draw conclusions & state opinions about the findings of the research

16. WRITING THE RESEARCH PAPER is where the researcher organizes all the steps of the research to make it available to the targeted audience

17. WRITING THE HIC FINAL REPORT is where the researcher makes the findings of the research available to the HIC, demonstrating that legal & ethical responsibilities have been upheld

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on the Scientific Method

External
Links

SUMMARY: There are SEVEN steps in the Scientific Method
1. Observe 2. Classify 3. Apply Logic 4. Hypothesize
5. Research 6. Record & Analyze Findings 7. Record Findings

There are SEVEN steps in the Scientific Method

The Scientific Method is put into operation through the steps of the Research Design Process

Link

1. Observation (a.k.a. empiricism) employs the five senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, & tasting

Hume found that the senses are subject to illusions, errors, or prejudices

Because of problems w/ the senses, the scientific method makes further demands on the researcher

Observations must be subject to confirmation and verification

Confirmed & verified observations lead to "factual information" where the facts are socially created

Link

2. Classification establishes relationships among facts:

Facts & classifications alone are sometimes viewed as "knowledge"

But this knowledge, classifications, must be seen as culturally based (i.e. biased)

In the mid 1800s, there was an explosion of modern classification

3. Applying logic infers a relationship among facts or objects of classification

The relationship inferred by application of logic becomes a hypothesis, if it is to be tested

But there are other ways of knowing than by deductive logic, including emotion, tradition, religion, feminist, post-modern

And logic tells us nothing of values; but other ways of knowing do deal w/ values

Science & logic tacitly support existing social relations, cultural & moral identities

We live in a culture where tradition, religion, emotions, etc. have less influence than science, logic, etc.

Scientism is the habit of thought or procedure of scientists that embodies a particular set of values, norms, structures & institutions

Choosing the Types of Analyses to be utilized in the Research Project reflects the application of logic

Link

4. Hypothesize: : If the hypothesis is true, then such & such should follow

A Hypothesis is an "if, then statement"

A Hypothesis takes the form that: 'If "C" or the Cause occurs, then "E" or the Effect should follow'

The hypothesis is a concise statement of the problem to be researched

In research, the answers you get depend on the questions you ask
Some questions are never asked.
Who controls the questions asked?
See Interest Based Knowledge

5. Research: In actually conducting the research, some variation of the Research Instruments is used

Research Instruments include Surveys, Interviews, Statistical Analysis, Analyze Existing Data, Observation, Experiments, etc.

6. Record & analyze findings is the process by which the Researcher documents observations, numerical data, etc.

7. Report findings is where scientific findings are usually reported in journals, books, govt publications, conferences, etc.

See Also:

- The Scientific Method

- The History of the Development of the Scientific Method

- Criticism of science: Weber on values & science

- Hoaxes:
- The Piltdown man
- Cold Fusion

Link

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on David Hume 1711 - 1776

External
Links

Link

- Biography & Major Works

Introduction: Hume was a Scottish philosopher who influenced the modern philosophical schools of skepticism & empiricism

Summary: Hume distrusted philosophical speculation & believed that knowledge came from experience
All experiences existed only in the mind as individual units of experience
Whatever we experience is only the contents of our own consciousness
Hume believed a world existed outside of consciousness, but this could not be proven

Hume's Challenge of Skepticism was the simple question: How do we "know" anything?

Hume and the skeptical philosophers said it is impossible to prove anything

Hume distrusted philosophical speculation and believed knowledge came from the senses

For Hume, the senses were not infallible, & therefore faith must be in god

For Hume, understanding came from experience, which is a combination of sensory knowledge & shared understandings

The nature of shared understandings formed a 'proto scientific method' which Hume developed

Hume undermined the mechanistic view of Locke, et al, by attacking causality

For Hume, Causality is simply an idea, or a customary way of thinking

Today, Post modernists agree w/ Hume & the Skeptical Philosophers that causality is simply a customary way of thinking

For Hume who was a "skeptical philosopher," because B follows A, one assumes that A causes B or B is the effect of A

Hume's point is that any causal relationship is really open to question because we don't see the cause, only one even & then another that we call cause & effect

Hume believed experience existed only in the mind as individual units of experience

From Hume's work, THREE Principles of Causality can be developed

a. In a causal relationship, time order must be preserved in that event A must always precede event B in time, i.e. does the cause precede the effect?

In social or natural experiments, it can be very difficult to determine time order

The complexities of time ordering in causality can be seen in the relationship btwn low income as a cause of juvenile delinquency where juvenile delinquency can also be seen to cause low income

What is needed to show time order?

Could juvenile delinquency come before low income & cause low income?

b. In a causal relationship, a correlation must be evident as event A must be correlated to event B; that is, the variables change together in a predictable way

For Hume, the Principle of Causality of Correlation indicates that the variables change together in a predictable way

When the independent variable changes, the dependent variable also has a tendency to change, there is a correlation

Correlation is often aka covariation or a statistical relationship

Scientists report findings such as, "Isolation is correlated w/ suicide," and not "Isolation causes suicide"

For scientists to find results, whenever event A occurs, we must see event B follow a certain percentage of the time

The percentage of times event B follows event A is called the reliability coefficient

c. In a causal relationship, Alternative Explanations must be eliminated, that is other possible causes that may cause both events A & B must be eliminated

To establish a causal relationship, the researcher must eliminate any alternative explanations

In establishing causality, eliminating alternative relationships is the most difficult to establish, & we can never know for sure that we have done so

Researchers can test for other explanations, but frequently this cannot be done because they are not aware of other relationship or because the situation is simply too complicated to be sorted out

A Spurious relationship occurs when the observed effect is caused by a 3rd variable, i.e. another explanation

A Control Variable is used to test for alternative explanations

Example: What caused delinquency?
What is the control variable in pop density & delinquency?
What is the Independent Variable?
What is the Dependent Variable?
What relationship was spurious?

Hume demonstrates that there can be no certainty in establishing a cause & effect relationship through research

Hume's dissection of the scientific process of showing cause & effect demonstrates that we never know anything for certain, because:

a. Correlation shows that we only see two things occur together, we do not actually see cause & effect. We may see effect w/o cause

b. Time order is valid only until we see a counter case, that is, we see cause precede effect

c. We can never be certain that we have eliminated other causes, i.e. alternative explanations

d. Because of illusions, we cannot trust the senses

For Hume, then, science was not a panacea or solution for all human challenges & problems...

...& thus he remained very religious

	See Also:
	The Enlightenment 1642 - 1789
	Rousseau 1712 - 1778
	The Discourse on Inequality
	The Social Contract
	Emile & Sophy
	Locke 1632 - 1704
	Hume 1711 - 1776
	Kant 1724 - 1804
	Critique of Pure Reason, 1781
	Critique of Practical Reason, 1788
	The Elements & Judgments
	Burke 1729 - 1797
	Hegel 1770 - 1831
	Hegel's Dialectic
	Hegel's Influence on other Thinkers
	Hegel's Major Works
	Bonald 1754 - 1850
	Maistre 1754 - 1821
	The Conservative Reaction to the Enlightenment

Top

David Hume
1711 - 1776
b Edinburgh, Scottish
Spent most of his life writing
Occasional diplomat to France

Top

Major Works

A Treatise of Human Nature       1739, 1740
Essays Concerning Human Understanding     1748
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals   1751
History of Great Britain     1754, 1756
History of England     1759, 1762

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on Weber on Values in Science

External
Links

Max Weber originated idea of value free science, but even he knew it was impossible to accomplish

Weber held that science cannot decide value issues

For Weber, the clarity of issues is all that science can offer us

Science can provide us w/ means but not ends

Science can never show the way to true values

A conflict of values is inevitable

Values can never be arranged through science, or otherwise, into one universal scale

Weber demonstrated that it is difficult not to use Science to determine values because science offers insight:

- into the nature of human actions

- into the meaning of certain goals

- into the means of attaining goals

- into the costs & consequences for those goals & goals not pursued

Weber was one of the first people to maintain that the sciences should try to minimize values in research

For most of the public AND many scientists (social & natural), there is assumption that science is neutral, i.e. value free

But we must realize that value free science is a noble, but relatively unattainable goal

Science often assumes a particular set of values

Values are personal judgments or preferences about what is considered good or bad, or about what is liked or disliked

Values & theory overlap because many of our value judgments are unproven "personal theories" however, this should not lead us to the belief that scientific theories can prove values

Values, unlike scientific theory, can never be proven

If we have a question of values, that should be resolved by the political process, the religious process, etc.

Questions of science can be resolved, questions of values cannot

It is difficult to separate values & science on many issues
- abortion
- death penalty
- pollution
- unemployment policy....

What are the questions of values & science here or in other issues?

A value loaded statement is one that purports to be neutral but has value statements

Link

Examples of loaded statements

How do values enter into research?

Weber proposed value free science, though he understood that this is an impossible goal, it is something to be striven for

Today science has established a mantle of objectivity which holds "science is value free"

Values enter the scientific process through FIVE Avenues

a. Values enter the scientific process through the sponsor of the research who inevitably has some interest in the outcome of the research

The influence of the sponsor can be minimized by asking 'Who are is the researcher working for? What are the interests of the sponsor?'

b. Values enter the scientific process through the perspective or paradigm the researcher is researching from

For researchers, the bias inherent in a paradigm is difficult to account for because they often have difficulty conceptualizing factors that lie outside their paradigm

The influence of perspectives or paradigms can be seen in that different fields of science work w/in different theoretical frameworks, & are based on a set of different theories or models

Sociology has the paradigms of functionalism, conflict theory, & symbolic interactionism

Astronomy has the paradigms of the collapsing universe, the expanding universe, & the rapidly expanding universe

c. Values enter the scientific process through hypothesis formulation, the question is the researcher exploring, the statement of the problem

Values enter in hypothesis formulation because 'the answer you get depends on the question you ask'

Values may be minimized in research by exploring a variety of questions & hypotheses & by using a variety of research methods, since each method asks the research question in a different manner

d. Values enter the scientific process through the processes of generalization & interpretation

Among various researchers, there is often strong disagreement over the interpretation of the same data

e. Values enter the scientific process through bad science in the form of hoaxes & faulty research

In research today, there is a very small amount of hoaxes or faked science

In research today, there is a very small amount of faulty or erroneous science

The Scientific Method attempts to mitigate effect of values by making research process visible to all through the principle of organized skepticism

Methods & Conclusions

Values usually do not enter the research process in the application or methods of the study, but each type of methods has its own bias

Values are legitimately relegated to the conclusion of a research project where they are identified as such

See: Epistemology & the Antidotes to Bias

a. Antidote: Question Knowledge; Have no blind faith in science; Keep on Questioning "Question Authority"

b. Antidote: Ask, "Who benefits from a given bit of knowledge?"

c. Antidote: Ask "Who controls or creates a given bit of knowledge?"

Top

Examples of Loaded Statements:
"Conflict is bad because it usually leads to violence,
& rarely changes anything anyway."

"We should decrease welfare payments
    because too many people are lazy
    & are skimming off of working people
    when they could have jobs."

Neutral: "Conflict leads to violence. Conflict rarely changes things."

"We should decrease welfare payments
    because given welfare recipients skill levels,
    & the number & type of available jobs,
    15% could have jobs.

It is impossible to be value free.

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on Gender & Research

External
Links

HISTORICALLY, RESEARCH WAS DONE BY MEN, FOR MEN & NOW WOMEN ARE ADDING USEFUL METHODOLOGIES, E.G. VALIDATING MULTI PERSPECTIVAL KNOWLEDGE, & MORE

Research & nearly all aspects of life are affected by gender, the personal traits & social positions that members of a society attach to being female, male, & transgender in five ways

Gynocentricity is the tendency to approach an issue from the male perspective

Androcentricity is the tendency to approach an issue from the male perspective

Neither gynocentricity nor androcentricity would be considered good, bad, accurate, inaccurate, etc., to a social scientist

The point in recognizing gynocentricity & androcentricity is to recognize that they are different

If either gynocentricity or androcentricity has any weakness it is in the fact that androcentricity has dominated & gynocentricity has been marginalized

Over generalizing is the using of data drawn from studying only one sex to support conclusions about human behavior in general

Gender blindness, or not considering the variable of gender at all, results in only partial understanding of a phenomenon

Double standards result in one set of findings for one gender & another set for the other gender, as well as respecting the work of different genders differently

All research can experience reactivity wherein the subjects react in unpredictable ways to the research methods or the researcher while gender reactivity is the interference created when a subject reacts to the sex of the researcher

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on an Intro to Ethics & Research

External
Links

SINCE THE INCEPTION OF ETHICAL REGS IN RESEARCH, THERE HAVE BEEN FEW VIOLATIONS, OR DANGERS TO SUBJECTS

The American Sociological Association (ASA), the professional organization of US sociologists, has estbed formal guidelines for conducting research

Every social science & natural science now has ethical reviews of all research w/ a greater level of review on research w/ human subjects

In their research, sociologists must strive to:

- be technically competent & fair minded in their work

- ensure the safety of subjects taking part in a research project

- include in their published findings any sources of financial support

- observe the global dimensions to research ethics

Most universities, colleges, research instits & other orgs which do research also have their own human research boards

The Human Investigation Committee (HIC) at UVaWise is an example of one ethical board that reviews social & natural science research

In the recent past there was inadequate ethical oversight of research as seen in:

- the Tuskegee Experiments

- the Zimbardo Experiments

- human radiation experiments

- unethical electroshock, lobotomy, & chemical experiments & more

Research ethical review boards balance the benefit of the research to society w/ the cost or risk to the subjects

Internal
Links

Top

Outline on the Hawthorne Effect & Placebos

External
Links

Summary: The Hawthorne Studies began in 1924 at the Hawthorne Works of the West Electric Co. near Cicero, IL, & were conducted under auspices the National Research Council under the lead researcher, Elton Mayo. The objectives were to examine the effect of illumination on output. After 2.5 yrs. & many experiments, researchers could see no effect because output in both control & experimental groups had increased because the effect of being studied impacted the research subjects. But ultimately the research found that wkrs are socially motivated as well as economically motivated, & that it is the wkrs control the pace of the wk

THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT OCCURS WHEN WKRS REACT TO BEING STUDIED BY PLEASING THE RESEARCHER, & THAT WKRS CONTROL THE PACE OF WORK, & AS CONCERNED W/ SOCIAL AS WELL AS ECON INCENTIVES

Reactivity is the tendency of people being studied by social scientists to react to the researcher or to the fact that they are being studied

The Hawthorne Effect (HE) is a form of reactivity

In the Hawthorne Studies, the wkrs being studied in the General Electric Hawthorne Plant Motor Wiring Room attempted to please the researchers because they always attempted to please / appease authority figures on the job

Many researchers believe the research was affected by patriarchy & gender issues in that all the wkrs were women & all the researchers were men

The concept of the Hawthorne Effect, which was developed during the Hawthorne Studies, holds that added social attention to workers will increase their productivity

People in some parts of the Hawthorne Studies found that the people being studied attempt to please the researcher

THE PLACEBO EFFECT (PE) IS A FORM OF REACTIVITY WHEREBY PEOPLE REACT AS A RESULT OF BEING STUDIED, WHEN IN FACT NOTHING HAS CHANGED

A placebo is a false or phony treatment designed to differentiate btwn changes due to real treatment & "imagined" treatment

A placebo is a thing or treatment given by researchers that can provide remedy because subjects believe that their condition is being treated

The PE is widely known in medical studies because even groups who receive sugar pills instead of medicine often show improvement

The HE & the PE are very similar except the HE is often, at some level, consciously chosen whereas the PE is never consciously chosen

THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES AT FIRST FOUND NOTHING & THEN DISCOVERED THE PLACEBO / REACTIVITY OF THE WKRS, THAT THE WKRS CONTROLLED THE PACE OF THE WK, & THAT WKRS ARE SUBJECT TO SOCIAL & ECON FACTORS IN THE WKPLACE

At the GE Hawthorne plant, Elton Mayo & team of young male researchers studied effect of change in light level at the Hawthorne motor wire winding plant where the wkrs were mostly young women

At first the researchers were confused because productivity increased whenever any change occurred at wkplace, but they eventually discovered that the wkrs controlled the pace of the work & were motivated by social factors & not only econ factors as the classic mgt theory of the era held

Because of Mayo's research, the concept of the 'economic person' was replaced by the 'social person' in that people seek more from wk than money

One of the most important findings was that the pace of work was set by the wkrs

Mayo & other researchers came to the realization that pace is informally set by wkrs via social relations of production; mgt efforts are secondary, wkrs resist

Wkrs have labels such as rate buster, shrimp, slave, speed king, brown noser which they give to sanction wkrs who work too fast

Wkrs have labels such as slug, ghost, gold-bricker, slacker which they give to sanction wkrs who work too slow

During the Hawthorne Studies the HE was serendipitously discovered through dogged research

The Hawthorne Studies lasted several years & applied different treatments in different settings

One of the dynamics of the study was that the Motor Wiring Room was mostly staffed by young women while the researchers were all young "college men"

THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES WENT THROUGH 4 PHASES WHERE THEY FOUND: 1. INCONSISTENCIES, 2. THE PLACEBO / REACTIVITY EFFECT, 3. PACE SET BY THE WKRS, 4. WKRS WERE SUBJECT TO SOCIAL AS WELL AS ECON CONTROL

The focus of the study was an examination of the effect of illumination on the workplace; i.e., what was the optimal level of lighting for factory work

The findings of the Hawthorne Studies were found serendipitously through the FOUR phases of the study over several years

DURING PHASE 1, THE RESEARCHERS NOTED SOME INCONSISTENT DATA

The Hawthorne studies began in 1924 at Hawthorne Works of the West Electric Co near Cicero, IL

The original objectives were to examine effect of illumination on output

After 2.5 yrs & many experiments, could see no effect because output in both the control & the exp grps had increased!

PHASE 2 WAS A REVISITATION OF THE RESEARCH & THUS THE PLACEBO EFFECT / REACTIVITY OF THE WKRS WAS FOUND

During Phase 2, the researchers found that productivity increased regardless of whether illumination was increased or decreased

Productivity increased regardless of environmental changes in wkplace

To determine the cause of these changes in output, the researchers isolated small grps of wkrs for close observation

The observers, college males in lab coats, observed isolated small groups of workers, who were mostly young women

The women were told to ignore the researchers & work at their regular pace

The women & the men interacted

The researchers wondered if other factors were intervening, so they introduced hot lunches, rest periods, days off, Saturdays work, longer hrs., shorter hrs., high fatigue, etc.

When the researchers introduced & controlled various other factors in the workplace, output rose & stayed high!

There was no easily identified relationship btwn productivity & changes in the work environment

The impact on productivity seemed to lie more w/ social factors than w/ anything else

It was through intensive interviews that Roethlisberger discovered that the women were deliberately increasing productivity because of the intense observation, & the nature of the observers, that they were experiencing

The Hawthorne Studies revealed that the workers were reacting to being observed & that at some level, this reaction was conscious or deliberate

Ultimately as a result of revisiting the research which originally showed inconsistent data, Mayo found that the wkrs were reacting to being studied; they were doing whatever it took to please the researchers, thus revealing the concept of reactivity / the placebo effect in social research

In the later phases of the Hawthorne Studies, it was found that workers develop norms & organizational culture which impact, among other things, work pace

PHASE 3 FOUND THAT OUTPUT WAS DETERMINED BY THE GRP, OR EVEN AN INDIVIDUAL OR INDIVIDUALS W/IN THE GRP

Roethlisberger & Mayo conducted 20,000 interviews where they found that people tended to give standard, stereotyped answers to direct questions

Because of what he thought were standard answers, Roethlisberger utilized a non direct approach w/ fewer in depth interviews & observation

Through in depth interviews & observation, the researchers found that wkrs ( not mgrs ) controlled pace of wk

Wkrs at the GE plant controlled output because they:
a. feared wking themselves out of a job
b. feared mgt might raise standards & then they wouldn't be able to achieve the goal set by mgt
c. could protect low rate / slow wkrs
d. realized mgt accepted the current rate

Mayo & Roethlisberger also found that the wkrs treated different mgrs differently

The wkrs had more respect for top mgrs & particular mid & lower level mgrs whom they thought were fair or good / effective

Mayo & Roethlisberger also found that cliques or subgrps formed in the wkplace including 'games men' & 'job traders' as well as the 'leaders' who informally regulated the wkplace

PHASE 4 FOUND THAT WKRS WERE SUBJECT TO SOCIAL FACTORS / INCENTIVES

The predominant mgt paradigm at that time held that wkrs were motivated solely by econ factors

Roethlisberger & Dickson found that wkrs responded, & created & controlled a variety of non econ or social factors which had as much as or greater effect than the econ factors

Social factors that impacted wkrs were the codes of conduct created by the wkrs

One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against rate busters who turn out too much work

Rate busters today might be called everything from brown noser to the more benevolent 'mgt material'

One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against chislers who turn out too little work

Chislers today might be called everything from slug to ghost

One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against squealers; e.g. those who tell a superior anything that will hurt another wkr or grp

One of the wkrs codes of conduct was a prohibition against stand-off-ish-ness; no one, not even an inspector, should maintain soc distance or act officious

The End

Top