SOC 232 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Public Sociology, Sample Size Determination, Counterintuitive
Document Summary
Sociological research vs. methods: sociological research: what is the goal of research, how do we go about it, what approach do we take, sociological methods: the tools we use to gather data. Reliability and validity: reliability: the extent to which the tools we use are yielding consistent results (ex. Same question is being asked in same way each time and consistently yields the same results: validity: the extent to which a research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure. If using a survey try to achieve as high validity as possible, if doing filed work try to achieve as high reliability as possible. Triangulation: triangulation: uses several different research methods, data sources, investigators, and/or theoretical perspectives in the same study. Idea that you are going beyond the limitations of just one method: each method has its own strengths and weakness, so many sociologist believe that its best to combine multiple methods in a given study.
