SOC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Stanford Prison Experiment, Uptodate
3 Nov 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Jan 29
Survey Research
Interviews
Questionnaires
Cross-sectional – Compares different groups at one point in time
Measures attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values and behaviours
Limitations of Survey Research
How do you find a representative sample? Becomes a problem
Will people respond to your survey? Some want a reward…
Will people tell the truth about their behaviours and opinions?
Longitudinal Research
Studies the same group (cohort) over a period of time
E.g. Work at a factory
May use diaries, interviews, health and employment records
Time consuming
Sample attrition
People drop out of the research
Aggregate Data Research
Government statistics, social indicators
E.g. social trends by Statistics Canada
Used to detect relationships and trends
E.g. unemployment rates and property crimes
Can you depend on the agencies taking the count or are they biased?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Experimental Research
Requires willing subjects (human guinea pigs)
Needs an experimental and control group for comparison
Subjects must be randomly assigned to groups
Seeks out cause and effects under highly controlled conditions
Typically, experiments are explanatory, that is, used to test
hypotheses, unverified statements of a relationship between
variables.
Ex: 1 group watches pornography and the other doesn’t. Does
pornography cause violence towards women?
Difficulties With Experimental Research
Is it ethical? Ex: should we be making people watch pornography?
Is it realistic?
Can you generalize from such a small group?
Can you really control all the relevant factors? Spurious variables
(two variables have no connection)
Quasi-Experimental Research
Uses real life situations for experimental purposes
E.g.: Compare the recidivism rates of young offenders (repeating
crimes over and over again) sent to boot camp or given
community service
Hard to control assignments to groups
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Measures attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values and behaviours. Cross-sectional compares different groups at one point in time. Studies the same group (cohort) over a period of time. May use diaries, interviews, health and employment records. Needs an experimental and control group for comparison. Subjects must be randomly assigned to groups. Seeks out cause and effects under highly controlled conditions. Typically, experiments are explanatory, that is, used to test hypotheses, unverified statements of a relationship between variables. Ex: 1 group watches pornography and the other doesn"t. Uses real life situations for experimental purposes. : compare the recidivism rates of young offenders (repeating crimes over and over again) sent to boot camp or given community service. People go (cid:498)undercover(cid:499) in a group to study them. Involves active participation in the daily life activities of those he or she is observing. Covert; those in the field are not informed of the researchers status. Semi-covert; only some people involved are aware.
