SOCI 211 Chapter Notes - Chapter chapter 8: Push Poll, Operational Definition, Observational Error
22 Jan 2019
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Ancient egyptian rulers conducted censuses to help them administer their domains. There was a survey attempted among french workers in 1880 where a german sociologists mailed 25,000 questionnaires to workers to determine the extent of their exploitation by employers. There is no record of anything being returned. Survey research is a frequently used mode of observation in social sciences. In a typical survey the researcher selects a sample of respondents and administers a standardized questionnaire to them. Qualitative research is interpretive, uses small samples and relies on a flexible, inductive approach to generate authentic, context specific narratives of people, situations and events. Quantitative is a structured, deductive approach to empirically test theoretical propositions and hypotheses using large, representative samples. Surveys are used in studies that have individual people as the units of analysis. Surveys are good for measuring attitudes and orientations in a large population. Polls are criticized for being too accurate and not accurate enough.
