Sociology 2206A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Thick Description, Internal Validity, Participant Observation

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2206A/B
• Professor: Dr. Edward Bell

Document Summary

Inductive; start with field research develop theory. Interpretivist; seeks to understand through interpretations: constructionist; understand social life to be an outcome of interactions and negotiations, naturalistic: minimize disturbance they cause to the social worlds they study. Main steps in qualitative research: general research questions. It is assumed that communities with public housing and high levels of crime have low levels of social control. Foster argued little was known about informal social control in communities and its significance regarding crime: selecting relevant site(s) and subjects. Foster picked a community with high level of crime and housing features associated with crime: collection of data. Conducted extended interviews with residents and officials (e. g. , police) Used field notes and interview notes: interpretation of data. One of the key findings was that the residents did not perceive crime to be a major problem. Clear evidence of informal social control mechanisms, like shaming, that helped reduce/prevent crime. There is a need for credibility and significance.