SOCL 2001 Chapter : Research Methods
Document Summary
Research methods- standard rules to find a causal (cause-al) relationship between social elements. Elements could be any factor, age, race, social variables, etc. Sociology has to do a lot of work to prove it is a science. Pg 56 is the research process of sociology. Found with surveys, and statistical analysis is used. Qualitative: data communicate meaning in text, graphic or other media form. Data collection: surveys, questionnaire, phone, mail, door to door, internet. If you are going to generalize you need to choose randomly. Generally cell phones will be used by younger and of lower or working class: the cellular effect- a land line survey will have different results than a cell phone one. Participant observation: seeks to observe social actions in practice. You become involved with your subjects to see their habits. But you do not want to adopt the values you are studying.
