SOCY 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Participant Observation, Ethnography, Empiricism

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCY 100
• Professor: Alex Parkhouse

Document Summary

Research: empiricism- (cid:862)gathe(cid:396) i(cid:374)fo(cid:396)(cid:373)atio(cid:374) a(cid:374)d e(cid:448)ide(cid:374)(cid:272)e usi(cid:374)g thei(cid:396) se(cid:374)ses(cid:863, systematic scientific method. (cid:862)st(cid:396)u(cid:272)tu(cid:396)ed (cid:449)a(cid:455) of fi(cid:374)di(cid:374)g a(cid:374)s(cid:449)e(cid:396)s to (cid:395)uestio(cid:374)s a(cid:271)out the (cid:449)o(cid:396)ld(cid:863) In-depth, descriptive information about the social world. Analysis of numerical data (usually form surveys and experiments) Statistics- used to analyze numerical data: descriptive statistics. Purpose to describe a particular body of data based on a real-world phenomenon: inferential statistics. Use data from a small group to speculate something about a larger group with a specific level of certainty. No insight into peoples lived experience and interpretations: research methods. Involves listening, watching, or recording what takes place in a natural social setting over a certain time. Must consider how aware people are that they are being observed, how much the observer affects the actions of those observed, and how much the research process is structured. Participant observer- participating as a way to get closer to what you are studying (participant observation- scientific reporting)