SOC 201 Chapter 6: Chapter 6.12
Document Summary
When they took off their aprons and discarded their dishtowels, they worked outside the home only as teachers and nurses. Children"s literature and school texts routinely included derogatory comments about being female. Look at her, mothers, just look at her. We are willing to share our great thoughts with mankind. However, you happen to be a girl. (sadker and sadker 1994, 69 70) The strength of unobtrusive methods is that they do not require the cooperation of the people being studied. Moreover, the research process itself does not in any way affect the behavior being studied. Unobtrusive researchers study social things after they have occurred. The weakness is that unobtrusive research can study only things that leave traces. Moreover, these traces must be solid enough to last until they can be observed. Triangulation is a term that social researchers borrowed from geodetic surveying.
