Sociology Finals - Social Research Method

- system of methods a researcher uses to gather data on a particular question- helps you get knowledge of the social world

Auguste Comte - French philosopher

View that sociology can & should use the methods of the natural sciences (experiments, measurement).

Look at the ways researchers treat the insider and outsider perspectives.
- Comte's view = outsider is the expert & occupied a privileged position- most of sociology's history reflects the outsider to be more privileged. - except critical sociology

Theory of knowledge - how do we know what we know?

System of methods used in a particular area of study
- theres a range of different methods- therefore, you need to make sure everyone agrees on that method- therefore --> disciplinary (enforcing discipline) becomes important.

- focuses on social elements that can be counted or measured --> can be used to generate statistics- adopt more scientific methods- questionnaires and polls

- involves the close examination of characteristics that cannot be counted or measured- often used to study individual cases that don't fit into the larger model - looks into peoples experience and does interviews- looks more in depth, detailed research about certain groups like "women in 40s"

1) ethnography- looks into a broader view by attempting to describe the culture as a whole2) case study approach - has a narrow focus to study individual cases

1) semi structured interviewsinformal, face-to-face interviews designed to cover specific topics without the rigid structure of a questionnaire but with more structure than an open interview
2) participant observationrequires both observing people as an outsider and also participating in the various activities of the studied people's lives.

Insiders who act as interpreters while helping the researcher become accepted by the community studied

- science that involves the use of numbers to map social behavior and beliefs. - sociologists have mixed feelings about using statistics

Definitions that take abstract or theoretical concept such as poverty, abuse, working class and transform them into concepts that are concrete, observable, measurable, and countable.

Variable that does not depend on another variable.

Variable that changes in relation to another variable