Sociology: research methods

• dependent variable 


  the object that is changed - may be effected by the IV
• independent variable


  the factor that the experimenter manipulates / changes in order to measure the effect the have on the DV
• hypothesis


  a prediction made at the start of the investigation based on evidence
• extraneous variables 


  variables that aren't of interest to the researcher but which may interfere with the results
• examples of extraneous variables


  home life, apatite, tiredness / concentration, mood / behavior
• experimental group


  the group under study in the investigation
• what is a lab experiment 


  aim to test the 'hypothesis' - a prediction about how one variable will effect another
• experiments aim to:


  isolate and measure, as precisely as possible, the effect which one or more IV's have on a DV
• lab experiments take place in:

  an artificial, controlled environment such as a labatory
• Bandora


  social learning theory - recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave aggressively towards a doll
• Milgram


  shock experiment - were German people more obedient than people from other countries? - assessed how obedient people were, in a shock experiment
• halo effect


  an impact of a positive label being applied to pupils by teachers - if a student is labelled positively, their behaviour will improve - 'ideal pupil'
• Hawthorne effect


  an individual or group of people know they are being observed and so change their behaviour
• P.E.R.V.E.R.T


  practical - ethical - reliable - validity - evidence - representativeness - theoretical
• field experiments take place:


  in natural / real - life social settings. E.g. a classroom / workplace
• field experiments:


  alters a variable but recognises it cannot control all variables
• sample


  the people you use
• pilot study


  a smaller version of the experiment
• operationalization


  the process of converting a sociological concept into something measurable
• primary data


  data that has been generated / made by the researcher themselves - first hand
• secondary data


  data that is already provided / available to the sociologist - second hand
• more likely to use qualitive data

  interpretivists
• more likely to use quantitative data

  positivists
• what type of method is a lab / field experiment?

  quanititative methods
• what type of use is opinion polls - charities and private sectors?

  quantative uses
• what type of method is case studies / questionaries?

  qualitative methods
• what type of uses understand peoples behaviors / motivations?

  qualitative uses
• FACRM

  FactorsAffectingChoice ofResearchMethod
• questionaires


  a list of questions which can be distributed through the post, by hand, email or mass media
• closed questions


  Questions that can usually be answered with yes or no.
• open questions


  questions that allow for a variety of extended responses
• closed questions are better for:


  job interviews
• measured students character traits and compared them with exam scores. found a correlation between passive / obedient behavior / high scores


  Bowles and Gintis
• used parental questionnaires


  Chubb and Moe
• black male students underachieving in education due to peer pressure


  Sewell
• set of questions and answers


  structured interviews
• different questions and answers


  unstructured interviews
• structured interviews


  Willmott and Young
• semi - structured interviews


  Anne Oakley
• unstructured interviews


  Dobash and Dobash