Research methods Expanding the Imagination Sociological research can Explore social environments o o o Poverty in the Mississippi Delta vs other places Empirically test hypotheses and theories Do children of single mothers have lower graduation rates Evaluate social phenomenon Disaster recovery Standard rules to find a causal relationship between social elements Correlation when two factors change together Causation when a change in one factor causes a change in another factor Research methods Establishing causation a Spurious explanations are false assumptions about correlation 1 Correlation 2 Time order 3 Nonspurious reasonable explanation Public Society Using sociology to influence social change Social research mostly read by sociologists o But can benefit public Code of ethics Do no harm Informed consent Voluntary participation Protected population Quantitative Sociology Data in numeric form Surveys statistical analysis Qualitative Data communicates meaning in text graphic or other media form Interviews observations Methods Interviews Can be structured set questions Or conversational o loose structure o o Probe for incomplete responses Survey research Questionnaire o Phone mail door to door internet The cellular effect Participant observation qualitative Sociologists seek to observe actions in practice Not easily generalizable Should a sociologist reveal their purpose to a group
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