Research methods Expanding the Imagination -Sociological research can:oExplore social environments-Poverty in the (Mississippi) Delta vs. other placesoEmpirically test hypotheses and theories-Do children of single mothers have lower graduation rates?oEvaluate social phenomenon-Disaster recoveryResearch methods-Standard rules to find a causal relationship between social elements Correlation: when two factors change togetherCausation: when a change in one factor causes a change in another factor Establishing causation 1. Correlation2. Time order3. Nonspurious (reasonable) explanationa. Spurious explanations are false assumptions about correlation Public Society-Using sociology to influence social change-Social research mostly read by sociologistsoBut 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, observationsMethods:Interviews-Can be structuredoset questions-Or conversationaloloose structureoProbe for incomplete responsesSurvey research-QuestionnaireoPhone, mail, door-to-door, internet-The cellular effectParticipant observation - qualitative-Sociologists seek to observe actions in practice-Not easily generalizable-Should a sociologist reveal their purpose to a
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