SOCI 205 Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture1. Culture a. Culture is both material and nonmaterial i. Materiaii. Nonmaterial b. Characteristics of culture:i. Culture is shared ii. Culture is learned iii. Culture is taken for grantedc. The elements of Culture:i. Language 1. Sapir-whorf hypothesis ii. Norms1. Folkways2. Mores 2. Beliefs and valuesa. Beliefsb. Values 3. Cultural diversity:a. Dominant Cultureb. Subculturesc. Ethnocentrismd. Cultural relativism 4. The Mass Media and Popular Culturea. Mass media b. Popular culture 5. Sociological Theory and Culturea. Functionalist theoryb. Conflict theoristc. Symbolic internationalistOutline of Current Lecture1) The Research Processa) Here are several methods that sociologists use to do research:i) Participant observationii) Survey researchiii) Use of official records or interviews- iv) Statistical analysis2) The Scientific Methoda) Develop a research questionb) Research designc) Gather datai) Primary dataii) Secondary datad) Data analysis e) Drawing conclusions 3) Research Ethicsa) Institutional Review Board (IRB) Current Lecture Chapter 3: Research 4) The Research Processa) Here are several methods that sociologists use to do research:i) Participant observation- become a part of the group and takes on participant and objective observer(1) Advantages: knows study group well(2) Disadvantage: know too much info to analyze (3) Example: Talley’s corner he stood on the corner and studied the people who did things on the corner. ii) Survey research- administered through questionnaires, interviews or questionnaire polls(1) Example: “Dewey defeats Truman” they did a telephone survey but only rich people had telephones iii) Use of official records or interviews- (1) Qualitative- interviews, more interpretativeiv) Statistical analysis(1) Quantitative- use of official records, more statistical 5) The Scientific Methoda) Develop a research questioni) Begin with continuation of previous research that has been doneii) Organized processb) Research designi) Pick your method such as surveys, interviews, or mix methodc) Gather datai) Primary data: original data that you collect ii) Secondary data: data already gathered by another researcherd) Data analysis i) Finding patterns, connection dots to discover a theory e) Drawing conclusions i) Is my data prof or generalized?6) Research Processa) Step 1: sociologist conduct two types of studiesb) Step 2: deciding on the appropriate data collection technique to usec) Step 3: during this stage data are collected or gatheredd) Step 4: data analysise) Step 5: conclusion7) Research Ethicsa) Personal values of the researcher may affect what problems to study, what people to observe, what research design to select, or what type of media used to distribute their research b) Example: Syphilis study on black males c) Now have the Institutional review Board (IRB) to review researchi) Cannot impose harm, consent form, makes sure anonymous d) Makes sure people are not physically and emotional/psychologically wounded Textbook notes for Chapter 3: Doing Sociological Research 1) Research Method:a) Participant observation: a sociological research technique in which the researcher actually becomes simultaneously both participant in the observer of that which she or he studies.b) Sir Francis Bacon: defined and elaborated the scientific method involves several steps ina research process, including observation, hypothesis testing, analysis of data, and generalization. i) Sociology aspires to be both scientific and humanistic, but sociological research varies in how strictly it adheres to the scientific method.ii) Some studies are quantitative and statistically sophisticated, others are qualitatively based which is based on more interpretive observations, not statistical analysis. iii) Deductive reasoning: creating a specific research question about to a focused point that is based on a more general or universal principle iv) Inductive reasoning: reverses logic in that is arrives at general conclusions from specific observations. c) Research Design i) Developing a research question (1) Requires a literature review when you go back and typically review existing studies on the subject (2) Replication study: research that is repeated exactly, but on different group of people or in different time or place.—research findings should be reproducible ii) Creating a Research Design (1) Research design: is the overall logic and strategy underlying a research may distribute questionnaires, interview people, or make direct observation s in a social setting or laboratory.—the details of your research design flow from the specific questions you ask. (2) Quantitative vs. qualitative research(a) Quantitative research: uses numerical analysis(b) Qualitative research: allows for more interpretation and nuance in what people say and do and thus can provide an in-depth look at particular social behavior (c) Hypothesis: is a prediction or a hunch, tentative assumption that one intendsto test. (d) Research is designed to test influence of one variable on another. A Variable is a characteristic of a person or group that can have more than on value or score. (e) An independent variable is on that the researcher wants to test as the presumed cause of something else. (f) Dependent variable: is one on which there is a presumed effect (g) Intervening variables: lie between the dependent and independent variable (h) Concept: is any abstract characteristic or attribute that can potentially be measured. (i) Indicators: something that point to or reflects an abstract concept--- a way of “seeing” a concept. E(j) Validity: a measurement(an indicator) is the degree to which it accurately measures or reflects a concepts – to ensure use more than one indicator (k) Reliability: a measurement is reliable if repeating the measurement under the same circumstances gives the same result. (l) Hawthorne effect: when subjects that know they are being studied might cause people to change their behavior(3) Gathering Data(a) Primary data: original material (b) Secondary data: data that have already been gathered and organized by some other party (c) Sample: any subset of people of a population- a relatively large collection of people that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made—you have to make sure your sample is representative of the population as a whole. (i) A biased sample which is nonrepresentative can lead to grossly