Chapter 5 Methods I Sociology Exam 2 Study Guide The Vocabulary of Science Concept is a label that is applied to things with similar characteristics or attributes Ex when you look outside and see apartment buildings trees street lamps etc Things that are not easily pictured love intelligence speed racism They are real in the sense that they exist and have tangible empirical effects in life that is they can make a difference in what happens to people even though none can actually be observed Constructs word used to describe things that exist analytically but not directly observable Variable a thing of interest in a particular piece of research some sociologists de ne it as a logical grouping of attributes How is a concept related to a variable The rst step in doing scienti c research involves picking the concepts or constructs that interest us we call these concepts variables 2 Characteristics thing A variable is something that is thought to in uence or to be in uenced by another The idea of variation or difference A variable is a thing that has varying attributes Attributes a characteristic or a quality that describes a thing EX attribute of gender male and female Independent Variable a variable that is believed to in uence another variable A variable in uences another thing is called a cause Remember INCA The INdependent variable is the CAuse Dependent Variable a variable that is thought to be in uenced by the independent variable the dependent variable depends on the independent variable When a variable is in uenced by another thing it is called an effect 1 Sociology Exam 2 Study Guide Direction of relationship Positive variables that vary in the same direction or Negative variables that vary in opposite directions or Hypothesis once we identify the variables of interest then we posit a relationship between them that can be either true or false Variable X in uences Variable Y Shorthand Version Social classes affects voting behavior Longhand Version Differences in social classes are related to differences in voting behavior Questions and Answers 5 1 Identify the variables in each assertion Marital status is thought to in uence a person s happiness Identify the Attributes Marital status never married married separated divorced widowed other Happiness extremely happy somewhat happy somewhat unhappy extremely unhappy Table 5 3 and 5 10 Answers a Yes men do make more money than females in low paying jobs It is false tho there is still a big difference between men and women earnings in high paying jobs b False more women have high paying jobs as compared to low paying jobs 2 Sociology Exam 2 Study Guide Chapter 6 Methods II Observational Research a particular research technique in which the researchers directly observes the behavior of individuals in their social environments not in a lab referred to as eld research because the normal social world is the eld in which research is conducted Different Stages are being observed are being studied Weaknesses Complete Participant goes undercover and does not tell the people that they Participant Observer admits to being a researched so that people know they Complete Observer views things from a distance like behind a tree generally unknown to the people he she is observing Relatively small groups can be observed at once Most labor intensive kind of research The fact that the researcher participation in the eld can in uence subjects and ndings is known as the Hawthorne Effect Survey is a series of questions asked of a number of people Two methods of administering surveys Interviews as questions orally face to face or over the phone Self Administered give people question on a piece of paper Strengths of Surveys Suited to obtain information from a large number of people Appropriate for discovering basic demographic information such as age gender income education and religious af liation Allows researchers to obtain information about things that cannot be observed such as attitude Weaknesses of Surveys 3 Sociology Exam 2 Study Guide Not good way to measure people s emotions if you want to know about what people do a survey may be misleading for many reasons People may not want to admit certain behaviors Many people cannot give an accurate account of their behaviors even when they want to Types of Survey Questions Open Ended ask questions in which respondent answers in their own words Close Ended you not only ask the question but also provide answer categories Sometimes called Matrix Questions for the answer categories look like a matrix or an array of numbers Guidelines for Survey Questions Phrasing Adapt the phrasing of questions to the educational level of the respondents but do not be insulting Double Negatives Avoid Example Do you oppose denying students access to their les or not Marathon Avoid Example What do you think we should do about cheating on campus should we abolish take home exams even if this means that students only get tested in writing that they have rushed through as in in class exams or should we Double barreled Don t ask these ask only one question at a time Example Do you favor or oppose giving medical care to small babies and bums Leading Loaded Questions Don t ask Avoid wording questions in ways that will lead respondents to answer one way over another in spite of their true opinions Example Do you agree with the Democrats that we ought to keep religion and the state separate As soon as respondent sees Democrat it will in uence answer Questions respondents can t answer unanswerable questions range from ones that ask for inaccessible information How many ice cubes did you use last year to illogical ones Have you stopped beating your wife 6 1 Here are 5 constructed Survey Questions identify what is wrong with them 4 Sociology Exam 2 Study Guide a Do you agree that pulchritude possesses exclusively cutaneous profundity b Do you agree that colleges ought to do away with homework and drinking alcoholic beverages on campus c How old were you when you learned to spell President d At what point will you stop lying to me about your answers to these questions e Do you approve of the practice of bogarting Unobtrusive Methods strategies for studying people s behavior in ways that do not have an impact on the subjects Unobtrusive researchers study social things that have occurred Strengths they do not require the cooperation of the people being studied Weaknesses they can study things that only leaves traces and these traces must