September 9, 2013 sociology205 Ch.2Correlation- may be a relationship between two variablesCausation- has a very specific relationship between two variablesCritical Thinking- Suspension of judgment- Healthy Skepticism- “Prod, poke, dissect, examine, explicate”METHODSQualitative- Ethnography, field observations, in-depth interviews- Small samples- Very detailed- Hard top generalizeQuantitative - Statistics, surveys, census, demographics- Much larger samples- Less detail- Generalize results“statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is astonishing, but they hide is vital.”Surveys- Generate a lot of data from large numbers of people- Appropriate for statistical analysis- Random sampling of the population to generate a sample, thus improving ability to generalize- Can be superficial- May lead to inaccurate results- How do we conduct surveys??o Face to faceo Telephoneo Snail mailo Onlineo Emailo TextExperiments- Control conditions to establish cause and effect- Hard to replicate findings from controlled settings in natural settingsEthnography- Participant observation, interviews- Generates rich, deep data- Typically not generalizableLife History- In depth interview of a subject’s life supplemented by other sources of evidence- Generates rich, deep data- Typically not generalizableComparative Research- Comparison of behaviors, attitudes, or other aspects of social life across time, place, or group- Use any of the other research methods to gather data for making comparisonsHistorical Analysis- Work with existing sources, documents, or other artifacts from the past- Compared to historians, sociologists are guided strongly by a theoretical approachTriangulation- Using multiple research methods to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses of the same issue--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Human subjects and ethical dilemmas- Unethical- Milgram Shock Study (1961) & Humphreys Tearoom Trade(1970)- Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)- Research must conform to ethical guidelineso Acquire informed consento Minimize invasions of privacyo Minimize risks to participantso Ensure confidentialityo Avoid deception-
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