METHODS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

1. METHODS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH Introduction to Family Studies

2. What is Sociology? • What pops into your mind when you think about Sociology? • What do sociologists study? • How is sociological thinking different from other social science disciplines?

3. The Sociological Approach • Sociology focuses on how social forces influence individual behavior, actions, and feelings. • AND • Sociology examines how the interaction of individuals and small groups influence the economic or social change? • Humans viewed as both puppets and puppeteers

4. Thinking like a Sociologist • In this class, we will focus on how families are influenced by the larger social structure • Social structure: is a stable framework of social relationships that guides our interaction with others

5. The Sociological Approach Macro Level Micro Level

6. The Sociological Approach – The Macro Level • Social institutions • A social institution is a major sphere of social life with rules and roles that define a social unit of importance to society • A social institution is a visible structure that people can recognize and understand • Families are a social institution

7. The Sociological Approach – The Macro Level • Family sociologists examine how these social institutions interact and how they influence behaviors, attitudes, and opportunities in families Economy Government Education Families Religion Healthcare

8. Thinking like a Sociologist • In this class, we will focus on how families are influenced by the larger social structure

9. The Sociological Approach – The Macro Level • The macro level comprises: Social Status • Social statuses are: • the social positions people occupy and • the privileges and constraints that are attached to these positions • Who has the POWER in the U.S. • The president and other members of the government • The RICH

10. THE SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH – THE MICRO LEVEL • Micro level deals with issues of social life at the level of individuals or small groups • Micro level analysis focuses on personal choices • Think of an example of a personal choice you made recently and how it was influenced by the larger society, your social status, the economy, the government, the culture of Montclair?

11. Social Science Research • How do we know what we know? • Most of us understand the world around us through our personal experience -- the people and situations we have been in or have seen • This personal experience leads to your conclusions about the world • While there is nothing wrong with these ways of knowing -- social scientists are skeptical about relying ONLY on these sources because: • An individual’s experience of those around them is not representative of the broader society

12. Social Science Research • How do we know what we know? • Social scientists use a systematic and more scientific mode of investigation • Social scientists rely on: • Observations of the social world based on representative samples • Example: If we wanted to study why people in the U.S. get married, we should not just survey college students • We avoid the error of overgeneralization: i.e. using what we know about a small group of people to conclude something about all people

13. Social Science Research • How do we know what we know? • Most of us understand the world around us through our personal experience -- the people and situations we have been in or have seen • This personal experience leads to your conclusions about the world • While there is nothing wrong with these ways of knowing -- social scientists are skeptical about relying ONLY on these sources because: • An individual’s experience of those around them is not representative of the broader society

14. Social Science Research • How do we know what we know? • Social scientists use a systematic and more scientific mode of investigation • Social scientists rely on: • Observations of the social world based on representative samples • Example: If we wanted to study why people in the U.S. get married, we should not just survey college students • We avoid the error of overgeneralization: i.e. using what we know about a small group of people to conclude something about all people

15. Sociological Theories • Social science theories explain or help us make sense of patterns in social life • Theories shape and direct research – they point us in a direction • That direction influences what we look for, what we find, and how we explain it

16. Sociological Theories • Theories about families and relationships are made up a set of statements that explain why certain relationships occur • For example: The age at first marriage has increased because more women are graduating from college and starting careers before marrying

17. Most Frequently used Methods of Social Research • Demographic Studies • Survey Research • Participant Observation (Field Observation) • Social Experiments

18. Demographic Studies • Demography is a subfield of social science that is concerned with: • how social conditions are distributed in the human population and • how these populations are changing • Core interests are trends in: • Fertility • Mortality • Migration • Marriage and divorce

19. How are demographic data collected? • Most data are collected at the state level and compiled by the National Center of Health Statistics (NCHS) • NCHS is a department of the Center for Disease control (CDC) in Atlanta GE

20. Demographic Studies • Examples of Demographic Studies in Fertility • What is the fertility rate by race/ethnicity in the US? • How has it changed over the past ten years? • Go to the National Center for Health Statistics: • http://www.cdc.gov/nchs • http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf

21. Fertility Rate • Fertility rate is the number of women age 15 - 44 who gave birth per 1000 women • For example the rate for Non-Hispanic Black women is 89 births per 1000 Non-Hispanic Black women 15 - 44

23. Survey Research • Collect information from a subgroup of people, known as a sample • Samples are chosen to represent the larger population from which they are selected. • Data is collected through in-person or phone interviews, or by questionnaires sent through the mail or NOW the internet (web-based)

24. Survey Research • Example of Survey Research • General Social Survey • Who conducted the survey? • National Opinion Research Center (NORC) • How many people were interviewed? • More than 38,000 people interviewed since 1972 • National Survey of Family Growth • http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/abc_list.htm

25. Field Research • Used to understand processes among people by directly observing them as the behaviors take place • Researcher participates directly in the social life of individuals of groups in question

26. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION • Complete Observation: • Arlie Hochschild observed the division of household labor by visiting wives and husbands in their homes • Observation takes place in the real world • Researcher attempts to fade into the background

27. Field Research • Intensive interviewing • Questions are open ended • Designed to be very in depth, with a small sample • Provide rich description of personal experience • Focus Groups • Designed to obtain information from a small group of people • Encourage open discussions of topics • Used by market researchers and political pollsters

28. SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS • A real test of an effect of A on B • Or the effect a new housing opportunity for better housing on family opportunities… • Is to RANDOMLY assign subjects to an experimental group and a control group • Moving to Opportunity • Disadvantaged families were randomly assigned to • staying in public housing • receiving a housing voucher for Section8 housing, or • or moving to a nearby suburb?

29. ETHICS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH • Today, before you can even begin a research project – you must go through an extensive process to receive an okay to move forward • Researchers must prove that the individuals (subjects/respondents) who take part in a study will not be mentally or physically injured by theory participation • Much of the ethical review process came out of the Millgram experiements • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=274wQJmdRQg

30. Summary • Families are one social institution among many • Families are influenced by and influence the larger society • Family theories guide research on families as well as methods chosen to collect data may operate at the: • Family sociologists use systematic methods • Demographic studies • Survey Research • Observation and • Social Experiments