Ch. 2: Sociologists Doing Research

1. Ch. 2: Sociologists Doing Research

2. Research Methods Project Step One: Brainstorming (on notebook paper) • What are five topics dealing with high school students that you would like to know about and that you would be okay discussing with your teacher, your parents/guardians, and your best friend? • What are five questions that you would need answered (by students) for each of these five topics in order to better understand those involved?

3. Activity A. • Predict how you think conditions have changed from the year 1900 - 2000. Use the number below. 70, 98, 4, 74, 7, 4, 61, 30, 97, 12, 45

4. Let’s see how you did. 1. Four times as many adults are getting high school degrees. 2. 98% of all American homes have telephones, electricity, and a flush toilet. 3. Accidental deaths have decreased by 61%. 4. Wages in the manufacturing sector are four times greater. 5. Average household assets are seven times greater. 6. The average workweek is 30% shorter. 7. The air we breathe is 97 % cleaner. 8. More than 70% of Americans have at least one automobile, VCR, microwave oven, air conditioner, cable television, washer and dryer. *Statistics compiled by the Cato Institute in Washington D. C.

5. Re-write the following sociological conclusion in your own words. “Methodological observation of the sociometrical behavior tendencies of prematurated isolates indicates that a causal relationship exists between groundward tropism and lachrymatory or “crying” behavior forms.” (Barry, 1993)

6. Children cry when they fall down.

7. Research Methods Section 1

8. Goal of Research • To test what is accepted as “common sense” and replace with facts • To ask “why” and “how” a group does what it does OBJECTIVITY IS IMPORTANT. Objectivity is the ability to conduct research without allowing personal biases or prejudices to influence you.

9. The world is our lab. And our data is either… • Quantitative - numerical data or data that can be converted into numbers or statistics (surveys and pre-collected data) • Qualitative - descriptive data and cannot be converted into numbers

10. Surveys are our friend. • Definition: research method in which people respond to questions • Ideal for studying large numbers of people • Needs to be sent to the right number of people and the right type

11. Vocab about Surveys • Population = group of people with certain specified characteristics (ex: Seniors in the United States 2012-2013) • Sample = group of people that represents a larger population (ex: Seniors at Northern High School in Owings, MD 2012-2013) • Representative Sample - accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole (ex: 10 students in AP Bio are not a good representative sample of NHS students)

12. Surveys can be… • Questionnaire • Interview • Closed ended (quantitative) vs. Open ended (qualitative) • Secondary analysis - pre-collected data (ex: gov’t reports, voting lists, prison records, census information)

13. Example of Closed-Ended

14. Example of Open-Ended • In your own words, please describe your views on the education you have received so far. • Do you think school adequately prepares you for employement? Why or why not?

15. Closed-ended survey research

16. Let other people help you. After all, this is a social course.Secondary Analysis • Emile Durkheim supported this method. • U.S. Census Bureau is one of the most important source of precollected data for American sociologists. It provides new data every ten years on topics such as income, education, race, sex, age, marital status, occupation, death, and birth rates. • U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Commerce are also very useful.

17. Secondary Analysis

18. Field Research • Definition: research that takes place in a natural (not a lab) setting. • Cannot be measured quantitatively

19. Field Research can be… • Case study: thorough investigation of a single group/incident/community • Participant observation: researcher becomes a member of the group (ex: Black Like Me, 21 Jump Street, or Never Been Kissed)

20. Theoretical PerspectivesIllustrates the research method a sociologist of a particular theoretical persuasion would most likely choose to investigate school violence and school funding.

22. Statistical Math Review: Mean, Median, Mode, & Range • The "mean" is the "average,” where you add up all the numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. • The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers have to be listed in numerical order, so you may have to rewrite your list. • The "mode" is the value that occurs most often. If no number is repeated, then there is no mode for the list. • The "range" is just the difference between the largest and smallest values

23. Statistical Data of the Age of this Class in months • Organize the numbers from smallest to largest • Add all the numbers together. Divide by the number of students in the class. MEAN = • What is the middle number in the list? MEDIAN = • What number occurs most often? MODE = • Subtract the smallest number from the largest number. RANGE =

24. Causation in Science Section 2

25. Causation: idea that one event leads to another But social events are more complex than scientific events

26. The Nature of Causation • Causation: events occur in predictable, nonrandom ways • Example - gravity causes objects to fall • Sociologists also look for causation

27. Sociology and Multiple Causes • Social events are generally too complex to be explained by one single force - multiple causation • Example - what causes crime? • Inherited • Peer pressure • Drug use • Poverty • Poor parenting

28. Variables - characteristics that are subject to change • Quantitative variable: characteristic that can be measured numerically • Examples: literacy rates, incomes • Qualitative variable: characteristic that is defined by its presence or absence in a category (yes/no) • Examples: gender, marital status

29. Independent variable: characteristic that causes change to occur • Dependent variable: characteristic that reflects change • Intervening variable: changes the relationship between independent variable and dependent variable

30. Example: poverty & hunger • Independent variable: poverty • Dependent variable: hunger • Intervening variable: government intervention Poverty is the cause of hunger but doesn’t have to be if government intervention in the form of income and food exists. The poor without a safety net will experience more hunger. The poor with a safety net will not.

31. Visual Illustration hunger poverty

32. Correlation • A measure of the relationship between two variables • Positive correlation: • Negative correlation: variables move in a parallel direction – example: education & income variables move in opposite directions – example: skipping class & grades

33. Spurious Correlation • Occurs when two variables appear to be related but actually have a different cause • Example: Statistical data showing that ice cream sales and drowning rates are both increasing – does not mean that someone eating a hot fudge sundae is destined to drown in a swimming pool

34. CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION 

35. Country Music and Suicide Back in 1992, researchers wanted to study the relationship between country music and its listeners. Researchers Steven Stack and Jim Gundlach found positive correlations between country music airplay and white male suicide rates in metropolitan areas. According to their research, common themes in country music created a subculture that essentially led men to suicide. These themes include problems with personal relationships, including divorce and infidelity, alcohol consumption, and general hardships like work problems or death. Sara Evans’s Cheatin’, Toby Keith’s Get Drunk and Be Somebody, and Johnny Paycheck’s Take This Job and Shove It are all songs that fit these themes.

36. The researchers took data from 49 different metropolitan areas in the United States. To prevent spurious correlation, they used poverty, divorce, gun availability, and region of the country as control variables. For example, because divorce has strong influence on the suicide rate, the researchers had to make sure that this variable didn’t affect their results. In their analysis, they showed that white male suicide rates positively correlated with the amount of radio airtime of country music. The conclusion was country music contributed to an ideology that supported suicide. Because people tend to listen to songs many times, the power of their thematic message is stronger than other media. These themes help create a subculture in which individuals perceive a world full of sadness, drinking, and exploitation.

37. Following this research, a statistical and methodological debate raged. Sociologists Maguire and Snipes tried to retest the data, but failed to duplicate Stack and Gundalch’s 1992 results. Maguire and Snipes claimed the original authors were mistaken because they did not take into account how the other factors in their subjects’ lives might have contributed to their actions. Stack and Gundalch stuck by their research. In a series of articles, each designed to respond to the other, these two camps argued over which side’s research was valid.

38. Can you see the problems with the research, particularly as associated with spuriousness and correlation? Is it possible there is another relationship being depicted? For example, since white men are more likely to listen to country music than other ethnic groups, perhaps more country music is aired in metropolitan areas with high concentrations of white men. (Carl, Think Sociology, 2010, p.33)

39. Activity Due: _______ Pick three songs within in a particular genre, (i.e. hip-hop, rock, pop) and examine their lyrics. Do these songs express anything about the culture in which we live? If so, how do you think this affects people who listen to this type of music? Is there spurious correlation?

40. Procedures and Ethics in Reasearch Section 3

41. Scientific Method - this should sound familiar…

42. Scientific Method • Identify the problem. • Review the literature. • Formulate hypothesis. • Develop a research design. • Collect data. • Analyze data. • State findings and conclusion.

43. Do sociologists actually do this? Most follow the model, but not necessarily to the letter. They may conduct exploratory studies prior to stating hypotheses and research designs as their investigation proceeds.

44. Ethics • Research is a human activity. • There are principles for conducting research (objectivity, verifiability, etc.) • Humans screw up sometimes.

45. Examples of Poor Ethics • Nazi (Germany) experimentations on concentration camp prisoners • Public Health Service (United States) from 1932-1972 deliberately did not treat 399 syphilitic African American agricultural workers so that biomedical researchers could study the full evolution of the disease • University of Heidelberg (Germany) researchers used corpses of adults and children in high-speed automobile crashes

46. Example of Good Ethics Mario Brajuha • Kept detailed field notes while doing a participant observation study of restaurant work • Suspected arson at a restaurant where he was employed - his notes became an object of interest to the court system • Refused to reveal the contents to the police • Was threatened imprisonment and possible harm to himself, his wife, and his children • Continued to protect the privacy rights of those individuals described in his notes

47. Subpoena? The ASA Council notified Brajuha's lawyer that if research documents prepared under promise of confidentiality were provided by the sociologist, it would place him in violation of the ASA's Code of Ethics. A decision by federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York on April 5, 1984 ruled that, "[s]erious scholars cannot be required to turn over their fieldnotes in a grand jury investigation when the government fails to establish 'substantial need' for them to do so."

48. American Sociological Association Guidelines for Ethical Research Principle A: Professional Competence - know your limits and keep learning Principle B: Integrity - honest, fair, and respectful Principle C: Professional and Scientific Responsibility - accept responsibility, community trust Principle D: Respect for People's Rights, Dignity, and Diversity - eliminate bias and discrimination Principle E: Social Responsibility - contribute to the public good