Sociological Research Methods

Sociology 101
Dr. Williams
Sociology as a social science

• Sociology is not just a set of perspectives, theoretical perspectives,

and concepts.

• Sociology is a social science, and seeks to build empirical (evidence-

based) knowledge about the human social world through the
deployment of scientific research methods and values.
Beyond Armchair Speculation:
The Rise of Social Scientific Sociology
• Sociology initially emerges as a largely speculative and primarily
theoretical field

• Early sociological researchers seek to go beyond this “armchair

speculation” mode and create a new social science field by
integrating empirical scientific research methods into sociological
inquiry
Sociological Research Methods

• the diverse methods of social scientific investigation used to gather

empirical (factual, evidence-based) material.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research Methods in Sociology

• Sociology makes use of both qualitative and quantitative research

methods

• Qualitative research methods rely on observations, interviews, and

archival data

• Quantitative research methods make use of numerical data,

especially statistical data
University of Chicago

• Robert Park (1864-1944)

• William Ogburn (1886-1959)

• Both of these researchers sought to create a truly scientific sociology,

but they held different beliefs about how this should be accomplished
Robert Park

• Thought most important thing for a sociologist to do was to go

around all the neighborhoods of the city and find out what was going
on by meeting people who were the subjects of sociologists’ theories
Robert Park

• Contributed to the idea of ‘the city as laboratory’ and this influenced

University of Chicago sociology department

• Major contributor to qualitative sociology and the idea that sociology

should improve the human quality of life in society

• Race and ethnicity were among his core focus areas

William Ogburn

• Highly skeptical of qualitative research and the idea that sociology

should influence public policy

• Viewed Park’s progressive sociological research framework as

inappropriate for an objective science
William Ogburn

• Believed sociology should strive to mirror the natural sciences

• Sociology should be rooted in disinterested quantitative analysis

Black Sociologists & the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory

• Atlanta University (now known as Clark Atlanta University): an HBCU

in Atlanta, GA that has only recently been recognized as a pioneering
institution of sociological research methods

• Black sociologists working in the racially segregated Jim Crow South

started the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory at Atlanta University

• Groundbreaking contributions of this research center were excluded

from recognition for decades by mainstream white sociologists like
Robert Park.
Black Sociologists & the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory

• The ASL rose to prominence under the leadership of W.E.B. Du Bois

• Under Du Bois’s leadership, Atlanta University became the first

American school to institutionalize:

• the use of insider researchers

• method triangulation
• research paper section acknowledging the limitations of one’s research
• research paper section articulating the research methods used for a given
paper
Inference

The goal of sociological research is inference: when we make

observations particular to a specific setting or group the goal
is to be able to generalize beyond that specific entity to others
of its kind.
Replicability
• Sociologists must ensure that the paths to their findings can be
retraced by other researchers

• Research procedures should be public and transparent

• The way one arrives at conclusions about the social world should be
carefully documented
Uncertainty
• The conclusions of all scientific research have varying levels of
uncertainty, which involves imperfect and/or unknown information.

• Researchers must be clear about all of their sources of uncertainty

Reflexivity

• Social scientists must be ready to reflect on how the way they are
part of the social scenes they study may affect the kinds of
conclusions they draw.
From Principles to Process
Basic Social Science Research Methods

1. Define the research problem

2. Review the evidence
3. Make the problem precise
4. Work out a design
5. Carry out the research
6. Interpret the results
7. Report the findings
Define the research problem
Select a topic for research

A good research problem is like a puzzle: arises not simply from lack of
information but a gap in understanding
Review the literature

• Familiarize yourself with existing research on the topic

Formulate hypothesis

• Formulate research problem

• Hypothesis: ideas or educated guesses about a given state of affairs,

put forward as a basis for empirical testing

• Testable vs. non-testable statements

Testable statements

• Capital punishment is a deterrent to crime.

• Students who attend class do better than students who do not attend
class.

• Men are more likely than women to commit mass shootings.

• Crime levels are higher during a full moon.

• Conservative-leaning voters are more likely to oppose pandemic mask

mandates than liberal-leaning voters.
Nontestable Statements

• All first-degree murderers should be executed.

• Purple is the best color to wear on Fridays.

• People need to stop being so sensitive about everything.

• Non-monogamous relationships are evil.

• Scientific facts don’t matter if they make me feel bad.

Select a research design
• Decide how to collect the research materials

• May choose from a range of research methods based on the

objectives (goals) of the study
Carry out the research

• Carry out plan developed in Step 4.

• Research obstacles and practical limitations

Interpret the results

• Work out implications of data and then relate them to the research
problem

• Many investigations are ultimately not fully conclusive

Report the findings

• Relate the nature of the research and justify conclusions

• Identification of unanswered questions and suggestions for further

research
Variables: Independent vs. Dependent

• A variable is any factor that can be controlled, changed, or measured

in a research setting.

• Independent variable: a variable that stands alone and isn't changed

by the other variables you are trying to measure. (X-axis)

• Dependent variable: a variable that depends on other factors and

which may be influenced by the independent variable (Y-axis)
Hypothesis Independent Variable Dependent Variable

The greater the availability of affordable

Affordable Housing Homeless Rate
housing, the lower the homeless rate

The greater the availability of math

Math Tutoring Math Grades
tutoring, the higher the math grades

The greater the police patrol presence,

Police Patrol Presence Safer Neighbourhood
the safer the neighbourhood

The greater the factory lighting, the

Factory Lighting Productivity
higher the productivity

The greater the amount of public

auditing, the lower the amount of Auditing Political dishonesty
political dishonesty
Three Primary Research Methods

• Ethnography
• Surveys
• Experiments
Ethnography

• Firsthand study of people using participant observation or

interviewing

• Participant observation: research method in which researcher takes

part in the activities of the group or community being studied
Examples of Sociological Ethnography

• Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By In America by Barbara

Ehrenreich
Strengths of Ethnography

• Generates richer and more in-depth information than other

methods

• Provides broader understanding of social processes

Limitations of Ethnography

• Can only be used to study relatively small groups or

communities

• Findings might apply only to groups or communities studied

(not easy to generalize findings)
Surveys

• Method of sociological research in which questionnaires are

administered to the population being studied
Examples of Sociological Surveys

• U.S. Census Bureau Population Surveys

population
• The people who are the focus of social research
Samples and sampling
• A sample is a small proportion of a larger population

• Sampling: studying a proportion of individuals or cases from a larger

population as representative of that population as a whole

• Random sampling: sampling method in which a sample is chosen so

that every member of the population has the same probability of
being included
Random sampling

• Assign each member of the population a number and then use a

computer to generate a random list from the sample is derived
Surveys: standardized vs. open-ended questions

• Standardized (fixed choice): set of questions to which only a fixed

range of responses is possible.

• Ex: Yes, No, Don’t Know or Very Likely, Likely, Unlikely, Very unlikely
Advantages & Disadvantages of standardized question sets in Surveys

• Advantage: Having a small number of categories makes the responses

easy to count and compare

• Disadvantage: They don’t allow for subtleties of opinion or verbal

expressionà may yield restrictive and potentially misleading
information
Open-ended questions on surveys

• Allows respondents more opportunities to use their own words

Example of open-ended survey question
Mixed question set
Pilot study
• Trial run in survey research

• a preliminary survey used to gather information prior to conducting a

survey on a larger scale.
Pilot Study
• typically taken by smaller groups

• help determine the efficiency of the future survey while also helping
organizations smooth out difficulties before administering the main
survey.
Strengths of Surveys

• Enables efficient collection of data on large numbers of individuals

• Allows for precise comparisons to be made among he answers of

respondents
Limitations of Surveys

• Material gathered may be superficial, leading to

oversimplified interpretations of data and findings

• Hard to distinguish what people profess from what they

actually believe
Experiments

Research method by which variables can be analyzed in a controlled

and systematic way, either in an artificial situation constructed by the
researcher or in a naturally occurring setting.
Examples of sociological experiments

• Asch Conformity Experiments

• Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments

Asch Conformity Experiments
Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments
Strengths of Experiments

• Allows researcher to control the influence of specific

variables

• Usually easier for other researchers to replicate

Weaknesses of experiments

• Difficult and often impossible to create many aspects of

social life within a laboratory setting
Comparative Historical Research

• Research that compares on set of findings on society with the same

type of findings on other societies

• Ex: Theda Skocpol’s States and Social Revolutions compared 1789

French Revolution, 1917 Bolshevic Revolution in Russia, and Chinese
Revolution of 1949
Natural Sciences vs. Social Sciences

Social sciences require a more careful negotiation of the issues of

influence, power, and subjectivity than do most natural sciences.
Lingering issues and challenges in sociological research

• Cause and effect can be hard to ascertain

• The problem of exploitation

Empirical investigation and challenges of social science

• We cannot describe social life accurately unless we grasp the

concepts that people apply in their own behavior

• Humans are self-aware and profoundly social creatures and this can
impact their behavior at any given moment