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Dr. Ji Handout 1
Soc 332
Methods of Social Research
CHAPTER 1 CONCEPTS AND THEORIES
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Social research method
Social research method describes the way that sociologists do scientific research. It covers a variety areas, primarily consisting of concepts and theories, steps in research process, measurement, censuses and samples, causation and causal models, research designs, survey research, field research, experimental research, content analysis, and writing report.
Difficulties in Social Science
Using scientific methods to study human beings can minimize the mistakes because common sense is not scientific and often leads to wrong conclusion.
Unlike natural science, behaviors of human beings are in constant change and very variable.
It is hard to have experiment on human beings.
Description and explanation
Social sciences are guided by two goals:
1) Description - to describe some aspects or characteristics of the world.
2) Explanation - to explain why things are the way they are.
Social scientists use concepts and theories to describe and explain parts of reality in society observed.
Concepts
A building block of science. They are abstract terms that identify a class of things to be alike (such as “animals,” referring to a huge class of numerous and various animals.)
Concept must be clear and apply to all possible members of that class.
1 Parsimony (Abstract)
The law of parsimony reads as follows:
Theories always attempt to explain the most with the least.
That is, to explain as much as possible with a theory that is as simple as possible. The more abstract the concepts, the better the concepts.
2 Utility
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The search for good concepts cannot be guided by truth because definitions are neither true nor false. Scientific definitions are regarded as names that are simply assigned to something. Therefore, the ultimate test of concepts lies in their utility, namely, their usefulness in constructing efficient theories.
3 Clear boundaries
Efficient concepts must have clear boundaries that eliminate ambiguity about what a concept includes and does not.
School performance Marital quality
Religiosity Racial discrimination
Are these concepts are clear or intertwined or overlapped?
4 Naming is not explaining
Concepts are useful for classification but do not explain anything. Simply to name things does not tell us why, what, when, or how.
Powerless Normless
Isolation Deviance
Suicide
Are these concepts of naming or explanation to some social phenomena?
Theories
A theory refers to a particular kind of statement designed to explain something of general interest and application. These statements have two features: abstract and falsifiable.
1 Abstract
Theories are abstract statements that say why and how some sets of concepts are linked. Their purpose is to explain some portion of reality.
2 Falsifiable - it is possible to say what evidence would show them to be false.
That is, a real theory directs our attention to observations that would prove the theory to be false which implies empirical predictions and prohibitions.
Empirical research
Empirical research links theory to observations. It means to “observe through the senses.” Although theories cannot be touched that only exist in our mind, they can guide and tell us that certain observable things would or would not happen. These certain things can be touched and observed by empirical studies, which in turn, verifies theory.
Concepts and Indicators
Concepts
Concepts are the abstract terms that identify a class of “things” to be regarded as being alike. Concepts cannot be observed. Only the specific instances of concepts can be observed.
Social class, for example, is a concept that refers to a group of people who are alike in terms of prestige and wealth.
Occupation
Education
Income
Indicator
An indicator is an observable measure of a concept.
Income, for example, is an indicator to measure social class.
Number of prays a week, is an indicator of religiosity.
GAP is an indicator of school performance.
Theories and hypotheses
A theory
A theory is an abstract statement about reality.
A logical deductive-inductive system of concepts, definitions, and propositions, which states a relationship between two or more selected aspects of phenomena and from which testable hypothesis can be derived. Theories in sociology are intended to be descriptive, explanatory, and predictive of phenomena of interest to discipline and to its individual practitioners.
Sources of theories
1 from our imaginations and observations.
2 desire to explain something motivate theories
3 research results formulate theories and modify theories
The wheel of science
Dealing with the relationship between a theory and the empirical research.
There are two different modes of reasoning, deduction and induction. The former is commonly utilized for description while the latter is often used for exploration research.
1 Deduction logic (tui-lun)- from abstract to concrete
From theory to hypothesis
From hypothesis to observation
From general to specific
From known principle to an unknown but observable conclusion
Major premise: Conservatives oppose abortion.
Minor premise: Edward is a conservative.
Conclusion: Edward opposes abortion.
2 Induction logic (gui-na)- from concrete to abstract
From observation to empirical generalization
From empirical generalization to a theory
From the specific to the general
From a set of observations to a general conclusion
From a general conclusion to a principle
Observation: Bill, Mary, Tom, Robert, Peterson are from Wisconsin.
They all have Catholic as their religion.
Conclusion: People from Wisconsin are primarily Catholic.
Correlation
Correlation means “to vary in unison” or “to go together.” That is, when one variable changes, the other one will change accordingly, or vise versa.
Correlations can be positive or negative. A positive correlation exists when two variables
move in the same direction. A negative correlation exists when one variable moves in one direction while the other variable goes in the opposite direction.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an expected but unconfirmed relationship between two or more variables under study.
While a theory specifies a relationship among concepts, a hypothesis specifies a relationship to be observed among indicators.
Example
A theory Social class defines one’s attitudes and behavior – abstract and hard to
observe.
A hypothesis People with higher education are more likely to have higher income –
observable and testable.
The Null Hypothesis
A null hypothesis states that a relationship between two variables is unrelated. Null hypotheses are always stated in the form denying the prediction derived from the theory. Because whether to reject or to accept the predicted relationship, one will never be sure to prove the theory. The finding of a test may support the theory while the finding of another test may deny the theory. Hence we commit either Type I or Type II error.
In comparison, a research hypothesis states that a predicted relationship between two variables is related. A research hypothesis assumes the statement of a relationship that is in the direction derived from a theory.
Type I error - when a null hypothesis is rejected, one commits Type I error.
Type II error - when one fails to reject a null hypothesis, one commits Type II error.
Exploratory Research
Engagement in speculative research that make systematic observations of uncharted or little known phenomena in order to get an initial sense of what is going on.
Pure, Applied, and Evaluation Research
Pure research
The primary motive is directed by the desire to increase knowledge without regard for practical application. Such research usually involves theory testing, to refine or extend a theory.
Applied research
The primary purpose is to serve practical needs. Applied research may or may not involve theory testing (most does not).
Evaluation research
It is to assess the effectiveness of a program, policy, product, or procedure, and is usually commissioned by government agencies, business, or organizations such as schools, churches, or hospitals. This study may have an immediate practical payoff for a specific program but may add little or nothing to the stock of fundamental knowledge.
Dr. Ji Handout 2
Soc 332
Spring 2002
CHAPTER 2 STEPS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
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Step 1 Selecting a Topic
What is a valid sociological topic?
On the macro level, one may want to know such broad matters such the military, race relations, and multinational corporations. On the micro level, one studies such individualistic matters as how people interact on street corners, how people decorate their homes at Christmas, or college students’ dating patterns, etc. Any topic in social environment will be a valid topic.
What do you want to know more about?
Following one’s curiosity
Following one’s drive of interests
Based on available funding
Consider the availability of data source
Topic
Maternal Influence and Children’s Marital Quality
Parental Educational Attainment and Children’s Performance at School
Parents Have Influence on Children
Religiosity and Law Abiding
Step 2 Formulating A Research Question / Defining the Problem
Specify exactly what you want to learn about the topic.
The goal is to develop research questions for empirical investigation
A research question needs to be transformed into a statement
- a preliminary to the formulation of a hypothesis
Example: (Do) Parents’ marital behaviors influence their adult children’s marital quality (?)
(Do) Parents’ socioeconomic status influence their children’s performance in school (?)
Research questions are not research hypotheses
Research questions include some concepts
Research hypotheses need to be operationalized indicators
Concepts need to be clearly defined prior to formulation of hypotheses
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Appropriate indicators of the concepts must be selected and defined for hypotheses
Example: What are the parental marital behaviors?
What is adult children’s marital quality?
What is the parents’ socioeconomic status?
What do you mean about children’s school performance?
Step 3 Defining the Concepts
Many different concepts used by researchers
Some are generally understood while others are not
Socioeconomic status - education, income, occupation
Religious beliefs - Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Others, None
Social class - based on income, or education, or prestige, or wealth, or power
Many competing definitions and one has to make the selections
Marital quality - marital happiness, relationships, togetherness, satisfaction,
Develop new concepts
Family violence - wife abuse, child abuse, elderly abuse, husband abuse?
Maltreatment, malnutrition, throwing objects, battering, spanking, hitting, killing, murders, rapes, etc.
Step 4 Operationalizing the Concepts
Operationalizing the Concepts by appropriate indicators
the process of developing effective and feasible indicators of the concepts
“Marital quality,” “religiosity,” “powerless,” “isolation,” “school performance,”
Marital quality
“Marital satisfaction between husbands and wives”
Social stratification
Slavery system, Caste system, Estate system, Class system
Class system-power, prestige, property
Property - income, wealth
Religiosity
Number of prays/day/week, frequency to church, regularity to church, perception of God as Mom, Dad, good deeds to people/ride/donation, etc.
School performance
GAP, attendance, rewards, presentations, papers published, leadership,
Use standard indicators
Concepts « Indicators
Education attainment - years of school, degrees earned, <HS, HS, Col, G, Phd,
Elderly - 65 -74, the young old; 75-84, the old; 85+, the oldest old
Demographic characteristics - age, sex, race, marital status,
Develop new indicators
Social networks - relatives, neighborhood, community, friends, colleagues,
Family ties - parents, siblings, grandchildren, relatives, neighborhood, etc.
Use the best possible indicators
Most surveys provide sets of questionnaire items already defined.
Step 5 Formulating the Hypothesis
Transforming research questions into testable hypotheses
Hypothesis
The expected but unconfirmed relationships between variables under study
Hypothesis I Higher the marital satisfaction for parents, higher the marital satisfaction for children (MQ)
Hypothesis II Marital relationships between fathers and mothers will influence children’s marital relationships (MQ)
Hypothesis III When fathers have higher educational attainment, children’s GPA scores are also likely to be higher (Edc)
Step 6 Making the Observations
Hypotheses direct our attention to the specified behavior of each indicator
By direct observation - collecting data, interviewing people, participation,
By looking at data set, questionnaires, etc.
Step 7 Analyzing the Data
Make data analysis through appropriate statistical methods to check out the hypotheses
Choosing a appropriate method
Recoding variables
Handling missing data
Making statistical analysis
Step 8 Assessing the Results
Are hypotheses supported or rejected by the results?
If supported, write report for publication
If not supported or rejected, retrace all steps to find errors,
Is the hypothesis consistent with the theory?
Are concepts properly defined?
Do indicators measure the concepts?
Are these the correct units of analysis?
Were data properly collected?
Was the analysis done correctly?
Find problems by oneself
Publishing the paper to let others find problem for you
Step 9 Publishing the Results
All sciences are public activities and social activities
Written words are precise and have enduring record
Publications link past research to present and present to future
Publications stimulate effort for replication
Step 10 Replication Research
Replication Research
By repeating previous research to check on the results
Using different set of units of analysis, indicators, time, place – human beings are more variable/changeable.
e.g. Religious commitment causes young people to be law abiding which is found in Richmond, and California; the finding is confirmed in Oregon; but findings in Atlanta and Utah denied; Eventually, findings in Arizona again verified the previous finding. Conclusion: Religions do reduce delinquency except under special circumstances.
Replication reveals flukes (by luck) that may occur leading to false findings
Replication helps to weed out research that is careless, incompetent, or dishonest.
Dr. Ji Handout 3
Soc 332
Spring 2002
CHAPTER 3 MEASUREMENT
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Variables
Constants
Characteristics or aspects of things being studied do not change. Constants take the same values constantly. Constants cannot explain variables. Constants that do not change cannot cause things to change. The speed of light, for example, is a constant.
Variables
Characteristic or aspects that take different values among the things being studied and thus can vary.
Dependent variable - presumed effect of an independent variable
Independent variable- presumed cause of the dependent variable