Transcript The Practice of Social Research

Foundations of Sociological Inquiry
Trust and Trickery in Social Research
Today’s Objectives
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Establishing Trust
Ethical Issues
Ethical Controversies
Validity and Reliability
Set up Clicker Technology
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Becky Plugs in Receiver & Sets Channel to 05
Becky Sets Up Web-Based Session
Students with Clicker Set Channel to 05
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Ch; 05; Ch
Students with Wireless Device Login to
www.rwpoll.com
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Enter Session ID
Establishing Trust
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I am doing research to examine how course
evaluations differ by gender
I am surveying students in all sociology classes
Using your clicker, please respond to the following
questions
Your responses are anonymous and will be kept
confidential
Do you trust me?
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2.
3.
Yes
No
Don’t Know
59%
31%
11%
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This course as a whole is:
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Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
56%
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19%
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The course content is:
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Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
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Very Poor
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The instructor overall is:
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Excellent
Very Good
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Very Poor
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The instructor’s contribution to your
understanding of concepts/ideas is:
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Excellent
Very Good
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Fair
Poor
Very Poor
36%
32%
19%
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The course content is:
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Excellent
Very Good
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Fair
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Very Poor
54%
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The instructor’s interest in whether students
learned is:
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Excellent
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Very Poor
44%
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The amount learned in the course is:
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Excellent
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The relevance and usefulness of homework
assignments is:
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Excellent
Very Good
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Poor
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40%
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Professor Pettit examines how an instructor’s gender affects
course evaluations. Pettit decides to compare evaluations of
college students in different classes. She decides to begin her
research using students in her class. After explaining the
study, she assures students that
their responses will be confidential.
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The students complete her survey
during class. Her research most
clearly impinges on
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deception.
no harm to participants.
voluntary participation.
the value placed on
anonymity.
value-free reports of the
data.
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The main reason that codes of ethics exist
are that
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ethical issues are both
important and ambiguous.
both the state and federal
governments require
them.
researchers would be both
unwilling and unable to
make ethical decisions
without them.
the directors of the
professional associations
require and enforce them.
people are naturally
unethical.
49%
20%
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9%
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Ethical Issues in Social Research
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Ethical (Webster’s): conforming to the standards of
conduct of a given profession or group.
Ethical Issues in Social Research
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Ethical (Webster’s): conforming to the standards of
conduct of a given profession or group.
Voluntary Participation
Ethical Issues in Social Research
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Ethical (Webster’s): conforming to the standards of
conduct of a given profession or group.
Voluntary Participation
DO NO HARM
Ethical Issues in Social Research
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Ethical (Webster’s): conforming to the standards of
conduct of a given profession or group.
Voluntary Participation
DO NO HARM
Anonymity and Confidentiality
Which of the following techniques of data collection is
MOST likely to make a guarantee of anonymity
difficult?
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interviews
mailed questionnaires
secondary data analysis
unobtrusive measures
The data collection
technique does not
effect the guarantee of
anonymity.
60%
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Ethical Controversies
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Trouble in the Tearoom – Laud Humphreys
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Studied homosexual activities in public restrooms in parks
Researcher became interested in the lives of participants
Researcher volunteered to become “watchqueen”
Researcher collected personal information about the
participants (license numbers of cars)
What should have Laud Humphrey done in his
“Trouble in the Tearoom” study to uphold ethical
standards?
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debriefed subjects.
allowed subjects to
decline to be studied.
remained nonpolitical.
promised
confidentiality.
revealed his identity.
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Ethical Controversies
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Observing Human Obedience – Stanley Milgram
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Participants imitated a laboratory-based World War II
controversy
Participants were assigned job of “teacher” – to teach a
list of works to the “pupil.” If the pupil got the word wrong,
the teacher would administer increasing levels of shocks
to the pupil.
The primary ethical research issue raised by
the Milgram study was
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the willingness of people to
44%
harm others when “following
orders” required it.
the administration of
electrical shocks to the
pupils.
the effects of the methods
on the pupils.
the effects of the methods
on the teacher.
the examination of
obedience as a topic for
study.
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25%
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7%
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Reliability and Validity
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Reliability
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The extent to which a given measurement strategy would describe
a concept in the same way if repeated again and again OR
The extent to which two or more measures provide the same
description of a concept
Reliability and Validity
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Reliability
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The extent to which a given measurement strategy would describe
a concept in the same way if repeated again and again OR
The extent to which two or more measures provide the same
description of a concept
Validity
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Internal Validity represents the extent to which a variable or
indicator accurately represents the concept it was chosen to
measure
External Validity represents the extent to which findings from a
study, based on a sample can be generalized to a larger
population
High Reliability and High Validity
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High Reliability and High Validity
(Self-reported educational attainment)
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High Reliability and Low Validity
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High Reliability and Low Validity
(Self-reported number of sexual partners)
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Low Reliability and High Validity
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Low Reliability and High Validity
(Self-reported happiness)
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Replicability
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Someone should be able to figure out what you did,
how you did it, and do it again
Your work (observational or analytical) should
withstand further empirical scrutiny
All of this rests on shared professional standards
(ethics)
Questions?