Transcript Slide 1


Day 1: slides 2-14


Day 2: slides 15-19


Supplemental materials- group activity- each group
will get a hypothesis and have to design an
experiment to prove/disprove it. Each group will
present these to the class
Day 3: slides 20-28


Supplemental materials- worksheet identifying
variables and distinguishing types of observation
Supplemental materials- data analysis worksheet
Throughout: group project!
 Know
the steps of the
research process
 Understand all steps!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Identify problem/form
hypothesis
Gather data
Observe
-and/orExperiment -and/orSurvey
Research report
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Identify problem/form
hypothesis
Gather data
Observe
-and/orExperiment -and/orSurvey
Research report

Problem: can be almost anything


Ex: Increase gang violence, high crime rate,
teen pregnancy has skyrocketed; violence
has fallen, racism is lessening, etc
Hypotheses: Statement, not questions

EX: Poor People are more likely to become
criminals than rich people; People with
lower IQ’s are more likely to cheat on a test;
an Atheist is more likely to commit a crime,
than Christians
In Sociological Inquiry you
often look at your research
compared to past research,
studies, etc…
 To understand your subject
use the library, internet, or
interviews to give you a basis
of understanding

 In
answering your
hypothesis, you may use one
or all of the following steps: 3,
4, or 5.
 Observation means people
watching
1.
2.
3.
Concealed participant
observation
Open participant
observation
Non-participant
observation
 You
observe while incognito
 EX: the movie “never been
kissed”
 Wear a disguise or act like
someone else to obtain your
information

You are recognized and accepted
as an outsider
 EX: You want to learn about an
African tribe.
 You join the tribe and live
with them for an extended
period of time

You hide while observing
 EX:
You want to know how a
person arrested for a crime acts
when interrogators leave the room
 you look behind 1 way glass, you
hide a camera in the room, you
have a secret peephole, etc…
1st hand
account
 Actions don’t
lie

Can’t be
everywhere at
once
 May misinterpret
 People may
behave differently
b/c they are being
observed


Identify which type of observation each
of the following examples represents:
1. You observe through a crack in a wall
2. You observe farmers while dressed up
like a chicken
3. You ask the elks lodge if you can
attend their meetings, but not join as a
member.

Just like a science experiment, this
uses 2 groups: control and
experimental
 EX: Group A (experimental):
honor roll students
Group B (control): all high
school students of driving age
Compare each groups’ accident
reports

Experiments may consist of only 1 group
if there is a before and after element
 EX: You get the reactions of people to a
scene that shows gender
discrimination, then show a movie on
it. Do the same experiment w/ the
same group and see if their reactions
change.


Independent (IV): what you are testing; the
variable that is being manipulated; answers
“what do I change?”
Dependent (DV): what changes as a result of
your IV; answers “what am I observing?”
 If you take a daily vitamin, you will extend
your life expectancy
 The more calories you consume, the more
weight you will gain.
 If you have a child, you will receive less
sleep.
Not
always
possible
 Can be done
or
humane
in your lab
 People may behave
 Easy to keep
differently
in
an
controls
experimental
setting,
constant
than in life
 Easy to
 Hard to get
monitor
volunteers

How might you run an
experiment for this hypothesis?
 Drivers education makes young
drivers more safe on the road.
 Identify the variable.
 What would be your control(s)?

Samples a small group as
representatives of a large group
 Usually anonymous questionnaires
used to get people’s opinion and/or
histories
 Can be in the form of an interview
 EX: Sample 10 Klingeman students
to see if she is an effective teacher.


Must be clear and unbiased
 Good EX: Do you agree or
disagree with the War on
Terrorism?
 Bad EX: Do you agree that the
War on Terrorism is a political
strategy used by the Republican
party to further their goals of
obtaining oil by ruling over
middle eastern countries?
Be polite and unbiased in your
introduction
 Give a time frame (may I have 10
minutes of your time)
 Ask the same question in a variety
of ways
 OR- mail/email a survey (less
likely to get a response)
 For more info see pp. 436-446 in
your text



Score surveys and record data in a graph or table
Decide whether results are causal or correlated
 Causal-
the amt of food you eat
indicates how much you will weigh
 Eating too much makes you gain
weight
 Correlated- variables are connected,
but not necessarily causal
 Many obese people have short
hair (your survey may show that
relationship, but obesity didn’t
cause short hair or vice versa)


+correlation: as one variable increase
the other will as well, as one variable
decrease the other will also
 Survey shows the higher your IQ, the
better your grades are
-correlation: as one variable increases
the other decreases, as one variable
decreases, the other increases
 Survey shows the higher your IQ, the
worse your grades are
Honesty (if
anonymous)
 Less time
consuming
(minutes)
 Easy to score
(unless openended)

 Can
bore people
 Illiteracy
 Must be written
well
 Some people will
not take it
seriously
 This
is where you share your
research w/ others
 It includes:
 An account of the problem
 A summary of previous
research you found (not in
your project report tho)
 Your hypothesis
 The research design (experiment,
survey, etc)
 Data summarized in tables, graphs,
etc
 Your analysis of the data (a
positive correlation exists between
McD’s and weight gain)
 Your conclusions(ex: shucks,
eating McDonald’s 2X a day for a
year makes you fat)
 Research
is central to the
field of Sociology
 Although the topic may be
spurred by the researchers
interest in a certain field of
society, bias must be left out
of the process