Food for thought (and discussion)…• Scene in the movie “Sweet

November”…

• Keanu Reeves’ character is out to dinner with another businessman to discuss a proposal. Other man is very demanding and demeaning to the waitress… thinks this is socially acceptable, even funny. When Keanu’s character declines the offer, businessman says “What don’t you like about the proposal?” Keanu says… “It’s you I don’t like”.

•Shows that how you treat others socially is noticed by others and does have

a big effect on how others view you.

• Has your opinion ever negatively changed about someone based on how they treat another person”?

USING SOCIOLOGY

Sometimes…

• Things…

•Are…

•Not…

•As they…

•Seem!!!

With Sociological Research we need to use

Lateral Thinking…

We have to “think outside

of the box” and always dig

deeper for hidden

meanings in what we observe.

Scientific Perspective• Aim of science is to understand world better…an

extension of common sense.• In Sociology, science allows us to examine highly

charged social issues and produce proven answers• Two approaches…1. Objective Approach… evidence be evaluated in

a fair manner without personal bias (class, sex, etc

2. Critical Approach… research is carefully examined. Asks the researcher to be critical of the results and that results meet strict standards (often have to be repeated over and over)

Research in Sociology• Question: Who employs sociologists?• Government, Business, Universities/Schools, etc.• What do they do?• Research and make recommendations.

A sociologist from the U.of Va does field research for gender studies in a tribal village in Nepal.

Four Steps to Sociological Research

1.Gather data. Example:

employment rates by race.

•2. Find Patterns–Example: Stats show higher unemployment in minority sector.

•3. Generate a Theory.– A theory is a set of

assumptions that attempts to explain observed patterns. It looks beyond facts to explain evidence.

– Example:• “I believe that

unemployment rates are higher for minorities because many grew up in a time when racial difference in education was greater than today”

•4. Form a hypothesis.– A statement about the

relationship we expect to observe if our theory is correct.

– Example: “My hypothesis is that minorities and whites of equal education will have equal or similar unemployment rates”.

Principles of Research• Sociological research focuses upon variables…

the measured characteristics that vary from one individual to the next.

• Race, education, class, gender, etc are variables.• Two types of variables:1. Independent variable= the cause.2. Dependent variable= the effect.

Example:We hypothesize that females earn less than men b/c of less education.

Education is the cause and less income is the effect. (*** FYI…Actually 56% of college graduates last year were women…)

Finding a Sample• A Sample is the systematic selection of a

small # of people from society that represent the larger group as a whole.

• Sample judged on 3 criteria…1. where taken from2. was it random (eliminates bias)3. how big was it.(The bigger the sample the more unbiased

the sample will be.)

Three Strategies for Gathering Data

1.Experiment.2.Survey Research.3.Participant Observation

(a.k.a. field research).

School Ethics SurveyPlease put your name on your paper and answer each question…

you will hand your answers in.

• 1. In the last year, how many times have you looked at someone else’s answers on a test? – Often Sometimes Never

• 2. In the last year, how many times have you used someone else’s work (book or internet) and not given them credit… plagiarized?– Never 1-5 times 6-10 times 11+

• 3. How would you rate yourself ethically as a student?– Not ethical Mostly ethical Always ethical

Who answered the survey

100% honestly????

“I cannot tell a lie”

Survey Research• Takes a large sample and asks same set

of questions• Good for observing trends and incidence• Most widely used.Two types of survey1. Cross-sectional: takes sample of

population at one time only.2. Panel design: follows sample over a

longer period of time to detect change.Problems:1. Those who are illiterate often left out.2. People are often uncooperative… no

time, etc.3. Expensive.4. Social Desirability Bias… not always

accurate, as subjects answer how they think society wants them to.

Open Ended vs. Closed Ended Questions• Open ended allow the respondent

to come up with his/her own answer.

• Closed Ended allow the respondent to choose from a number of choices.

• Let’s survey favorite types of ice cream… – Give an example of an open ended

question.– Give an example of a closed ended

question.• Which would theoretically be the best to

use in sociological research?• Why might it be difficult to do so?

This has nothing to do

with sociology… just want to

see if you are paying

attention…

Now, we want to look into school ethics using the

experiment method. The next time Ms. Thielen’s class takes a test, we will go over to her room, let them know we will be observing them, and we will go from there

with the experiment.

• What would be better about this than the survey method?

• What would be a problem we might have?

Experiment• Tests ideas of cause and effect.• Experimental group is the group who the

experiment is being tested on .• Control group is left the same from start to

finish…no change.• At the end of the experiment, the 2 are

comparedThree Limitations1. Difficult to manipulate human behavior.2.2. Guinea Pig (Hawthorne Effect)…Guinea Pig (Hawthorne Effect)…people act

differently when they know they’re studied.3. Setting for experiment is often artificial and not

the “real world.

Continuing with school ethics… now you will secretly observe your

classmates next time you are in class and you are taking a test…

you will also listen to other students in the Media Center as they talk about the paper they

have just written.• When looking at cheating in schools and

school ethics, why might this method work best???

Participant Observation (a.k.a field research)

• Designed to see group behavior in context… you see first hand what is going on.

• Three parts…observe, interview, then analyze

• Useful when studying – undesirable/bad behavior, – behavior rather than attitudes (how groups act,

not how they think/feel), – uncooperative populations (ex: prisoners).

• Problems: – not randomly selected, so biased.– Can be time consuming for researcher.