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Week 2 - Part Two

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3 views11 pages

Week 2 - Part Two

Uploaded by

Omar Soussa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to

Sociology
Dr. Aida Abd El Rehim
Week 2: Part 2
Methodology
Research in Sociology
• We do research in sociology to gain knowledge about a
society.
• We test common sense assumptions and replace false
ideas with facts and evidence.
• We must ask “How” & “Why”? To formulate a
hypothesis to answer correctly what we are questioning.
• Sociologists’ labs are the world not real labs used by
chemists
• Sociologists use Quantitative and Qualitative
research methods
A-Quantitative research methods: are numerical data they are
collected by surveys
• Surveys: are the most widely used research method for collecting
data by sociologists
• Doing a survey is when many people respond to questions
• Almost 90% of sociologists research is based on surveys.
• Those who got surveyed are known by sociologists as population or
samples.
• People= a group of people with specific characteristics
• Sample= a group of people representing a larger group
• A representative sample= it is a sample that accurately reflects the
characteristics of the population as a whole
How is a survey gathered?
1- Questionnaires: it is a written set of questions that
survey participants answer themselves
2- Interviews: a trained interviewer asks the questions
and records them.
Generally, questions can either be closed ended or open
ended
Types of Questions
Choose which of the below is a Closed ended vs Open
ended:
-1-Most students cheat on a test
Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly
Disagree

-2- In your own opinion, tell us what was your learning


experience at the university
Types of Data (Primary &
Secondary)
• Primary: surveys, interviews and focus groups
• Secondary: government reports, voting lists, company
records or previous research done.
• Primary data the ones “you” collect them yourself
• Secondary data the ones “pre-collected” by someone
else.
B- Qualitative Research: uses narratives or descriptive data not
numbers.
Some of the best aspects of a society can be discovered by qualitative
data.
Field research as a popular tool for gathering data qualitatively
Field research is best understood in a natural setting
When doing field research, we use case study as an approach to
understand it
Case study is an intensive study of a single group, incident or community.
Participant observation: a case study where the researcher becomes a
member of the group being investigated (does the researcher tell the
group or not?)
Internet Sources
• How to evaluate internet sources?
• The internet is a good operator but not always a good source
(Why?)
• When checking an internet source first ask yourself these
questions:
1- Who? (who is the owner of the site)
2- What? (is this real information and reliable)
3-When? (check the date)
4- Why? (purpose of this information)
5- Where? (where is the information coming from)
6-How? ( is the information presented objectively or subjectively)
Steps for doing Research
1- Identify the problem
2- Review the literature
3-Formulate a hypothesis
4- Develop a research design
5- Collect Data
6- Analyze these data
7- Conclusion includes findings
Ethics in Research
• Doing research in any field must show your objectivity
• Report findings truthfully without fabrication
• Protect rights
• Privacy
• Integrity
• Freedom of research

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