Page 75 - Sociology and You

Chapter 2 Sociologists Doing Research 45 Figure 2.5 Summary of Research Methods
Research Method
Definition
Advantages
Disadvantages
Quantitative Methods
Survey Research
People answer a se- ries of questions, usu- ally predetermined.
❖ Precision and comparability of answers
❖ Use of statistical techniques
❖ Information on large numbers of people
❖ Detailed analysis
❖ Expensive due to large numbers
❖ Low response rate
❖ Phrasing of questions
introduces bias in favor of
certain answers
❖ Researchers’ behavior can affect answers given
Secondary Analysis
Information gathered by one researcher is used by another re- searcher for a differ- ent purpose.
❖ Inexpensive
❖ Can study a topic over a
long period of time
❖ Researcher’s influence on
subjects avoided
❖ Information collected for a different reason may not suit another researcher’s needs
❖ Original researcher may have already introduced biases
❖ Information may be outdated
Experiment
Research occurs in a laboratory setting with a minimum of contaminating influ- ences (not often used in social research).
❖ Can be replicated with precision
❖ Variables can be manipulated
❖ Can be relatively
inexpensive
❖ Permits the establishment
of causation (rather than just correlation)
❖ Laboratory environment is artificial
❖ Not suited to most sociological research ❖ Number of variables
studied is limited
Qualitative Methods
Case Study
Thorough investiga- tion is done of a small group, incident, or community.
❖ Provides depth of understanding from group members’ viewpoint
❖ Unexpected discoveries and new insights can be incorporated into the research
❖ Permits the study of social behavior not feasible with quantitative methods
❖ Difficult to generalize findings from one group to another group
❖ Presence of researcher can influence results
❖ Hard to duplicate
❖ Takes lots of time
❖ Difficult to be accepted as
a group member (in case of participant observation)