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| argued by both Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim...that sociology can be scientific |
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- objective social facts that can be expressed in statistics
- these facts can be value-free an objective
- multivariate analysis (analyzing the importance of many different possible causes)
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| experiments...theories can be tested in precise conditions controlled by a researcher who then develops a hypothesis. Experiments involve trying to isolate the effects of independent variable on a dependent variable. |
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| ...difficult to control variable, and if those being studied are aware of the experiment, this may alter their behavior - the Hawthorne Effect |
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| Comparative method of research |
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...involves using the same logic as the experiment, but using events that have already taken place rather than creating artificial situations.
ex. Durkheim on suicide
Weber on the Protestant ethic |
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| ...interpretivists usually advocate the use of qualitative data to interpret social action, with an emphasis on the meanings and motives of the actors. People do not simply react to external stimuli, but interpret the meaning of stimuli before reacting. |
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| Max Weber saw sociology as the study of social action (or meaningful behavior). In the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber tries to understand why Calvinists reinvested their money and became early captialists. |
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| ...argues that sociologists need to understand the viewpoint of the people whose behavior they are trying to understand. They cannot do this simply be using statistical data. Interactionists prefer in-depth interviews and participant observation. |
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| ...argue that the social world has to be classified before it can be measured. Classifications (for example, whether an act is suicide, or whether someone is a criminal) depend upon the judgements of individuals. |
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| ...data collected by sociologists themselves |
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| ...pre-existing sources of data |
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| ...whether another researcher using the same procedure would obtain the same results. Quantitative methods are sometimes seen as more reliable. |
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| ...whether the data produce a true reflection of social reality. Some see qualitative data as offering a more valid picture of social reality. |
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| ...sampling is used in order to generalize about the larger population, often chosen as a cross-section of the larger group - so that the sample is representative. |
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| In this approach every sampling unit has an equal chance of bveing chosen. It relies upon statistical probability to ensure a representative sample. |
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| Stratified Random Sampling |
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| To ensure representativeness, the population is divided into groups according to important variables such as class, gender, and ethnicity, and the sample is then chosen in the same preponderance in the population. |
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| ...involve the study of a single example of something. The effort is to develop a comprehensive understanding of something by studying it in depth. |
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