Research Methods, SocResearch 4B

Recall the various methods that we learned about yesterday.  Then answer:

1.  If you could design a study to study something at SHS, what would it be? 

2.  What could you do to study this quantitatively?

3. What could you do to study this qualitatively?

Please take out the article that you found.

General Types of Sociological Research

• Longitudinal - a study that examines subjects over an extended period time.  For example, a researcher might interview kids at age 5, then at age 15 and then again at 25.  Some research is conducted over the course of decades by different researchers.
• Cross-sectional - a study that examines a group of people at a single point in time.  For example, like taking a section of cake that has different layers, a researcher might take a sample of people from a group like SHS.  The research might examine 10 students from each grade to get an understanding of the school as a whole. 
• Cross-cultural - a study that compares subjects from two or more cultures.
• Historical analysis - examing changes over time in comparison to the present day.

4.  What is one way above that you could study this topic?

Now turn your attention to the original research article that you found.  

5.  Is the research that you found any of these general types of research?  

Methods of sociological research

These are some of the more common methods of research that you will come across in sociology:

Qualitative:

Survey - interviews that are open-ended 

Field work/ethnography - observing subjects by living with them, watching them and taking notes 

Historical analysis - examing changes over time in comparison to present day. 
Content Analysis - examining the content of media or other cultural productions

 Quantitative: 

Survey - questionnaires that are close-ended such as multiple choice or likert scale.

Experiment/Audit study - comparing the responses of two or more different reactions.
Statistical analysis - existing sources (data sets, such as GSS or Census data)

6.  What method is the research that you found?

RESEARCH BINGO!  

You can download this Bingo card by clicking here.